SVS Prime Pinnacle Speaker – AXPONA 2019
The team at SVS always hosts a friendly room. The company attends the audiophile circuit on a fairly regular basis, bringing a good slice of products to the game that land in middle ground between the high-end and entry level budget.
After talking with Nick Brown, VP Marketing and Sales of SVS, about the company and the latest lineup of products I can say I was completely blown away on the depth of his knowledge.
It’s clear that Nick represents a company that is dedicated to the customer. Even at first glance, it appears that much care has been taken to deliver a real world sales floor experience to a virtual one. SVS provides a robust support structure for individuals trying to make a decision on what to buy, with web-based guides to demystify all the choices needed to put a system together.
Gary Yacoubian, CEO of SVS began his journey in the 1960’s in the retail market at Myers Emco in Washington DC., getting to know the high end audio business with one of the largest dealers in that area. After the company was formed, wares were sold direct for the first few years to help keep costs down. Now they also have a dealer network to extend their market to a wider field.
The Prime Pinnacle speaker is the newest addition to enter the subwoofer-friendly company’s growing field of audiophile-oriented products. It sits just under the flagship ULTRA, and above the Prime Tower. Going price is $1600 to $1800 per pair depending on finish.
Prime Pinnacle features an all-new driver array with 5.25-inch midrange, three 6.5-inch woofers housed in separate ported sub-enclosures and a high-performance 1-inch aluminum dome tweeter. The midrange driver includes trickle down tech, including a glass-fiber composite cone and other design elements from the reference SVS Ultra Series speakers. The three woofers even incorporate an individual 2-inch port per driver for additional reach.
“When we set out to design the Prime Pinnacle speaker, it was supposed to be a straightforward execution that came as close to the performance of our reference Ultra Tower as possible, but in a more room-friendly cabinet design at a lower price,” said Gary Yacoubian, President, SVS. “The reality is, we spent more time voicing Prime Pinnacle than any speaker in SVS history so it would be equally suited for the demands of discerning audiophiles and hardcore home theater fans. To go even further, Prime Pinnacle’s profile had to blend seamlessly and sound amazing in any listening environment. The dedication paid off because it truly stands alone at its price and well beyond.”
The whole SVS presentation works well for the value-driven market it is so squarely aimed at. The showing at AXPONA made it clear that the the new rigs could be equally proficient in a stereo configuration or fitted for the slam of a home theater.
by Paul Elliot
