SVS crossover upgrade

[Jack N]

A couple of months ago I read somewhere that Dennis Murphy was working on a crossover upgrade for SVS bookshelves. Does anyone know if this was a one-time thing, or if he’s going to market it?

 

[ryanosaur]

He said he had the Ultra Books he modded up for sale... Audiogon, perhaps? Haven't seen any comments about turning it into a thing.

 

[ryanosaur]

Here is the post he mentioned it:

The Philharmonic Audio BMR, Refreshed!

What strikes me is that this post was allowed as it links to another audio site. I don't know of any other sites that allow this. Interesting. I'll head over AVS. Seeing a comment from Dennis in there on 534 "If you "only" need to go down to the 30s, BMR would do it with less than half of the...

forums.audioholics.com

 

[ryanosaur]

Dennis Murphy Modded SVS Ultra Monitors

I modified these speakers in response to requests for me to rework the stock crossovers to address performance issues identified in a recent review of the Ultra's on Audio Science Review: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/svs-ultra-bookshelf-speaker-review.15055/ The...

www.usaudiomart.com

 

[Jack N]

Thanks. I'll check it out.

 

[Pogre]

Dennis Murphy Modded SVS Ultra Monitors

I modified these speakers in response to requests for me to rework the stock crossovers to address performance issues identified in a recent review of the Ultra's on Audio Science Review: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/svs-ultra-bookshelf-speaker-review.15055/ The...

www.usaudiomart.com

Is it cost or a sound signature? If it can be done, and they're not building them with a flat fr cost would be my guess. I'm sure Dennis employed a little magic with the crossovers and it probably ups parts cost a little bit. I'd hate to think it's incompetence...

*PS, maybe different spl goals too. I just thought of that. I wonder if the mod has an effect on power handling?

 

[Tachead7075]

I never did understand these XO mods(they seam to be big for Klipsch). Why not just buy properly designed speakers that measure well and sound good in the first place? Putting money into a bad design seams like a terrible idea to me(painting a turd or putting lipstick on a pig comes to mind) and I think selling and using the money to upgrade to better monitors is a far better option. YMMV of course.

 

[Pogre]

I never did understand these XO mods(they seam to be big for Klipsch). Why not just buy properly designed speakers that measure well and sound good in the first place? Putting money into a bad design seams like a terrible idea to me(painting a turd or putting lipstick on a pig comes to mind) and I think selling and using the money to upgrade to better monitors is a far better option.

I agree with you, but there could be legit reasons (sometimes) for letting it go out like that. Costs, goals, hard to say. I think remember Dennis saying he thought that dip looked intentional.

 

[Tachead7075]

I agree with you, but there could be legit reasons (sometimes) for letting it go out like that. Costs, goals, hard to say. I think remember Dennis saying he thought that dip looked intentional.

Yeah, true enough Pogre. I guess I could see if you already needed to re-cap some nice vintage monitors or something and wanted to take it up a notch while you were in there...

 

[D Murphy]

Yeah, true enough Pogre. I guess I could see if you already needed to re-cap some nice vintage monitors or something and wanted to take it up a notch while you were in there...

I'm not suggesting that people run out and buy Ultra bookshelves and then mod them. I did my pair for someone who already owned them, and it was also an academic exercise to see if i could figure out what was bugging Amir about the sound. The owner sold the pair i modded (which was his intent from the start--he has BMR's) and I consider it pretty much history unless someone wants the schematic to mod an old pair. I guess SVS set the voicing deliberately, although the crossover just isn't very carefully optimized. Hard to say whether it was a voicing decision or bean counters.

 

[Tachead7075]

I'm not suggesting that people run out and buy Ultra bookshelves and then mod them. I did my pair for someone who already owned them, and it was also an academic exercise to see if i could figure out what was bugging Amir about the sound. The owner sold the pair i modded (which was his intent from the start--he has BMR's) and I consider it pretty much history unless someone wants the schematic to mod an old pair. I guess SVS set the voicing deliberately, although the crossover just isn't very carefully optimized. Hard to say whether it was a voicing decision or bean counters.

Hey Dennis, thanks for the reply. Yep, I understand. It sounds like it was a fun project(sometimes it's worth modding for that alone). Are there details of the mod posted anywhere? Yes, I have heard SVS uses bottom shelf components in their XO's as well. I'm guessing it is more a bean counter issue. They have to pay for their fancy warranty and exchange program somehow right. That said, I don't see reports of SVS's failing all over the net so, they must still be pretty reliable.

 

[Pogre]

Hey Dennis, thanks for the reply. Yep, I understand. It sounds like it was a fun project(sometimes it's worth modding for that alone). Are there details of the mod posted anywhere? Yes, I have heard SVS uses bottom shelf components in their XO's as well. I'm guessing it is more a bean counter issue. They have to pay for their fancy warranty and exchange program somehow right. That said, I don't see reports of SVS's failing all over the net so, they must still be pretty reliable.

They're great speakers. I loved mine and the voicing didn't really jump out at me. To my ear they still sound pretty neutral and have good clarity. The drivers and tweets they use are well made.

 

[ryanosaur]

Hey Dennis, thanks for the reply. Yep, I understand. It sounds like it was a fun project(sometimes it's worth modding for that alone). Are there details of the mod posted anywhere? Yes, I have heard SVS uses bottom shelf components in their XO's as well. I'm guessing it is more a bean counter issue. They have to pay for their fancy warranty and exchange program somehow right. That said, I don't see reports of SVS's failing all over the net so, they must still be pretty reliable.

This is one thing I really agree with Dennis on; that "premium" XO components are basically like fancy speaker cables. Not worth the cost.
That said, I've looked at the FR charts of the versions of the BR-1 Speaker from the stock to Dennis' first BR-1 Mod, to the AA+ mod with upgraded tweeter... The first mod made a very good Speaker, and by upgrading the Tweeter and adjusting the XO accordingly, that very good speaker became exceedingly good. And none of the XO components were anything "extraordinary."
In that regard, I personally find the Klipsch Mods referenced above quite silly. DR may as well start shilling for AQ or Synnergistic.
The act of taking a little time to smooth out the response is a balancing act. Proper driver selection should do most of the work, but when you have imperfect drivers, or an imperfect match between, you need to fix it in the XO. Choosing not to is likely more about keeping the part count (thus cost) down in terms of OEMs.