swanspeaker

[audiofan]

Does anybody have experience with swanspeaker they look to be fair price drivers,
I notice good specs on : F8 bass midrange , DMB-A midrange and Q1R tweeter




http://www.swanspeaker.com

[Willitwork]

Swans is the name under which Hi-Vi Research sells its commercial speakers, much like JM Lab is the trademark used by Focal. Despite their affordable price (for most models) Swans speakers are generally considered to be of audiophile quality.

Most Hi-Vi drivers are an awesome value. Hi-Vi makes no secret that many of its drivers are clones of well-known high-end European drivers, notably Dynaudio and Focal (known as Hi-Vi D series and F series) but unlike cheap imitations these are almost exact replicas, quality materials and craftsmanship included.

In fact, you can use Hi-Vi D series drivers to build Dynaudio kits, with same crossover values, and get the same result both visually and sonically. In fact now that Dynaudio won't sell its drivers to high-end speaker manufacturers anymore many of the latter simply switched to Hi-Vi drivers and hardly anyone took notice. Ask Totem about it

And yes, that $30 DMB-A mid dome is indeed a Dynaudio D-52 AF.

Another Chinese high quality driver manufacturer is Silver Flute, whose products share an uncanny likeness to Scan Speak drivers...

You can find both Hi-Vi Research and Silver Flute drivers at Solen, among other suppliers. I own a few of those drivers along with pricey European units, and I swear quality is the same. These are all very fine products.

[inertial]

exact clones?

IMHO, the hi-vi D series are beautiful but different........

compare the Mms of the 11" (?) Sd= 400 cmq
the old 30W100 was about 1/2 Mms !!

the 8" also have a huge Mms

Sure they are very good but IMHO not exact clones.

Hi,

Inertial

[Willitwork]

I should have stated that not all D series are perfect Dynoudio copies, at least not with regards to certain parameters, so as to not infringe on patents. It's also rumored that Hi-Vi uses alternative measurement methods so that on paper at least, their drivers would appear to be different enough from the drivers they are replicating to avoid running into legal issues.

In a magazine article I read some months ago a Totem designer mentioned that they were able to implement Hi-Vi drivers without modifying crossovers and yet preserve the sonic signature. Totem crossovers are precisely matched to the drivers so from an engineering point of view at least, one can assume that Hi-Vi designed some of its drivers to replicate Dynaudio driver behaviour without appearing to be identical.

I suspect that this was done at the request of loudspeaker manufacturers who wanted cheaper but same quality parts than Dynaudio originals in order to increase their profit margins and/or make their products available to a larger audience. This may be part of the reason why Dynaudio dropped out of the OEM and DIY markets altogether rather than the other way around. The arrival on the market of high quality, affordable Chinese made drivers did in fact coincide with some of the big-name (read expensive) European manufacturers pulling out of this market segment.

Hi-Vi drivers, at least those I'm familiar with, are indeed very good. Comparing recently purchased Hi-Vi drivers with some Dynaudios I had lying around at home, I found that Hi-Vi's appear to have a better build quality to them. Hard to believe considering what I paid for them, but then again they come without a "hype tax".

[inertial]

I agree with you.
It will be very interesting to see some indipendents measurements
of T/S parameters.

Cheers,
Inertial

[Willitwork]

Originally posted by inertial
It will be very interesting to see some indipendents measurements
of T/S parameters.

Indeed it would! Personally in the near future I intend to build a small bookshelf monitor design taken from a Dynaudio kit but using Hi-Vi drivers and then, after proper break-in delay, compare it with an original kit using Dynaudio drivers that I built a few years ago. I'll be using the exact same crossover.

[sreten]

Originally posted by inertial
I agree with you.
It will be very interesting to see some indipendents measurements
of T/S parameters.

Cheers,
Inertial

http://www.zaphaudio.com/

[inertial]

Hi,

thanks sreten,
but I was talking about D8.8 and D10.8 .


Willitwork, I think this will be a very good test !


regards,
Inertial

[audiofan]

I did foud your answer and comments very usefull .....I may in a near future by drivers and build a pair of transmission line with these drivers..... tank you

[Willitwork]

Originally posted by audiofan
I did foud your answer and comments very usefull .....I may in a near future by drivers and build a pair of transmission line with these drivers..... tank you

In Quebec you can get Hi-Vi drivers from Solen, or from Audiotech if you live in the Quebec City area... or even if you live in Montreal and want the drivers like right now. I took the 2-hour drive up highway 40 to Quebec City last week to pick up a bunch of Hi-Vi and Silver Flute drivers that Solen couldn't deliver before a month. There aren't that many retail outlets where you can just walk in and pick up the drivers you want, and Solen itself doesn't allow it. Too bad, 'cause they're just 15 minutes away from downtown Montreal.