SVS Ultra Bookshelf Speakers Review

[admin]

The SVS Ultra is a two-way ported bookshelf speaker with a 6.5" bass driver and 1" metal dome tweeter retailing for just under $1k/pair. Although SVS is widely known for subwoofers, today we look to see if the Ultra bookshelf speakers can change that perception and deliver the same legendary performance at the other end of the frequency spectrum. Impeccable build quality and aesthetics is only part of their story. SVS applies NRC science not to cheapen a product but to improve its measured performance and subjective listening experience. To say we were impressed is an understatement but do they live up to the SVS badge?

Read the SVS Ultra Bookshelf Review

Do you own these speakers? Share your thoughts.

 

[gene]

[video=youtube_share;SX9CLR5rPZ8]http://youtu.be/SX9CLR5rPZ8[/video]

 

[zieglj01]

Nice review - and if Sade sounds good on a set of speakers - then you do have some nice speakers.

 

[brouham]

Nit picking or not.

In general, a good review but I don't understand the comment, " They apply NRC science, not to cheapen the product, but to improve its measured performance and subjective sound experience." I would not make the assumption ever that NRC science is used to cheapen a product. Instead, I would think that NRC science is always used to add value to a product. The review leaves me with the impression that " NRC science" is not held in high regard by the Audioholic reviewer. Perhaps I am misreading what was written by the reviewer....maybe.

 

[gene]

In general, a good review but I don't understand the comment, " They apply NRC science, not to cheapen the product, but to improve its measured performance and subjective sound experience." I would not make the assumption ever that NRC science is used to cheapen a product. Instead, I would think that NRC science is always used to add value to a product. The review leaves me with the impression that " NRC science" is not held in high regard by the Audioholic reviewer. Perhaps I am misreading what was written by the reviewer....maybe.

There are some companies that misapply NRC science using the results of their often two-dimensionally run blind tests to conclude better parts don't matter.

SVS is not like that. They use high quality parts and instead use the acoustical facilities and research done by Dr. Floyd Toole to improve accuracy of the design.

 

[3db]

Gene, you and I had this discussion before. We both agree that the research done at the NRC is world class, espcially in acoustics. Unfortunately, there are those manufacturers that toss the word NRC in their marketing scheme in attempts to garner some credibility for cheap products. That's unfortunate but that should in no way tarnish the reputation of the NRC. I take pride that a company like SVS recognizes the benefits of the NRC in helping them to develop their products. Paul Barton of PSB has been using the NRC facilities for a very long time and it shows in their performance. SVS is now on board as well.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

There used to be time then some so called "scientists" claimed that lead added to gas is harmless and there is no evidence of any increased levels of lead due to lead added to the gasoline...
Thank god some people had courage to fight these lies and real science won [eventually], just like true scientific principles used at NRC facility.

 

[gene]

There used to be time then some so called "scientists" claimed that lead added to gas is harmless and there is no evidence of any increased levels of lead due to lead added to the gasoline...
Thank god some people had courage to fight these lies and real science won [eventually], just like true scientific principles used at NRC facility.

Yes and sadly we see the same abuse of psuedoscience trying to debunk or cause doubt about man made climate change. Hopefully the real science will prevail in this case too but I digress.

 

[Maxpilot]

Gene, I purchased these Ultra bookshelf speakers with the matching center and added the PB-2000 subwoofer. I really love the sound. One concern that I have after reading and watching your review... you state that you found these Ultra's to be 4 ohm speakers. I am driving them with a new Onkyo TX-NR636 receiver which states in the manual to only use speaker rated at 6 ohms or higher. It does not seem that my TX-NR636 is having any problems driving these speakers to loud volumes but now I am worried that I might be hurting my new TX-NR636. I am crossing over the Ultras at 70hz. (SVS says go 60hz, and THX says 80 so I am splitting the difference). Do you think these Ultras will ruin my Onkyo?

