SVS Ultra Towers Floorstanding Speaker Review

If you’re going to call a floorstanding speaker the Ultra, then you’d better have a set of brass balls backing up that particular claim. Especially if you’re going to design it to look like something out of a feverish Batman fan’s nightmare. Still, this is SVS, and if anybody can pull off one of the maddest pair of speakers we’ve ever seen, it’s them. In this review, we break down the Ultra Towers’ sound, design, packaging and accessories, specs and more. To see how they stack up, see our list of the best floorstanding speakers.
 

Sound

Low-End (Bass) and Mids

For the most part, we tested the SVS Ultra Towers as part of a dedicated 5.1 setup (although we did spend a little time with them in Hi-Fi mode, which we’ll discuss below), and they performed brilliantly. They delivered fluid and captivating articulation in the mids, with warmth and clarity to voices, and not once did we find ourselves getting confused by muddy and unfocused sound. For the most part, their performance was top notch, no matter how violent or explosive the film was.

Here’s something that the folks at SVS probably aren’t going to be too pleased to hear. They do, after all, make some mind blowing subwoofers, like the PB16-Ultra (full review here). But we believe it, so we’re going to say it: the bass on the Ultra Towers is good enough that you could quite conceivably get away without ever having a subwoofer. Don’t get us wrong - we always recommend having one, because subwoofers are awesome - but with four angled 8” woofers pumping out ear-melting low-end, you could make a very good argument for spending the money you would spend on a sub on…we don’t know, whiskey. Beer. A Game Of Thrones box set and matching life-size Daenerys Targaryen statue. Because at top volume, the Ultra Towers put out some utterly magnificent bass. It didn’t have the volume or sheer power of a dedicated subwoofer, but it anchored the sound with the deep, roaring low-end, and was a titanic amount of fun to listen to.

High-End (Treble)

If we had one criticism of these speakers, it’s that they lacked a little bit of detail at the very top. We never felt like kicks, punches, and gunshots had quite enough ‘snap’ to them, as if the puny little tweeter just couldn’t keep up with the absolute monsters thundering away below it. These impressions were magnified when we connected the speakers up to a Peachtree nova300 amp (full review here) for music listening. The sound was still terrific, but it definitely lacked a little bit of detail in the highs – and on occasion, felt a little sharp and harsh. It’s not a major problem, but it’s a puzzling misstep for a speaker that does so many other things so well. It’s worth saying that the included foam inserts let you plug the ports on the rear of the speakers, which does lower the overall volume, but helps improve clarity. We didn’t notice a significant difference when doing this, and for the most part, we left the foam pads out.
 

Soundstage

What we did like about the SVS Ultra Towers, and what we thought the speakers also did really well, with the sense of space and imaging they delivered. This is due to, we are convinced, the toe-out design to angle the woofers, but even if that hadn’t been the case, we’ve no doubt that they’d do a very good job convincing us of the place of the individual elements of the mix. And if you can forgive the slight misstep with the highs, which will probably end up getting fixed the next time SVS release a new iteration of these, you have to applaud their overall sound quality. In terms of floorstanding speakers, they deliver audio that in our opinion is beaten by perhaps only one or two other models in the same price range. It’s a very good look. By the way, SVS has an excellent speaker positioning guide - far more intuitive than anything we could put together here. You should make full use of that if you buy.

Design

Build Quality and Looks

Most floorstanding speakers are – how shall we put this? – a little bit boring. They are tall black/brown boxes with a few drivers on them. If they have one overriding design mission, it’s too blend into the background as much as possible. Not the SVS Ultra Towers. To say these things dominate the room would be an understatement. It’s not just that they are tall, standing 45.6” high when most other speakers in this particular category tend to be closer to 40”, or 42” at the most. It’s that they are wide. Instead of dropping straight down to the floor, the back end of the speakers flares out, creating a design reminiscent of a flowing gown, or – yes - Batman’s cape. It’s a dramatic and eye-catching design, one we haven’t really seen elsewhere in the world of tower speakers. And while it might not be for everyone – something we’ll go into a little more below – it certainly puts the speakers in a class of their own. It is also leagues away from their more conservative models, like the SVS Prime Towers (full review here) - which, coincidentally, are half the price at $600 each.

Woofer Placement

The reason the bottom end is flared the way it is is to accommodate two 8” woofers on each speaker, one on either side. The slight toe-out effect is to ensure that the woofers fire in different directions, which SVS says helps accentuate and sharpen the bass. The two low-end drivers are helped along by two standard mid-range ones on the front of each speaker, with a cute little 1” tweeter nestled between them. All business up front, party in the back, although calling these the mullets of the speaker world is perhaps a little unfair - and besides, we like our Batman metaphor a little more. These speakers have been available since 2013, and in all that time, it’s actually a little extraordinary that not one other speaker manufacturer, as far as we can tell, has emulated this toe-out, flared design. Not one. It’s an intriguing and occasionally revolutionary bit of design thinking, and it’s a shame that it hasn’t been taken up by the rest of the industry. To find floorstanding speakers that upend the orthodoxy in a similar way, you have to look far more expensive models, like the since-discontinued Beoplay A9, or monstrously expensive numbers like the Goldmund Apologue.

