Swans Hivi M5A

[MarkWinston]

Touted by many as end game speakers in a box, has anyone had any experience with this pair of powered speakers? Are they really as good as many claim? From specs alone, they are claimed to be using the TPM5242 DAC and the TPA3255 chip, putting out a total of 510 RMS, which is no small feat. Wonder what kind of PSU are they using.

Here is the link to some specs and even FR charts from the manufacturer. Impressive, very impressive indeed. Gotta love a good 3 way speaker, even more so when it has an active dsp.
http://www.hivibythann.com/product/swans-m5a-active-speaker

Oh did I mention these are half the price of the LS50 Wireless 2 (in my country that is)?

 

[MarkWinston]

Here is a size comparison to the Edifier S3000Pro that I pulled from the net

 

[Doodski]

Right speaker 21.5kg.
Left speaker 19.8kg.
tri-amp DSP amplifier (Tri-Amp), 35Wx2 RMS ribbon, 40Wx2 RMS midrange, 180Wx2 RMS woofer, total wattage is 510W RMS.

 

[Doodski]

Wonder what kind of PSU are they using.

A guess would be a switching power supply. There isn't much room on that plate for a very large linear power supply.

 

[MarkWinston]

A guess would be a switching power supply. There isn't much room on that plate for a very large linear power supply.

A SMPS isnt goin to be worse than a LPS in this case, is it? Any drawbacks of SMPS in this particular situation?

 

[Doodski]

A SMPS isnt goin to be worse than a LPS in this case, is it? Any drawbacks of SMPS in this particular situation?

No. In some ways the SMPS is better and more efficient. I've seen thousands of amps with SMPS in them and they all worked wonderfully. A switch mode power supply can fry switching FETs, the drive ICs fail and the filter capacitors overheat and burst and short out and the transformers can squeel and hiss. As per a LPS they sometimes have the thermal fuse open up (In countries where the thermal fuse is required by law.) and sometimes the smoothing capacitors (The big ones) change tolerance or outright burst and die. I think either in a modern amplifier has a decent life expectancy if built well.

 

[MarkWinston]

This is how the internals of the its smaller brother, the M3A, look like

 

[Piranesi]

I'd be very interested in spinoramas of these. The Hivi 3.1A is still one of the best measuring kits for the price, and the active M3a was similarly acclaimed. Someone send Amir one of these!

 

[MarkWinston]

I'd be very interested in spinoramas of these. The Hivi 3.1A is still one of the best measuring kits for the price, and the active M3a was similarly acclaimed. Someone send Amir one of these!

The M5A and M3Amkii are the ones to look out for. And they would most probably beat any separates that cost twice as much. Whats interesting is they can attain such a high level of performance with just the tpa 3255 chip. That chip is no slouch but shows with right implementation the tpa 3255 SINGS.

 

[FrantzM]

Interesting and the price, at least in their homeland, is interesting. If the price holds to be around $3,000.00/pair, in the US or European markets. Competition would be the JBL 708, Neuman KH310A, Genelec equivalent, IOW very stiff.
The nice wood cabinet would also be a plus in a domestic environment.. compared to the (violently ugly in the case of the JBL 708 ) industrial/utilitarian looks of the aforementioned competition.
An ASR review would be most welcomed...

 

[MarkWinston]

Interesting and the price, at least in their homeland, is interesting. If the price holds to be around $3,000.00 in the US or European markets. Competition would be the JBL 708, Neuman KH310A, Genelec equivalent, IOW very stiff.
The nice wood cabinet would also be a plus in a domestic environment.. compared to the (violently ugly in the case of the JBL 708 ) industrial/utilitarian looks of the aforementioned competition.
An ASR review would be most welcomed...

Original price in my country is 1980 USD, its now on offer for 1380 USD...

 

[yahrightthere]

Original price in my country is 1980 USD, its now on offer for 1380 USD...

