Hivi 3.1A DIY Speaker With Sehlin Mod Review

[dmcs414]

The woofer (HiVi L6-4R) is available at Madisound for $50 each if HiVi won't work with you directly to replace it.

I purchased a second woofer, got it home and couldn't get a test tone on that one either. I'm starting to think I either screwed something else up with the 2nd crossover board or can't work a multimeter, have a bad multimeter or just need a different hobby. First world problems I guess. If all else fails, is it possible to purchase replacement crossover boards from Madisound? A quick browse failed to pull anything up when I tried.

Even though I purchased extra desoldering wicks to allow for my amateur skill level with the soldering iron, I don't relish the prospects of the time it would take to desolder every connection point and start from scratch. Though I'd probably skill up faster that way.

This post inspired my favorite of the many Ghibli themed images I've asked of my close companion o4-mini-high in recent weeks- Prompt- "Ghibli profile pic depicting a befuddled middle age tinkerer with vintage stereo and soldering iron"

 

[Reydepancakes]

Shame these speakers have gotten so expensive. Haven't seen a sale in a while. And they completely discontinued the 2.2a I was interested in building.

What are other good DIY alternatives ASR members are doing?

 

[eksine]

Finally finished building these speakers. The detailed images of the crossovers are in a previous post on here but here's everything except the grille installed. I spent a ton on the crossover parts. Before all the work I put into these, which was a lot, I didn't think they would be worth it but I just listened to them and it was worth every second I spent building these. I started this project because I heard that these speakers sound like $3,000 speakers, do they? Who knows but they sound out of this world for sure. The bass doesn't sound lacking to me either, could they use more Bass? sure, but they're fine to me for now !

Btw, yes I left an opening to the bass port in case it looks like I blocked that path. It's just the camera angle. I used a Dremel knockoff and fake carbide bits (found this out afterwards) to drill holes in the wood and mounted the plywood with screws and rubber weatherstripping under those boards. To the designer of the crossover #6 I know you read this thread, so thanks for all of your contributions, your upgrade sounds fantastic!

 

[eksine]

I have a significant amount of money saved so I was finally able to afford a real subwoofer , and I went all in. It looks a lot bigger than I thought it was gonna be. It doesn't add as much extra to the sound that I thought it would. I have it crossed at 80 hz and 40% volume on the sub. It's a TN1. I thought the new Chimera would be too big and overkill so I chose this over the ULS 15. At least I won't need to upgrade for a long time, I guess. I kept both bass ports plugged on the bottom so it's sealed I think. It came from the factory with foam plugs.

 

[Reydepancakes]

Love the enthusiasm and jealous of the speaker - both build and sub.

Hoping this doesn't come off as critical - Honestly your setup and general room and additional other factors leave a lot left on the table as far as sound quality. I'd work on the space, cleaning up everything, and setting up a room for it. Your back ears and more will appreciate it...

 

[eksine]

Thanks man, first time building a speaker and working with veneer. Yeah I'm trying to do that. I work at walmart as a truck driver. we have to work 5 days straight, 60-70 hours a week. I took some time off recently so the picture in my room is after I cleaned up a lot believe it or not. Since i finished the speakers I'll have time to clean up more . I was even thinking about helping people spray paint their projects, but maybe after I clean up my house. I have a year's worth of experience spray painting automotive paint and basic autobody work which i didn't even use on this project. maybe I can offer to paint some of the speakers the admin reviews on this site later on

 

[Stopher71]

Love the enthusiasm and jealous of the speaker - both build and sub.

Hoping this doesn't come off as critical - Honestly your setup and general room and additional other factors leave a lot left on the table as far as sound quality. I'd work on the space, cleaning up everything, and setting up a room for it. Your back ears and more will appreciate it...

