SVS Prime Wireless Speakers Review
By Stephen Hornbrook on
Performance
Value
Overall
Wireless speakers are the old 80’s boombox re-imagined. Instead of a tape deck and tuner, it’s Wi-Fi and streaming. Wireless speakers are commonly sold as single units, with the option to purchase a second for stereo output. SVS knows their customers want to listen to their music, so the SVS Prime Wireless Speaker system is a stereo pair, offering some serious performance in a simple package.
These guys are finished in a pristine shiny piano black gloss. Build quality is excellent and they arrived in flawless condition due to the attention to detail paid toward packaging. There isn’t much to them other than a couple knobs on the powered speaker for controlling source and volume. Really, you will never interact with the speakers themselves, everything is done via a phone or tablet. Bring up Spotify, or another preferred streaming service, select the SVS as output device, and enjoy your favorite tunes.
Setting up the SVS Prime Wireless Speakers is simple. Plug in the power cable and connect the secondary speaker to the main powered speaker via the supplied cable. Using the DTS Play-Fi app, it’s just a matter of connecting the speakers to your WiFi. The Play-Fi app also handles any device updates as well, all done wirelessly. The update only takes around 5 minutes. I tried the SVS in a couple locations, our family room and bedroom. The family room is a large open area, but the SVS had zero issues creating a big sound.
If you are looking to supply music across a large room or several rooms by separating the two speakers, wrong product. This is a stereo set of speakers, meant to be used together. In fact, one of the only drawbacks is the length of the speaker connection cable does limit placement. Sure you can throw a couple Google Homes around the house for background music, but if you really want to sit down and enjoy listening, the SVS Prime Wireless speakers are in a completely different league performance wise.
The left knob on the controlling speaker features the option to assign 6 presets. A preset allows you to start playback of a preferred service without needing your phone or tablet. While using the service of your choosing, such as Spotify, just select the preset, push and hold down the left knob for a few seconds and you are all set. It’s a nice shortcut to have.
SVS Prime Wireless Speakers Listening Notes
The SVS Prime Wireless speakers sound very good. Now, don’t judge me too much as I’m writing this review in December and wanted to get into the holiday spirit, so why not listen to some Christmas music? There’s a great festive album by Sufjan Stevens called Silver & Gold. On it you’ve got the Sufjan spin on classics like “Angels We Have Heard On High” and the SVS Prime Wireless speakers do a wonderful job with the songs dynamics, and vocal imaging. The guitar and banjo carry the melody in the intro to “Auld Lang Syne” and the just appear in the room next to you. These speakers do a better job at disappearing than many costing much more. The choir on “Christmas Time is Here” on A Charlie Brown Christmas fill the room with warmth. I can smell the holiday spices, cinnamon, cloves, orange, while the piano plays that lovely theme. Man, I am impressed with the sound on these.
The sweet sweet voice of Miya Folick on “Thingamajig” dominates the room on the SVS Prime. The image is so much larger than these little speakers and it’s clear and natural to boot. The bass line on “Premonitions” keeps your toe tapping and sounds clean and concise. Would I like a little more low end? Well, only because these things sound so good already, I feel like I could do some serious listening on them, so why not fill in the lower octaves? Of course, a subwoofer can be added to the SVS Prime Wireless, but it isn’t necessary. Although, if you listen to a lot of Drake, go ahead and add an SVS SB-1000.
Radiohead’s “Burn the Witch” is alive and casts a deep soundstage via the SVS Prime. Thom’s voice is natural sounding (as natural as his voice can be) even at high volume. These speakers just don’t miss a beat.
The strings on Max Richter’s take on The Four Seasons have a wonderful texture via the Prime Wireless speakers. That edgy wiry sound of an aggressive violin stroke comes across nicely. They are never harsh or shrill sounding.
Built-in to the SVS Prime Wireless speakers is a 24/192 DAC that allows for high-resolution audio playback. That mode can be selected within the Play-Fi app. Streaming some high res music from my media server allows the SVS to show off their ability to create a detailed image. On Sia’s “Bird Set Free” her vocals are firmly planted in the center soundstage, the built-in amps handling the dynamics with ease, and the bass is tight and resolved.
SVS Prime Wireless Speakers Conclusions
For $600 you do get a lot for your dollar. Big soundstage, clear imaging, nice looks and they can even handle high-resolution music playback. All this from a small package with no need for an integrated amp, playback device and all the cables that go with it. The SVS Prime Wireless Speaker system is an absolute delight to use.
Pros
Excellent imaging, big sound, easy to use and compact.
Cons
Good bass for the size, but you might want to pair a sub with them.
Summary
Simple way to get great sounding stereo imaging from your streaming sources. Compact, but yielding big sound with plenty of volume to fill even large rooms.
Craso says
Hello. How are the SVS Prime Wireless compares to KEF LSX or even KEF LS50W. These 3 active speakers are on my list for my first 2.1 sistem. For the bass I was looking to SVS SB200 or even 2 x SVS SB1000. But because I’ve just read the MartinLogan Dynamo 800X review, I have to ask, SVS or MartinLogan? What will be the best blend between one of those 3 active speakers and these 2 subwoofers?
Thank you.
Chris Heinonen says
If I was going to add a subwoofer, then the KEF LSX would be my certain pick. With no cable between them, you can space them out how you want without needing to worry to get the best soundstage and overall performance. They also will have AirPlay 2 which is very useful if you use iOS or a Mac. I’d also lean towards one of the larger Dynamo models, like the 1100X, to get even more bass extension while still getting the room correction for easy integration with the LSX. Those two combined will still cost the same as the LS50W and offer easier placement and better bass response. The LS50W might play a bit louder without midrange compression, but the LSX was plenty loud in my listening for most rooms. That’s the route I would take at least.
Craso says
What about the SWT-X Wireless Subwoofer Kit, can I connect it to the LSX’s subwoofer output to make the Dynamo wireless? Will be great. Thank you.