Meet My New Reference. The SV Audio Gro Speakers.
By Steve Huff
Note: I, Steve Huff wrote this review every word. I do not use and will never use AI for writing my reviews but I do use AI to enhance images and create a nicer look to this website. All images are sourced from a master image of the real product, though presented in a much nicer way than just in my room.
SV Audio Gro Review
It has been a blast over the last several years getting to experience so much audio gear. The reviews, the purchases, the gear I wished I could have kept, and the gear I had to let go of to make way for the new. For me, this has brought so many benefits because, as an audio-obsessed music and gear lover, I have learned what I love, what I like, and what I dislike when it comes to audio and listening to a dedicated two-channel system. I have also learned the true differences between mid tier gear, high end gear and exotic level gear and why it’s not always best to spend more. In some cases though, it may be if you seek such things.
These days, so many out there in this crazy world just use Bluetooth earbuds with their phones, and while this is all well and good, I still love to sit down, relax for hours at a time, and enjoy music as it washes over my mind, body, and soul. Yea, for me, this ritual can even be a spiritual experience at times. Welcome to the Church of HiFi Huff, where music feeds the soul with peace, clam, serenity and keeps stress at bay.
Lol. But yea, music listening in a dedicated space does all of this and more for me. Keeps me grounded as well.
I still love the Fleetwood Deville for their unique vibe, build and sound.
Yes in is 100% true. I have had speakers in this room that I adored and swore would be my last, but they never seem to make it to “forever”.
Why is this?
Being a guy who gets stuff sent to him all the time to check out, I always seem to find something else that eventually comes through these doors over time that bests what I loved before. Oh, and it is almost always more expensive to acquire. It’s a lot like the HiFi upgrade chase that many of you reading have done over the years as well. We love, we seek, we try to find our personal best but it seems tough to do with so much to choose from.
What I have personally learned from hearing so many speakers is to never settle for any speaker if it does not fit the room or space perfectly. This is huge, as I have been guilty of putting speakers that were a big mismatch into my rooms. Small room and big speakers can sound good but usually will never sound as all out magical as they could sound if placed in a room where they can breathe. Yea, that’s a thing. Speakers like space around them to flow, to swell, to bring you the goods you crave.
Big speakers in a small room are not the best way to get the ultimate sound. While this is just a rendering to show what it can look like the 2nd image shows speakers that will sound better in this t type of room. It’s why we have small two ways, mid sized towers, large towers and also exotic behemoths. Larger rooms like larger boxes. Smaller like smaller.
Fifteen years ago, I placed a set of big expensive and heavy Sonus Faber Amati Futura speakers into a room that was 11 x 12, and they were not optimal at all in that room. At first, I was in love with the soft, juicy, warm, fat tones, but then I was fatigued. I learned fatigue is not always caused by ear-busting treble and lean dry mids. Sometimes it can be brought on by speakers that are overly warm, bloated, and fat, as the details are lost, as is the depth and dimension of the sound. They can start to sound dull, muddy or just lacking in excitement.
That small room worked best with a set of small two-way Dynaudio speakers, and I remember them well, the Special 40. The way they filled that room was so nice, yet they were so small. The reason was that they were a perfect mate to the room size, and those speakers cost around $30k less than the big heavy Sonus Faber speakers did. They sounded much better, all due to the Amati just being too large for the room, hence too much bass bloat. Now if I placed those Amati’s back then in a proper space it would be a very different story as those are drool worthy speakers when done properly.
I am now in a 13 x 18 room, and while it is larger than my old tiny 11 x 12 space, it is not that much bigger and in no way a huge space. It is big enough for larger speakers but also works well with the smaller variety. I have been trying hard in 2026 to find the “one” speaker that melded with the room perfectly, and I got mighty close with a couple of small speakers I own. Closer than I have ever found for this room anyway.
The little T+A Talis R330 are fantastic high end “end game” two way small stand mount speakers made in Germany for small to small mid rooms.
The T+A Talis R330 is one of those, and what a speaker it is. Small, well made in Germany, full aluminum cabinet, all made in house with high-end sound in all ways. Massive huge bass that shocked me in the beginning is on tap here as well with the T+A. I have been enjoying these since 2025 and have not tired of them, but I do know these are not “perfect” for the room, as somehow, at times, there can still be some bass bloat in the mids with bass heavy tracks, and they are not as huge in sound scale as the Icon 12s, which use a huge 12-inch woofer to bring the punch.
