Q. I happily have a ZVOX soundbar because of your recommendation, so I was excited to read about the deal on the $99.99 AV70 Bluetooth speaker and $149.99 AV52 noise-canceling headphones, getting the $249.98 combo for $99.99. The problem is the deal is not on the ZVOX website. Your thoughts?
—S.S., St. Paul, Minnesota
A. The deal was indeed not visible when the column ran, and I do not know if the company intended for the special offer to be widely known to the public. After I received your email I found a paragraph about it on the ZVOX website, so it is now disclosed and was later confirmed to be active until July 15. I will walk through the process in more detail because given the emails I received, many readers misunderstood it the first time.
The ZVOX AV52 Bluetooth noise-canceling headphones are excellent for flying and travel because they have active noise cancellation and the AccuVoice feature brings voices to the foreground, making dialogue from in-flight entertainment (and other sources) easier to understand. The regular price for the headphones is $149.99. The ZVOX AV70 Bluetooth AccuVoice Speaker is $99.99. It can be used for hands-free calling and is great for watching content on a tablet given AccuVoice and its miniature down-firing subwoofer. Together they make a convenient travel combo — headphones for flying, speaker for the hotel room.
Purchase the AV52 headphones alone on the ZVOX website and you pay $149.99. Buy the AV70 speaker alone and you pay $99.99. Put both in your cart and the price for the $249.98 combo is automatically reduced to $99.99 at checkout. If you were buying only the headphones, adding the speaker saves $50 and you get it for free. It’s one of those things that seems too good to be true, but it is. The $119.99 AV30 earbuds are apparently part of the promotion now if you would rather have earbuds than over-ear headphones. Just put the AV30 earbuds and AV70 in your cart and the total price is reduced to $99.99. zvox.com
SVS Prime Bookshelf speakers: Continuing with my AXPONA audio show coverage, today I have another excellent bookshelf speaker that sells for under $1,000/pair. I am extremely familiar with the award-winning SVS Prime Tower speakers, having purchased a pair myself. The SVS Prime Bookshelf speakers sell for $599 and are smaller speakers within the Prime model line, sharing similar drivers and sonic character with the Prime Towers. Despite the design similarities and the smaller size and lower price, in some ways I find the bookshelf speakers to be superior. The Prime Towers can edge towards brightness with certain program material, and though the midrange and lower bass definition is fantastic, sometimes it is so good it almost sticks out compared to the rest of the reproduced sound.
The SVS Prime Bookshelf speakers have no such imperfections and speak with a clear voice that is beyond reproach. They do not sound rich or romantic, they just sound correct and you can listen for hours and hours on end without fatigue, marveling at the sound and hearing things in recordings that you never heard before. The hallmark of a truly great speaker is it will sound excellent no matter what you play through it, and across many types of music, from the 1961 "West Side Story" soundtrack to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony to the Scorpions, the Prime Bookshelf speakers were engaging, thrilling and made me want more. They are a very safe purchase because SVS guarantees your satisfaction and will even pay return shipping if you are not satisfied. (I think you will be!) svsound.com
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