Ultra Bookshelf Speaker
Ultra Bookshelf Speaker
Ultra Bookshelf
Product Overview
The SVS Ultra Bookshelf speakers are the rare speaker design that deliver effortless full-range sound and an expansive soundstage with pitch-perfect accuracy and pinpoint imaging. A true reference quality speaker, critics and music lovers celebrate the absolute transparency while home theater speaker fans laud the room-energizing dynamics and palpable bass output. It’s an amazingly balanced speaker that radiates acoustic power while rendering the finest details with precision and refinement.
Every design element of the SVS Ultra Bookshelf speakers was scrutinized to achieve cost-no-object audio performance and build quality to create a groundbreaking bookshelf loudspeaker. Countless design innovations and world-class build materials result in reference sound quality and stunning dynamics normally reserved for the world’s most expensive speakers.
Whether handling the warm and engaging sound of vinyl or the demanding, multi-layered soundtrack of an action movie, the Ultra Bookshelf speakers deliver a powerful and convincing audio experience and are among the top audio investments available at any price.
Quick Specs
- Tweeter | 1"
- Midrange | N/A
- Woofer | 6.5"
- Freq. Response | 45 Hz-32 kHz (±3 dB)
- Dimension | 15" (H) 8.5" (W) 10.9" (D)
Ohio-based AV professionals provide customer support, product recommendations and set-up advice for every component in your system, 7 days a week, before and after you own SVS.
1-877-626-5623 | Live Chat
User Reviews
Mark G. Reviews the Ultra Bookshelf
"I've owned several fine speakers in this price range and above. None can touch these."- Mark G.
Press Reviews
EDM Sauce Ranks Ultra Bookshelf, Best Bookshelf Speakers
“A great product. The sound quality is good. Set up is quick, and it solves a major problem with cable clutter in your home.”
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...
YouTuber “Cheapaudioman” Reviews Ultra Bookshelf
“The Ultra Bookshelfs in a stereo application handle any soundtrack with ease. Very exciting speakers that don’t fatigue, and beg to be turned up to the max...
DMS (YouTube) Reviews the Ultra Bookshelf Speaker
“An insanely detailed set of speakers. Very good at bringing out the truth in my recordings. They speakers excel at disappearing and letting you hear where ...
The Audio Beatnick Reviews the Ultra Bookshelf Loudspeaker
“An expansive and airy stereo image. The speaker’s ability to start and stop on a dime demonstrated impressive agility and speed. Crisp leading-edge transie...
TechnoDad Reviews the Ultra 5.1.4 Speaker System
"Massive impact and presence, it was just glorious hearing this system perform. Very capable of handling anything with clarity and massive impact when called...
Widescreen Review, Ultra Tower Surround System
"While I enjoyed the performance of the Ultra system, I’m having a hard time grappling with how a $3700 loudspeaker system (not including subwoofer) could c...
Z Reviews - Review of the Ultra Bookshelf
"The imaging and depth are astonishing even at high volume. Blows my mind. They have the Wow. Absolutely the best speakers I’ve heard. Period."
Reference Home Theater - Chris Heinonen Reviews the Ultra Bookshelf
“…the Ultra Bookshelf has no trouble filling a room. For $1,000 a pair it is a very impressive speaker, even when compared to those costing 50% more… Great ...
Ultra Bookshelf Receives the Audioholics 2014 Product of the Year Award
"If you’re looking for a high performance, attractive bookshelf speaker that can truly deliver on that “better than being there” experience for around $1k/p...
Ultra Bookshelf Receives the BestStuff.com 2014 Editors Choice Award
"Audiophiles take heed: The design, performance, and price make the SVS Ultra Bookshelf the perfect option for the last set of Bookshelf speakers you’ll eve...
Audioholics - Gene DellaSala Reviews the Ultra Bookshelf
"There is so much to like about these speakers and so little to complain about. They offer a very balanced sound, with great dynamic capabilities... the bes...
Malaysian Webzine Audiofi.net Reviews the Ultra Bookshelf
"The SVS Ultra bookshelf speakers are well-built, look slick and most importantly, sound great…The fact that they cost just under a grand a pair is quite am...
The Ultra Speakers receive Sound & Vision’s 2013 Top Pick of the Year Award.