The Icon 12s are speakers I love to death, but in all honesty, they are too large for me to handle here at this time. I am getting older, have lost close to 40 pounds due to health reasons and moving around 100+ lb speakers, each, is not fun for me anymore, especially with so much gear moving in and out for review. Moving those has been a chore, and I would hate to damage them one day while tired out, so those have been moved to the guest house a few months ago, where they have been making gorgeous music for most of March and April 2026 in a much larger space than this one.
This is when I learned that the Icon 12s in my main reference room were really too large as well. Maybe a tad too warm, again, which I used to love. Growing up as a teen back in the 80’s my system was always warm and fat and that’s the sound I always enjoyed. Over the last year or so though I found myself craving more detail up top and the T+A were bringing it all to me here, just with less bass impact and overall scale of size than the Icon 12s.
The mighty Icon 12 can hit as hard as Thors hammer and play as gentle as a mom singing her baby a lullaby but best for larger rooms
I will say the Icon 12s in my guest house sound even better, as the room they have been in there is 20 x 25, and yes, they fit better there for sure. So I learned that my main room needs a smaller speaker, and I was happy as can be with the T+A, as the niggles were small. I also love the Fleetwood Helios which will never leave here, period. They are as unique as it gets, and I love this. They sound so good with vocals and acoustic music as well and the price is under $5k for a USA hand made speaker. They just do not deliver the visceral bass as the others do, but they can with the Fleetwood sub. I hope to review the sub soon.
A NEW KIND OF SPEAKER ARRIVES
Then something happened that I never expected to happen. I received an email from Next Level HiFi in Wayne, Illinois asking if I would like to review this new speaker that they really love, called the Gro. I am a fan of Next Level HiFi and I have visited their shop a few years back which is an awesome high-end store that sells some pretty high-end, pricey brands. I highly recommend a visit if you are nearby as the town is also lovely, quiet and I enjoyed my 6 hour one way drive when I visited. I even did a trade deal with them back then and it went as smooth as silk. I also was able to check out all of the offerings from Borresen, another brand from Denmark.
Next Level HiFi also carries a new brand, SV Audio, where the SV stands for Storgaard & Vestskov, out of Denmark. This brand is only a couple of years old but making serious waves in the USA market now, which is not easy to do. Many brands work their behind off and never make it but SV Audio, from Denmark seems to have hit a chord with those in the high end audio hobby. The folks at Next Level were so impressed when they heard the SV Gro speakers they wanted to be the USA distributor and made an immediate deal with SV.
They offer up three models right now, from small to large and they recently launched this box called the “Gro” which is a new speaker that is downright beautiful in looks. The Gro are also quite compact, yet still a tower speaker and the subject of this review. These are not 100 lb monsters but around 49 lbs each, so they are easy to move which is a huge pro in my book but will they sound as good as the big guns? That was my curiosity.
So when I was asked if I would like to review these new, unique, high-end speakers called the Gro I knew what I had to do. I was shown a picture of them, and as soon as I saw the image, I fell in love with the design and color scheme. I said, “YES! 100% SEND THEM ALONG!”
The pair I have here is just like the ones here, and the finish is called “Bentley Bronze” . This is a stock photo from SV Audio, The woman you see here is Laerke Vestskov Poulsen, the daughter of CEO Casper Vestskov Poulsen. SV Audio is a small family run business not a mass market brand.
A week later, I saw a big truck driving down my driveway, and inside was a huge wooden crate for me with the SV Audio Gro speakers. This box was heavy and large, so I went to the garage and grabbed my powered screwdriver. I took the screws out from the top and was treated to a lovely packing job with foam and a very solid presentation.
When I saw the speaker exposed in the sun, I saw a deep, auto-like paint job with some sparkle that was almost like looking into deep space on a clear night. Beautiful. Sparkly but not flashy. Then I saw the bronze aluminum faceplate, which is sort of the signature of SV Audio. The faceplate not so much the color as these can come in a variety of colors, but this set was upgraded a bit in the appearance department.
SV Audio is a small family business, think of them as “small batch high end audio” and they do it all from design, to making the cabinet, the aluminum faceplate, crossover and even have an in house paint shop where they spray auto quality finishes onto their speakers. Cabinets are made of HDF and I have had cabs made of everything and anything from plastic, to glass, to metal to real wood to MDF. I love real wood but not many do that these days so HDF is the next best thing, some feel it is even better.
