At one time, I pooh-poohed active speakers as a serious alternative to a 2ch amp/passive speaker combo, but customer demand for simplicity along with technological innovation has driven a great deal of product development in this space. Just about every speaker manufacturer has both an active floor standing and standmount model, some more than one. There are several hi-fi companies now that only market active speakers.
With so many of the audiophile speaker manufacturers that I have come to respect over the years putting out active speaker systems, it became a segment of the market I couldn’t ignore anymore, and I must say the more exposure I have to them the more I like them. Over the last year or so, I have heard so many good ones, and at this point, there are definitely products whose sound rivals separates.
The latest powered speaker system dropped on my doorstep is the SVS Prime Wireless Speaker System ($599.00), and it boasts some nice specs. Each driver, of which there are 4, gets 50w of amplification, there is an in-built 24/192 DAC, and unlike some of the other active bookshelf speakers I have tested, they have a built-in app-controlled Wi-Fi streamer that uses DTS Play-Fi to wirelessly play just about any source you can imagine including personal Network Drives, Spotify, TIDAL, and Qobuz. The most amazing part of this could be that you get all of this for $600! You will be hard pressed to put together a system of separates with these specs, for this price. I also love the fact that I got ahold of the new Gloss White version. Please check back for my full review coming soon!
Specs:
Active Speaker Cabinet Dimensions:
- 260mm (H) X 155mm (W) X 183.22mm (D)
- 10.24″ (H) X 6.10″ (W) X 7.21″ (D)
Passive Speaker Cabinet Dimensions:
- 260mm (H) X 155mm (W) X 160.4mm (D)
- 10.24″ (H) X 6.10″ (W) X 7″ (D)
Weight:
- Active Speaker Weight Unboxed: 4.33kg / 9.55lbs
- Passive Speaker Weight Unboxed: 3.96kg / 8.73lbs
- Packaged Weight System Pack: 9.27kg / 20.44lbs
Driver Specs:
1” Aluminum Dome Tweeter:
- FEA-optimized diffuser for airy and unveiled presentation
- Aluminum dome for exceptional transient response
4.5″ Midrange Driver:
- Polypropylene cone for excellent stiffness/mass ratio and pistonic behavior
- Aluminum shorting ring to reduce gap inductance, lower distortion, and enhance high frequency response
- Cast ABS-fiberglass composite basket ensures precision component alignment and excellent thermal transfer
- Vented voice coil former minimizes air compression artifacts
Amplifier Specs:
- Dual Class-D Power Amps for Discrete Driver Bi-amplification
- 200 watt (50 watt x 4) RMS Power
- Digital controlled tweeter-to-woofer crossover: 2kHz (12dB/octave slope)
Speaker Cabinet Specs:
- Finish Options: Piano Gloss Black and Piano Gloss White
- 2.36” wide-flared rear-firing port
- Protective cloth grille with pin/cup retention system
- Elastomer stick-on bumper feet (adds 3mm to height)
Input/Output Specs:
- Left/Right RCA Input Impedance: 20K
- 3.5mm Aux Input Impedance: 20K
- Optical Input: S/PDIF receiver works at a wide range of sampling frequencies between 18 kHz and 96 kHz
- Subwoofer Output: 2V Auto Detecting Low Pass Filter: An active Low Pass Filter at 80Hz is engaged when subwoofer detected
Cabinet Specs:
- Acoustically transparent and FEA optimized grilles minimize diffraction
- FEA-optimized cabinet and bracing eliminates resonances
- Chamfered front baffle and flush-mounted drivers reduce edge diffraction and improved on-axis high frequency response
General Specifications:
- Switch Mode Power Supply: Auto Switching 100 – 120V / 220 – 240V, 50/60Hz
- Fuse: 15A/250V
- Standard Detachable Power Cord
- Standard Active-Passive Speaker Connection Cord: 3m / 10ft
Warranty:
- Unconditional 2-Year Warranty
I’m an audio writer who started as a young audio salesman/consumer electronics professional back in the late 90s. That’s where I discovered the magic of 2-Channel sound. My thirst for great sound has led me on a delightful music quest that continues today.
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