SVS Ultra Evolution Pinnacle Review

Auditor55

Auditor55

Audioholic General
Me no, too big for my room. But the composition of the speakers components and the measurements speak for themselves.
Measurements may not tell you everything but they definitely will separate the highly inaccurate and distorted garbage from the good and very very good. This one falls in the "very very good" category. Of course if you don't think Gene or James Larson know what they're talking about, your welcome to believe the BS from any internet audiophool you like.
I never once questioned or try to suggest that those two gentlemen don't know what they are talking about. I've read many of their reviews and watched the YouTube channel where they're discussed various topics in field of audio. I'm no audiophool, I'm actually more favorable to objective approach to audio. With that being said, unlike you, as knowledgeable and experts that they are, I'm not ready to build an alter and worship them and sing hymns in their names.

Anyway don't care how the speakers measure, you still have to listen to them, otherwise Shadyj would measure and then call it a day and don't play any tunes or movies to see how they actually sound to him. Again, in my opinion, it is not wise to just rely upon a third party review without when deciding to purchase speakers.
 
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buckchester

Junior Audioholic
I have zero desire to pursue what you suggest and it would be far less efficient to how we run things now. For the record SVS was not overly pleased with James review and it's possible they won't send another product to us from this series. It's a risk we take and we've lost many advertisers over in the past. Life goes on and we always find brands that appreciate our work. I'm still very fond of the folks at SVS regardless what happens in the future. Anyone thinking James review was overly positive really has poor reading comprehension or they just like trolling. In either event, I've found our most vocal critics are not the ones that support this site in any financial way via patreon or our affiliate links. So I don't give their criticism much weight.
Sorry if I came across as overly crass. For what it's worth, I like you and your work. Same goes for James. And it others you've had on here like Matthew. Respect. I'm a little disappointed though to hear someone has to give you money for you to consider their alternate views.

I think I understand the business model. I get why you would make the decisions you do. But there are changes that could be made to make your website even more consumer friendly. I'm not trying to demand change from you. Just passing along an opinion. I would have been happy to contribute to your patron account.
 
everettT

everettT

Audioholic Spartan
With that being said, a speaker is something one must listen to themselves and then make a decision. There's only so much a third party reviewer can do. I personally don't think it's smart to make a decision based soley upon a reviewer results.
Let's not play this game. Yes in the end it's our ears that verify but by no means does someone come away with "I love this speaker" when the measuments don't correlate in a general way.

I've heard 100s of people swear by the B&W 600 series as sounding great. it's nothing more than confirmation bias based on those outside stressors.
 
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AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
The speakers themselves are Focal knock offs with silly crossovers and ugly grills that will endanger “budget” amps at volume. Next!!!
Hey, the Chinese are good at making speaker cabinets that are knockoffs of famous speakers from Focal and B&W. Check these out:


 
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Golfx

Senior Audioholic
Sorry if I came across as overly crass. For what it's worth, I like you and your work. Same goes for James. And it others you've had on here like Matthew. Respect. I'm a little disappointed though to hear someone has to give you money for you to consider their alternate views.

I think I understand the business model. I get why you would make the decisions you do. But there are changes that could be made to make your website even more consumer friendly. I'm not trying to demand change from you. Just passing along an opinion. I would have been happy to contribute to your patron account.
I believe what he was saying your naive suggestions only have significance to you but not him or his business model. You still fail to understand you have insulted his experience and suggested his approach is flawed and needs your corrective advice.
 
William Lemmerhirt

William Lemmerhirt

Audioholic Overlord
I still haven’t had a chance to read this yet, maybe tonight…
My main beef so far is the stoopid naming of these new lines from svs. Way too many syllables. And really, “ultra”, “evolution”, “pinnacle”, All to name one speaker! Why not just name it the super mega awesome badass G funk pimp daddy killer MOFO?
Oh then the step down model“ultra evolution titan”? Like repeating superlatives will make them sound better to your friends? Or help justify your purchase lol.
I’m sure they all sound great. But it just makes me laugh.

Be curious to see if critics of the business model would feel the same. IF THEY HAD ANY FUKKIN SKIN IN THE GAME!!! Nope. Just piss n moan from the cheap, er, FREE seats. Like telling Ron Jeremy he should eat it before he pokes it.
 
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kdickin2

Audiophyte
Thanks for the informative review. From a measurements perspective, it still looks like the KEF R meta series is tough to beat in this price bracket -- the directivity mismatch and FR dip at the tweeter crossover rule the new SVS line out for me -- but I can see the new SVS line being appealing to those who prefer a warmer sound signature.
 
ryanosaur

ryanosaur

Audioholic Overlord
Kef r11m is in a weird price bracket. I wouldn’t call this Speaker and the R11 in the same. For many, that additional 1500 per pair is a deal breaker. Especially if you consider comparing prices across Speakers with matching Drivers… so the Kef r11m compared to the sVS Titan is more appropriate and seeing a difference of $2500 per pair is even more out of whack. ;)
 
isolar8001

isolar8001

Audioholic General
Buckchester is over at ASR now bad mouthing Audioholics....nice going BuckBoy !!
Nice how they spanked him over there too.

 
Auditor55

Auditor55

Audioholic General
Let's not play this game. Yes in the end it's our ears that verify but by no means does someone come away with "I love this speaker" when the measuments don't correlate in a general way.