All I know is the cabinet is gorgeous in the flesh and there is no vibrations or lack of all out solidity here. These bring with them supreme build quality and attention to detail. Up there with the best I have seen in this regard and I would say comparable to big names like Wilson and Magico in the build and details, just not as monstrous in size (and sound, quite different as well).
Are these truly stunners in looks or what? Nothing about the Gro is “cheap” and there seems to be no compromise made anywhere. All premium parts. materials and construction. Attention to detail is stunning.
These are indeed high-end speakers made for those looking to invest in something special. I carefully carried each one in from my driveway, using the gloves provided in the box so I would not get fingerprints all over the finish. Easy to move and place, which I loved. The base plate is all aluminum as well and matches the copper face. Once that is screwed in on the bottom, which takes 5 minutes per speaker, you are ready to roll.
These also ship with spikes and discs for when you find their final setup placement. I tested them with and without the spikes as well as with some speaker isolation devices.
SETUP
Over the days, I tested these in various positions in the room. One and a half feet from the wall, two feet, and up to six feet. I settled on having these speakers about four feet from the front wall, though two to three feet sounded amazing as well, and about two feet from the side wall. My chair was placed about eight feet away from them, and I had them toed in slightly, not firing directly at my ears or face. It was here that they did their all-out best for me in this room.
Also you will see something on each speakers woofer driver. Carved into the aluminum face you will see what looks like sun rays and the one with the rays pointing to the right should be your right speakers. The left, the left. Opposite of the image below, lol.
There are three bass ports on the back, so I would advise not placing them in a corner, as you may get some bass issues. Oh, these can do bass down to 27 Hz, and they can play as loud as your ears can stand without stress or strain. These can be placed semi close to walls but when you do, the bass will get pretty strong. These go down low and they do like to breathe and be out a bit from the boundaries.
These are all out perfect for a small to mid sized room, but probably best in a mid sized room like mine which is 13X18. This, the Gro, is the perfect size for my space. Not too small, not too large.
The Gro is a two-way passive floorstanding loudspeaker. Each speaker uses one 1.5-inch, or 38 mm, tweeter and two 5-inch mid-woofers. They are rated at 90 dB sensitivity and 4 ohms, so while I would still recommend quality amplification, they are not hard to drive. SV Audio recommends 25 to 250 watts, yet even the 4 watts of tube power from the Galion Victoria drove them beautifully in my room at moderate volumes and a 78db level.
I use an Ohr Labs DB meter which is made for studios. Accurate, nice and works every time.
One thing to note is that the Gro speaker is very much a Danish-made creation from SV Audio. The company handles the cabinet work, finish, crossover design, system integration, machined aluminum parts, and overall build in-house, with the drivers selected and matched for consistency. These are made with intent, purpose, and passion, and it shows.
The official dimensions are 21 x 105 x 33 cm, or about 8.3 x 41.3 x 13 inches, and each speaker weighs 22 kg, or about 49 lbs. Recommended room size is listed as up to 60 square meters, or 646 square feet, which makes sense to me after hearing them in my 13 x 18 space which is about half of that, so you can go bigger room with these than I have for sure. They are compact in form but not small in how they energize a room.
The Price Seemed a bit much to Me. At first.
I am no stranger to expensive speakers, as I have owned many. My Sonus Faber Amati were around $40k. My Sonus Faber Guarneri Evo were around $25k. My O Audio Icon 12s have a retail around $25k, and there have been so many more. The Fleetwood Deville SQ were a cool $22k. I never went all in, or over the $50k mark, but to me spending $25k on a speaker is a hell of a lot of money. That may not be to you, but in my world it is.
I have also owned more affordable speakers from brand such as Klipsch (Heritage), JBL, and tons of others that are a much easier spend. I have had plenty of midrange options like the Dynaudio Heritage Special, the T+A Talis, and the Triangle Duetto. There have been many more, but yea, I have heard them all, even the top tier Magico and Wilson. I have owned source point. open baffle, two way, three way and beyond. So yea, I have heard a lot of speakers in my lifetime.
When I saw these Gro in my space, I had no idea yet what they cost as I did not even look until I was about to hit play. I guessed they would be “alot” just due to the initial look at the design, materials, and style, which are all awesome and truly high end. These are also very high on the pride-of-ownership scale in looks, design, and build. Yea, they look and feel like those big exotic speakers but in a smaller package.
