# SVS Ultra speakers & TAVES



## seanpatrick (Apr 16, 2013)

I just got back from TAVES and thought I'd post my impressions of who to me, was the stand out of the entire show. I spent hours listening to offerings from Bryston, Monitor, Legacy, Martin Logan etc, and all though they all sounded really good - the SVS room blew me away. Their Ultra tower speakers and surrounds were far and away the most exciting demo of the day. They absolutely destroyed the room - the sound was perfect - closest to theater reproduction quality that I've had the pleasure of demoing. They used Tron ( of course lol ) for their demo - and I'm telling you they sounded SO crisp and detailed, if I hadn't bought a 9 speaker PSB image set this year I would have dropped money for them on the spot. Even without their subs ( they were running ultra's ) - when switched to two channel stereo for music, the Ultra towers ( with their built in subs ) rocked. Great imaging, and VERY solid low end - GREAT piano black finish - Just WOW. 

























I actually was looking forward to seeing the PSB Imagine's at the show - and although they sounded nice, gave me no reason to want to step up from my Image line of speakers. PSB didn't have a dedicated room, only a dealers room featuring PSB, so it was a bit of a let down, especially from a Canadian speaker manufacturer at a Canadian show. The Imagine's DID look pretty slick in White though! 



















Another casualty from the lack of a PSB room was that I didn't have a chance to audition their much lauded M4U headphones. I did however have a chance to audition a selection from FOCAL audio, and found them to be superb. In particular their " Focal Spirit One's " http://www.focal.com/en/mobile-headphones/298-spirit-one-3544051725002.html at 269.00 - an obvious competitor to the PSB's in that price range - sounded wonderful, and in fact will be my next headphone purchase. ( I was THIS close at the show to picking up the demo's for 200 including tax, but I promised myself I wouldn't spend money at the show, just LISTEN to things ). In any case a big win for SVS speakers - Really a standout.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Thanks for posting this, I have not heard a review yet from anyone who has heard them up close and it seems they have another winner. The ultras look great and I had hoped they would sound as good. I am waiting patiently for the $2500 speaker evaluation results to be posted as it will be interesting to hear how they faired against the others.


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## Andre (Feb 15, 2010)

I like that they went with a three way center. Tks for review Sean. Strange that Axiom didnt' show up to the show...:scratchchin:


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## seanpatrick (Apr 16, 2013)

Andre said:


> I like that they went with a three way center. Tks for review Sean. Strange that Axiom didnt' show up to the show...:scratchchin:


Yup, no Axiom,. No Paradigm, No PSB ( except for a couple of imagines through a.3rd party booth).. actually t'd me off a bit. If Focal can set up a nice room coming from France, you'd think Canadian companies could represent themselves in Canada a little better. It makes me feel like they're taking their own market for granted and care more about the American one. As you Know they were almost all at CEDIA. Including Mr. Paul Barton from PSB himself.


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## Owen Bartley (Oct 18, 2006)

Thanks for the review, Sean. I went to the show a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it. Did Focal have the Grande Utopias set up again?? :daydream: :spend:

I'm glad to hear your impressions of the SVS setup, and now I wish I could have gone this year to check it out myself. Maybe I'll try to get back next year and see what's on display.

I definitely agree that it is very disappointing to see that PSB and Paradigm both neglected to attend. This could have been a great chance for them to show off their high end stuff to fellow Canadians. Lame.


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## seanpatrick (Apr 16, 2013)

Owen Bartley said:


> Thanks for the review, Sean. I went to the show a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it. Did Focal have the Grande Utopias set up again?? :daydream: :spend:
> 
> I'm glad to hear your impressions of the SVS setup, and now I wish I could have gone this year to check it out myself. Maybe I'll try to get back next year and see what's on display.
> 
> I definitely agree that it is very disappointing to see that PSB and Paradigm both neglected to attend. This could have been a great chance for them to show off their high end stuff to fellow Canadians. Lame.


Thanks Owen. Yes they did - I didn't pay too much attention to them though - when something is that expensive it might as well be a billion dollars I'll never be able to afford them - lol. I glanced at them as one would glance at a Ferrari driving by - Pretty sweet - but I was more interested in things that I MIGHT be able to afford one day haha. That being said - Focal did have a nice room there.


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## Owen Bartley (Oct 18, 2006)

I'd still take the Ferrari for a test drive if the opportunity came up!  

I'll have to make more of an effort to get to next year's show.


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