SVS Ultra Evolution Reference Bookshelf Speakers Review

Back in the day when Home Cinema was just taking off SVS was a name that was just entering into the world of Subwoofers, at that time (circa 2000) I used to moderate on AVForums and was heavily active in this exciting new age of DVD and Dolby 5.1 movies, yes even DTS was a rarity back then. Tom Vodhanel and Ron Stimpson, the then owners and founders of SVS, were also quite active on the forums, helping and advising people who wanted to know more about their exciting new brand. Their Subwoofers represented some cutting-edge technology and designs, I owned a 25-31 PC sub which was just one of their cylinder designs making waves, I even owned one of the incredible PB13 Ultra designs too which was an absolute beast in the lower octaves, so I know the SVS name very well and love the bass and performance that their subwoofers produce for both movies and music.

It’s only recently that I have been following them again and have seen that they now have a full range of speakers and systems to match their subwoofers. I heard the new Ultra Evolution floor standing speakers at the HiFi Show Live 2024 at Ascot, and I came away very impressed as they played quite a few tracks that I listen to at home and sounded very impressive. Karma AV asked if I would like to review a pair, so I immediately said yes but wanted to get to listen to the 2 ways stand mount versions which look gorgeous and as I have here for review in the piano gloss white finish they look stunning.

Founded back in 1998 SVS has managed to produce some of the best subwoofers for home cinema and HiFi and now high-end speakers. They have a complete portfolio of products for us audiophiles with over 26 years of history behind them, and only yesterday while writing this review they released the new SVS 17 Ultra Revolution range of subs, it is a totally brand new 17” driver and it looks like an absolute monster of a subwoofer, which I'm sure will be a massive hit for them!

Build Quality and Features

Build quality on these stand mount versions is superb with a very solid and beautifully fashioned cabinet that slants forward at the front and downwards to the rear, which looks unusual at first but gives the speakers a sleek and ultra-modern look and is a lot nicer and better finished compared to the usual box type speaker. It is also done for a reason acoustically so that the tweeter and woofer are aligned, this improves time alignment meaning the sound reaches your ears at the same time from the woofer and tweeter, this maximizes the phase coherence and allows for better imaging and sound staging.

The main woofer is a 6.5” cone made from a glass fiber composite material for greater stiffness of the cone allowing for better dynamics and fidelity, featuring a long throw motor and suspension assembly for higher output in the lower frequencies, it also has a precision cast aluminium basket.

The tweeter is rather special and something that I was amazed to find from a speaker at this price level. It features a Diamond coated tweeter which I have only really seen on products like B&W which cost multiples of what these SVS speakers retail for. The tweeter has an aircraft-grade aluminium dome with a diamond coating over the aluminium to improve rigidity this is why the specs state that frequency response is up to 40 kHz well above what the human ear can hear, there is also an organic cell lattice diffuser over the tweeter which protects it but also helps with the dispersion of sound from the tweeter.

On the rear of the cabinet, it features dual gold plated speaker binding posts and a 2” flared firing port which allows for an extended bass response down to a stated 40Hz. The recommended power amplifier usage for the SVS Ultra Evolution speakers is 20-150 watts with a nominal impedance of 6 ohms and sensitivity rated at 87db so a good quality amplifier is recommended to make sure you get the best performance from them.

For this review, I am using a Chord Electronics BerTTi Stereo power amplifier to power them and connected via XLR cables to the Chord Hugo TT2 & M scaler for DAC duties and number crunching but also as the preamp for this digital front end. For CD playback I am using my Cyrus Audio CD8SE player and for streaming music, I am using my Bluesound Node. All cables are from the Chord Company to tie the system together, but I am also using a Power Aray plug on my 8-way mains board and between the network switch and Bluesound Node I am using an EE1 noise isolator to keep noise out of my system. For music, I am listening to Qobuz, Spotify, and music stored on my NAS HDD. Setting up is straightforward forward and have the speakers slightly toed into my listening position for better imaging and to sharpen up the sweet spot.