"Web-direct speaker-maker SVS, long known for outstanding subwoofers, knocked it out of the park on sound and build quality with the high-value, full-range ...
About.com names SVS Ultra Speakers as the Best Home Theater Speakers of 2013
“… impeccably engineered, with the neutral, natural sound that serious speaker guys love. It does the delicacy/spaciousness/detail thing beautifully, and al...
HomeTheaterReview.com - Sean Killebrew Reviews the Ultra Bookshelf
"The strongest statement I can make about the SVS Ultra Bookshelf speakers is that, about midway through critical listening, I started scheming for a way to...
Positive Feedback Magazine - Steve Lefkowicz Reviews the Ultra Bookshelf
"These speakers disappeared and got out of the music's way better than any of the speakers I've tried in my system over the past several years.…the Ultra Bo...
Home Theater Forum - Sam Chandler Reviews the Ultra 5.0 system
"These speakers, particularly the Tower, can do anything... performed flawlessly."
Audio|Video Revolution - Andre Mac Reviews the Ultra Bookshelf
"...the Ultras captured the music's spirit so beautifully I could not help but get lost in the hypnotic beats. Goosebump moments, for sure...the Ultras have...
Widescreen Review Magazine - Gary Reber Reviews the SVS Ultra Series Loudspeakers
"… an exceptional multichannel loudspeaker system that is true to SVS’ tradition of offering higher performance for the money through R&D and design…the...
Frequency Response / Acoustic Data:
- Rated bandwidth: 45 Hz-32 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
- Real black oak veneer and piano gloss black finish options
- Dual gold-plated 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: 15” (H) x 8.5” (W) x 10.6” (D) (without grille)
- Overall Dimensions: 15” (H) x 8.5” W x 10.9” (D) (with grille)
- Shipped Dimensions: 24" (H) x 20" (W) x 14" (D)
- Weight: 19 pounds
- Shipped Weight: 42 pounds
Driver Specs:
1” Aluminum Dome Tweeter:
- FEA-optimized diffuser for airy and unveiled presentation
- Aluminum dome delivers exceptional transient response and exceptional stiffness/mass ratio
6.5” Woofers:
- Composite glass-fiber cone with excellent stiffness/mass ratio for high sensitivity and pistonic behavior beyond pass band.
- Aluminum shorting rings to reduce gap inductance and lower distortion
- Long stroke motor and suspension for high output
- Vented voice coil formers to minimize air compression artifacts at high drive levels
Crossover & Cabinet Specs:
Crossover:
- 2-way crossover with premium-grade capacitors, air-core inductors and heavy-trace printed circuit boards
- Crossover frequency and slopes optimized for excellent off-axis polar response, outstanding phase coherency, and total radiated sound power
- Tweeter-to-woofer crossover: 2 kHz
Cabinet:
- Acoustically transparent and FEA optimized grilles, wedge-shaped front baffle and flush-mounted drivers all contribute to reduced edge diffraction and improved on-axis high frequency response
- FEA-optimized bracing reduces cabinet resonances
The Ultra Bookshelf speakers represent an uncompromising approach to loudspeaker design. From the drivers and crossover to the build materials and cabinet design, every element is painstakingly engineered and tested to achieve reference sound quality.
Ultra Driver & Tweeter Design
A commanding presence in any home audio system, the 6.5-inch mid-bass drivers feature composite glass-fiber cones that yield excellent stiffness to mass ratio for enhanced sensitivity and voicing that’s transparent and completely faithful to the source material. These capable drivers render an accurate tonal balance with effortless authority and dynamics. Whether conveying the varied nuances of musical instruments and dialogue or the sonic impact of sound effects and movie scores, the Ultra drivers deliver pinpoint accuracy with precise imaging and a massive soundstage.
Elevating high frequency performance, the Ultra Bookshelf speaker’s aluminum dome tweeter is pristinely neutral and revealing. Light, efficient, rigid and impervious to distortion, even at high sound pressure levels, the tweeter’s airy’ presentation of vocals and unveiled highs compare with the best tower and bookshelf speakers in the world. The FEA-optimized diffuser ensures broad dispersion for an incredibly wide and convincing soundstage and perfect on- and off-axis frequency response so everyone in your room experiences the same stunning clarity.
