Prime Bookshelf Speaker
Prime Bookshelf Speaker
Prime Bookshelf
Product Overview
The Prime Bookshelf speakers are sonic overachievers on all levels. Stunningly dynamic, pinpoint accurate and utterly transparent, they deftly serve as reference monitor loudspeakers in a two-channel system, or as high performance front, center, or side/rear surround speakers in a multi-channel home theater.
Borrowing engineering and design cues from the acclaimed Ultra Series and embodying all the traits of a truly high-end speaker, the Prime Bookshelf speakers convey accurate spatial imaging, throw an expansive soundstage and deliver uncompromising fidelity throughout the frequency spectrum. The effortless low frequency extension, commanding but detailed midrange and airy, unveiled highs far exceed expectations of other speakers in its class. Even the cabinet geometry and internal bracing are optimized for uncompromised audio playback and complemented by stunning piano gloss and black ash finishes.
Quick Specs
- Tweeter | 1"
- Midrange | N/A
- Woofer | 6.5"
- Freq. Response | 48 Hz-25 kHz (±3 dB)
- Dimension | 13.2” (H) 8” (W) 9.4” (D)
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User Reviews
Wes B. Reviews the Prime Bookshelf Surround System
"Detailed and revealing of the source material. The system punches well over their price class. Very pleased upgrading to Prime speakers from bookshelf model...
Kyle S. Reviews the Prime Bookshelf
"I did not think a bookshelf of this size could play so loud, and not have audible distortion. I would by them again."- Kyle S.
Press Reviews
AVS Forums Names SVS Prime and Ultra Series to “Best Bookshelf Speakers” for 2021
"SVS Prime and Ultra Bookshelf speakers are destined to become classics—that's how good they are…I found myself in awe of how transparent these speakers sou...
MusicCritic Awards the Prime Bookshelf Loudspeaker "Best Bookshelf Speakers Under $1,000"
"The high end manufacturing maintains optimal on and off axis response. They sound pristine and are priced in the middle of today’s price range making them ...
Prime Bookshelf Receives TheTechLounge's "Best Bookshelf Speakers Under $1,000" Award
“The SVS Prime Bookshelf Speakers were made for audiophiles looking for a true two-channel speaker as well as home cinema fanatics who are desperate for the...
High Def Digest Reviews the Prime Bookshelf and Prime Center Loudspeakers
"A marvel of sound design. These loudspeakers uncoil the sound, and reach well above their price point dynamically. Easy recommendations for the aspiring bu...
Audiofi.net - J LOH Reviews the Prime Bookshelf
"SVS has come up with a winner here. In a world of rising costs, it is heartening to know that there is still great value available."
The Prime Bookshelf Reviewed by AVTechReviews
"SVS may have done too good a job with the Primes… These speakers have a presence about them both visually and sonically that stops you in your tracks… For ...
The Poor Audiophile Reviews the Prime Bookshelf
"Thanks to SVS, gone are the days where you need to have a six figure audio system to be the envy of your friends and neighbors… a real price-performance ac...
AVTechReviews - Chris Murray Reviews the Prime Series Speakers
"… have a surprisingly big sound… flawless in its performance…get a audiophile grade home theater system at a fraction of the cost."
Prime Series Speakers Receive Digital Trends Editors Choice Award
"With effortless performance, elegant design, and striking value, SVS’ Prime Series hits the ultimate sweet spot in the audiophile segment."
Frequency Response / Acoustic Data:
- Rated bandwidth: 48 Hz-25 kHz (±3 dB)
- Nominal impedance: 8 ohms.
- Sensitivity: 87 dB (2.83V @ 1 meter full-space, 300-3kHz)
- Recommended amplifier power: 20-150 watts.