Agreed, I have a 14 x 14’ room, walls are mostly padded with damping panels of uneven thicknesses thick textured ceiling, carpet, couch and a big ottoman, no real uncovered walls to speak of a pair of these 3.1’s with the #6 mod, (just swapped all my caps to mundorf supreme classics) and ya, there’s a difference vs stock caps, anyway I can totally get away without a sub for even movies, the dynamics are pretty incredible especially with a very quiet room, I think any more bass than what these little guys are producing (with room reinforcement) would be to much, at least for music (30” from side walls & 20” from wall behind)

 

[eksine]

I was playing around on my mini amplifier. There was basically a mystery button that I had no idea what it does but once I pushed it I think what it was doing was either switching music modes or changing the cutoff frequency. In any case initially I didn't think the sub was going to do much but now overall it does improve the sound.

Just like I said before these speakers have pretty decent bass, but after I've listened it for a couple of hours with a sub it does improve the sound and it is worth getting a subwoofer. If you're happy with the sound without a sub then that's all right. For me I like the bass and I've always wanted a real subwoofer especially the HSU. And now I got one but it's a lot bigger than I thought it would be like two or three times bigger.

 

[Tinker]

Nice job eksine! Came out very nice.

Something to try... I found the speakers capable of going down below 50hz without any trouble. I found 80hz sub too high of crossover. Was too boomy and had to turn down the gain/volume on the sub.

Then experimented with setting the subwoofer to handle the lower notes below that level. I set the sub LOWER to @40 to 50hz and that allows for higher volume setting on the sub amp which adds a bit more dynamic punch. Don't forget to experiment with the phase also.

Hope this helps!

 

[eksine]

Ok thanks I have it set to the default 80hz, it sounded okay to me. Not really boomy but I'll listen to it more maybe I didn't listen closely enough, I thought it was weird too because it's a 15-in subwoofer I thought it would be boomy too. I'll try that and the phase and see if it sounds better thanks for the advice

 

[eksine]

Nice job eksine! Came out very nice.

Something to try... I found the speakers capable of going down below 50hz without any trouble. I found 80hz sub too high of crossover. Was too boomy and had to turn down the gain/volume on the sub.

Then experimented with setting the subwoofer to handle the lower notes below that level. I set the sub LOWER to @40 to 50hz and that allows for higher volume setting on the sub amp which adds a bit more dynamic punch. Don't forget to experiment with the phase also.

Hope this helps!

I finally finished testing this out. to me below 80 hz sounded like something was missing, the sub wasn't contributing as much as it should to me. Maybe it was more "transparent" but honestly it seemed like it was too low. I finally found a HSU video explaining what I found too he said don't go below 80 hz.

in his other video he said 2 channel stereo should be set to IN, and for phase I have it set to 0 degrees. I think when I set it to OUT there was more bass, but it seems weird to be running it backwards. since he recommends IN for stereo, I'll just leave it. than there's Q control and I leave it at 0.7, which is the sloppiest tightness, but I can't tell the difference anyways.

 

[Tinker]

@eksine Whatever makes you happy. After all, it's your baby!

Once I experienced bass that was tight and punchy I became obsessed trying to achieve it. The bass was, by far, the single most important thing to take the sound of the system to the next level.

Many people buy a subwoofer plop it down, face it into the room, plug it in and twist the crossover knob and then settle for the sound it makes. There is a lot more to be gained by experimenting further. This includes subwoofer location, direction it's firing, your seating position. These are especially critical in smaller rooms where nulls can completley eliminate bass freauency in a certain spot.

A subwoofer properly set up should sound like it's coming cleanly from the main speakers. Increasing center focus. It shouldn't be a cloud of omnidirectional bass spread around the room.

"Sloppiest" or 'muddiness' can be caused by too many similar frequencies bouncing around the room causing confusion.
Think about this... the bass frequency gets sent out the main speaker THEN another signal is sent out the rear port bounces off the rear wall THEN another bass signal is sent out of the subwoofer and out it's port if it has one. All arriving at your ear at a slightly different time. These signals can also cancel each other out as they bounce around the room. What a muddy mess. (This is the reason some speakers have port plugs.) A subwoofer crossover set too high can 'step on' the exact same same frequency being sent out the main speaker and actually reduce the bass and the perception of clarity in the main speakers.