Intelligent SoundMatch Crossover Design
No expense was spared with the innovative SVS SoundMatch two-way crossover. The unique topology creates a broad, yet focused and precise soundstage, with accurate frequency response and imaging at all listening positions. The precise tuning of the SoundMatch Crossover also ensures balanced output from sparkling highs to the crystal clear and commanding midrange, down to visceral and authoritative bass.
Performance Driven Cabinet Design and Geometry
Every feature on the Ultra Bookshelf speaker cabinet is designed with a sonic purpose in mind. Tapered edges on the cabinet’s front baffle, known as chamfers, minimize edge diffraction for clear and precise soundstaging. Internally, each cabinet employs separate sub-enclosures of the mid-bass driver and tweeter to optimize performance and minimize interaction between drive units.
Meticulous, Innovative Design Process
All SVS speakers, regardless of price or form factor, are crafted in the same painstaking fashion. Call it a marriage of exacting science and a passionate expression of technique and love of great sound.
Before a model is ever constructed, drivers and cabinets are theoretically designed by our acoustic engineers using sophisticated computer-aided design (CAD) processes . Then prototypes are carefully measured and optimized in an anechoic environment to achieve pitch-perfect frequency response. After the ideal theoretical frequency response is attained, exhaustive listening and measurement is done in listening rooms calibrated to closely resemble typical home-like room environments.
The result is a speaker that measures well with near-perfect real world frequency response, but also optimized to sound amazing on a human level through listening tests with real music and cinematic content, in a real world listening environment like your home.
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
US US USExcellent customer service! Sound is
Excellent customer service! Sound is very clean and detailed!
USUltra bookshelf speakers
The craftsmanship of these ultra bookshelf’s is absolutely stunning. The piano black speakers glisten with the stunning beauty of a freshly polished diamond. The midrange and treble are a little laid back but offer a smoothness that I did not recognize in my other speakers. Theses speakers offer a phenomenal sound stage. I will eventually use the speakers as my back speakers in a 7.2.4 set up. I’m transitioning from Klipsch RP 7.2.4 set up. On a side note, the speakers seem to sound better each day I play them. I highly recommend these speakers for movies and music. Can’t wait to order the towers.
USAwesome
I tried these ultra bookshelf and the prime towers and the bookshelves are definitely the better sounding. They have smother and cleaner highs and midrange and a wider dispersment of sound and use the 140 watts of power more efficiently. They're not as picky about positioning and they make you want to listen to all types of music they give you the feeling of being there .I do recommend a good sealed sub for a little more bass but you won't find speakers with this build quality and sound quality of these anywhere near this price .If that's not enough for you the customer service is the best you will find it won't cost you a penny to try they even cover postage both ways they want to see you happy with your purchase. You won't be disappointed
User Reviews | Press Reviews
EDM Sauce Ranks Ultra Bookshelf, Best Bookshelf Speakers
“A great product. The sound quality is good. Set up is quick, and it solves a major problem with cable clutter in your home.”
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...
YouTuber “Cheapaudioman” Reviews Ultra Bookshelf
“The Ultra Bookshelfs in a stereo application handle any soundtrack with ease. Very exciting speakers that don’t fatigue, and beg to be turned up to the max. Awesome speakers that...
DMS (YouTube) Reviews the Ultra Bookshelf Speaker
“An insanely detailed set of speakers. Very good at bringing out the truth in my recordings. They speakers excel at disappearing and letting you hear where the singer is and...
The Audio Beatnick Reviews the Ultra Bookshelf Loudspeaker
“An expansive and airy stereo image. The speaker’s ability to start and stop on a dime demonstrated impressive agility and speed. Crisp leading-edge transients and satisfying center-locked vocals round out...
TechnoDad Reviews the Ultra 5.1.4 Speaker System
"Massive impact and presence, it was just glorious hearing this system perform. Very capable of handling anything with clarity and massive impact when called for. The mids and highs were...
Widescreen Review, Ultra Tower Surround System
"While I enjoyed the performance of the Ultra system, I’m having a hard time grappling with how a $3700 loudspeaker system (not including subwoofer) could compete with another recent system...
Z Reviews - Review of the Ultra Bookshelf
"The imaging and depth are astonishing even at high volume. Blows my mind. They have the Wow. Absolutely the best speakers I’ve heard. Period."
