The Sivga Luan was kindly provided free of charge in exchange for an honest review. I didn’t receive monetary or any other kind of compensation and I don’t use affiliate links. The price of the Sivga Luan is $299 (tax ex.) and you can buy it from Sivga AliExpress store , Amazon USA , Amazon DE and Amazon UK .
Sivga Audio
Sivga Audio is a brand that was established in 2016 and is mostly known for making value oriented headphones and earphones with wooden enclosures. Their portfolio includes open and closed back headphones with both planar and dynamic drivers. Some of their most known models are the Phoenix, the P-II and the Oriole.
Sivga Luan
The Sivga Luan is a full size, open-back headphone that uses a large 50mm dynamic driver and is the third headphone by Sivga with a bird name, after the Robin and the Oriole.
Nickel coating technology is used on the edge part of the diaphragm, which has excellent features such as light weight, good rigidity and good elasticity. The dome is made of macromolecule organic carbon fiber composite that can absorb and effectively suppress excessive vibration. The coil is made of copper-clad aluminum material which makes sound transmission more natural. A high strength and stable magnetic circuit system provides strong driving force for the driver, ensuring high sensitivity and high resolution sound presentation.
Build quality, appearance and fit
The Sivga Luan has an ergonomic design and weighs 354g only so it is very lightweight for a full sized headphone. The Luan is super comfortable and suitable for long listening sessions without causing any discomfort but due to the thicker ear-pads your ears are going to sweat a little bit faster than usual.
The ear-pads have a hybrid construction, the material that touches the face is made of skin-friendly velvet which is soft and comfortable. The outer surface and the inner circumference are made from leather which is perforated at the inner. The ear-pads have an oval shape and a large size that fits different ears very well.
The pad on the headband is also made of skin friendly velvet for maximum wearing comfort while the top surface is reinforced with leather for extra protection. The pressure is the bare minimum that is required to keep the headphone stable at your head without causing any discomfort but moving your head around with force might cause the headphones to fall.
The Luan ear-cups are made from solid wood which is precisely curved by CNC machine and then painted and polished by hand with traditional methods. The finish is very fine and helps the Luan to look nice and elegant. The bracket and connecting parts on the headband are made from CNC machined aluminum which has a smooth, silver finish. The Luan is an extremely comfortable, well made and beautiful looking headphone that is available in two colors, dark and light brown.
Cable
At last! Sivga have listened to reviewer’s and users’ complaints and decided to abandon the outdated 2.5mm interface and use 3.5mm connectors in the headphone housings so you can easily swap and use your favorite cables.
The cable that accompanies the Luan is of typical quality with a rubber sheathing which is rather stiff but it has the benefit of low microphonic noise and it doesn’t get tangled. The cable is terminated with a 3.5mm plug instead of the more popular 4.4mm and an adapter, like the cable that is included in the Sivga P-II.
Accessories
The Luan comes with a high quality, hard carrying case, a hemp bag to store the cable and a 6.35mm adapter.
Power requirements and associated gear
The Sivga Luan (38Ω/100dB) is easy to drive and doesn’t require a powerful headphone amplifier. The sound will not benefit that much from extra power but you should use a source of decent quality because the Luan scales well up to a certain point. I have mostly used the FiiO M11S and iBasso DX170. All my headphone cables are exclusively made by Lavricables and as per usual practice the Luan was burned about 100 hours before listening evaluation.
Listening impressions
The Sivga Luan is so musical, natural sounding and pleasing to the point that there is really nothing worth mentioning to criticize. The sound signature is not strictly neutral but is well blended with a mostly neutral bass, present and slightly warm mid-range without any odd frequency unevenness and a treble that is airy and extended but without brightness or sharpness. Not necessarily a reference tuning but it is so masterfully balanced that the Luan sounds great with everything you throw at it, from classical where there are no significant tonal inaccuracies, to modern EDM where the bass is sufficient enough to please the younger crowd.