Also…Tariffs are indeed making some audio gear more expensive
But they are compact floorstanders, not full-blown large speakers. They are under 50 lbs, not 100+. The O Audio Icon 12s are 100+ lbs each and look like they cost what they do. Also, the Gro come from Denmark so are subject to Tariff’s as well, which have boosted the price of tons of HiFi gear over the last year or so.
GORGEOUS!
When I saw the true retail USA price tag of $32,000 for this speaker, I was a bit sad. Before even firing them up, I did not know if I would review them, as how could a smaller tower like this be worth so much money when I can go buy a used set of Børresen speakers for $8k, also from Denmark? I can buy a ton of used high-end speakers for under $30k that some would say are vastly better because, well, they are bigger. First things first: bigger is not always better. It depends on the room, remember?
I mean, what constitutes “better” anyway?
In any case, I told myself, “Well, you have to listen to them, Steve, then decide if you will send them back without a review.” I was not paid for the review, as I do not charge for reviews. I was not given kickbacks or commission if any were sold, as always. I do this out of passion spending weeks listening, 40-60 hours writing and then 10 hours or so to get a video up. All for the love of this hobby. YouTube pays peanuts in today’s economy for a channel like mine, which is Niche. Even so, I decided to go all in here and see how these would do even if they cost more than I hoped they would.
I had the gear below in for testing with the Gro:
My stunning tube like Burson Timekeeper Voyager Mono Amps (Max) – $5,999
The bold and muscular USA made ModWright KWH 225i Integrated Amp – $9,800
The oh so sweet affordable Galion Victoria Tube Amp – $1,300
Immersive D-1 DAC – $12k
Audio Mirror Wave DAC – $22k
Matrix NT-1 Streamer with SC-1 Clock and SS-1 Pro Switch – $10k
Synergistic Research PowerCell 12 SX Power Conditioner – $8k
Now using a full loom of cables from Synergistic Research (Foundation XL) from ethernet to digital to IC to speaker to power and what a difference this has made, wow.
AWAY WE GO
Before I hit play, I expected these to sound a bit lean and dry. I assumed they would be tuned for all-out detail, with bass so fast it would sound a bit bare, much like some others high end exotics I heard a couple of years back, that I decided NOT to review as they cost $55k and I didn’t even like the sound. I had no idea what the Gro would be like, but I was in for a surprise indeed as they were not what I “expected” but something else entirely, and it really planted a seed within me, now growing strong with heavy roots.
I will use a listening report I talked about in the D-1 DAC review when using the SV Gro, but I will rewrite it here toward more thoughts on the speakers rather than the DAC.
I sat one night to listen to an entire album by Les Duet Love Orchestra. This is not the kind of music I jam when I am in my car or hanging outside doing yard work. But when I sit and listen with intent and focus around 1 AM, the album has really brought the feels in the past. It is well recorded, spatial at times, and has dynamics for days.
I had the ModWright KWH 225i integrated in with the D-1 DAC.
The album is called “King Kong,” and when “I Can’t Get Started” came on, it was, well… perfection in sound, if that is what you seek. There was also soul, emotion, and sweetness pouring from the SV Gro speaker drivers. Magic, refinement, and beauty were all here, and in massive amounts. I sat and listened into the night all the way through.
There was just a purity to the sound here from top to bottom that was very pleasing. As I hit the track “Lujon,” the jazzy feel and sounds were wrapping me in a soundstage bubble of sorts, as this seems to be the magic trick of the SV Gro. There is immersion and an almost surrounding feel, with the music just floating through the space in the room, front to sides. Illusionary, sure, but very real indeed.
The sound was never bright, yet it was never warm, nor even close to pouring syrup or honey from the drivers. It was neutral, really, and this was the goal of SV Audio yet the soundstage wasn’t like windex, more like the sun on a golden day, near golden hour but not drenched in gold. There was a neutrality that had life, realism, soul and honestly the Gro were a slight nod to the polite side. This did not stop them from being dynamic and rich, as they very much are. The goal of SV seems to be to stay neutral yet deliver a soul-stirring, heart-touching, emotional sound without bloat or thickness.
These do indeed sound like Danish speakers and have a similar feel to Dynaudio and Borresen, the best of those Danish brands in fact. I always have had a connection to speakers made in Denmark as they seem to always have a density, a drive, a neutrality and open sound without stridency or hardness or ever getting lean. Those Danes surely know how to make a speaker.
