Within the complicated cacophony of speaker manufacturers, sorts, and fashions, it’s good for audio people like me to have a back-pocket suggestion that constantly exceeds expectations. SVS, finest identified for its phenomenal subwoofers, has lengthy been my outside-the-box worth decide. The corporate’s Prime Sequence provides unbelievable entry- and mid-level audio system, whereas the flagship Extremely Sequence brings step-up efficiency at a nonetheless affordable worth level.
For 2024, SVS’s high speaker collection bought a uncommon ground-up redesign, that includes eye-catching new angled cupboards and contemporary drivers, referred to as Extremely Evolution. SVS completes the design with its acquainted piano gloss end (woodgrain can also be on supply), giving the Evolution Bookshelf audio system I evaluated an elegant but futuristic vibe.
These audio system are a reasonably substantial funding, and there’s a glut of choices at or round their worth class preventing to your {dollars}. As common, although, SVS comes via with a winner. The brand new Extremely’s placing fashion and considerate design give approach to exhilarating efficiency, with a swift mixture of readability, dynamics, and vivid stereo imaging.
Who Bent My Audio system?
Pulling the Extremely Evolution from their packaging reveals stout mirrored cupboards standing over 15 inches tall, 8 inches throughout, and 11 inches again. The folded entrance appears to be like like Hulk had a rage assault and Bruce Banner contritely despatched them in for refinishing. Rounded corners at the back and front full the design for a glance that’s minimalist with out being boring.
Angled audio system are nothing new; Focal’s Kanta audio system have it, whereas its zillion-dollar Grand Utopia towers seem like they’ve been sliced with a katana and rehung as mobiles. It’s nonetheless stunning to see this design at such accessible pricing.
{Photograph}: Ryan Waniata
Although it might double as a stylistic flourish, the Extremely’s special approach is all about science. SVS engineers used “time aligned cupboard geometry” in an effort to line up the middle of the speaker’s 6.5-inch composite glass fiber woofer with the 1-inch aluminum dome tweeter for max “section coherence.” In different phrases, the intention is to higher align their frequencies in order that they hit your ears on the similar time, enhancing accuracy and stereo imaging. Seeing because the Evolution’s imaging is amongst my favourite of their sonic abilities, it appears to have labored out.
Aluminum dome tweeters are favored for his or her longevity and swift readability, however relying on voicing, they generally hit my ears with an excessive amount of harshness within the greater frequencies. SVS says it smoothed issues out by including a diamond coating to the tweeter. Utilizing a method referred to as vapor deposition, “a layer of diamond carbon is utilized” to extend rigidity and easy out the sonic transition between the tweeter and woofer.
The treble generally leans towards the brilliant aspect, particularly notable after longer listening classes, however the mixture of clear and tempered excessive frequencies retains all however the sharpest recordings effectively in verify. SVS additionally provides a random-latticed tweeter cowl, designed to each shield the driving force and higher disperse sound frequencies to extend the candy spot. You possibly can cowl all of it up with the included magnetic grilles, however the Evolution look much more dynamic with out them.
