In this review, we will be comparing two different type of speakers by SVS. SVS Prime Tower is a Floor-standing speaker whereas the Prime Bookshelf is a Bookshelf speaker.
Let's have a brief look at the main features
of SVS Prime Tower and SVS Prime Bookshelf first before getting into our more
detailed comparison.
Prime Tower and Prime Bookshelf are members of SVS's Prime series of speakers. Below you can find the loudspeakers from this series.
What size room are the SVS Prime Tower and SVS Prime Bookshelf speakers good for?
The size of the room in which you are planning to use these loudspeakers is an important decision factor. Here we have compared their suitability to various sizes of environments considering their size and max power parameters:
In the following sections, we will get into more detail in order to better understand how the SVS Prime Tower and SVS Prime Bookshelf compare and hopefully end up with enough arguments to decide which one of these loudspeakers is the better choice for you.
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Drivers
One of the fundamental differences between these two speakers is that Prime Tower is a 3-way design whereas the Prime Bookshelf is a 2-way speaker. 3-way designs utilize a midrange driver in addition to the tweeter and woofer on 2-way designs. Designing a crossover for a 3-way speaker is a complicated process and generally increases the overall cost of the speaker.
| Driver |
SVS Prime Tower |
SVS Prime Bookshelf |
|
Driver Setup
|
3-way
|
2-way
|
|
Tweeter
|
1-inch
|
1-inch
|
|
Midrange
|
1 x 4.5-inch |
- |
|
Woofer
|
2 x 6.5-inch
|
1 x 6.5-inch
|
Prime Tower features a 1" aluminum dome Tweeter , a 4.5" Midrange and 2 x 6.5" Polypropylene Woofer with a Crossover frequency at 350Hz and 2100Hz. On the other hand, the Prime Bookshelf features a 1" aluminum Hard-Dome Tweeter and 1 x 6.5" Woofer with a Crossover frequency at 2300Hz.
Frequency Response
Prime Tower has a frequency range of 30-25k Hz whereas Prime Bookshelf has a frequency range of 48-25k Hz. With a minimum frequency of 30Hz, the Prime Tower can go significantly deeper on the low side and provide stronger bass compared to the Prime Bookshelf's min frequency of 48Hz.
Below graphs depict how these two speakers compare with the max, min and average values of the Min and Max Frequencies of other speakers in the Floor-standing class in our database.
Low Frequency
Floor-standing Speakers
High Frequency
Floor-standing Speakers
None of these speakers achieves full range experience which is commonly agreed as 20Hz-20kHz. In order to achieve lower lows / deeper bass, we recommend you pair these with a subwoofer. Visit our Powered Subwoofers section to find out more about the available options.
Impedance and Sensitivity
Prime Tower and Prime Bookshelf have the same Impedance of 8 ohms and their sensitivity is also same at 87 dB.
Sensitivity
Floor-standing Speakers
Power Range
Power
range is the range of input power in watts RMS that a loudspeaker is designed to handle. While using an amplifier within this range ensures the nominal performance , inputting a power that is higher than the max wattage can result in a damaged speaker.
Prime Tower can handle a max power of 250 watts RMS from the amp the whereas Prime Bookshelf has a max power handling value of 150 watts RMS, 100 watts less than the Prime Tower.
Keep in mind that a higher max power handling value doesn't necessarily make that a louder speaker
compared to a lower max handling speaker. Loudness or the sound level is also impacted by parameters
such as Impedance, sensitivity and system efficiencies.
Input Type and Bi-Amping / Bi-Wiring
Prime Tower features 5-way post type posts and Prime Bookshelf has a 5-way post type posts. None of these speakers feature bi-amping/bi-wiring.
SVS Prime Tower's 5-Way post terminals
SVS Prime Bookshelf's 5-way post terminals
Cabinet Type and Port Position
Both Prime Tower and Prime Bookshelf have rear firing ports. Rear ported speakers generally need more room between the backside of the speaker and the wall compared to sealed and front/bottom ported speakers. Placing the speakers too close to the walls may cause the bass to sound boomy.
If you are limited in space and can't get the speakers away from the backwall, check our Speakers with Front Firing Ports page.
Physical Specs
Size of a speaker can sometimes become an important decision factor due to space constraints or in some cases purely for esthetic reasons. In this section, we are going to compare SVS Prime Tower's and SVS Prime Bookshelf's external dimensions. SVS Prime Tower has external dimensions of 931.0 x 204.0 x 297.0mm ( 36-5/8 x 8 x 11-11/16inch) whereas SVS Prime Bookshelf has external dimensions of 337.8 x 203.2 x 261.6mm ( 13.2 x 8.0 x 10.2inch) .
SVS Prime Tower is clearly the larger of the two speakers. Its body is 0.80000000000001mm wider, 593.2mm taller and 35.4mm deeper than SVS Prime Bookshelf.
Below you can see the front view size comparison of SVS Prime Tower and SVS Prime Bookshelf in scale.
Comparison image of SVS Prime Tower and SVS Prime Bookshelf Size and External Dimensions
Base Surface Area Comparison
Base surface area of a loudspeaker may become a determining factor when the space in your room or desk is limited.
The base surface area of the SVS Prime Tower is approximately 605.9cm2 / 93.9inch2 and base area of the SVS Prime Bookshelf is approximately 531.6cm2 / 82.4inch2. The Prime Tower requires 14% more surface area than the Prime Bookshelf which gives it a small disadvantage on placement in tight spaces.
What's in the Box of SVS Prime Tower?
Here are the items that are included inside the box of Prime Tower:
Floorstanding loudspeakerGrille (pre-installed)4 Elastomer isolation feet (pre-installed)4 Spike feet4 Nuts4 Protective discsOwners ManualSVS brochureOnline Product Registration Card
What's in the Box of SVS Prime Bookshelf?
Here are the items that come with the Prime Bookshelf:
2 Bookshelf loudspeakers 2 Grilles (pre-installed) 8 Self-adhesive rubber bumpers Owners Manual SVS brochure Online Product Registration Card