Hivi 3.1A DIY Speaker With Sehlin Mod Review

[Colonizer3897]

Already built a stereo pair with mod #6, but considering doing a 3 channel setup with a TV. Which do you think would sound better?

Think of the tv stand as theoretical, I plan on building that to match whichever center option I go with

Option 1: Center speaker as bookshelf

Option 2: Center speaker components in alternate box of 12.75*9.375*15.25 = 1823in^2 which is the same volume as the 8.5*16.5*13 = 1823in^2 original enclosure.

In this configuration, the speakers are not in vertical alignment, however the woofer is now right below the TV instead of 7 inches lower which is only a couple inches off the floor. I'm shooting for the bottom of the tv to be 22-24 inches off the ground, the bookshelf is 16.5 inches tall, when facing forward, upward lean would increase this. The mid/tweeter being vertically stacked and crossing over with the woofer around 1100ish? may take care of most center channel downsides. My thinking is the 2nd option is easier to position and may blend better to sound like the sound is coming from one location considering I'd be shooting for a ~7 feet view distance or so. I think nearfield a 3 way doesn't blend the best.

My next step is going to take my existing stereo pair and see how it measures with my umik-1 at ear level vs closer to the floor and slightly angled up.

Also, I would probably just use phantom center when it's just me watching, however I'd like the option to tick on the center when not in that perfect spot or watching with people

 

[direwolf08]

I built a set of these as my early COVID lockdown project. Pics here. I am only now discovering this thread on them. I did the perfectionist mod to flatten the FR. They are a great set of speakers and pretty cool to see that you could get a coveted Amir golfing panther for so cheap with some sweat equity!

 

[01svtL]

Wow those look nice! Good job!

 

[Colonizer3897]

I built a set of these as my early COVID lockdown project. Pics here. I am only now discovering this thread on them. I did the perfectionist mod to flatten the FR. They are a great set of speakers and pretty cool to see that you could get a coveted Amir golfing panther for so cheap with some sweat equity!

That stand is perfect, did you make it?

 

[direwolf08]

Wow those look nice! Good job!

Thank you!

 

[direwolf08]

That stand is perfect, did you make it?

I did! I first had some stands that I got on Amazon that were way too small, I wanted these to fit perfectly and managed to pull it off. The outriggers also make them much more stable.

 

[wqh]

Looks like swankits.com no longer exists. Does anyone know of alternative site for construction videos?

 

[direwolf08]

Looks like swankits.com no longer exists. Does anyone know of alternative site for construction videos?

They are still on YouTube.

https://youtube.com/@swanskits1335

 

[lookstoomuch]

Not sure if anyone has built these recently, but I'm currently putting the crossovers together. One thing I'm noticing is in the stock circuit diagram Mudjack posted and various pictures in this thread, L2 = .6 and L3 = .5, however in the packaging of my kit it is flip flopped. L2 = .5 and L3 = .6 .

If I install per the circuit board and packaging labels of the components, it would be opposite of every example in this thread. So either Hivi changed the circuit or had a labeling error.

 

[GGroch]

If I install per the circuit board and packaging labels of the components, it would be opposite of every example in this thread. So either Hivi changed the circuit or had a labeling error.

HiVi has had labeling errors in their DIY instruction booklet and packaging before. You can trust the photos of the finished crossovers here and on the Amazon listing page. Have fun with them!

 

[lookstoomuch]

HiVi has had labeling errors in their DIY instruction booklet and packaging before. You can trust the photos of the finished crossovers here and on the Amazon listing page. Have fun with them!

Seems that way. It does have me questioning if the circuit location or the component value which is correct on the packaging. I believe it's the inductance rating as just by eyeballing it, the .6 seems to have a few more windings than the other. Don't think there's a good way to measure these inductors with a typical multimeter.

 

[dr_mick51]

Seems that way. It does have me questioning if the circuit location or the component value which is correct on the packaging. I believe it's the inductance rating as just by eyeballing it, the .6 seems to have a few more windings than the other. Don't think there's a good way to measure these inductors with a typical multimeter.

You can try measuring DC resistance. The bigger inductor (more windings) should have slightly higher resistance.
A multimeter won't allow you to measure inductance.
Go by the original schematic and component values(how it was shown on this thread)

 

[Mudjock]

You can try measuring DC resistance. The bigger inductor (more windings) should have slightly higher resistance.
A multimeter won't allow you to measure inductance.
Go by the original schematic and component values(how it was shown on this thread)

Seems that way. It does have me questioning if the circuit location or the component value which is correct on the packaging. I believe it's the inductance rating as just by eyeballing it, the .6 seems to have a few more windings than the other. Don't think there's a good way to measure these inductors with a typical multimeter.

If the smaller 0.5 mH inductor has direct contact with the midrange speaker terminals, the inductors are properly positioned. I believe the bags were just mislabeled (0.6 mH was incorrectly identified as L3 and 0.5 mH was incorrectly identified as L2 on the bags themselves). The HiVi diagram still has them in the right positions, as do my diagrams.

Out of curiosity, I reversed the positions of the inductors in my on-axis response simulation. The blue curve is with inductors reversed. The response is more uneven, but it probably doesn't completely ruin the speaker.

