SVS Ultra Center Channel Upgrade

[Ty_Tanium]

I too would be interested in your A/B comparison. Thanks in advance.

 

[Marcus DiBenedetto]

Hello everyone,

I've completed the crossover upgrade for all three speakers (SVS Ultra center and bookshelf speakers). Is the upgrade worth the effort? Absolutely! My results, of course at this point, are anecdotal based on a couple hours of listening. Yesterday, I had the center and right bookshelf completed. I listened to a variety of very familiar SACD classical & heavy bass jazz (multi 5.0) music. I was impressed with the vocals from the center and right compared to the left channel. Today, all three speakers are completed and listened to the same music. Vocals, again, are the standout improvement, which is great for me, as I listen to a lot of chorus and soloist music. Interestingly, and completely unexplainable, I had to reduce both of my subwoofers 2db (Audyssey is OFF, maybe that's why). What next? Run Audyssey (using the app) tomorrow morning while everyone is asleep. After a few days of "burn in", run REW.

What's involved?
Danny has a lot of videos on his YouTube channel going over every aspect of speaker work.
1. Install no-rez to limit cabinet resonance. Toughest aspect is cutting the stuff. If you have a workshop with a bandsaw, you are in better shape than me.
2. Cut wood to hold the crossovers.
3. Lay out the crossover parts per the diagram (this took some thinking but I eventually got it). You can email a photo of the completed crossover to Danny for his approval.
4. Drill holes in wood and to use zip ties to hold parts on to board.
5. Measure, cut & strip positive and negative wires.
6. Wire everything together.
7. Start soldering! Don't forget heat shrink.
8. Install crossover in to speaker cabinets.
9. Use polyfill or insulation inside cabinets.
10. Solder wires to speakers and rear tube connectors (will accommodate banana plugs).

The work is not difficult but tedious and time consuming. If your hands are old like mine, they may cramp up. Bottom line for me: I'm retired now so I had the time. I can't afford new speakers, for instance the Concept 500 at $6K a pair or Danny's open baffle speakers at $3K a pair. The entire SVS Ultra system is $2,500 (including the surrounds). Reviews of the speakers are very positive, but we all realize that they are a $2,500 speaker system. I've been very happy with the SVS system up until now (about 6 or 7 years). The upgrade made complete sense to me. Breath new life in to my speaker system. Several months ago, I completed the SVS amplifier upgrade for my SB 13 Ultra subwoofers. That was a great upgrade too. So now, I'm set (until my hearing goes out, LOL). Oh yeah, my wife is very happy I am finally done with all these upgrades.

Once I complete burn in, Audyssey, REW, and lots more listening, I'll add additional thoughts.

Marcus

 

[Ty_Tanium]

Thanks for the review Marcus. Glad to hear there’s a definite improvement in the mid-range. I guess I didn’t know the new crossover doesn’t come with any kind of a circuit board. I’d like to do the upgrade but I literally have 20 speakers that would have to be done. I don’t have the time, skill, or experience for a project like that. Do you know if Danny has a service where they do the actual upgrades for people?

 

[Marcus DiBenedetto]

Hi Ty,

Danny said in one of his videos, he can't do the upgrades for customers. He simply has no time. Plus, his passion is inventing crossover circuits, not building them. However, on the Audio Circles forum, there are a few folks who build his speaker kits for customers. Maybe one of them would take on the project. Personally, building three speaker circuit boards wore me out. I'm glad I'm done.

Marcus

 

[Ty_Tanium]

Thanks Marcus. I'll check out Audio Circles and see what I can find.

 

[Marcus DiBenedetto]

Just yesterday, Ron from New Record Day co hosted a YouTube video with Randy from Cheap Audio Man. Randy spoke about the trouble he was having building one of Danny's crossovers. I could sympathize with his issues. It's really not that difficult but tedious and time consuming. I ran Audyssey yesterday morning. Results were typical and I limit correction to 300 Hz (using the app). Now that all speakers are time aligned and level matched my listening experience was excellent. Again, clear vocals were the standout improvement. Imaging seemed improved. I am running the system with music all day to "burn in" the new components. I will run REW and report back the results, although REW is more about my listening room. I'm interested because I am running my subwoofers 2db lower now and it sounds great.

Bottom line: Using Danny's high quality crossover parts and copper wire, the speaker crossover is now high quality along with Danny's engineering improvements. This alone was worth it. As Danny say, "quality matters".

Marcus

 

[Marcus DiBenedetto]

I have several more days of listening completed. Results continue to be excellent. I listen mostly to classical music, multichannel SACD. I've noted a great improvement in vocals across the left, center and right speakers (all three with Danny's upgrade). For instance, I've listened to Chandos' (CHSA 5242) 2019 recording of Bliss: Mary of Magdala. Also, LSO Live's (LSO0809) 2017 recording of Berlioz: La Damnation de Faust. Each of these recordings have soloists and choirs. All sound better than ever, not shrill or screechy. The orchestra is clear and distinct. Look, these are $500 each speakers. I cannot claim they match Danny's $3K NX-Oticas or Clayton's $7K Spatial Audio X5s (gosh, I would so love to own the X5s) but my speakers are upgraded and I'm pleased.

Marcus

 

[Ty_Tanium]

Thanks for the update.