Sven Royal 2r Active Speaker System: the golden bullet as an effective way to improve sound

This time I got my hands on a Sven Royal 2r active stereo speaker system. Judging from the name, the sound should be royal. Or maybe it’s designed to sound the palace? Let’s see. In the meantime, let’s take the “virginity pollen” off the box and open it up.

Sven Royal 2r active speaker stereo system

PACKAGE AND DESIGN

I got it in the same way as you’ll buy it – in a heavy glossy box with the invariable Finnish flag, a color photo of the speakers and a detailed technical description of their capabilities.

So, the set includes a detailed user manual, warranty card 12 months warranty from the date of sale , the speakers themselves, the remote control, batteries for the remote control, the feeder speaker cable and connection cables: 2RCA – 2RCA, 2RCA – mini Jack. I want to draw your attention at once, that the system is equipped with a real speaker cable to connect the active and passive speakers. Usually, even from famous manufacturers, the kit includes a lanyard, suitable only for checking the functionality. And here is a powerful twisted copper wire about 3 meters long!

That’s an interesting design. First of all, the speakers are open, with no grills. A kind of defiant, yet imposing style. During operation you can observe how the cones work. Secondly – black glossy front panel. It is covered with a royal lacquer, which is good for its appearance and gives a special charm. And against it, the steel bezels of the speaker bezels. You must agree there’s something magic about it.

Thirdly, the material of the speaker body is MDF, coated with a veneer of ebony. Natural veneer. You want to stroke it and feel the structure of natural wood with your fingertips. The speakers stand on small, non-removable feet, which do not scratch the surface and are designed to dampen vibrations.

The bass driver is on the back. I won’t judge well or badly, until the listening phase. What seriously pleased is the screw clip for the speaker wire. Yes, yes, screw-type, not those squishy clothespins, spring clips from which the wires are constantly falling out. For the very literate there is even an indication of feeder polarity. Connection between the active and passive speakers is classical, without any frills.

A cone resembling a bullet protrudes from the very center of a wideband speaker with shining woven polymer cones. Many people think it’s a design feature, having nothing to do with the sound of the speakers. It’s not. This is a patented development of the engineers of the Sven company. Here’s what they say about the golden “bullet”: “Its bullet-shaped phase-equalizing body minimizes the amount of sound distortion and equalizes the amplitude-frequency response”.

So at normal volume you don’t need it, but at extreme power you won’t get the distortions typical for speakers with hoarseness or parasitic rattle. And as a design move, it’s a great solution that makes the speakers without grills look amazing. On the outside the speakers look like “audiophile” bookshelves.

CONTROL

Naturally, the control elements are located on the active speaker and on the remote control. Let’s start with the active monitor.

On the panel below the midrange speakers are located:

– POWER LED, indicating the operation and state of the system

– IR port

– FUNCTION microswitch to select the mode

– Two micro-switches VOL – and VOL+, designed to control the volume.

The remote control gives you more control options. On the back of the active speaker is a power on/off switch, a fuse and a switch panel with two line inputs. There is also a massive radiator, which serves to remove excess heat from the amplifier.

Taking the remote control in your hands. It is not as big as from a TV set, but not as big as from a car radio. In the hand lies comfortably, the buttons are located at an optimum distance, several buttons at once you do not press. So, from left to right, top to bottom.

1. Power button st-by , red.
2. Line In button 1, AUX.
3. Line In Button 2, MS
4. BASS + Bass control
5. MUTE – temporary mute
6. TRE+ treble controller
7. BASS-
8. RESET – factory reset
9. TRE –
10. Two VOLUME +/-

Remote control is powered by two AAA batteries. Pressing any button either from the control panel or from remote control you take the system out of Standby mode, and you can return to this mode only by remote control. The engineers of Sven concern found an interesting application for the POWER lamp. When selecting a function to adjust the lamp lights up with different colors.

Control the volume – the indicator light is green, tone of the bass is orange, tone of the treble is red. The process of adjustment both from the remote control and from the control panel is accompanied by flashing of the indicator, and when you reach the maximum or minimum values flashing stops.