They are back in stock at Amazon, shipping seems to be free as I put them in my cart to see if shipping was free & there was no charge for shipping, at least for prime members.
Not sure about free returns, they can be returned within 30 days, but again without free returns that may cost a bit if the buyer has to pay for return shipping as they weigh about 100 lbs total.

Amazon.com: HiVi-Swans M5A Hi-Fi Active Bookshelf Speakers, Living Room Speaker with 8 inch Woofer, Explosive Bass Sound for Big Room, 3 Way Crossover, Classic Design, Solid Wood Enclosures. : Electronics

Amazon.com: HiVi-Swans M5A Hi-Fi Active Bookshelf Speakers, Living Room Speaker with 8 inch Woofer, Explosive Bass Sound for Big Room, 3 Way Crossover, Classic Design, Solid Wood Enclosures. : Electronics

www.amazon.com

I'm on the fence about buying them, I had bought them last July but upon delivery they were dropped off the delivery truck & I refused delivery. Then they disappeared from the USA, seems like they are back & if they had free returns I think I'd pull the trigger.

 

[CrisOfTheFields]

They are back in stock at Amazon, shipping seems to be free as I put them in my cart to see if shipping was free & there was no charge for shipping, at least for prime members.
Not sure about free returns, they can be returned within 30 days, but again without free returns that may cost a bit if the buyer has to pay for return shipping as they weigh about 100 lbs total.

Amazon.com: HiVi-Swans M5A Hi-Fi Active Bookshelf Speakers, Living Room Speaker with 8 inch Woofer, Explosive Bass Sound for Big Room, 3 Way Crossover, Classic Design, Solid Wood Enclosures. : Electronics

Amazon.com: HiVi-Swans M5A Hi-Fi Active Bookshelf Speakers, Living Room Speaker with 8 inch Woofer, Explosive Bass Sound for Big Room, 3 Way Crossover, Classic Design, Solid Wood Enclosures. : Electronics

www.amazon.com

I'm on the fence about buying them, I had bought them last July but upon delivery they were dropped off the delivery truck & I refused delivery. Then they disappeared from the USA, seems like they are back & if they had free returns I think I'd pull the trigger.

I just saw these on the same boat as you I was getting ready to pull the trigger on the edifier r2850db. I wish I could demo them here in SoCal. I would love info on how good the DAC is as I plan on using it with a topping D10 to keep the signal digital. A few people who own the M300mkii which are similar say they are on another level when fed a digital signal.

 

[GratefullyUndead77]

yahright - Hope you got the M3KMAII. I have had mine since July, 2020 and they are nothing short of phenomenal. I'm running them through a tower pc that's more or less custom made with an upgraded power supply. I'm using a GIGABYTE motherboard with an I5-9400 and am using a Creative AE-9 Soundcard. They are amazing with this set-up and I think they would still sound good without. Since there is an amp in each speaker, it's as if you have a bi-amped stereo. I don't use the digital option at all. I found that the sound cables which came with the speakers are of excellent quality and are much warmer sounding than the digital was. I might try them again at some point using the digital output from the AE-9, but really prefer the sound from the analogue cables. These speakers are extremely well made, solid and beautiful to look at.

I've had a variety of different stereo systems in my liftetime, from a solid state ONKYO amp in the late '70s to Luxman tube units and used to own a pair of Magnepans which I loved. These M3KAMII speakers, IMO are superior. Although some of the presence, soundstage, etc. might be coming from the AE-9, the speakers have to produce the sound and this is just phenomenal. You should go ahead and get them. I think you will be pleased.

One piece of advice: SPLURGE FOR THE SPEAKER STANDS that are designed for them. The stands are definitely worth the extra coin. I used them for a few weeks without the stands and found that after I got the stands, the height, etc. was ideal. They are solid and well made. If you desired, you could fill them with sand. I didn't I don't think that would make much of a difference, but you could do that if you wanted to go the extra yard.

Happy listening.......