Going into “King Kong Blues,” I heard a smooth, big-scale sound, and I mean BIG. The kind of big where the music fills the room so well that it sounds as if the walls and ceiling have speakers built in. Vocals are rich and full-bodied. Very natural and flowing.
By the end of the album, and after enjoying other tracks such as “Fascination” for the delicacy and the way each instrument was easily heard and separated in space naturally, I was left seriously impressed. I mean, these can sound bigger than my Icon 12s in here, yet also sound more delicate than my T+A Talis. They can project like my Helios from Fleetwood Sound, yet have traits that make them sound like none other I have had here in scale and density. Seriously, these could easily replace every speaker I own at this time, all seven sets. Why? Because they do all of what those seven sets do, but in one set of speakers.
The Breakdown
First, let’s talk about the treble. It is smooth yet extended, and while this may sound like something I have spoken of before, this is “next level” here in refinement and beauty. No hardness at all, and yet they are also not super chimey or shiny. No glitter. Instead I hear deeply lit golden hues, but the details are all here, some in a 3D space with superb separation of all sounds within that upper level of sound. Gorgeous. Violins, Cellos…ahhh so good! Piano has weight and solidity to convince me of its reality and cymbals splash with serenity vs the headache style. I thought the treble would be the star of the SV Gro, but…
The midrange is special. It has a beauty and fullness, yet remains clear and clean, with some massive soul also being thrown here into the soundstage. Amazing scale in size. Lifelike. The midrange is where the beauty of the sound lives. The voice. Most of the magic. It is why I used to love Sonus Faber, as once upon a time, they were, for me, the most magical in the mids. They have changed a lot over the years since Franco Serblin passed.
The issue with some speakers is that if the midrange gets too warm and full, the sound can be a bit off, a bit unnatural, and bloated. The SV Gro do not do this. They remain open, transparent, and clean, yet voices are huge and bring a lifelike scale.
One listen to Mikhail Bennett’s “Oh My Daughter” was all it took for me to hear how special the Gro was with the human voice.
I had never heard of this artist, but it popped up as recommended, and wow, the sound was huge and lifelike, with a mix of soul, blues guitar, and love. Maybe some weird compression artifacts but big big soulful sound. This track just oozed emotion from the SV Gro. Not my usual cup of tea, but I enjoyed the way the Gro was doing the midrange and voice here. Unfortunately I found out this artist with 1.2 million monthly listeners is…AI. Arg, I hate that. Music should be made by humans just as these words here are written by one. Even so, this track was huge in sound with a vocal that came right out in to the space in full 3D realism.
These SV Audio speakers are not just about audiophile perfection, as they can also be fun, and by this I mean… TURN THEM UP! If you do, the size just grows, and they never, ever falter or fail with distortion, bloat, or unruly bass. All stays clean, smooth refined, tight, and remarkable. These can blow me out of my room at 95DB and sound as good in quality as they do at mid volume. This was crazy to experience, as even my Icon 12s could not do this without big bloat due to, you guessed it, room size. The SV Gro are absolute perfection for this medium-sized room.
What about the bass? SV says these go down to 27 Hz, so I was expecting some big, huge bass, and they did not disappoint. Rather, they impressed me more than any other speaker I have had in this space when it comes to the low end. No, these do not sound puffed up, as they are not puffing up the mids to bring the impression of big bass. The Gro have body and density but not over done or under done. So I was not impressed with a big room shaking bass but instead a clean, focused, musical and very deep bass when it is in the recording. If you are looking for a puffed up midrange, that can rob some of that open holographic sound, these may not be the ones you seek.
Some speakers do this to trick the ear, gives the impression or illusion of more bass. Usually, when you hear me or someone say how amazing the bass is in a small two-way, there is almost always some sort of small compromise to get that level of bass. Usually, it is the mids that deliver some of that, again, sort of an illusion for the ears at 100hz or so. This sounds pleasing at first but over time can make you realize you may be missing something from the music. The Gro delivers everything to you without bloat and without hardness or being lean. Magic.
My T+A Talis have a bit of a puffed-up midrange in my space but it is slight, and it creates the illusion that they are much bigger, as the bass seems big, and it is. But it is not the super deep 30hz bass variety that is being heard so loudly. It is more in the midrange area but man they sound magical and delicious indeed but not near the same level as the Gro. The Gro is the real deal and digs deep when called upon. While it digs it is clean, tight, big, tuneful and just so visceral and fast. I guess this is what an extra $21k gets you vs the Talis. There is also the scale of sound, which is incredible with the Gro and excellent with the Talis.
