CHICAGO (PTA) — The SVS Sound room will wow you to no end if you are looking for sub-woofer demonstrations that twist your guts around each other. But for the more refined ear, you might notice that everything else upward of the audible frequency range has that same level of ability and energy to present a dynamic and and fun sonic picture. Yes, expect to be kicked, but at the same time, kicked into a thrilling sub-mission that you won’t willingly walk (or limp) away from easily.

The Story

The captains of fun at SVS Sound put forth some of the more exciting and challenging rooms I cover around the audio show circus. They have straddled that line between home theater and burgeoning high-fidelity manufacturer for many years now.

New for AXPONA 2019 is SVS’s Prime Pinnacle, a compact tower speaker with three self-contained and ported 6.5-inch woofers, an isolated 5.25-inch glass-fiber-composite mid-range driver and 1-inch aluminum dome tweeter.

A lifted quote about the Prime Pinnacle from our sister publication AudioHead

“When we set out to design the Prime Pinnacle speaker, it was supposed to be a straightforward execution that came as close to the performance of our reference Ultra Tower as possible, but in a more room-friendly cabinet design at a lower price,” said Gary Yacoubian, President, SVS. “The reality is, we spent more time voicing Prime Pinnacle than any speaker in SVS history so it would be equally suited for the demands of discerning audiophiles and hardcore home theater fans. To go even further, Prime Pinnacle’s profile had to blend seamlessly and sound amazing in any listening environment. The dedication paid off because it truly stands alone at its price and well beyond.”

Also on display, though not active while I was visiting the room was the new Prime Wireless speaker system. A self-powered, two-channel stereo system with an amplified 50-watts per driver. That’s 200-watts total — see, I can math — for the pair. Crossover is of the active-digital type, connectivity supports both Bluetooth and Wifi, it’s own DTS Play-Fi technology and app which allows multi-room streaming. Because digital technology in speaker systems like the Prime Wireless are so powerful, it was to be expected that SVS would include custom presets for programing Spotify playlists and Podcasts. Allowing one to shuttle the app entirely if quick access is a priority for important and regularly used media channels. Optical in, line-level, sub-out, round out the physical connectivity. Uses are yours to choose, as the Prime Wireless are big enough to work as an in-room stereo system, or at a desk for monitoring computer based media.

And last, but not least, the sub-woofers. SVS was very proud of their new 3000 Series subs, which run 850-watt amplification, and come in a smaller sealed and larger ported version. The joke around the sales people from SVS is that these 3000 Series subs will steal sales away from the 4000 Series for they offer a close comparison to their bigger brothers. From my listening experiences in-room, the new 3000 Series seems indestructible, as they were moving fast and playing deep.

The Sound

From there, the SVS Sound demonstration room was as packed as it always is. With action/adventure movies going on one wall, sub-woofers pounding out thunderous concussion causing SPL’s and the new Prime Pinnacle’s handling the SFX crashes and swooshes with crisp dynamics and crunchy punch. It’s everything you expect to find in a home theater demo. During my visit to SVS we didn’t delve into music and at the time I was kind of relieved, but as I review my notes, I realise there is more to the story when it comes to music heard on SVS gear, so that chapter will have to wait for another time when I can take over the room.