SVS Shows High Performance Audio Solutions at CES 2015

January 12 2015, 05:00
High performance home audio products specialist SVS made major sound waves at CES 2015 with demonstrations of the new Tidal high fidelity music streaming service, and the debut of all-new speakers and subwoofers, plus a special guest appearance by the brand-new Emotiva XMC-1 preamp-processor. SVS offered both stereo and surround sound demonstrations featuring its Ultra Series and Prime Series loudspeakers, and its original PC-2000 Cylinder Subwoofer.
 
 
 
The Ohio-based audio company featured three separate demo systems at CES to highlight the broadening appeal of both two-channel audio systems as well as surround sound systems for music and home theater. SVS presented two separate surround sound demos featuring the new Prime Series family of speakers as well as a two-channel system that featured the acclaimed Ultra Tower and Ultra Bookshelf Speakers driven by the new Emotiva XMC-1 preamp/processor.

“SVS takes pride in bringing immersive and rewarding home audio experiences to a broader range of movie and music enthusiasts,” said Gary Yacoubian, president, SVS.

Tidal is the first music streaming service to combine high fidelity sound quality, high definition music videos and expertly curated editorial into one streaming platform. 

The Prime Series, a versatile line of high performance speakers, was showcased at CES for the first time ever. Spawned from the acclaimed SVS Ultra Speakers, the Prime Series features décor-friendly styling and trickle-down technology and are available in a variety of two-channel and home theater packages, but can also be configured in any multi-channel array for use with Dolby Atmos or other surround sound formats.

The Ultra Tower cabinet design in particular stands-out, using non-parallel cabinet panels to reduce standing waves, effectively eliminating frequency response coloration. The wedge-shaped front baffle and flush-mounted drivers reduce edge diffraction and improved on-axis high frequency response. Even the grille design is FEA-optimized to maximize acoustic transparency.

Each cabinet also employs two separate sealed midrange enclosures to optimize performance and minimize negative interaction between drivers. In addition, the cabinet bracing is FEA-optimized, the cabinet midrange/tweeter baffles are 1" thick and the woofer baffles are an amazing 1.5" thick. This robust construction eliminates structural resonances and ensures the cabinet remains acoustically inert for uncolored response even at the highest drive levels.

The proprietary SVS drivers used in the Prime Series utilize the finest materials and design features. The Ultra Tower driver array features a 1” aluminum dome tweeter, dual 6.5” midrange drivers, and dual 8" horizontally opposed woofers. 
The 1” aluminum dome tweeter features an FEA-optimized diffuser which delivers a very open ‘airy’ presentation and extremely unveiled highs. The 6.5” midrange drivers use a composite glass-fiber cone with excellent stiffness/mass ratio which improves sensitivity and maintains pistonic behavior well beyond the pass-band of the driver, together with a vented voice coil former to minimize air compression artifacts at high drive levels and an aluminum shorting ring to reduce gap inductance, lower distortion, and improve high frequency response. A cast aluminum basket ensures precise alignment of critical components and enhance heat-sinking capacity.

The 8” woofers use long-stroke motor and suspension for low distortion and high output capability with a heavy duty voice coil and an aluminum shorting ring. The ForceFactor horizontally-opposed dual woofer configuration results in mechanical force cancellation for reduced distortion and cleaner, tighter bass response and also to eliminate cabinet vibration. All four woofers fire in different directions.

The Ultra Center driver array features a 1” aluminum dome tweeter, a 4” midrange driver, and dual 6.5” woofers. The vertically aligned tweeter and midrange improves horizontal axis polar response, with reduced lobing and comb filtering for a smooth frequency response and excellent dialogue intelligibility at all listening positions. The Ultra Bookshelf speaker features a 1” aluminum dome tweeter and a 6.5” woofer.

The series also features unique SoundMatch 2-way, 3-way and 3.5-way crossovers with premium-grade capacitors, air-core inductors and heavy-trace printed circuit boards to ensure pure signal transmission. The 3.5-way features a tapered array which supplies each midrange driver with an optimized frequency band. Only the top midrange crosses over to the tweeter, while the bottom midrange is tapered to minimize the potential for off-axis lobing at the critical midrange-to-tweeter crossover frequency. The result is a smoother in-room frequency response and enhanced radiation of total sound power, along with a more generous sweet spot in the vertical axis.

The SVS subwoofers also had a starring role at CES. The new PC-2000 Cylinder subwoofer, a 500-watt, 34-inch tall tower of bass with only a 16-inch footprint was featured prominently in the surround sound demonstrations. SVS subwoofers were also featured prominently in other booths.

According to Yacoubian, “A high performance audio resurgence is underway thanks to many factors.” “The availability of great speakers at an affordable price, growing interest in HD streaming services, better processing and audio performance in home theater and a general backlash against compressed music are all helping to usher in a new golden era of audio. There really has never been a better time to experience audio.”
www.svsound.com
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