It is crazy, as the synergy here with the room is scary good. When deep bass does hit, and I mean low, deep bass, look out, as these will deliver it with a tight and fast style, yet I still feel some pressure in the room and my being. For bass control, these are now the best speakers I have had in here and it is not even close. Wow…even after all this time I am still hearing things that shock me. These are the definition of fast, controlled, tight yet BIG bass. With 5″ drivers no less. These smaller drivers deliver a faster, tighter more tuneful bass than a big 10″ or 12″ bass driver. Precision like I hear in the mega speakers that can cost even more than the Gro.
As I look over my notes while listening to these speakers, I start to realize these are the best I have had here in all areas, from top to bottom. Now that $32k price tag doesn’t seem to be off at all, in fact, I said to myself “If I had a spare $32k now I would buy these” so yea, I am happy I decided to go all in and review them.
To be fair, these are also the most expensive speakers I have ever had in this room here so there is that. They do not try to impress with short-term tricks, but bring a more holistic approach that you appreciate more and more over time. By my second week with these, I started to get sad, and even a little depressed, about the fact that I had to send them back soon. I started to listen more than I ever have, and even my wife Debby asked me what was going on back here in my room that was so special. I brought her back, and we sat for a while and listened.
A basic non-audiophile track came on at random from Rick Springfield with the tube like Burson amps in action. It is from a live CD and is quite old, but the song “My Father’s Chair” came on, and by the end, I looked over and Debby was in tears, sniffling. The song reminded her of when her father passed, and the song has done the same for me in the past, but here it was hitting stronger. Just a basic song, not recorded in any fancy audiophile way, yet it delivered that emotion with ease.
After a few more tracks, she left the room, and when we went to bed that night, she asked me if I was keeping the speakers. I told her, “They cost way too much for us to afford at this time,” and they do. These days, as I get older and more chill, I make less money than I used to. I have never been one to hustle for money, wear myself down, or worship the almighty dollar. Instead, I focus on living happy, being healthy, and enjoying the smaller things in life, rather than chasing a dream that will satisfy only for the short term. This has served me well since 1992 when I quit my last real “job” working for someone else and it still baffles my mind that I have been able to do what I love since then, on my own, and still make it in the world.
I make enough money for us to live, to be comfy, and besides this audio gear, we live on the cheap. We now drive a simple Ford Maverick truck and stay home almost always. We try to keep bills low, keep some money in the bank, and be happy. For the last six years, this has worked well, and we love our simple kind of life though these days with the costs of everything going crazy, it is getting harder. Our home payment has went from $800 per month to now $2300 per month due to tax and insurance increases and for me this seems like it should be illegal.
So no, buying a set of $32k speakers are not in my financial budget, no matter how good they are. So I told Debby “I wish we could own them” but I do not see how it can be done at this time.
She then said this…
“I really like these as well, so let’s find a way. We aren’t getting younger, and you finally found ‘The One’ speaker you have been seeking since we moved here.”
As our conversation went on, we ended up deciding we could not afford them in our world, at this time. Plus, we had planned to sell our property and move this year due to those tax increases so whether or not we would be here next year remains a mystery.
The Days Go On
As each day passed, I started to really bond with the SV Gro, and I fully realized these are well worth it for the price they seek for the person who is searching for this kind of speaker, for a small to mid sized room, in the high end realm. If you can afford them and have a small to midsized space with top-tier front-end gear that can bring the most from the SV Gro, there is almost no chance you will not fall in love with these. I have never heard such beauty, glow, scale, and richness from a speaker here in this room. Not like this. Not without some kind of small compromise.
I will note the best I have heard the Gro here is with the Buson Voyager Timekeeper mono amps with the Fusion Core power supplies. They get run direct by the Imersiv D-1 DAC. Matrix NT-1 streamer and SC-1 clock polished off with a full loom of Synergistic Research Foundation XL cables. Just all out the most beautiful sound I have heard to date in this space, besting all that have come before it. Very tube like.
The amps are $5999, the DAC $12k, the Streamer and Clock $9k, cables $12k (every cable from digital to power to speaker to IC to ethernet). With the Gro this system has a retail of $65,000. Wow, that’s high end alright but I have to say the cables really finished it off with such a sound! Easily bests the near $200k system I had here at one time, which is really about SYNERGY with the room and each piece of gear.