Speaker Specs:
- Bookshelf Loudspeaker
- Black ash and piano gloss black finish options
- Single set of 5-way binding posts
- 1.7” wide-flared rear-firing port
- Cloth grille with pin/cup retention system
- Elastomer stick-on bumper feet (adds 3mm to height)
- Cabinet Dimensions: 13.2" (H) X 8" (W) X 9.4" (D)
- Overall Dimensions: 13.3" (H) X 8" (W) X 10.3" (D) (includes grille and bumper feet)
- Shipped Dimensions-2 Pack: 17.6" (H) X 22.4" (W) X 14.4” (D)
- Weight: 15.5 pounds
- Shipped Weight-2 Pack: 34.7 pounds
Driver Specs:
1” Aluminum Dome Tweeter:
- FEA-optimized diffuser for airy and unveiled presentation
- Aluminum dome for exceptional transient response
6.5” Woofers:
- Long stroke motor and suspension for high output
- 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
Crossover & Cabinet Specs:
Crossover:
- 2-way crossover with premium-grade capacitors, air-core inductors and heavy-trace printed circuit boards
- Crossover network delivers outstanding phase coherency and time domain behavior
- Tweeter-to-woofer crossover: 2.3 kHz (12 dB/octave slopes)
Cabinet:
- 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
Standing out among the crowd of bookshelf speakers is no easy task, yet the Prime Bookshelf defies convention to outperform reference monitors costing twice as much or more. Every aspect of the Prime Bookshelf speaker was designed for sonic excellence. From the premium grade driver and sophisticated SoundMatch crossover to the extra-thick baffle, internal bracing, and FEA optimized tweeter diffuser, the Prime Bookshelf speaker’s design and engineering credentials put it in the realm of much costlier, and much larger speakers.
Prime Driver & Tweeter Design
Thoughtfully designed for acoustic excellence, the Prime Bookshelf speaker’s 6.5-inch woofer is mounted in its own dedicated and completely sealed compartment to ensure smooth, precise and clear midrange and bass output that’s free from coloration. The cone material is extremely light and rigid and maintains a flat frequency response with excellent handling across the foundational mid-range frequencies. Low frequency extension is shockingly deep and effortless considering the cabinet size and the Prime Bookshelf speaker can hit reference volume with amazing clarity, no distortion and headroom to spare.
The Prime Bookshelf speaker’s 1-inch aluminum dome tweeter is light, efficient, and rigid, and plays crystal clear at high volumes. The clarity offers a sense of utter transparency, while offering an ‘airy’ presentation and incredibly unveiled highs so female vocals and dialogue and high pitched sound effects and musical content always sound crisp, smooth and natural.
Innovative SoundMatch Crossover Design
Since premium drivers require an equally capable crossover, no expense was spared with the innovative SVS SoundMatch 2-way crossover. Its tapered array is designed to minimize the potential for beaming. This creates an expansive, yet focused and precise soundstage, with accurate frequency response at all listening positions in the room. The precise tuning of the SoundMatch Crossover also ensures pinpoint accuracy of highs, mids, and lows, while maintaining pristine signal purity.
Performance Driven Cabinet Design and Geometry
Tapered edges on the Prime Bookshelf speaker’s front baffle, known as chamfers, minimize edge diffraction for clear and precise soundstaging. The cabinet’s presence offers a modern industrial feel with acoustic enhancements like shorting rings and a tweeter diffuser which add performance-driven style. All advancements are packed into a compact but attractive cabinet, that’s easily mountable anywhere, and available in stunning piano gloss black or premium black ash finish.
Sound Expert Videos
SVS President Gary Yacoubian Discusses Prime Pinnacle
SVS Prime Elevation Home Theater Speaker Overview
Tips for Choosing Your Perfect Speaker
Designing a World Class Speaker
Enter your speakers and the SVS Subwoofer Matching Tool will recommend suitable subwoofer matches as well as crossover frequency and low pass filter settings.
Personal SVS speaker and subwoofer system builder. Choose from preset home theater surround sound set-ups like 5.1, or custom build your own.
