HTD Level 3's Vs. SVS SBS-01's (1 Viewer)

[Jean D]

I'm contemplating getting a new 5.1 setup in my bedroom, I want to stay under $600-700 for all 5 speakers. I have a sub already. I originally wanted the SVS SBS-01's as they are small and get decent reviews and I own an SVS sub and I like their products. However, I came across the HTD speakers and started looking at those also. Does anyone have any pro's/cons about these 2 sets?

 

[Arthur S]

Hi Jean

I also own an SVS subwoofer and like their products. I like the HTD Level 3 Bookshelf Speakers for $740 plus shipping...they have beautiful real wood veneer cabinets and ribbon tweeters. I consider ribbon tweeters well worth the additional cost. Please keep in touch.

 

[Tom Vodhanel]

Hi Jean,

ideally you could order a set(one pair) of each speaker to audition for yourself. Once you determine the speaker you prefer it would be easy to "fill out" the rest of the system as needed. Sending the other pair back (within your trial period) will cost about $40-50 in total shipping(?). That works out to about a buck/day to audition them for yourself...pretty cheap piece of mind to be sure you are getting the best speaker for your own personal preferences..

Tom V.
SVS

 

[John Garcia]

I'd say trying them out is a good bet, as these two speakers will definitely sound different from one another.

 

[Jean D]

I know demoing would be ideal, however, I think that due to speaker size and price point, I think I'm gonna end up going SVS in the long run anyway, I cant imagine that for that price I would be disappointed, plus if they ever upgrade the parts I could order them I'm guessing, sort of like their sub woofer lines. I also read on a thread about the HTD Series 3's that they need a lot of power to sound good, Im not running a very powerful reciever at this point, I'm gonna debate this for probably a month or so before I order them. Thanks for the input guys!

 

[Arthur S]

Hi Jean

It all depends on how you set them up...if you set all of your speakers to the 80Hz crossover that is recommended by virtually everyone, including SVS, the HTD Level 3 should be fine...in fact, using that setting should reduce the demands on the amplifiers by as much as 66%...please keep in touch.

 

[SVS-Ron]

Jean,

I don't know about the HTD's but the SBS-01 speakers aren't particularly efficient either. We didn't really care about that during design since good clean power is just dirt cheap today (and while many receivers might fail to achieve "rated power" they are still massively powerful for virtually any speaker, even on the low end of the price scale).

In any case, if you have 50 watts or more even per channel you'll be able to drive people out of the room with clean playback with most speakers today, including the SBS-01s. Of course how they SOUND when playing them loud (which tends to reveal a speaker's flaws better than what we sometimes call "Grandma levels" ;^) is a different issue entirely. We shot for very neutral, very flat, "transparent" sound on these speakers and most reports indicate we achieved that.

So, don't sweat the power in your receiver much, your subwoofer is actually doing most of the heavy lifting when you set all your speakers to "small" as we'd recommend with the SBS-01 system anyway. 50 watts (or whatever you are running) when primarily all the receiver/amp is producing is 80hz and up is a LOT of power actually.

Don't forget to mention you ordered, or are about to, since we trim a bit off the SBS-01 price if someone bought an SVS sub previously ($550 for the 5.0 set instead of $600 IIRC).

Hope that helps a bit, holler at us via e-mail if you have specific questions about these speakers.

Ron Stimpson
SVS

 

[Jack Gilvey]

Yup. And if MC music is important, that's where they really shine I find, the 12dB.oct sealed sats make for a nice blend with a typical 80-100Hz crossover to your sub.
The Panasonic XR55 I have the them paired with gets far louder than I'd ever use, bass takes the most power and sending that to a sub makes life easy on the partnered amp. As well as the nice, easy impedance curve of the SBS, which tends to get overlooked in favor of an efficiency rating.

 

[John Garcia]

I heard the SBS-01 package with an older 100W Sony ES receiver and they sounded quite good. Better bass than I expected from the SBSs on their own, and the center is very clear.

 

[Jean D]

I do listen to a few MC albums occasionally, mostly I just stream MP3's to my 360 in my livingroom, so chances are this will be 90-95% movies 5-10% music. unless they end up moving into a different room in the future.

 

[CurtisSC]

For what its worth at this point, I just concluded a 30 day trial of the HTD Level 3 bookshelf speaker. Some obvious holes in the FR and the tweeter is not very clean at all. I could not listen to the speaker very long, the sound really bothered me. Not necessaritly hurt my ears...just sounded bad. IMO, the worst ID speaker I have heard.

Go with the SVS SB-01's would be my advice....I heard them at CES, and they sounded much better than the HTDs, regardless of the fact that it was not side by side comparison.

The HTD's were one of 11 pairs of bookshelves myself and 3 others compared. The SBS-01's were suppose to be there...but UPS did not follow instructions. Thoughts were posted here:
http://av123forum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=18263

 

[John Garcia]

Hey, you can't comment on speakers when they aren't in the same room right Curtis? j/k.

 

[Arthur S]

Thanks Curtis

The information about the HTD Level 3 bookshelf is very interesting...I wonder how the HTD Level 3 Tower would stack up given the fact that it uses a 3 inch soft dome mid-range crossed over at 725Hz from the woofers to the 3 inch soft dome mid-range driver?

Thanks for the link.

 

[CurtisSC]

I think having a midrange driver would help, but that ribbon tweet still wouldn't sound clean.

 

[Arthur S]

Thanks Curtis

What do you think about the new AV123 Strata Mini?...it has an 8 inch planar magnetic mid-range and a one inch planar magnetic tweeter? You may very well not have heard this particular speaker, however, it has received at least a few very very good reviews...thanks in advance.

 

[gene c]

Ah Curtis, I'm envious. Sounds like the kind of speaker audition the rest of us can only dream of. I wonder how the Swan Diva's I just bought would have faired against that lineup.

 

[CurtisSC]

I heard it at CES...and it sounds very good. With the brief listen I had, I liked it. In the very least, competitive in the $2000/pr market. Would like to compare it with others in the same market space.

 

[CurtisSC]

Wish I could tell you.

We were very lucky. The four of us got along very well and similar tastes in music. My local A/V shop loaned me the Ushers and KEFs, as well as the NAD integrated. The 170SEs were my own, and the HTDs I had on trial. The other guys eached owned X-LS's, and two of them brought theirs. The Hsus, B&W's, Insignias, and Norhs were also owned by attendees. I am sure I left something out.

 

[SVS-Ron]

Jean,

Well, your warranty is intact at least. You wouldn't qualify for the returning customer discount but given you are an owner Erik Kroner can sometimes be convinced to drop a shirt and hat combo in there at least ;^)

Just drop us a line when/if you order. Suffice it to say that if you aren't floored by the sound of an SBS-01 system we're able to issue a return shipping label faster than you can find that tape gun most of us keep around the house (right? It's a staple of any audio enthusiast who's in an upgrading mode I've found ;^)

Good luck with your research in any case.

Ron
SVS

 

[Jean D]

Thanks for your input Ron. I think I made up my mind, I'm definitly gonna order the SBS-01's within a month or so, just gotta get WAF approval. the discount isn't a big deal to me anyway But a shirt would be cool. I'm still unsure if Ill get the sub also though. I have time to think about it at least.