Slow-moving I looked for myself a speaker system for my notebook. Why slow-moving? Because I have a powerful system, but in the mornings while looking through news I do not have any desire to turn on this monster. But the sound quality of plastic monstrosities being offered to us by the trade does not suit me. Moreover, big speakers will not fit in on my bureau. And to connect a notebook to the system – the whole family will be tangled in wires. Well... So I saw that system in my editorial office and I solicited my chief for it – to use. There they are.
Package content
A glossy white carton with a stylized blue cross and goldish SVEN inscription hints at the Finnish roots of the company. We find inside, naturally, the Operation Manual and warranty card for 12 months of the date of sale. Besides of that, there are speakers – active and passive.
Well, wires to them to top it off. They are connected in an elementary way – mini-jack into the headphones jack, the power cord into a socket. The system is controlled from the active speaker – there are two knobs on its side (volume and HF controls), POWER LED indicator and the headphones jack. Why there is the headphones jack I have not understood, because it is simpler to take out the mini-jack and to stick headphones into its place. Obviously, this option is for owners of stationary systems.
Design
Let us dwell at length on the design of this system. An interesting designer decision has been applied in this speaker system – speakers are decorated with gold. No matter what happens in the world, gold is always in fashion and price. Gold, certainly, is not genuine, but it looks splendidly. Speakers are deprived of grills, but loudspeakers are framed with golden rims.
I think that grills have not been used especially for the purpose to put golden rims. SVEN inscription is golden as well. However, it must be noted that it does not look as kitsch, but it attaches special charm to the item – gold against the backgrounds of black gloss. After placing speakers on a shelf of my bureau I have been satisfied with them, they have even decorated my workplace.
Classic rectangular lacquered ebony cases and glossy black plastic of the front panel is the magnificent background for golden straps, which frame loud speakers. Cases are made of MDF stylized as ebony. The stylized design is of high quality, the wood pattern looks ideally, all joins are adjusted and there are no skews at all. It not only a design solution, but an engineering decision as well.
MDF is actually the wood, which enables to reduce different sound distortions related to physical laws of sound-wave propagation in the closed space. In principle, the sound must be clearer and more natural, but we will hear this after turning on the system.
But let us revert to the design. Golden straps emphasize the lines of loudspeakers and harmonize perfectly with black cones. It has to be admitted that the design was succeeded and speakers turned out to be very stylish. Such a system will look not only stylish, but harmoniously as well in any interior.
Functional
Well, we extracted the speaker system from the carton, estimated and were delighted with its design; now is the time to look what it is able. We will start with the real panel.
There is the power switch, non-removable power cord and two audio cables on the rear panel of the active speaker (with a built-in amplifier). Both cables are non-removable. The first audio cable is intended for connection to the second passive speaker.
The second audio cable is intended for connection to a sound source, in my case it is a notebook. It has mini-jack on its end. There is only input non-removable audio cable on the passive speaker. At first, I did not like that that cable was non-removable, but after thinking for a while, I understood that I was wrong.
Its length is enough to place speakers on decent distance from each other – up to 2 meters. We need not to forget that by its very nature, they are decorative shelf speakers and they are placed, as a rule, on a computer table or on a nearby shelf.
Besides mini-jack there is no any input, and in order to connect speakers to a sound source, for example, to DVD player or CD transport equipped with RCA connectors, you will have to buy an adapter connector.
We see also phase inverters on the rear side of speakers. Phase inverters have straight lines, not conical; their diameter is approximately 2.5 cm, and they are 5 cm long.
Control elements are located on the sidewall of the active speaker. They are knobs of the volume and timbre controls. The LED power indicator and headphones jack are located there as well, but we have stated about them above.
Broadband loudspeakers are equipped with mylar tweeters, what is not typical for decorative devices, and they must extend the frequency range. Diameter of HF loudspeakers is 25 mm, LF loudspeakers – 76 mm.