 

[mike c]

Gene, I purchased these Ultra bookshelf speakers with the matching center and added the PB-2000 subwoofer. I really love the sound. One concern that I have after reading and watching your review... you state that you found these Ultra's to be 4 ohm speakers. I am driving them with a new Onkyo TX-NR636 receiver which states in the manual to only use speaker rated at 6 ohms or higher. It does not seem that my TX-NR636 is having any problems driving these speakers to loud volumes but now I am worried that I might be hurting my new TX-NR636. I am crossing over the Ultras at 70hz. (SVS says go 60hz, and THX says 80 so I am splitting the difference). Do you think these Ultras will ruin my Onkyo?

just keep your onkyo cool, in terms of airspace around the unit.

adding a silent pc fan plugged to the switched outlet would help as well.

but with the crossover and normal listening volumes, i doubt it would hurt your receiver.

 

[GIEGAR]

Gene, I purchased these Ultra bookshelf speakers with the matching center and added the PB-2000 subwoofer. I really love the sound. One concern that I have after reading and watching your review... you state that you found these Ultra's to be 4 ohm speakers. I am driving them with a new Onkyo TX-NR636 receiver which states in the manual to only use speaker rated at 6 ohms or higher. It does not seem that my TX-NR636 is having any problems driving these speakers to loud volumes but now I am worried that I might be hurting my new TX-NR636. I am crossing over the Ultras at 70hz. (SVS says go 60hz, and THX says 80 so I am splitting the difference). Do you think these Ultras will ruin my Onkyo?

Max, modern AVR's have a range of sophisticated protection circuits. These circuits will shut the Onkyo down if a harmful situation is detected, so there's very little chance that it will be damaged. As Mike C said, it's a always a good idea to maintain adequate airspace around the unit for ventilation. Onkyo's typically run quite warm though, so there's no need to be too alarmed if the top is quite warm to touch after a "spirited" listening session.

To make life easier for the Onkyo and the Ultras though, I recommend pushing the crossover up to just below where you can readily "localise" the sub on familiar bass-heavy material. You may find that you can get up to 100Hz+ crossover, depending on your room and speaker/sub interaction. This will get the crossover as far away as possible from the Ultra's impedance dip to 4.7Ω at 55Hz (see measurements), so the Onkyo doesn't have to deal with it. A higher crossover will also free up the woofer from some of the heavy excursion demands of the lower bass, allowing it to better handle the upper bass and midrange.

 

[JonnyFive23517]

Nice review, Gene. Only thing I'd like to have seen is where you were talking about having removed the drivers and looked at the crossovers, showing that in the video would have been interesting as well.

 

[MidnightSensi2]

Thanks for the review. I recently sent a friend to buy a SVS subwoofer and he loves the subwoofer (it's got that pretty gloss finish too), but also really enjoyed the buying experience.

I'm curious about the cone construction. Anyone from SVS ever surf the board?

It sounds like they are doing something called visco-elastic dampening by using paper with a glass-fibre matrix on top. Basically you take two materials that have a modulus of elasticity (how much a material 'stretches' under load) about a one order of magnitude apart, and it can tame the fundamental frequencies of the cone (or bridge, or boat, etc). To do this, often means adding mass (elasticity and density have a pretty strong correlation), which is bad for speaker sensitivity... so paper and FRP make sense...

Young's modulus/modulus of elasticity for paper varies depending on type, but, generally its in the range of 1-2GPa. Fiberglass can easily be in the range of 10-20GPa, which is perfect. Again, both greatly depend on type of fibers, but, that's enough for just a hunch of why they might layer paper with FRP on top: to be able to use viscoelastic dampening without killing sensitivity.

The reason to do that is if the fundamental frequencies get excited, it will cause a humming and really pull away from the quality of the sound. Since the voices sounded life-like, they seem to have got this figured out!

Another benefit of laying FRP on top is to add thickness (if you double your thickness, you quadruple the stiffness).

Main thing when it comes to engineering and material selection, is its less about the actual material and more about the application. Sometimes the most expensive material, isn't the best for the job. So, if it's paper, doesn't mean it's bad.

Looks like cool speakers!!

