Removable Grill

OK, this "feature" seems pretty common at first blush. It's true few quality speakers have grills that are not removable these days. So what’s the draw here with SVS speakers? Well first, notice we took great pains to make sure the finest components are used at each step. Instead of chintzy plastic “ball and socket” fittings, we use chrome steel pins embedded in our grills, and matching soft rubber fittings to receive them. No way you are going to snap off one of those when you remove your SBS-01 satellite or SCS-01 center channel grill.

But wait, there’s more. While it’d be easy to slap on a generic plastic or square cut fiberboard grill wrapped with cheap fabric, we didn’t. Virtually invisible unless you look close, we even rounded the corners of the grill. It’s a little thing, but it’s an example of the lengths we’ll go, even on what’s our “entry level” speaker package. That fabric was specially chosen to remain color stable in all light and stay good looking even kicked around by pets, kids or party guests. What is rare at this price point is to get a speaker so well designed and decidedly not some turnkey package pulled off the shelf from some low cost provider. Unbox any of the SBS-01 family of speakers and you know, these are different.

SVS ClearSilk™ tweeter and NBS™ woofer

SVS didn’t invent the first woofer, we didn’t invent the first tweeter. However, we are as capable as any OEM in the world to evaluate any “off the shelf” part in the world. Yet, no component we use in the SBS-01 satellite speaker, or the SCS-01 center channel is “off the shelf”. Woofers, trim rings, frequency response, impedance, power-handling even bezels and screws were all painstakingly optimized, and customized where appropriate. Our R/D team worked for months to optimize every part to complement the whole design, to enhance performance, and do so while keeping a lid on costs. Ultimately, costly parts were used but our buying power meant even then, your speakers’ price wasn’t nudged upwards. Even with each speaker fully video shielded we resisted the suggestions to raise price. We’re stubborn that way. Details like the exact position of the woofers and the tweeters on the narrow front baffle and tight sealed cabinet were endlessly tweaked to ensure great imaging and wide sound stage. These are speakers that with just basic setup skill will visually and audibly disappear in your room. You won’t hear speakers, you’ll just hear the musical artist, or the sound effects, or the actor.

Smooth and seamless braced cabinet

Rap these cabinets with your fist. Just be sure your knuckles are in good shape. Here we spent countless hours to design and deliver a simple elegant design that didn’t sacrifice utility to aesthetics. No origami-like corners, no unsightly seams, no faux wood vinyl. Instead our simple texture finish was vacuum formed over stout hand-machined MDF cabinets (with internal CNC’d Superbrace™) so that no seams of any sort would be visible. Of course they match perfectly the trend-setting subwoofers like the SVS PB10-NSD and new PB12-NSD, which have been welcomed into more homes than any new SVS subwoofer ever. Keep things simple, elegant and compact, don’t ladle on un-needed detailing or fussy styling. That’s the SVS way.

Multiple installation modes

While any speaker can be good looking or compact (not that all are of course), few give you so many ways to set up in a room. The SBS-01 satellite speaker comes complete with small adhesive foam rubber foot pads for basic placement on a bookshelf; or you can place them on optional stands (which also come with additional rubber pads). There’s more than one way to put them up on wall even. Use the beefy wall brackets we offer to mate with machined threaded inserts (already embedded into the cabinet), or try the “key-hole” fitting for simple and firm hanging with a simple screw driven into your room’s wall studs. Many brands offer one or the other, few offer both, fewer still at this price.

The SCS-01 center channel takes things even further. With dual sets of threaded inserts and dual key-hole hardware, we went even more over the top with a no-cost optional TILT-Base™ which allows you to set your speaker on a TV, or on a stand under your TV, you have up or down adjustment of 10 degrees to keep your ears in the middle of the action.

Audiophile-grade crossover

There are crossovers ... and there are crossovers. Well, believe it or not, some cheap speakers out there have NO crossover. In our view, if the woofers and tweeters of a fine audio speaker are its heart… the crossover is the brain. It determines how well all components “mesh” with each other. The crossover, if it’s done right, will maintain flat frequency response, and can handle the power so readily available on today’s receiver/amp market. And it will do all this without adding coloration or artifacts along the way. Part art, part science. Always, if done right, a tough part to perfect. Few if any speakers in this price range have audiophile grade crossovers with so much sweat expended on them as the SBS-01 and SCS-01 (each with their own designs). Custom capacitors, massive air-core inductors, top-grade printed circuit boards (even the substrate for the board itself was upgraded over the standard fare), carefully constructed to be resonance-free when new, and stay that way. All mounted safe and secure to the cabinet, our two way crossover is another example of where “good enough” … wasn’t.

Frequency response charts

Like our legendary subwoofers, our speakers are "linear" in their frequency response, with similarly spectacular results. A glance at the below chart shows this clearly. Taken grill off, on-axis (where you sit in the normal sound "fan" of a speaker) the sort of "flat" response you see below is evidence we took great pains to make sure you hear what the sound engineer intended. Nothing more, nothing less. They are neither "bright" (with an exaggerated high frequency emphasis as some speakers can have), nor are they "laid back" or "warm" (which tends to be the exact opposite, with less high frequency extension).

Instead we believe the SBS-01 (above) and its matching center channel sister the SCS-01 (below) are "just right". They'll render your sound with just the sort of balance and accuracy as is needed to lend a natural and non-fatiguing sound to your favorite music and movies... even if you are pressing them to their limits of playback power