Turning on
I have connected, turned on. No parasite noises were found and that surprised me a little bit. As a preliminary, let us listen to the music. It sounds quite good, according to my subjective impressions there are no deep basses in the music. But, as a whole, the sound does not irritate, the system holds the sound scene perfectly. The speaker system sounding resembles a good musical stereo center in the 1980s and the early 1990s, something similar to Sanyo C35 or Sharp GF-939.Now my personal impressions.
Naturally, my notebook was connected first of all. I started to playback the first musical composition. It was Gemma Halid’s “The Girl from Nagasaki”. Usually I listen to the music using headphones in order not to disturb the people around me. And I listened that composition many times in the same headphones of the respected brand Panasonic, RP-HT260 model. But now the well known composition sounded in a new way.
High frequencies appeared, cup bells began to sound, the cymbals of a drum kit shone up to, the bass started thundering resiliently. I expected no bass at all, but here it sounded in such a way, that it made my flesh creep. The scene kept ideally, it seemed that Gemma Halid sang solely for me.
It reminded me the late eighties, when I, a pupil, for the first time heard the sound of legendary Sharp 777. I have at home, according to the producer’s assurances, the best technique in the world – UKU-17 and 35 AC speakers and Arctur record player. But 777 sounded in such a way, that I did not desire the best technique, but I wanted only listen to it time and again. The Sharp magic. But we have digressed from the theme. I decided to repeat the listening. That time I tried to change timbre. The timbre control turned out to be sensitive and it changed the sound really. Then I decided to listen to the guitar.
While listening of Carlos Santana’s guitar concert jointly with Rob Thomas I noticed the presence effect, the guitar sounded quite naturally. I decided to complicate my task – Deep Purple, Woman from Tokyo. I found a concerto record of 2002. I heard something inarticulate from speakers, as from a transistor radio. I got upset, but after thinking for a while, I found a record of 1973.
And once again speakers were equal to the situation! The guitar sounded right, percussion clanged, the bass was heard resiliently. Yes, a lot of things depend on a sound engineer. Well, so much for the music, let us listen to the internet radio. There is no rattle with great volume level. While listening news it is not necessary to strain your ears, the voice of a speaker sounds naturally without distortions. But special pretentiousness is not required in this mode, the main thing is to transmit a sound without distortions. Sven speakers has coped with that easily.
Will we watch a movie? While watching a movie via a notebook, battle scenes sound clearly. But, it is necessary to take into account that speakers are located at one meter from a listener, but if the distance is more than 2.5 m, the sound quality will get lost. Conclusion: the speaker system is not suitable as the home theatre.
To say honestly I did nod game, but my son was satisfied with the sound, his favorite tanks roared down the room frightening my wife with gunshots. Shells dropped to the metal floor quite naturally, clanking and rolling. It is necessary to give credit for the game developers – their sound engineers are fine fellows! The room size is 14 square meters.
Let’s change a gadget. Next is a mobile telephone, smartphone of Samsung Company. I never thought that a mobile telephone can sound in such a way! Maybe I have become old-fashioned; I do not have time to follow modern technologies. The speaker system has delivered the whole sound palette.
Measurements demonstrated that the declared parameters were close to the real. Speakers begin to sound approximately from 90-110 Hz, decrease begins after 15 kHz, but it is insignificant. The unevenness, as a whole, is within 4 dB and that is not critical.
Summary
The speaker system will suit splendidly for a small room, but as computer speakers it is an ideal variant at all, one of the best in its price category. The ideal distance for the comfort listening (in order not to lose basses) is 1-1.5 m.
The sound is quite comfort, it causes neither rejection nor irritation. On the whole, in a manner of speaking, SVEN SPS-619 GOLD is fully justifies the money spent for it. Small decorative speakers provide the sound of good quality, which will satisfy the most users. And their modern design with golden insertions demonstrates that decorative models can and must be beautiful.