HiVi-Swans DIY 3 Way Passive Bookshelf Speakers Pair - DIY Speaker Kit-Peak Power 120 Watt Home Theater Bookshelf Speakers for Surrounds or Front

My 3rd diy speaker build (after 2 from Part Express) and the HIVI-Swan 3.1a kit was a fun one to put together. After extensive research on ASR and Audiokarma.org plus the mostly 5 star reviews from the majority of the comments I was sold on ordering a set for myself. These speakers are dynamic and superior to any bookshelf I've owned or built, including the Klipsch rp 600m's they're replacing. Powered thru a recapped Sansui 5000a or updated Fisher TA 800 tube receiver (Soulpeak P2 switch lets me choose my weapon), these 3-ways are sonically stunning and pretty darn cool looking. Went with the Sehlin Perfection Mod 4 crossover to elegantly tame the highs. The Sansui is 55wpc and with the new main caps I can barely get the volume past 4 outta 10 in the 20'x 14' living room. The HIVI's are paired with an Infinity PS-8 sub. Did not care for the goofy midrange overlap on the tweeter so I recessed the mid and cut a radius in tweeter flange with a hacksaw for a flush fit. (see photos). I added a thin 10mil red oak veneer and hand-cut the radius openings, stained and finished with Danish oil, 2 coats ea. As many have mentioned, the instructions are limiting but adequate and with an abundance of online info and YouTube videos, it was not technically challenging. The kit was packed well and arrived a day early. I feel for what you spend and what you get, including an extra $35+/- on the Perfection Mod 4 parts from PE, for just over $400 you are getting a speaker worth 2x+ that; so an incredible value IMHO. Prior to final connections I bench-tested with 1 1/2" supplied dampening foam in one and the 1/2" PE Sonic Barrier in the other (adhesive side covered for easy removal). The supplied foam provided a superior overall sound so I stuck with that. Each day they seem to break in a little more and sound clear and dynamic, even in the bookshelf setup which may not be ideal since they are 3'"+ off the wall. My 70+ ears are still functioning pretty well (despite what my wife says) but these speakers produce sweet airiness of the mid/high ends while bass clarity and punch excels on all volume levels IMHO. A great investment for those who like the diy audio projects with a big payoff.

If you want these to look good it takes a lot of work. I spent a few months on this off and on because I have very little spare time. After all the hard work it did pay off. you wouldn't think that after hundreds of hours of work it would be worth it but you'd be wrong. these sound phenomenal, out of this world. I used the sehlin mod #6, the most expensive upgrade. I used, I think tight Bond 2 and if you want longer set up time just add a little bit of water to it. If the veneer comes out crooked you can actually save it by misting the entire veneer and then iron out the warp. The ribbon tweeter and the mid-range blend in so well that even with your ears next to it it's hard to tell if sound is actually coming out of them, but you can make it out. The bass is actually pretty good, you would make it sound better with a subwoofer but to be honest I might not even get a subwoofer because they sound fine the way they are. It's not gut punching bass it's really detailed though, and not weak. If you don't have time you can buy there finished version of these for a lot more money, and it has a built-in amplifier but it does look kind of ugly. Even if you don't have good finishing skills you'll end up with speakers that sound fantastic, unless of course you use the standard crossover that comes with it.

So I have had my share of speakers throughout the last 27 years. In the past two years I have bought and listened extensively to ELAC Unifi Reference, ELAC Unifi 2.0, Triangle BR02, and HECO Celan Revolution 3. The HECOs were better than the other 3 which is why the other 3 were sold. Kept the HECOs, but then ordered these HIVI 3.1a kits. I decided to go with the ultimate Sehlin X-over Upgrade. I also decided to change all the x-over parts to more higher quality parts. The cost of the parts upgrade was probably about $300 extra, better caps, resistors and inductors! Also lined the inside of the cabinets with 1.25” thick heavy duty sound dampening material from Parts Express, called Sonic Barrier. Putting the cabinet together was easy using the method recommended by HiVi on a YouTube video. After the speakers were completed, I could not believe how heavy each speaker is. The Sonic Barrier along with heavier upgraded parts added probably 6-7 lbs to the weight. Each speaker weighs almost 28 lbs!! The sound? Well incredibly detailed, balanced and the bass is simply unreal. The soundstage is just massive with a wide and deep soundstage presentation . The highs are not harsh at all. This sounds like a small floor stander rather than a bookshelf speaker. One will have to buy a major brand, dealer distributed speaker pair at $5000 or higher to get the same quality of parts and sound as the pair I built. It simply smoked my HECO Celan Revolution 3 speakers which retail for $1200-1500 depending on sales by HECO and Sound Advice. Buy the kit, upgrade the X-over and you will have your FINAL bookshelf speakers. I am using a Eversolo DMP-a6 streamer, a Denafrips DDC, a Denafrips Pontus II DAC, to a Musical Paradise 701-mk2 tube preamp going to a Classe Model 15 amp. I am done with speaker upgrades, for a few years at least! 😉

I needed a pair of 3 way speakers that were on the smaller size, that had good high end, and efficiency. My standard is a pair of JBL 4311's that do everything I need, but they're kept in a larger area of the house. This kit is very well made, and came very well packaged. Along with a new soldering station & supplies I was able to assemble all the parts in 2 days, and then another day to veneer & finish them with rift sawn white oak veneer. The sound quality is wonderful, and I'm glad I did not pay attention to all the 'upgrade' talk. The highs sound fine to my ears which are lacking in the high end. My Marantz 2240 receiver, with 40 watts per channel, easily pushes the pair beyond what we need. I don't really like rear ported speakers, but that's the only compromise I made, but the bass frequencies will tighten up once I finish making stands for them. They're about half the size of my Klipsch Heresy I speakers (1st picture) which I completely re-veneered in white oak as well. Highly recommended if you are handy with woodworking & soldering!

