SIVGA PLANAR II - REVIEW
ONE OF THE MOST AFFORDABLE HIGH-END PLANAR ON THE MARKET!
I had done a bit of research on SIVGA and was narrowing down on their various headphones, but wanted to know more than was written across their website. Also I wanted to know which might be the headphone best reflective of SIVGA.
Enter Collin Yang, one of the most patient and kind manufacturers that I have exchanged emails with over the vastness of the space between us. Though in many respects it is a much smaller world now than it has ever been.
However, when Collin suggested a $399 planar magnetic headphone?! Of course my first response was, “And what does it sound like? @#*&%, of course!” Or so I thought.
When the SIVGA PII arrived, I was intrigued. It certainly did not look like a $399 planar headphone with its Black Walnut earcups and with a beautiful form-fitting, leather carrying case. “Wow,” in muted tones was my immediate response. With the reviewing schedule that loomed ahead, it would be several weeks before I could get to them, which in the end would work well for the both of us, as the SIVGA’s PII’s price point would fulfill one of our primary directives.
And that directive is to bring products to light and, of course, to our audience, who consider economy—careful, thrifty management of resources—most important in the use of their discretionary income.
REFRAIN: Again, unlike most reviews, this review will be non-sequential, as it will start with how the headphones actually sound and not the process of physically “undressing” them and/or laying out their various parts, specifications, design aesthetic, etc (though that will come later). Think of this review then, as a non-linear movie—Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Irreversible (though incredibly troubling), Amores Perros, etc—that, likewise, starts at the end and winds its way to the beginning.
The Sound
I do not know if the SIVGA PII had been broken in prior to receipt so I ran music through them for approximately 100 hours before any critical listening took place.
When I began to critically listen to the PII it was clear that this was a planar that, indeed, rendered music far above its pricing and acquitted itself beautifully on a range of musical genres.
And it was put to the test across a period of several weeks and numerous genres, so as to tease out every last bit of what the SIVGA PII had to offer.
The PII’s volumetric cube—sound stage—is of good size, given its open-back nature. Its right to left width is better than average, certainly, for its price point, and its layering, separation, and positioning are all quite good. At times, a bit of the holographic nature of the soundstage buoys the music. The soundstage depth is middling, not shallow, but also not very deep.
The SIVGA PII was allied to the AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt, the Shanling M8, and the Astell&Kern SE180. Its low impedance (32 Ohms) and its fairly good efficiency 98dB made them very easy to drive.
Bass
Eiji Oue’s V. Infernal Dance of King Kashchey (Stravinsky, Reference Recording) begins and the initial mallet strikes against the assembled tympani are impactful and potent, though there is an absence of sub-bass rumble via the Astell&Kern SE180 and all other accompanying players. Though in and of itself, the Astell&Kern SE180 packs quite the bass wallop! The PII can, indeed, go relatively deep into the bass region, but it cannot grasp the Holy-Bass-Head-Grail. Though this is often a task too great for many planars several times its price! The SIVGA PII are, however, rather quick in terms of their transient response and while there is quite good clarity it is not of the searchlight variety of its more pricey brethren. There is a richness and warmth, however, which is wonderfully engaging.
Midrange
The midrange, however, is where one finds gold in the SIVGA PII. This is where its warmth and richness really come together, in the rendering of vocals in a rather sublime and addictive manner, regardless of whether female or male. Whether Joan Shelley’s “Wild Indifference” (Joan Shelley, No Quarter) or Andy Bey’s “Angel Eyes” (American Song, Savoy) or London Grammar’s “If You Wait” (If You Wait, Columbia) the results were a well fleshed out vocal, replete with texture, wonderful articulation, and beautiful musicality. And at times the earlier referred to holography (“If You Wait”) was readily available.