Reference Home Theater - Chris Heinonen Reviews the Ultra Bookshelf
“…the Ultra Bookshelf has no trouble filling a room. For $1,000 a pair it is a very impressive speaker, even when compared to those costing 50% more… Great bass, good...
Ultra Bookshelf Receives the Audioholics 2014 Product of the Year Award
"If you’re looking for a high performance, attractive bookshelf speaker that can truly deliver on that “better than being there” experience for around $1k/pair, then you owe it to yourself...
Ultra Bookshelf Receives the BestStuff.com 2014 Editors Choice Award
"Audiophiles take heed: The design, performance, and price make the SVS Ultra Bookshelf the perfect option for the last set of Bookshelf speakers you’ll ever need to purchase."
Audioholics - Gene DellaSala Reviews the Ultra Bookshelf
"There is so much to like about these speakers and so little to complain about. They offer a very balanced sound, with great dynamic capabilities... the best value in high...
Malaysian Webzine Audiofi.net Reviews the Ultra Bookshelf
"The SVS Ultra bookshelf speakers are well-built, look slick and most importantly, sound great…The fact that they cost just under a grand a pair is quite amazing… A great effort...
The Ultra Speakers receive Sound & Vision’s 2013 Top Pick of the Year Award.
"Web-direct speaker-maker SVS, long known for outstanding subwoofers, knocked it out of the park on sound and build quality with the high-value, full-range Ultra speaker line."
About.com names SVS Ultra Speakers as the Best Home Theater Speakers of 2013
“… impeccably engineered, with the neutral, natural sound that serious speaker guys love. It does the delicacy/spaciousness/detail thing beautifully, and also plays loud as all hell… And if you need...
HomeTheaterReview.com - Sean Killebrew Reviews the Ultra Bookshelf
"The strongest statement I can make about the SVS Ultra Bookshelf speakers is that, about midway through critical listening, I started scheming for a way to buy them. Yes, they're...
Positive Feedback Magazine - Steve Lefkowicz Reviews the Ultra Bookshelf
"These speakers disappeared and got out of the music's way better than any of the speakers I've tried in my system over the past several years.…the Ultra Bookshelf, on its...
Home Theater Forum - Sam Chandler Reviews the Ultra 5.0 system
"These speakers, particularly the Tower, can do anything... performed flawlessly."
Audio|Video Revolution - Andre Mac Reviews the Ultra Bookshelf
"...the Ultras captured the music's spirit so beautifully I could not help but get lost in the hypnotic beats. Goosebump moments, for sure...the Ultras have a big sound not often...
Widescreen Review Magazine - Gary Reber Reviews the SVS Ultra Series Loudspeakers
"… an exceptional multichannel loudspeaker system that is true to SVS’ tradition of offering higher performance for the money through R&D and design…the SVS Ultras offer a level of price/performance...
Marshall Guthrie - Audioholics, Reviews the Ultra Speakers
"...these are beautiful, capable speakers that are also a terrific value....remarkable speakers at a head turning price…their performance stands toe to toe with much more expensive contenders"
CNET reviews the Ultra Bookshelf Speaker
See what impressed them about its performance...
HomeTheaterReview.com Reviews the Ultra Bookshelf
"Cutting right to the chase, the Ultra Bookshelf speaker from SVS is a phenomenal achievement and arguably my favorite of the new Ultra series. The build quality is beyond reproach,...
AudioHead Reviews the Ultra Bookshelf Loudspeaker
"The SVS Ultra Bookshelf …exceeded my overall expectations… It leaves the listener with the sensation that they are sitting in the front row, not the back."
AV Nirvana Reviews the Ultra Bookshelf Loudspeaker
"Performance wise, this dynamo is off the charts, possessing the ability to throw a massive audiophile grade soundstage. It’s a speaker that plays twice its size. I was floored by...
@SVS_Sound
SVS owner shots shared via Instagram. Click on pics for captions and submit your own by tagging @SVS_Sound or #soundrevolution.
You May Also Like...
Sound Experts Articles
10 Ways to Hide Speaker Wire and Audio Cables
What is a Speaker Crossover and Why Does it Matter to Sound Quality?