However, their unique design is also their biggest flaw. Because most floorstanding speakers have all the drivers upfront and at the top, you won’t see a dramatic decline in sound if you squirreled them away on either side of your TV, towards the back. But because of the flare at the bottom end of the Ultra Towers, you can’t. The shape is just far too awkward. Even if you could somehow wedge these into place, you’d be completely negating the effect of those wonderful twin woofers on the side of each speaker. What that means, unfortunately, is that these speakers will be serious overkill for anybody operating in a small space. Trust us, we know: we had these in our living room for a month, and they absolutely dominated the space. By the very nature of the kind of furniture we had, they had to sit slightly forward from the television, which was less than ideal. It’s a problem. These are terrific speakers, and we had an absolute blast using them…but their shape and size and weight (a backbreaking 75lbs per speaker) makes them an acquired taste, and far more suited to bigger spaces, or to listeners with dedicated home theater rooms. We really, really want to give them full marks for design, but we can’t get past the shape, and the issues it might cause.

There’s also a 3.5” open port on the back of each speaker, which you can plug with the aforementioned foam insert – something we’ll talk about a little more in the accessories section. Ditto for the multiple feet options, which are an easy screw-in design. What's worth mentioning here are the multiple binding posts at the back of the speaker – two per channel, connected by a removable jumper tab. It’s an easy and intuitive way of wiring the speakers exactly how you want, allowing you to do things like wire each channel to separate amp channels, or to monoblock amplifiers. It works very well indeed, and is a mark of how much care and thought has gone into the speakers. And here’s another good thing to end this part of the review off with: SVS not only offer a five-year warranty, but offer a 45-day in-home trial period to see if these speakers are a good fit. You can also put together your ideal system with their dedicated online builder.
 

Newer Speakers from SVS

The Ultra Towers are a little old now - although of course, they were fresh on the market when we wrote this review. They’ve remained the SVS flagship...but that’s about to change. SVS recently announced the Prime Pinnacle - and despite costing less than a pair of Ultra Towers, at $799 each, they look like absolute monsters. A 1” tweeter and 5.25” midrange driver are joined by three enormous 6” woofers - they may lack the bottom woofers of the Ultras, but we’d bet a lot that the bass of these speakers is spectacular. We’ve been promised a pair for review soon, so we’ll update our thoughts shortly. At the time of writing, however, the Ultra Towers remain some of the best floorstanding speakers you can buy.

Accessories & Packaging

Accessories

As mentioned, you get two main accessories with the speakers. The first are the set of thick foam plugs that you can use to block the ports of the rear of each one. We had mixed results with these, described above, although we can totally see how they might change things up in different-sized spaces. Regardless, it’s nice to have these as an option, and although we didn’t get a huge amount of use out of them, it wasn’t a chore to keep them around.

What we did like were the various options included for feet. That’s not always a given with floorstanding speakers; more expensive models we’ve reviewed, like the MarkAudio-SOTA Cesti T (full review here), don’t always have them. These included two sets per speaker of different-length isolation spikes, intended to not only elevate the speaker off the floor and reduce unwanted vibrations, but allow you to level the speaker off if, for some reason, your floor is tilted. While we never use this particular feature, the feet themselves were easy to attach and remove, as long as you don’t mind lowering the speaker onto its side. We couldn’t detect a huge difference in sound between when they were on and when they were off, but we weren’t too concerned about this.
 

Packaging

The packaging for the speakers is…sizeable. There’s some intelligent padding inside, meaning there’s very little danger of the speakers being damaged in transit, but all the same, until you unpack them, you are going to have two very large boxes in your living room. You may want to get a friend over to help – something of a theme with products from this company.

What We Like

• The SVS Ultra Towers bring some intriguing and creative design to the table.
• The bass is absolutely thunderous, thanks to those epic woofers.
• The shape of the speakers and the driver positioning helps put out a terrific soundstage.
• ​The Ultra Towers offer versatile wiring options, meaning you can bi-amp if you want to.
   

What We Don’t

• Their shape restricts their use, which can be quite frustrating during setup.
• The Ultra Towers don’t have an inspiring high end, and tend to lack a little detail.
• At $1,300 each, they may be too expensive for some.

Comparison Table

The Competition

The Klipsch RF-7 III may be a lot more traditional than the Ultras, but they make up for it with glorious, block-rocking sound quality that absolutely blew us away when we heard this line. They are more expensive than the Ultras, and despite their more traditional shape and the somewhat-unsightly horn, we really like the trademark Klipsch black-and-gold color scheme. If you have more to spend, go for these.

For a less-expensive alternative, try the Q Acoustics 3050i speakers. Their bass is nowhere near as good as that found on the Ultras - in fact, we had a few issues with this area when we tested them. But they remain superb speakers, particularly in a smaller home theater setup. And of course, their more traditional shape makes them a little easier to position. These are far from the best speakers available, but they are an excellent budget alternative if you can’t stretch to the high price required for a pair of Ultra Towers.

And let’s stay with SVS for a final recommendation. The Ultras are the most powerful floorstanding speakers they make, so if you want an alternative, check out the SVS Prime Towers. The more conventional shape means they are a little easier to work with, although you do lose those wonderful woofers. Still, at $600 to the Ultras’ $1,300, they are a lot more wallet-friendly, and will suit most people. 

In summary, then, the SVS Ultra Towers are excellent speakers that are among the best of their kind – but they’re not going to be for everyone. We’re not even talking about the slight issue we had with the highs, which was mildly annoying but hardly a dealbreaker. It’s the shape. It might result in some truly incredible sound quality, but there’s no denying that, if you don’t have the right kind of room, these speakers can be very difficult indeed. The imposing size and shape means that they are very difficult to hide, and they certainly don’t blend into the background. Regardless: we consider these among the top floorstanding speakers available. If you’re the right kind of person, with the right kind of room, you are going to absolutely love these.

See the SVS Ultra Towers  See the Best Floorstanding Speakers