Treble+
The Kronos Quartet’s “Aaj Ki Raat”—Tonight is the Night—(Kronos Caravan, Nonsuch) cues and the triangle sounds both clear and distinct. There is good transient speed between the interplay of Hindustani tabla, Lebanese nay, Iranian kemancheh, and the violins, viola, and cello of the Kronos Quartet. The treble extension of the PII is quite good and though it does not scale to the Olympian heights of the expensive planars, what it brings is sweet, detailed, imbued with air and it is never sibilant or harsh or strident. One will be able to enjoy long listening sessions with the SIVGA PII.
The Wrappings and Accessories & Design
The SIVGA PII outermost box is a plain, cardboard affair with the company’s name printed on both the right and left sides of the box. The inner box is a printed, lidded affair, wherein the top lid covers entirely the lower box lid. The printed material includes the SIVGA company logo, the product designation PII, and a line-drawing of the PII planar headphones. The box’s bottom lid is printed with an exploded view of the PII and information—historical, specifications, and company contact information—in both Chinese and English.
Inside the second box rests a form-fitting leather pouch or carrying case for the PII, that is beautifully fashioned. One imagines that it is easily up to the task of the day-to-day transport of the PII planar magnetic headphones.
Accessories:
1.6m Audio Cable
4.4mm to 3.5mm Adapter
Cable Bag
The design represents a 3-tier version of, perhaps, the Russian Nesting Dolls, wherein the various boxes provide more and better information, until one reaches the most beautiful of the containers—the leather carrying case—and then the PII headphones themselves.
The design of the SIVGA PII speaks in many ways to a bygone era. Black Walnut, headphone earcups that are abutted, at their outsides, by an Art Nouveau, sculpted, perforated grill, and inside, by ear pads that employ both a leather-like material and a velvet-like fabric that sits on the ears. A black, padded, elastic headband, with stainless steel suspension, adjusts via a simple sliding mechanism, which adjusts with a downward force. And the SIVGA PII fit comfortably and can be worn for long periods of time without ill-effect.
The SIVGA PII represents a well thought out and executed design, which is quite attractive and, given its price, a rare effort indeed.
technology & The Specifications
SIVGA PII
Transducer type: Planar Magnetic
Transducer size: 97mm x 76mm
Frequency: Response: 20Hz - 40kHz
Sensitivity: 98dB +/- 3dB
Impedance: 32 Ohm +/-15%
Cable Length: 1.6m +/-0.2m
Connector: 4.4mm balanced
Weight: 420g
The SIVGA P II’s at an impedance of 32Ω-Ohms and a sensitivity of 98dB are fairly easy to drive. In our review tests the SIVGA PII as coupled to Smartphones, the AudioQuest Cobalt/Red, the Cayin N6ii/A01, and the Enleum AMP-23R worked very well and was driven easily in every case.
Conclusion
The SIVGA PII is beautifully designed. Its Black Walnut earcups speak to both the effort and energy to make this so, and on this its designers should be congratulated. This is no plasticky, quick fix to corner a particular sector of the market with bling leading far in advance of musical substance or aesthetic. This is its opposite and deserved of a Bravo, in this respect.
Though the PII will not reach to the stygian depths of the Holy-Bass-Head-Grail, nor scale to the treble heights of Mt. Olympus and beyond, in that area, that space between the two, it will engage, entertain, communicate, and beautifully work its magic to convincingly state, “that my price point does not describe my level of musical skill, nor ability.” And in this it will have spoken the truth.
I recommend, highly, the SIVGA PII to those who seek to enter the planar magnetic headphone world, who seek to rediscover the warmth and beauty of their music!
The System(s)
1.
Astell&Kern SE180
2.
Shaling M8
3.
Cayin N6ii
THE MUSIC
The Company
SIVGA
SIVGA PII ($399)
Dongguan SIVGA Electronic Technology CO.,LTD.
Building NO.1, Juhui E Valley
Jinfu 2nd Road, Tangchun Village,
Liaobu Town, Dongguan,
Guangdong, China, 523000
TEL: 0086-0769-22885985
FAX: 0086-0769-23225156
market@sivgaaudio.com