 

[gene]

Gene, I purchased these Ultra bookshelf speakers with the matching center and added the PB-2000 subwoofer. I really love the sound. One concern that I have after reading and watching your review... you state that you found these Ultra's to be 4 ohm speakers. I am driving them with a new Onkyo TX-NR636 receiver which states in the manual to only use speaker rated at 6 ohms or higher. It does not seem that my TX-NR636 is having any problems driving these speakers to loud volumes but now I am worried that I might be hurting my new TX-NR636. I am crossing over the Ultras at 70hz. (SVS says go 60hz, and THX says 80 so I am splitting the difference). Do you think these Ultras will ruin my Onkyo?

You should be ok. Onkyo's have pretty meaty amp section and the Ultra's are very efficient. Keep it running cool as everyone suggested here. Also you should use 80Hz if you have a powered sub. Let the sub handle the low frequencies especially since you have a very good one.

 

[Maxpilot]

You should be ok. Onkyo's have pretty meaty amp section and the Ultra's are very efficient. Keep it running cool as everyone suggested here. Also you should use 80Hz if you have a powered sub. Let the sub handle the low frequencies especially since you have a very good one.

Thanks. I have the receiver in an open cabinet. I'll bump my crossover up. So far my Onkyo is doing a great job with the Ultras.

 

[ArnoldLayne]

Speaker impedance

Thanks for the interesting review. I enjoy your tag- team style. I recently bought the SVS towers to replace Aperion 632 bookshelf spkrs.

They sound great but I think I have noticed I have to really crank the Denon AVR3313 to -10db or even -5db to get really awesome sound levels. [Used for two channel listening and also 5.1 movies ].

I am considering trying a pair of Emotiva XPA-100 250W/400W amps for those front speakers. I haven't seen an impedance graph to compare to the bookshelf version, but perhaps the towers also have a lower-than-8-6 ohm impedance?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Listening window frequency response seems to be about +/-3.5dB. So probably not the most accurate. But still sound pretty good.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

They sound great but I think I have noticed I have to really crank the Denon AVR3313 to -10db or even -5db to get really awesome sound levels. [Used for two channel listening and also 5.1 movies ].

I am considering trying a pair of Emotiva XPA-100 250W/400W amps for those front speakers. I haven't seen an impedance graph to compare to the bookshelf version, but perhaps the towers also have a lower-than-8-6 ohm impedance?

What are your speaker channel level settings on the 3313?

If you are just worried because the master volume is turned to -10 or higher, all you have to do is turn all the speaker channel levels above 0.0. Then you will only have to turn the master volume to -20.0. That may make some guys feel better psychologically.

 

[Darkwing_duck]

Man....too bad the SVS Ultra Towers didn't get peeked in like the bookshelf speakers

Would've loved to see the quality of the drivers and crossovers in the towers

 

[GIEGAR]

Thanks for the interesting review. I enjoy your tag- team style. I recently bought the SVS towers to replace Aperion 632 bookshelf spkrs.

They sound great but I think I have noticed I have to really crank the Denon AVR3313 to -10db or even -5db to get really awesome sound levels. [Used for two channel listening and also 5.1 movies ].

I am considering trying a pair of Emotiva XPA-100 250W/400W amps for those front speakers. I haven't seen an impedance graph to compare to the bookshelf version, but perhaps the towers also have a lower-than-8-6 ohm impedance?

Arnold, I haven't seen a graph for the towers either, but there's a description here: Test Report: SVS Ultra Tower Surround Speaker System Page 3 | Sound & Vision.

For the Tower, minimum impedance is 3.0 ohms at 79 Hz with a phase angle of –1°.

They also measure "quasi-anechoic" sensitivity at 87dB/1W/1m, which is just OK. These two combined may mean the Ultras are one of those speakers that can genuinely trouble a mid-teir AVR at high volumes when run full range. (< Lots of qualifiers there.) You'd want to eliminate a few other possibilities though...

Do you run "strict" 2 channel, or are subs engaged? If not, the first thing I'd do is run the sub(s) and get the crossover above that 3Ω dip at 79Hz. Do your Audyssey setup results make sense with the towers in comparison to the Aperions? What did it report/set the channel trims at? Last silly question: Audyssey Dynamic Volume = Off?