This is a really complete DIY speaker pair. Aside from cabinet refinishing and wood glue, everything is included - screws, speaker wire, crossover boards, grill fabric and mounting hardware, etc. Impressive package for the price. I was missing a gasket and contacted customer support - good response and they quickly sent a replacement. I also asked about a discrepancy in the inductor packaging compared to the assembly manual - they explained that the packing was wrong and to follow the manual values. Very helpful. Regarding the sound, I did an A/B comparison between the included crossover design and one I found on the web. Just search for this kit and you'll find the modifications. I posted the links here, but Amazon rejected that review (probably a community guideline violation). I used "mod 6" but I don't think it's very different from "mod 4," and mod 4 is easier to find. Anyway, it made a huge difference in the sound. The provided crossover was shrill and harsh - too heavy on midrange and treble. The modification smoothed things out significantly. The cost of the replacement components is small and well worth it. I highly recommend this kit for someone wanting to try speaker building. It's a very complete kit and the results can be very satisfying.

My 9 year old son and I tackled this project together. This alone made it all worth while. While I’m familiar with woodworking, neither of us had used a soldering iron before. Had we just assembled the kit as we received it, the project wouldn’t have taken more than two or three days to finish. We decided to make the best of it and add the perfectionist mod for the crossover, swap the double binding posts for high quality single binding posts, and wrap the boxes in custom milled Hawaiian Kou (not Koa) that I saved from a green waste pile. Going the extra mile was well worth it. It gave us more time together and the final product is heirloom quality. The best part of the build was when we hooked the speakers up to our amp and listened to our first song. I chose ‘Heart of Gold’ sung by Johnny Cash. The look on my son’s face when he heard the sound coming through the speakers was worth the money, time, mistakes and everything in between (yes, we did test each speaker with the crossover boards before assembling, but it was still a pleasant surprise for him). The speakers sound incredible. They do everything well—high, mids, and lows. Sound staging is excellent and instrument separation is elegant (distinguishable and harmonious). Although the lows are good, being that they are only 6.5” woofers means that they won’t be going into the 30 hz or lower range. We have a Klipsch sub that covers the low end. These speakers do everything else better than any other bookshelf speaker I’ve heard. They easily beat out my Klipsch RP-500m, which I very much like, in every way but compactness. Btw, I am running these with the little Aiyima T9 amp. I upgraded the tubes on that amp, but otherwise it’s stock. I Have never pushed the amp near its limit while playing these quite loud. I mostly stream music from my little WIIM or watch movies through an inexpensive but incredible little HDMI Arc dac. The speakers are incredible for movies, etc. I've owned the Sonos Beam 2 and tried the Sonos Arc. My setup costs less than the arc and is leagues better for movie sound reproduction, separation, and clarity. For music, Sonos is not in the same league and these speakers. Wonderful speakers in every way. I can’t imagine a better speaker experience.

This was my first DIY Speaker kit. Comes with everything that is needed but Wood Glue. Speaker sounds fantastic although a little bright. There are mods to correct the brightness if you choose to do that. I now have built 3 DIY Speaker kits and this one is still the most complete., Highly recommended.

Like many here, I was attracted to the very positive discussions for the 3-way system. I read all the reviews. I examined the many blogs. I watched the many assembly videos. I even priced out the new parts for the crossover before they became standard. Then, suddenly, I realizing that I was going down a deep and foolish google hole with no clear end in sight. I did not need another large speaker in my house. I did not need to chase frequency response curves or micro tweaks to capacitors and resistors. I needed a relatively small set of great sounding speakers that I could put my my home office. I bought the smaller 2-way version and am very happy The few online 2-way reviews suggest possible component quality problems and there is even a hilarious YouTube video of an assembly disaster and another where the builder significantly modifies the housing (and painted them green) but then fails to comment on the sound quality. I was undeterred. I tested all the components before assembly (perfect) and watched the YouTube assembly videos for the 3.1 - excellent and much better than the terrible included instructions. With real hesitancy, I used the glue and tape cabinet assembly method. It worked perfectly. The CNC machining accuracy of the cabinet parts is impressive. I assembled and tested the well-labeled crossovers, adding a little adhesive and ties to hold down the components. Simple and easy. I did not use the included black vinyl. I'm sure it works fine, but I probably would have used oak veneer and black paint if I wanted that look. Instead, I went for a lighter veneer. I used the uber simple PVA-and -iron veneering process with three coats of Danish oil, each coat one day apart. I did not even sand Do they sound as good as the vintage Klipsch Cornwalls connected to my NOS 300b tube system? No of course not. But they are also not the size of a small car and do not cost $7,000+/pair. I'm not an audio engineer, but I do know what "good" to me sounds like. Some reviewers note that they prefer the sound of the 2-way to the 3-way. I do not have the 3-way but can report that the sound of the 2-way is very impressive, much more than I expected. Size and appearance approved by SWMBO. Sound approved by me. Highly recommended