SVS is quite well known in the audio world for its outstanding subwoofers that consistently outperform their price point. When I tested the new SVS Ultra Evolution Towers, I was expecting performance fitting a value-focused compact tower speaker. What I got was a Flagship beating floor stander in a compact package.
The SVS Ultra Evolution Tower had scale, dynamics, and soundstage that honestly shocked me considering it’s modest size and place as the smallest tower speaker in the new Ultra Evolution line. In a 14x14 room, the towers had dynamics and scale in spades. These are one of the very few speakers I would consider truly full range, capable of being used without a subwoofer without losing anything. At $3000 for the pair, I was blown away at just how well these speakers performed, competing with speakers twice their price easily.
The new Ultra Evolution Towers are surprisingly small given their dynamic performance at only 8 ⅝” wide, 44 ½” tall, and 16 ¾” deep. Their narrow but slightly taller than average, due in no small part to their curved time-aligned baffle design. The speakers were surprising light as well, at 59 ½ lbs each. Despite their small form factor, the towers are able to play from 40k hz all the way down do a surprising 30hz with authority. These speakers are relatively amplifier friendly with a nominal impedance of 6 ohms and a sensitivity of 87db. This means that they will require a bit of power, but don’t require as robust of an amplifier as many of their competitors at this price point. During my testing being about 12 feet from the speakers, i rarely eclipsed 45 watts on my MC462 amplifier even during some of the most dynamics tracks.
High Points
Low Points
Setup for the SVS towers was slightly more involved than some of the other speakers in the same range, due to their curved nature and rear ported setup. It was shipped in your standard foam and cardboard boxes, with helpful instructions printed on the packaging for unboxing. Due to the shape of the speaker, I recommend having a friend help you unbox the speaker to ensure no damage since it can be awkward to unbox it. Once unboxing was finished, setup didn’t take terribly long, though I noticed right away that the speakers performed their best being facing straight ahead, with no major toe-in, and being about 12 inches off of my front wall, allowing the ports to breathe and bringing the treble more in-line with the rest of the speakers.
I find the new design SVS went for with their Time-Aligned Baffles to look quite striking an unique, giving their new series a more premium look to reflect the more premium pricing relative to their previous Ultra series. The Rear woofers and rear ports add a significant amount of bass performance and extension you wont find in any other speaker brand even near this price point. The Design with the curved baffle and midrange and woofers both above and below the speaker is reminiscent of some more premium designs from brands like Focal’s Utopia line and Wilson audio, reinforcing the aesthetic idea that SVS wants to show that they are taking a serious step into the premium space and challenging traditional HiFi.
This speaker has a sense of dynamics and scale that I have only ever heard from the KEF Blade One Meta. Of all of the speakers from all of the brands, not a single one in it’s class comes close the the SVS Ultra Evolution Towers when it comes to the sheer size of the soundstage and the ability to reproduce the original recording in it’s entirety. SVS really did something special when they made this new line, it’s ability to give that sense of being live at an orchestra while playing very well with poorly recorded music makes it such a versatile speaker that does well with any style of music. When I played Hans Zimmer’s Remaster of Pompeii by Bastille, I was amazed at the impact of the drums, the gradual build up of the orchestra, and the sheer size of the soundstage I have heard very few speakers able to reproduce. In particular, the separation between the strings, drums, and vocals was exceptional and the impact made it feel less like listening to a recording, and more of an true front-row experience. This combined with the uncanny ability for the speakers to vanish into the soundstage was incredibly impressive at only $3000.
I would definitely classify the Ultra Evolution towers as slightly bright in the treble, with an overall neutral tonality. The midrange and bass are the strong points of this speaker, the tweeter, while very detailed and extended, isn’t what puts this speaker into a class of it’s own like the quad woofer array very much does. The Tower really impressed me at it’s price point with the level of performance it had in my room, for those who want to feel as if they are sitting front row at a concert or orchestra, the Tower gets a glowing recommendation.
With SVS moving up the range in term of both price point and performance for their new flagship line, they have some large expectations and even larger competition. In particular, many will cross shop the SVS Ultra Evolution Towers, The KEF R5 metas, and the Martin Logan F100 XTs. Relative to It’s competition, I feel the SVS leaves the others behind in both bass performance and dynamics, being more lively than the KEFs while being more dynamic than the Martin Logan. The KEFs have better build quality and a more premium aesthetic, but lack the energy up top that the SVS Towers have. The KEF’s opt for a more neutral sound, with a more rolled-off top end, good for those who value accuracy in their music, While the Martin’s focus more on being incredibly proficient in their treble performance, having some of the best clarity in their class and being the least room-dependent of the bunch. They all have their respective strengths, but I feel the SVS is a strong contender in this competition, especially being the cheapest by quite a significant margin, with the SVS coming in at $3000 for the pair, while the R5 Metas are $4000 a pair, and the Martin Logan F100 XTs come in at $4500 for the pair. The SVS would be my choice if your priority is a speaker that is both dynamic and gives a very large sense of scale. It is not the most neutral or analytical of it’s competition, but does a great job at reproducing the live in the audience effect better than anything in it’s range.
The SVS Ultra Evolution Tower has some of the best performance for your dollar you will find south of $10K, with an impressive level of bass, midrange clarity and composure at all frequencies. The Tower is Ideal for the listener that values the sense of impact in their music that isn’t polite or studio-like, but more real to life. The Towers do an exceptional job at bringing the performance to life with a level of performance that is mind boggling considering the price. I feel that it really prevails in it’ full range performance and the scale of music it can replicate despite being so compact. It may take some time to get the speaker truly dialed-in for the best performance in your room, but the time is well worth it and rewards you in spades for proper setup. The SVS Ultra Evolution Tower may just be one of the best compact floor standing speakers I have ever heard.