Performance and Sound Quality

For my first piece of music, I am listening to the beautiful album from the fone label, The Pink Panther & Friends Henry Mancini in high-resolution 24bit 96kHz. This is a brilliant recording and one of my favourite albums that I own, with a good system, it never fails to impress me, and I love to evaluate new speakers with this music. The iconic theme tune to Pink Panther is something that I grew up with and every time I hear it I reminisce with this beautiful music. Track 1 is the original score and with the Saxophone, drums, and piano playing it makes for a great listen with good speakers, you really do get to delve into the recording and thankfully the SVS speakers do a wonderful job of presenting the music with a wonderful soundstage with excellent instrument separation, the tweeter manages to produce wonderful highs with an airy sound and every tiny nuance is picked out. The saxophone is projected powerfully and the brush sticks on the drums are presented with great texture to the sound and the cymbal's shimmering sound with excellent definition.

My favourite track is track 5 and it is an acoustic delight with the acoustic and electric guitar by F.Mesolella. I have said in previous reviews that this is a Pink Floyd version of this iconic music as it features some great pedal effects from the electric guitar and the SVS Ultra Evolution speakers do a magnificent job of resolving this music, the soundstage may not be as large as other speakers I have reviewed but still excellent for a speaker of this size with plenty of attack and definition to the music, again instrument separation is fantastic and the lower bass notes are replicated with enough power to make it enjoyable.

Track 6 by E.Pietropaoli shows the low-end ability of the speakers brilliantly with the double bass sounding superb and how good this instrument can sound in the lower bass notes, surprisingly in my medium-sized room these stand mounts can energize the room with relative ease sounding powerful and certainly commanding, while remaining composed at the higher volumes that I am listening at.

For my next album, I am listening to the band Air and Moon Safari from 1998 which I used to own on CD, and for the life of me, I cannot find it. This is disappointing as I loved the Red Book CD version as the quality was superb. This version that I am listening to is streamed via Qobuz and in high-resolution 24bit 96kHz, so thankfully this beautiful music sounds superb in high-res through Qobuz. Track 1 La femme d’argent starts with rain coming down and the SVS Ultra Evolution speakers manage to create and resolve this with great effect. Imaging is very good with the funky electric piano playing off to the left and the wonderful percussion center stage.

Track 2 Sexy Boy is great and with the powerful intro which combines brilliant, synthesized sounds with French spoken vocals that this French duo create, the psychedelic sounds of this music sound superb through the SVS speakers and I love the way the sounds move around the soundstage with great imaging, vocals are projected center stage with the psychedelic sounds moving around behind them.

Track 3 All I Need featuring Beth Hirsch's vocals sounds beautiful, her vocals appear center stage with the electric piano and synthesized sounds echoing around her beautiful soothing voice, the tweeter has plenty of energy to the sound but never sounds harsh, and the bass notes have good impact with a punchy bass line from these stand-mount speakers.

Track 8 Ce matin-la sounds simply superb from the Ultra Evolution speakers with a wonderful image of the music presented in my room, with an array of instruments and symphonic sounds, and the trumpet has a smooth and soothing sound while the acoustic guitar plays in the background, the genius of these musicians is played out perfectly with this track and the SVS speakers managed to resolve this music brilliantly.

The SVS Ultra Evolution Reference bookshelf speakers have performed well in my room and they manage to produce music with great fidelity no matter what type of music is played through them. If you follow my social media channels you will see and hear all the different music that I have been playng. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time listening to these new SVS speakers.

 

Conclusions and Final Thoughts

The Ultra Evolution Reference bookshelf speakers represent incredible value for money and if you are looking for a compact speaker for a small to medium-sized room then these are a great option, if you feel the need for more bass SVS has that covered with their subwoofers which would make for a potent high-end audio system and I could happily live with these for a second system at home.

The Speaker Shack awards these fine stand mounts with a Highly Recommended award as they represent fantastic value for money considering their price with a superb high-quality sound.

Price at the time of review: £1,499

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