I Replaced My Boring Bookshelf Speakers With These Slick Wireless Ones - And I Highly Recommend Them

11 hours ago

ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

SVS Prime Wireless Pro powered speakers are disposable now from nan SVS website for $675 (regularly $900).
You won't find a smoother, better-blended sound from an progressive speaker astatine this value point.
To get nan champion bass, you should brace these pinch nan SVS SB-1000 Pro subwoofer.

Most consumers judge punchy bass and sizzling highs are cardinal to a bully speaker. If that sounds for illustration your taste, past you person a batch of options disposable for you (because a batch of manufacturers cater to booming bass). But nan people of a genuinely bully speaker is nan expertise to blend nan sound successful specified a measurement that you perceive it arsenic nan creator intended.

Instead of highlighting nan debased and precocious ends, you should purpose to get a equilibrium truthful you tin perceive each voices, instruments, and ranges coming together to shape a cleanable union.

That's not to opportunity you want a muddy sound (as a batch of low-end speakers will deliver). The extremity is to create a sound section that allows each instrumentality aliases sound to show itself erstwhile basal (such arsenic a solo aliases peculiarly important transition for a definite vocal range).

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I've knowledgeable a batch of speakers that punch up definite wave ranges because, well, that's what's popular. And definite philharmonic genres inadvertently spot those demands connected manufacturers.

But my aural happy spot is erstwhile a brace of speakers tin present a buttery soft blend of sounds that don't unit a peculiar scope astatine me. Instead, I get to perceive nan euphony arsenic nan creator intended it. For many, specified speakers would beryllium called "Studio Monitors" because they let whoever is listening to perceive nan truth successful nan sound.

The SVS Prime Wireless Pro powered speakers delivered that very point to me. And paired pinch my SVS SB-1000 Pro subwoofer, everything I threw astatine nan setup was gloriously smooth. Hearing euphony done these speakers was for illustration coming home.

Classical, choral, rock, prog, metal, classical rock…the genre didn't matter, arsenic these speakers could grip it all.

Of course, sound penchant is simply a individual affair, but erstwhile you find a brace of speakers that tin present a neutral sound, without lacking excitement, you cognize you person thing special.

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Note: The preset characteristic is utilized successful operation pinch nan mobile app that you tin brace pinch nan speakers. Although I installed nan app, I didn't dive excessively heavy into it because I didn't find it necessary.

My experience

First off, I should mention that I person a unsocial setup. I perceive to some my turntable and PC from nan aforesaid speakers (I know, bad audiophile). The logic for this setup is that I perceive to some while writing. Sometimes, I'll want to perceive a portion of euphony from vinyl, and different times, I'll want to perceive thing I don't yet person connected my mean of choice. And because my agency (with cats roaming around) isn't precisely conducive to floor-mount speakers, I thin to spell nan bookshelf route.

My erstwhile speakers included some Aux and Line In inputs, which meant I could plug my Rega P8 turntable into 1 and my PC into nan other.

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The SVS Prime Wireless Pro speakers person a azygous RCA Line In and a 3.5mm Line In. You can't plug some of those successful and expect nan speakers to cognize which instrumentality to prioritize. That's erstwhile I had to move my PC complete to nan Bluetooth action and link my turntable to nan RCA Line In.

The only caveat is that my System76 Thelio disconnects nan Bluetooth speakers each clip nan surface locks. So erstwhile I log backmost in, I person to reconnect nan speakers via nan Bluetooth manager. No large deal.

Okay, connected to nan music. As I said, I ran these speakers done respective genres. Here's a representation:

Classical - Samuel Barber's Adagio For Strings - By acold my favourite portion of classical music, nan SVS Prime brought this heartbreaking portion to its fullest life. Every instrumentality could beryllium picked retired of nan orchestra and I was capable to adjacent my eyes and conscionable fto nan soft sounds lavation complete me. One very telling infinitesimal successful this portion is nan first movement's climax, wherever lesser speakers tin distort astatine louder volumes. The SVS Primes handled it without moreover nan slightest crack.
Choral - A Choral Christmas - There is nary lovelier Christmas album, and this signaling came to life pinch each instrumentality and sound blending pinch conscionable capable abstraction and extent to make maine consciousness for illustration I was successful nan performance hallway listening to VOCES8.
Classic Rock - Led Zeppelin's Kashmir - This was disconnected nan Mothership release, and I've ne'er heard nan opus pinch specified clarity.
Progressive - Rush's Tom Sawyer - This is my go-to for testing speakers, and nan SVS Prime gave nan opus nan punch it deserves. Granted, I americium utilizing these speakers pinch nan SVS subwoofer, but nan footwear you get from nan very opening of nan portion instantly brought a grin to my face. It's charged pinch powerfulness and conscionable arsenic agile arsenic nan musicians.
Rock/metal - Band-Maid's YOLO - I emotion this song. From Kanami's near-virtuosity connected guitar, Akane's pounding rhythms, Misa's phenomenal bass lines, Miku's hit guitar, and Saiki's voice, this opus conscionable fills nan room pinch truthful overmuch sound. And dissimilar my erstwhile speakers, nan opus doesn't get mislaid successful a footwear drum and throbbing bass wall.

Along pinch my testing tracks (all played connected vinyl), I've spent nan past 2 weeks listening to Christmas euphony (as I ever do this clip of year), and each opus filled my bosom pinch delight.

ZDNET's buying advice

If your existent speakers sound excessively harsh aliases muddy, upgrading to a value brace of progressive speakers tin make a important difference. After testing, I recovered nan SVS Prime Wireless Pro to connection a well-balanced sound and a refined design, making them a standout prime astatine this value point. It's moreover amended that you tin now bargain 1 for $225 off, a discount that apt won't past for a while.

The specs

The specs for nan SVS Prime Wireless Pro powered speakers look for illustration this:

Frequency consequence - 42Hz - 25kHz (+/- 3dB)
Drivers - 1" aluminum dome tweeter and 5.25" mid-bass driver
Dual Class-D powerfulness amps
200 watt (50 watt X 4) RMS power
Digital power tweeter-to-woofer crossover (2kHz (12dB/octave slope)
2.36" wide-flared rear-firing port
DTS Play-Fi pinch lossless 192kHz/24-bit via Critical Listening Mode complete Wi-Fi
CD value for some Apple Airplay 2 and Chromecast for Android phones and devices
Bluetooth 5.0 pinch AAC and aptX
Spotify Connect
HDMI audio input supports ARC and eARC
Left/Right RCA input (input impedance 20K)
3.5mm Aux input (input impedance 20K)
Toslink Optical Input (S/PDIF receiver useful astatine a scope up to 96kHz)
Ethernet connectivity
USB work port
Subwoofer output - 2V max - auto-detecting debased walk select activates debased walk astatine 80Hz
Cabinet dimensions - 11.61" (H) x 7.09" (W) x 8.85" (D)
Weight - Active Speaker Weight 12.3 lbs (5.58kg), Passive Speaker Weight: 11.68 lbs (5.3kg)
Included distant for switching betwixt inputs, changing volume, and selecting presets