The bass is mysterious to say the least but it's well worth playing with the many options that can yield a far better sound from those beautiful speakers. Have fun!!

 

[eksine]

I think that's my confusion. A long long time ago I used to have cheap subwoofers and I could easily tell they sounded boomy / port noise and I could tell where the sound was coming from. Maybe it's because I have the sub right behind the speakers, but I think a lot of it is they designed the sub really really well. I'm sure your sub is really high quality too, but this sub you don't really hear it you mostly feel it so I can't tell what direction the sound is actually coming from. I have both ports plugged up, I can't even imagine what would happen if I unplugged any of the ports because it's already super loud.

Probably the only way I would be able to figure it out is if I had somebody with a lot more experience to come over and help me figure it out. The only time you can tell where the direction is coming from is when you're standing right next to the sub

 

[GGroch]

I'm finally building my 3.1a's that have been in storage since 2021 and have run into only 1 problem so far.

I cannot find the template or diagram for cutting and placing the insulating foam. I see a template referenced in a couple of posts here. Is it available anywhere on the web, or could someone take a photo and post it here. The 2 large sheets and 2 narrow sheets seem to be plenty, but I have no idea what the plan was to best use them. Thanks.

 

[Tinker]

I remember a sheet of paper with a scale drawing. It had lines on it showing how to most efficiently cut the foam. Fit was perfect. Cut with a bread knife.

If you can't find it then just figure it out working from the top down to the bottom. Fit the top piece in the upper compartment wall to wall and then cut the side walls. When fitted the sides snuggly hold the top in place. No foam on the crossover. (I'm sure you knew that)

 

[Reydepancakes]

I think in the youtube tutorial they had showed a cut outline. I spent a while trying to find it but it appears Swans has taken down most of the HiVi DIY content. They still have a few episodes on their facebook showing the construction though.

Truly unfortunate though they are taking this stuff away. Anybody that has or can find the original videos - would be great to post them.

I wonder if this means they are phasing out the 3.1a? They've long since stopped the 2.2a.

 

[Reydepancakes]

I went through and tried to find them. Save em if you need them as they deleted their youtube channel.

Intro/BG https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1CeKqrYasP/
What you get

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=340872143499858

Assembling the box https://www.facebook.com/share/v/19qUHwgq6Z/
Episode 4 Gluing the box https://www.facebook.com/share/v/16BMKgueMY/
Episode 5 Painting the box

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=885736218514512

Episode 6 Veneering the box

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=589838648283129

Episode 7 Covering Grill

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1099405073792549

Episode 8 Building the crossover

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=258150338923722

Episode 9 Assemble the speaker https://www.facebook.com/share/v/14HGGBgnEGz/

Not that it matters... this is largely unavailable now with the amazon link gone/OOS

 

[GGroch]

I went through and tried to find them. Save em if you need them as they deleted their youtube channel.

Episode 9 Assemble the speaker https://www.facebook.com/share/v/14HGGBgnEGz/

Not that it matters... this is largely unavailable now with the amazon link gone/OOS

Thanks for putting this together. The 9th episode shows the foam cutting/stuffing.

EDIT: they were out of stock, but are back in stock now: LINK to Amazon 3.1A DIY

 

[Reydepancakes]

Thanks for putting this together. The 9th episode shows the foam cutting/stuffing.

EDIT: they were out of stock, but are back in stock now: LINK to Amazon 3.1A DIY

I miss when these were cheap.

 

[flyboy320]

Has anyone seen this video on changing the drivers to ones that are similar to the HiVi 2.2 speakers? She says she didn't make any changes to the crossover. I was contemplating giving these speakers a go, but curious about swapping out the drivers.

****Edit****
After looking through this thread ROOSKIE made a great reply to this same question

Hivi 3.1A DIY Speaker With Sehlin Mod Review

If your experience is like mine and everybody else, the amazon listing is just wrong. It does not come with the mod components. An earlier post here says you are correct, the heading states: "Additions and Changes Make These Speakers Sound Its Best". They meant to say "Here are possible changes...

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