FUNCTIONALITY

To begin with, the manufacturer’s stated characteristics:

Output power, W RMS	2 h 50
Speaker dimensions, mm	HF, diameter 25 LF, diameter – 165
Frequency range, Hz	35 – 25 000
Case material	Wood MDF
Cushion material	Tweeter – silk Polymer woofer
Magnetic shielding	Check out
Supply voltage	Variable, 220 V, 50 Hz
Types of inputs	2 switchable stereo inputs, RCA
Dimensions, mm	210 x 397 x 306
Weight, kg	16,9
Color	Black royal lacquer

The average price – 7865 Dollars.

Well, everything is clear with weight, color and size, let’s check the rest. So, the broadband. SVEN 6 Om 50 W speaker is used. Just a beauty – a dual, prefabricated, powerful magnet, a real, solid core and a great cone of woven polymer material! Why I drew your attention to the magnet?

Just imagine how long the classical paper cone would live with such powerful excitation? At full power amplitude is at least 2.5 cm, whatever you put in the paper, it can not withstand such a rocking, it will break. So a polymer cone, stiff rings on the periphery and as a result – deep bass and proper sound. But we are getting ahead of ourselves. And watching the cone stroke is a fascinating sight, but I’ve already talked about that.

“squeaker”. True, in this case this is not an exact definition. Marking – Sven, 2 Om 24 W. When you hold this weighty product in your hands you understand that this tweeter was created for much more serious acoustics. I paid attention to the carefully placed damping gasket – the speaker does not lie directly on the MDF, but on a special pad. Then, very tightly, screwed down with self-tapping screws.

By the way, all construction with screws – not a single bolt or nut. Work piece. When you look closely at these speakers you understand that the assembly and assembling is of very high quality. I get the impression that everything is made by hand. Frankly enjoyed the quality filter. For our times, where there is a global economy on everything from workers to components, such stuffing is even shocking!

Where do so many normal components come from?! A normal transformer, heavy and iron, the primary amplifier is on a separate board, and the liner with all the elements is on another board. The preliminary amplifier’s operational circuit is carefully surrounded with countless electrolytes, its own power supply regulator, the ratings of critical resistors are chosen with reserve – in general, the quality of the 80s, when the best examples of audio engineering were created!

And most importantly – the “terminator”, the final amplifier. It’s on a TDA7294 chip from ST Microelectronics. The published article does not allow to go deep into the details, but I must mention that the nameplate power of this circuit is 100 W in the load range from 4 to 8 Ohms and the claimed nonlinear distortions at 1 kHz at full power and 4 Ohms load minimal should not exceed 0.01%. I think that says it all.

HOW IT SOUNDS

So we’re getting to the reason we’re doing this – listening! I have long thought about the method of testing and settled on a subjective perception. Recently I was testing the speakers of one very famous British company with the help of test discs and programs. All the results are perfect – harmonic distortion, nonlinear distortion, AFC, etc.d.

And when I plugged in my favorite song I got a kind of artificial, lifeless sound. Everything seems to be right, but the sound is wrong. And it is impossible to explain what is missing. In short, the sound is for sound junkies. So I decided to describe my impressions.

At low, comfortable, for our age, volume the system sounded quite digestible – deep enough transmission of vocals, soft, clear guitar parts playback, steady bass section. But it’s good for background music like Francis Goya. And what about Pink Floyd?? You can’t listen to it at a low volume!

But the sound of classics didn’t disappoint even without EQ – the sound was hard, every instrument was detailed, and from Shine On You Crazy Diamond I got brand new impressions. I have a Technics SC-EH760 stereo system and it sort of steals the beginning, you have to turn the sound up to full and then sharply turn it down.

In case of Sven Royal 2r it was not required. At one volume level the system produced a “loud” whisper and the whole gamut of Pink Floyd sounds. I heard similar sound only from audiophile Sony MHC – S7AV, produced in 2001 and armed with the most powerful subwoofer. But this system is in a completely different price range.

I listened to AC/DC in a gesture of ecstasy. I missed the percussion section a bit, but I think I needed a little more EQ work.

With the classics, the system proved to be excellent. Beethoven sounded great! The Polonaise of Oginsky pleased with the depth of sound and the detailed study of the scene. Wagner and his Valkyries were good! The system is worthy of the title of audiophile!

CONCLUSION

For spent 200 solid American Dollars you get a stereo system, which returns every penny, which is a great value nowadays. I have not seen similar equipment for a long time. The system is made in the best traditions of the golden age of audio. With this system you can enjoy music of any genre and style. What I missed? CD loader or another format of similar quality for this system!