User Reviews | Press Reviews
- Reviews
- Questions
USAdmittedly, there are several things
Admittedly, there are several things I've done to adjust my system before I purchased these speakers. For example, I stream Tidal, but didn't feel I was getting true lossless sound. So, the first thing I did was hardwire to the internet rather than use wireless which made a huge difference by itself. Secondly, I started streaming Tidal through Roon. I'm sure there's debate, but I was absolutely able to hear a big difference. So then I received these speakers which, I have to add, are beautiful. That glossy piano finish is stunning and they just feel really well constructed. So I hooked them up and broke them in for a bit, but spent a few days struggling. I discovered the parametric eq on Roon, and that helped but still wasn't fully satisfied. I've never like the arrangement of the speakers in my place - it was compromised based on a layout. It's a tough room for sound. I have a loft which is one large area (800 sf) with lots of hard surfaces. I have been really frustrated with my sound, so I rearranged my room to accommodate the best possible layout for the speakers. So between the throw rugs, rearrangement and the acoustic panels, I've finally figured it out. Voila! I LOVE them. In this price range, I feel like they really knock it out of the park for most things. Still a bit on the bright side, but I can manage that through the eq. Really great overall. I want to make two more comments. First, is that I listen to a huge variety of music, from musical theatre to grunge (I moved to Seattle in '87) to electronic, to (selective) hip-hop, to bluegrass. I'm truly all over the map. I would say that I'm not super excited about these speakers for my fuzzy guitar phase, but I need to spend a bit more time before that judgement is finally made. (I think some of it is the crappy mixing done sometimes. They seem to default to too much high end and boomy bass.) Second, I want to compliment SVS on their customer service and communication. It simply feels like they stand behind their product and are generally take pride in their work. That adds a lot for me. Oh - and I actually like my arrangement much better anyway! LOL!
USI have a 5.1.4 SVS
I have a 5.1.4 SVS surround sound system with Ultra front, Ultra center, Prime surrounds, and a PB-3000. The sound from these speakers blows me away. I couldn't be happier and would recommend these speakers to anyone. I have yet to find a fault with them! Thank you SVS for making my family's home theater dreams a reality!
USSounds great! Worth the money!
These are so powerful by themselves! I kind of wished I had purchased 2 more of these for the surround rear 5.1 setup rather than satellites combination. Definitely splurge and get the bookshelves if you can.
USDifferent sound
First of all I wanted to say that I'm not too keen on the design itself the way they taper towards the top I didn't realize that when I was looking at them online it takes some getting used to I'm used to just a square box overall I have a set of Kefs and a set of Focal . The sound is different on the SVS primes The mid range is a little bit more than I like and I thought they sounded sort of hollow, but I'm getting used to them so I'll probably end up keeping them I'll just use them as fronts on my surround
USI am very happy with
I am very happy with my Prime bookshelf speakers. They are very clear and have good bass. Over all I am very happy with my speakers.
User Reviews | Press Reviews
AVS Forums Names SVS Prime and Ultra Series to “Best Bookshelf Speakers” for 2021
"SVS Prime and Ultra Bookshelf speakers are destined to become classics—that's how good they are…I found myself in awe of how transparent these speakers sounded. SVS speakers exude nothing but...
MusicCritic Awards the Prime Bookshelf Loudspeaker "Best Bookshelf Speakers Under $1,000"
"The high end manufacturing maintains optimal on and off axis response. They sound pristine and are priced in the middle of today’s price range making them fantastic value. Bass is...
Prime Bookshelf Receives TheTechLounge's "Best Bookshelf Speakers Under $1,000" Award
“The SVS Prime Bookshelf Speakers were made for audiophiles looking for a true two-channel speaker as well as home cinema fanatics who are desperate for the best surround sound experience....
High Def Digest Reviews the Prime Bookshelf and Prime Center Loudspeakers
"A marvel of sound design. These loudspeakers uncoil the sound, and reach well above their price point dynamically. Easy recommendations for the aspiring but sensible home theater speaker enthusiast."
Audiofi.net - J LOH Reviews the Prime Bookshelf
"SVS has come up with a winner here. In a world of rising costs, it is heartening to know that there is still great value available."
The Prime Bookshelf Reviewed by AVTechReviews
"SVS may have done too good a job with the Primes… These speakers have a presence about them both visually and sonically that stops you in your tracks… For $249...
The Poor Audiophile Reviews the Prime Bookshelf
"Thanks to SVS, gone are the days where you need to have a six figure audio system to be the envy of your friends and neighbors… a real price-performance achievement."...
AVTechReviews - Chris Murray Reviews the Prime Series Speakers
"… have a surprisingly big sound… flawless in its performance…get a audiophile grade home theater system at a fraction of the cost."
Prime Series Speakers Receive Digital Trends Editors Choice Award
"With effortless performance, elegant design, and striking value, SVS’ Prime Series hits the ultimate sweet spot in the audiophile segment."
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