The listening test
Testing and judging a surround set of five speakers and two subwoofers is quite a challenge, but it’s an enjoyable challenge. Given the solidity, the SVS name and the beautiful professional finish of the speakers, this is a very interesting assignment. In order to test the versatility of the SVS surround set, we used a number of recent films on blu-ray. We also tested the quality of the SVS set using a number of SACD’s and a music blu-ray from Turtle records, with which we could judge the quality of this set in high-resolution playback.
Gravity Blu-ray
It is not for nothing that this movie recently earned Oscars for ‘Best Sound Effects’ and ‘Best Sound’. That makes this blu-ray the perfect jury for writing a review of the SVS set. Played with the Marantz UD-9004 and driven by the Yamaha RX-A3020, the film comes completely to life. The soundtrack and the sound effects, especially when the space-garbage makes contact with the ISS space station, are brought impressively to life. It’s not that the SVS set puts on an overdriven spectacle, but the playback is very neutral and correct. The powerful and full basses of the SVS subwoofers support the dynamic of the film amply, and they do this very realistically. When power and energy must be delivered, it’s there, and you immediately feel that it comes from the movie and not that it’s played back from a surround installation. In short, the SVS set disappears completely because we sit completely inside the movie itself.
Captain Phillips Blu-ray
Captain Phillips is about a container ship that is attacked by Somali pirates, and the captain, Richard Phillips, is kidnapped for a number of days. This is no spectacular film, but a film that is carried by the strong acting talents of Tom Hanks and in which especially the dialogue plays a strong role.
Here too the SVS set, especially under the impetus of the SVS Ultra Center speaker, plays at the level of the film. The dialogue is presented accurately and in detail. The soundstage supports the film completely and the entire SVS set ensures clear transparency for another wonderful movie experience.
Riddick (Extended Director’s Cut) Blu-ray
And then it’s time for a real science fiction spectacle. Riddick (Extended Director’s Cut) is an action-/sf-film in which Riddick, left behind on a strange planet, first must fight against alien predators and then face a large number of bounty hunters. A terrific atmosphere, strong effects, a powerful soundtrack and lots of special sound effects make this movie what it is: a visual and auditory spectacle from the first minute to the end. The tension, which is systematically build up in this movie, and the raw power of the main character ‘Riddick’ are very accurately and uncompromisingly reproduced. Here the SVS set excels in accuracy and transparency. Supported by the two SVS SB13 Ultra DSP subwoofers, the sound is regularly spectacular without sounding overly aggressive and too ‘woolly’. The short, dry attack of the SVS bass response has been known and loved for years by many home cinema enthusiasts. In addition, the accuracy of the fronts and centre in combination with the surround speakers, set in the Duet mode, is a valuable addition to a comprehensive soundstage with a lot of depth and detail.
Holst – The Planets (Royal Scottish National Orchestra directed by David Lloyd-Jones – Multichannel SACD)
With the multi-channel SACD playback, we concentrated exclusively on music playback. We know this ‘Naxos Recording’ like the back of our hand, and we’ve heard it many times with our Canton Reference speaker set. The playfulness with which the third song ‘Mercury, The Winged Messenger’ is produced by the SVS set is, given the price tag of this set, of a very high level. The neutrality and detail are also right on target here. The only criticism that I have here is regarding the power and the clarity of the surround sound. Where we in our normal 7.1 setup use six identical Canton Reference Jubilee speakers as front, surround and back surround, I miss here a little bit of the pressure, power and detail from the back. Despite the fact I absolutely cannot localize the SVS Ultra Surround in the ‘Duet mode’, and it, given the price, plays at a high level, I would advise the Home Cinema enthusiast who only wants the best to get six SVS Ultra Towers. OK, that’s a big investment, but then you’d get the absolute highest level of SVS performance in return.
The Spirit of Turtle (multi-channel SACD and Blu-ray)
In 2013, Turtle Records released a compilation album with fourteen high-resolution tracks. The great thing about the album is that there are both SACD and Blu-ray included, so that the clear, clean and professionally recorded tracks can be heard in both the DSD and the 5.1 DTS HD MA 192 kHz – 24-bit format. Personally, I prefer the DSD playback above the DTS HD MA because it largely feels more natural to me. The Blu-ray is accurate but a bit louder and less musical.
The test that I carried out with the Turtle Records music with the SVS set is the same as described above. The great thing is that this small difference between the two sound carriers is also clearly perceptible with the SVS surround set. SVS makes high-quality speakers with a level of detail and unbelievable resolution that speaks for itself and that allows it to win over even the most critical hi-fi and home cinema enthusiast.