The bass is quite weighty, not that full bodied and visceral, but still nowhere dry or thin. Sub-bass is slightly lacking in extension because of a mild roll-off but this is something that gets only noticeable with bass heavy electronic music or when a boosted bass experience is desired by the listener. The low-end has a rather neutral and linear tuning without significant mid-bass emphasis so it doesn’t bleed into the mids and all low pitched instruments are accurately reproduced. The quality is very satisfying as the bass is fast, tight and controlled without noticeable cup reverb or bloat and displays clarity and definition that are better than expected for the category. The bass is relatively punchy with good macro-dynamic contrast but not that physically impactful. This is a generalist bass response that is going to please both the critical and the casual listener with most kinds of music as long as someone understands that technicalities and tuning are good for the category but not top class and that the Luan is not a bass heavy headphone.
The mid-range is very addictive and pleasing, it is musical and engaging with just a touch of forwardness and excellent resolution for the category. The timbre is natural and realistic, instruments and voices sound full bodied, articulate and present with plenty of harmonic variety while clarity and transparency are very competitive. Listeners with sensitivity to the upper-mids will be very happy to know that the Luan doesn’t emphasize this part of the frequency range so it sounds smooth and non fatiguing.
The treble is extended and emphasized just only to the point that is needed to add the necessary energy and luminosity to the sound without leading into brightness and harshness. The Luan is a smooth and not analytical headphone but the truth is that you are not going to miss that much in detail retrieval. The sound is not sterile or clinical, as a matter of fact the treble is natural and realistic without much artificiality while the texture doesn’t lose weight to become lean as usually happens with some other brighter headphones. Where the Luan is a little lacking though is in treble resolution and refinement while there are some audible traces of coarseness and metallic edginess.
The soundstage is wide and spacious enough while imaging and positioning are really great for the category. The Luan is quite capable of presenting symphonic works with satisfying realism and plenty of ambient information.
Compared to the FiiO FT3 ($299)
The FiiO FT3 is another great headphone for everyone looking to step into the mid-fi category without spending too much. The FT3 is quite different from the Luan because it uses 300Ω drivers so it needs amplification and doesn’t sympathize with portable sources like the Luan. Thus said, FiiO has recently released a 32Ω edition of the headphone but I am not yet familiar with it. Build quality is stellar while the FT3 comes with generous accessories including a hard carrying case, a modular cable with extra plugs and two types of ear-pads for fine tuning the sound. On the other hand, the Luan is considerably more comfortable and lighter than the FT3.
Their sound signature is quite different as the FT3 features a tuning that is in the opposite direction of the Luan. This is a fast and very energetic headphone with a comparatively emphasized upper mid-range and a sharper, slightly brighter treble. The FT3 is more clear and less warm, it is not as forgiving as the Luan and is also more analytical and detailed but a touch more sterile. It resolves better in the treble and the mids, it has better overall transparency but it doesn’t have the same melodious sound signature of the Luan while it exhibits a slightly less realistic timbre. The FT3 has a deeper low-end and is more dynamic and impactful with better technicalities in the bass but it isn’t as organic sounding as the Luan.
In the end
The Sivga Luan is a very musical and natural sounding headphone with a balanced tuning and good technicalities for the category. It is also super comfortable, well made and with the right price thus making it an excellent choice for everyone who is looking for a mid-range headphone with a harmonious and fairly realistic sound signature.
Copyright – Petros Laskis 2023.
+ Balanced and musical tuning + Natural and realistic timbre + Clear and transparent + Good technicalities for the category + Smooth treble and present mids + Lightweight and super comfortable + Premium materials and excellent build quality + Easy to drive from portable sources + Detachable cable with 3.5mm interface + High quality carrying case - Not that impactful and dynamic - Slightly lacking in bass extension - Not recommended for analytical listeners - Slightly lacking in treble resolution and refinement - Doesn't include a balanced cable
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