I've heard 100s of people swear by the B&W 600 series as sounding great. it's nothing more than confirmation bias based on those outside stressors.
I think something worse than confirmation bias, is that a consumer buys a pair of speakers, he loves them and then he comes on a site like this and reads all the negatives of why he should hate them and then turns around and either sells them for something more expensive, so he doesn't feel like he cheated himself and to seek the approval of authoritarians. Hence, he no longer thinks of himself among the dull and uninitiated. :)
 
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buckchester

Junior Audioholic
Buckchester is over at ASR now bad mouthing Audioholics....nice going BuckBoy !!
Nice how they spanked him over there too.

How exactly am I bad mouthing?
 
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kdickin2

Audiophyte
Kef r11m is in a weird price bracket. I wouldn’t call this Speaker and the R11 in the same. For many, that additional 1500 per pair is a deal breaker. Especially if you consider comparing prices across Speakers with matching Drivers… so the Kef r11m compared to the sVS Titan is more appropriate and seeing a difference of $2500 per pair is even more out of whack. ;)
I never specifically referenced the R11 Meta ;) R7 Meta and the SVS Pinnacle have the same MSRP and are the more apt price-to-price comparison. I understand that SVS likely has the output and low end advantage, though I still haven't seen Max SPL figures reported for the Pinnacle.
 
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everettT

everettT

Audioholic Spartan
I think something worse than confirmation bias, is that a consumer buys a pair of speakers, he loves them and then he comes on a site like this and reads all the negatives of why he should hate them and then turns around and either sells them for something more expensive, so he doesn't feel like he cheated himself and to seek the approval of authoritarians. Hence, he no longer thinks of himself among the dull and uninitiated. :)
That's called getting an education. If the consumer doesn't know what they should be hearing or have something to compare it to, are we supposed to pretend the problem doesn't exist? I'm not saying that an average speaker is a problem, I'm saying that poor measuring speakers (more than just a frequency response) should be avoided for auditions.

I've made some poor purchases over the years, and I've learned from them and hopefully someone else benefits from that. :)
 
ryanosaur

ryanosaur

Audioholic Overlord
I never specifically referenced the R11 Meta ;) R7 Meta and the SVS Pinnacle have the same MSRP and are the more apt price-to-price comparison. I understand that SVS likely has the output and low end advantage, though I still haven't seen Max SPL figures reported for the Pinnacle.
Agreed. My point was in contrasting the more similar models by design, though, not by price as the main determinant.

Ultimately, SVS and KEF aren’t competing for the same market. I could say that I have a feeling SVS would hope to peel away some people that can just afford the mid range KEF R Metas… But I doubt KEF would see that as a problem. If/when KEF updates the Q series, then we are talking more apples to apples.

But that is just speculation and opinion, on my part, stacked on top of each other. ;)

Added thoughts about the place these fit overall, and not meant as dedicated response to KD :) :

While prices have risen over the past several years, we’ve also seen several companies step up their game and offer more Speaker for that price. DefTech Demands, the Founder series, Reserve series... all showed instances of companies taking some worthwhile steps forward. In many ways, SVS is joining that crowd now. Six years ago, many of these would have probably been $2500-$3000 per pair, but now are $4000-$5000.

Kef R series has always been next level above that of the Speakers I mentioned above. That the pricing for the R series is more closely matching those others is impressive. I can only assume this is because of the trickle down technology helping bring price down per unit, but still rising above to a different price category.

I see the SVS Ultra Evolution doing the same as these other Speaker companies I referenced. They're updating and old line and trying to differentiate themselves while operating in the same market but with more strict rules. If or when SVS updates the Prime series and can introduce some of the technology from the UE series, that will be a very good day for consumers overall.

Completely as an aside, when I saw the measurements, my suspicion was that they probably sound better than the measurement looks. We know there is a case for this. Without hearing it, I definitely have (and voiced earlier in this thread) concern about the crossover region. Overall, directivity looks pretty good except for that region of the FR. They definitely made a weird choice in how they tackled this design, and not in terms of the "time-alignment."

These re not KEF or Focal Speakers. These are SVS. Other sites have opined that users want these to be an option for this or that other brand...

They are. But how you (that's the royal you, not any you in specific :p) value your Speaker and how you choose where you spend your money is a key component that is being left out. It's not all about being a KEF-killer: Clearly this wasn't in SVS' design philosophy.

Yes they made some interesting and perhaps questionable choices with how the XO is designed and the Speaker voiced. Many companies still do that and do just fine selling Speakers with their own unique flaws.

This review has reveled those for this product and hopefully SVS will iterate based on this feedback and do something better next time. :D

That's not to say that these Speakers aren't worth purchasing... but again, that's a value that each individual shopper has to decide on for themselves.
 
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Sal1950

Junior Audioholic
For the record SVS was not overly pleased with James review and it's possible they won't send another product to us from this series.
I was quite surprised to hear you make that comment of SVS reaction?
Overall I found the review a quite positive one with the sole slight criticism of the bottom
end balance. If I was in the market for this size and price speaker, it would be at the top of a
"must hear" list.
Strange times we live in.
 
Auditor55

Auditor55

Audioholic General
I still say SVS did not introduce a bookshelf version of their flagship speakers the Ultra Evolution Pinnacle.
That's called getting an education. If the consumer doesn't know what they should be hearing or have something to compare it to, are we supposed to pretend the problem doesn't exist? I'm not saying that an average speaker is a problem, I'm saying that poor measuring speakers (more than just a frequency response) should be avoided for auditions.

I've made some poor purchases over the years, and I've learned from them and hopefully someone else benefits from that. :)
A problem exists if you don't like what your ears are hearing. A measurement might confirm why a consumer doesn't like what they're hearing.
 
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