These Burson Voyager Timekeeper anps with the power supplies are so good. Class A up to 40 watts then 200 WPC into 4 ohms. Smooth, refined, some warmth…sounds like high end tubes with power.
The Modwright amp sounds awesome with the Gro as well and these bring more punch, more illumination up top and an even great bass presence. For some music I prefer the ModWright KWH 225i but it’s more revealing with the Gro, making them even more open and airy. Both of these amps do exceptional with the Gro but my preference is more for the tube sound richness vs a more open and punchy sound. You may differ but either amp here does great.
One day, I decided to remove the Gro and place my T+A Talis R330 back in to see just how much better I liked the Gro, which cost a staggering $21k more retail than the German boxes. With the Talis, I was now back to my old sound, which is quite beautiful indeed.
I wanted to know what I would lose from the Gro speakers, and here is what I lost:
The SV Gro are more refined, so they sound even more “high end”. I mean that they have a richness, a depth, and an all-out top-to-bottom sound that is also smooth, silky, and gorgeous in tonality yet detail does not lack. They sound much bigger than they are, these Gros. Much larger in scale than the big sounding T+A R330. The treble is more special with the Gro, and also more extended and 3D, if that is a thing. Midrange with the Gro was unmatched, and the Talis, as good as they are here, were just a bit smaller, darker, and more puffed up. As great and awesome as the Talis R330 are, there is a reason the Gro cost so much more. The dynamics are shockingly better, the low level detail is better..or should I go back to the word “different” as each sounds so good. It’s just one hits my emotions and heart much harder, and that is the Gro.
I then lugged over the Icon 12s, and as mighty and massive as they are, they are warmer, have looser bass, and do not sound as detailed or deep in the smaller space as they do in the large. In the smaller room, the SV Gro edged out the 12 in the way the soundstage is presented as well as tightness and speed of the bass. The SV Gro have another skill, and that is how they project the soundstage, which is almost bubble-like with some music, as if I am sitting in a bubble of music. This is most prevalent with the Audio Mirror Wave DAC and D-1 DAC from Imersiv, which is why I state you will need top-tier gear to go with the SV Gro. Sure they can sound amazing with a huge selection of gear that exists so feel free to experiment. A nice low noise high current amp will do just fine here.
No plastics, MDF, hollowness or corner cut with the SV Audio lineup.
Time to Send Them Back
I was nearing the end of my time with these beauties and was about to write Next Level HiFi to let them know that I needed to set up a pickup for the return of these memory making beautiful speakers. Before I did that, my wife texted me from our guest house and said, “Hey, why don’t you sell some of this gear you never use? It is all here in boxes taking up space.” She was cleaning up the rooms to prep for possibly listing our house and saw the pile of gear.
I went over there and saw that I had much more gear than I remembered, just sitting in boxes. It was all gear I bought over the years, some of it discounted new and some used, some never even reviewed. Some of not buried under other boxes. I even had a Naim all in one in there, a Nova, as new! There were tube amps, all in one amps, cables, and a few speakers. I scratched my head and said, “This is it. The way to the SV Gro.” I sorted through what I would be willing to let go of and listed it all for sale. Within two days, all was sold, so now I asked Next Level about a purchase, a possible buy of these speakers.
Seeing that these were review units and used at the Axpona show (only as static display) and I was doing a review and wanted to own them, typically there is an industry discount from some dealers or manufacturers if a reviewer wants to buy. I wanted to find a way, so after some words, we settled on a price, and I said, “SOLD!”
After selling older gear I had stashed away, along with a discount for being in the industry, I was easily able to afford the SV Gro without inflicting any financial pain on myself in any way. I thank my wife, as she suggested this, and she was right. Why would I sit on old gear I was not even using and pass on speakers I feel are the best we have ever heard for our space, let alone some of the most beautiful looks as well. A win all the way around. These are now part of the reference setup for review purposes. Of course I could have sold the old gear and stashed the cash in the bank but what fun is that? Lol. This is a lifelong hobby for me, started at 15 and I am now 57. We only live once my friends and now I feel as I am winding down from the chase more so than ever. I have pieces here that I now know will be long term, very much so.
That is another thing I have learned in this hobby. For this like me, who seek their own “sound” it can take a long time to find it, to find what they like and love. We may get close and think we will be happy but in the end, that rarely happens. I have found when I invest in gear that works with my room/space and each other things start to come into focus. I now have things I can not imagine getting rid of here. and these Gro speakers will join that club.