 

[DACslut]

What are the differences between the current "DIY 3" and the previously offered "DIIY 3.1a" kits in addition to what I've pasted below?

• Component values of the crossover changed following the "Perfectionist" alignment.
• All crossover components glued to the board to reduce vibration.
• The largest coil was glue coated to eliminate distortion caused by loose coil turns.

 

[GGroch]

What are the differences between the current "DIY 3" and the previously offered "DIIY 3.1a" kits in addition to what I've pasted below?

There are no known differences between the original DIY 3.1a kits and the current DIY 3.1a listing (if you scroll you can see the model number on both is DIY 3.1a).

The Original HiVi Swans distributor in the USA left the country. Their Original DIY 3.1a Amazon Listing is here. Out of Stock.

The current HiVi Swans distributor in the USA, Zhuhai Swan made the listing you ordered here for comparison.

lookstoomuch who is making the 3.1a now does not seem to have received crossover components that were glued. See this post.

If he sees this, or you DM him he could tell you for sure if there was a change. Or you can tell us when yours arrive.

 

[lookstoomuch]

There are no known differences between the original DIY 3.1a kits and the current DIY 3.1a listing (if you scroll you can see the model number on both is DIY 3.1a).

The Original HiVi Swans distributor in the USA left the country. Their Original DIY 3.1a Amazon Listing is here. Out of Stock.

The current HiVi Swans distributor in the USA, Zhuhai Swan made the listing you ordered here for comparison.

lookstoomuch who is making the 3.1a now does not seem to have received crossover components that were glued. See this post.

If he sees this, or you DM him he could tell you for sure if there was a change. Or you can tell us when yours arrive.

This is correct, no glued components.

 

[GGroch]

This is correct, no glued components.

lookstoomuch, when did your purchase your set?

Note: DACslut, see look's above post, he did receive mislabeled component bags.

 

[lookstoomuch]

lookstoomuch, when did your purchase your set?

June 24th, 2023

 

[Reydepancakes]

Hey everyone, after years of encountering this thread I've decided to join!

My biggest question is the parts list. I'll probably be doing option 6. Looking at available parts however 18awg inductors are backordered. Would the increased resistance of using 20awg be overly detrimental? I'm fairly certain I cannot tell the difference between mod 5 and 6 and this may sway me to 5.

Anybody have any thoughts on chamfers? What's everybody been doing for fill?

To finish, I'll be doing a walnut veneer ala @AllenW and hopefully can get @direwolf08 to describe how they made their stand as it looks very good.

Amps I'll play with but anybody try out rsl's new mini class D? These go low but the sub out still seems worthwhile for a near field desktop set up with plans to repurpose?

So, I just did mod6 to one of my Hivi speakers and compared it to mod4 perfectionist and the difference is dramatic! Sounds much better, before I preferred my Adam studio monitors and now I am leaning towards the Swans. However when I upgraded to mod 6 from mod 4 I achieved this using only the leftover crossover parts that came with the kit so that I could listen to the difference without spending any more money on partsexpress. This means the large 47uF electrolytic capacitor on the woofer is now paired with 3 6.8 Hivi foil capacitors in order to achieve 67.4uF which in my mind was close enough to the 68uF recommended for mod6. This also cleared up the sound on my woofer noticeably which I think is due to the sound quality of a foil capacitor added into the circuit where there was once just a electrolytic one. To achieve the resistor values I just wired them in series with the leftover Hivi resistors.

I'll be forced to do an electrolytic cap as well - difference doesn't seem worth it to get a poly cap at 40 bucks a piece. Question though - isn't the 68uF for mod 5? Did you lower the woofer cap from @Mudjock rec 100uF for mod 6?

 

[direwolf08]

Hey everyone, after years of encountering this thread I've decided to join!

My biggest question is the parts list. I'll probably be doing option 6. Looking at available parts however 18awg inductors are backordered. Would the increased resistance of using 20awg be overly detrimental? I'm fairly certain I cannot tell the difference between mod 5 and 6 and this may sway me to 5.

Anybody have any thoughts on chamfers? What's everybody been doing for fill?

To finish, I'll be doing a walnut veneer ala @AllenW and hopefully can get @direwolf08 to describe how they made their stand as it looks very good.

Amps I'll play with but anybody try out rsl's new mini class D? These go low but the sub out still seems worthwhile for a near field desktop set up with plans to repurpose?



I'll be forced to do an electrolytic cap as well - difference doesn't seem worth it to get a poly cap at 40 bucks a piece. Question though - isn't the 68uF for mod 5? Did you lower the woofer cap from @Mudjock rec 100uF for mod 6?

Sure! These are a Lowes Hardware special . The top and bottom “plates” are MDF and the legs are wood 2x2”s. I cut the MDF pieces to the size of the speaker cab footprint and the legs to the height that I wanted the tweeter. Then I just screwed and glued it all together. I painted them matte black and got the outrigger feet from Parts Express . Oh, I also put felt pads on the surfaces that the speaker rests on so I wouldn’t scuff up the veneer.

Hope that helps!