SVS Announces Ultra Evolution Speakers
CES is where manufacturers show off their latest innovations. SVS took the opportunity to announce their new flagship series of speakers, the Ultra Evolution series. Sporting a brand-new design, new materials, and some new tricks, the new SVS Ultra Evolution might be your next upgrade. Priced from $900/pair for the entry-level Nano to $5000/pair for the Flagship Ultra Evolution Pinnacle, the new series is looking to disrupt the Audiophile market! Let’s discuss.
What’s New?
In a word – lots! Let’s start with design. The new Ultra Evolution speakers feature a chamfered, curved front baffle that has a woofer-midrange-tweeter-midrange-woofer design. Add a pair of ports and woofers on the back of the towers to create what SVS calls a Balanced Opposed Array. That’s right folks, each of the SVS Ultra Evolution towers has four woofers. Quad 8″ drivers in the Ultra Evolution Pinnacle, and quad 6.5″ drivers in the Evolution Titan. All four drivers fire in phase, meaning that the opposing force of the rear-facing drivers can help attenuate some of the vibrations the two forward-facing drivers create. This new design has the potential to produce significant bass from a tower speaker with a high-efficiency design.
The curved front baffle, while looking premium, also serves to time align the driver array. In theory, by placing the mid-range and bass drivers forward of the tweeter, the slower-moving bass should reach the listener at the same time as the tweeter frequencies. SVS calls this Acoustically Centered Time Alignment Architecture. While Audiophiles will love this, it’s unsure if this will make a noticeable difference to the typical listener.
Lastly, SVS has put some new materials into their speakers. Aside from significant dampening and bracing around all drivers, there are new materials in the drivers. The tweeter features a 1″ Diamond Coated Tweeter with Organic Cell Lattice Diffuser. SVS claims the new tweeter is capable of reaching up to 40kHz, while the Lattice Diffuser reduces any possible distortion. The midrange drivers are made from a composite glass fiber composite that is incredibly strong and should allow for stunning dynamics.
Available Models – SVS Ultra Evolution
The new SVS Ultra Evolution series encompasses seven sets of speakers. There are three sets of available towers, with the flagship Ultra Evolution Pinnacle ($5000/pair), Titan ($4000/pair), and Tower ($3000/pair). Bookshelf speakers are offered in two sizes, the Ultra Evolution Bookshelf ($1300/pair) and Nano ($900/pair). SVS offers a single Ultra Evolution Center ($900/each) and Ultra Elevation ($900/pair). All are offered in gloss black, white, and black ash.
While this may seem like a big jump in price, the new pricing is very competitive with other “Flagship” offerings from the likes of Focal or Paradigm.
Our Take
I am always excited when a new series of speakers hits the market. The new SVS Ultra Evolution speakers live up to their name and are a complete departure from the previous Ultras in terms of design. While we have not received much info in terms of performance, keep checking back for updates as we get them.