Three bass ports on the back made of aluminum as well. They never chuff, make noise or cause bloat. Having three ports is good as it makes it easier to set these up as well. The way the Gro interact with my room is perfection.
It Didn’t End There
After the purchase details were hammered out, I just kept listening. No matter the amp I used, these sounded magical. The Audio Mirror Wave DAC and the D-1 were making all-out magic in this space with the SV Gro, and here I was, 57 years old, and after 40 years in this hobby, I finally found my “Retirement System.” Ha, really? I told Debby if I am ever old, feeble and sick, waiting to go…I want to listen to these with beautiful music on my way out, as I go. I can’t imagine anything more peaceful than that.
I found audio heaven before, many times, but this time I found the ultimate for me, with the SV Gro being at the forefront of the system. For the first time in two decades, I am not seeking anything new for myself personally but in reality I wasn’t seeking the Gro either, they seemed to have found me first. I no longer seek better in streaming, in a DAC or in cables. Speakers as well. I will always own 2-3 sets of speakers to change it up and for review comparisons but this system brings me supreme enjoyment anytime I sit down to listen.
Again, synergy, room, and personal taste are what it is all about. I could go into massive debt and buy the $100k+ Borresen 2 way small stand mounts and maybe I would get 10% more of this or that but no way, not for me. I have fallen for the Gro…hard. They are just so freaking beautiful inside and out. Some speakers are like that hot chick you talked to back when you were in your 20’s. Nice to look at but shallow inside. The Gro bring beauty inside and out and for me that’s a win.
This now means my reference setup will no longer be changing every few months. I will always do new reviews, but nothing new will be added to the system anymore, even if it bests, in some way, somehow, what I have going on here. I am happy, content, thrilled, and excited all at the same time. All I have here is paid in full, so I do not have to stress about owing on credit or a loan. It’s mine all mine and unless a financial hardship hits us, this is it. It’s like a dream system come to life for me and makes me not want to sell our property now as the room is perfect.
And about that…we decided to stay here for at least one more year to see what happens with the real estate market, so after all of this we are staying for a while which means these will stay in this space where they sound so good.
Yea, I tend to get excited and hype sometimes, but that is how I am wired. When I get truly excited, I want to spread the word in a way that relays my excitement. It is real, not manufactured. It is my passion. I also do not do this as a “Job” which also makes a difference.
SV Audio have three models: one for smaller rooms, one for small to midsized rooms, and one for larger spaces. I feel the Gro is in the sweet spot of the trio that they have up for offer. The small Frida seen below is $22k, the Gro is $32k and the Fenja is $82k.
Low Volume?
Oh, these do very well indeed at low volume in my space here. I read another review that said these like to be turned up, and they do, as they can produce audio energy like few others I have experienced in my room. But they can also do low-level, soft, and intimate. It depends on the amp, really, but I often listen at low volume in the wee hours of the night or morning, and these are gorgeous, full-bodied yet clean, and so sweet at low volume with the Burson amps. That is another pro. They can do both ends of the volume extremes without effort but as you turn them up the Gro just say “bring it on, man!”
Absolutely top-tier speakers in all ways. Pricey for me, yes, but this is a lifetime buy here folks, and I know some of my wealthy friends would call these a steal of a deal at their asking price. One and done for 98% of you and me as well. Also know that there are indeed many speakers that cost less that sound amazing and spending big in not needed for enjoying music in a serene way. Yet, it can get more involving, more inviting, more soulful, more emotional and more beautiful. How deep down the rabbit hole do you want to venture? That’s the question. If you go deep you may also land at SV Audio. If you do, be prepared to get addicted to your music all over again as even after daily listening for two weeks now I cannot stop sitting in my room enjoying to the SV Audio Gro. The more I listen, the more I love them.
Let me touch on one more thing. I spent a day messing with placement. I placed them 2 feet from the front wall and up to 5 feet into the room from that wall. I went closer to the side walls at 2 feet away and also 4 feet away. I toed in slight and more extreme. I sat far and close. Where I ended up was where I had them initially. About 2 – 2 1/2 feet from the side walls, about four feet into the room (from wall to tweeter) and I sit approximately 7 1/2 feet from them. They sit about 8 feet apart, tweeter to tweeter. This, for me, created the nicest soundstage, the most depth and most holistic sound. I have not hear better as of May 2026 when it comes to speakers I have had in my space over the last five years. Yes my friends, SV Audio may be newer but they mean business!
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