Posted Fri Sep 23, 2016 at 07:14 AM PDT by Brian Hoss
Down-firing height effects, up-firing mains, side-firing surround.
At CES 2016, SVS introduced their Atmos, DTS:X and Auro-3D solution, the SVS Prime Elevation speaker.
Now, after some refinement and the addition of a multi-angle wall bracket, the new speaker has been priced and is available to order from SVS in three colors. (See here.) The Black Ash version is $199.99 a speaker, while the Gloss Black and Gloss White versions are $249.99 a speaker.
When focusing in on Atmos and DTS:X, the Prime Elevation speaker is meant to be mounted up, close to the ceiling pointed down to the listing position. One speaker on each side, or even better, two in the front and two in the back is the configuration recommended for object-oriented sound.
But unlike many current Atmos-focused solutions, the Prime Elevation's 55 Hz-25 KHz frequency response is not limited, which means that the Prime Elevation can be used in other home theater applications. (For a related comaprison, see the SVS Prime Satellite review here.)
The Prime Elevation can be placed below the display (pointing up at the listening position) as a left, center, or right speaker. The Prime Elevation can also be placed above a display (pointing down at the listening position) as a left, center, right channel.
It's this kind of ability which makes the speaker seem like a great choice for when dealing with a less than ideal speaker placement (not at ear level). It also seems like a speaker that could be useful for pairing with large or variable projection screens.
Finally, the Prime Elevation can be turned sideways and used as a surround speaker. To help facilitate this rotation, the logo on screen can also be rotated, and the included wall bracket is meant to be used to hang the speaker easily in any of four directions.
One thing to note is that SVS is not recommending this speaker for ceiling bounce applications. The Prime Elevation appears to specifically have been developed as a bounce speaker alternative, and the full range, versatile application nature of the speaker should mean that buyers having a speaker that is useful in a vast of applications.
Source: SVS
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