Greetings, dear readers! Today I will tell you about the most affordable cinema system in the secondary market. This is Sven Audio HP-514t . I have been using this kit for a year and a half and managed to form a fairly complete opinion about this speaker, below I will tell you all the features of this kit and share my experience on how to build a home theater at minimal cost. In the secondary market, a set of five speakers SA HP-514t will cost you 4-5 thousand rubles. Agree, the price today is simply ridiculous. And this is a full-fledged two-way speaker made of MDF, which is capable of producing good sound in a movie in an ordinary apartment or in a country house, on 514 speakers it is quite possible to watch a concert or listen to music in the background, and their appearance will fit well into any interior. The Sven Audio series itself was created by Sven in 2002 in order to fill the niche between active multimedia speakers and passive Hi-Fi for $ 800-1000, while being closer to multimedia in price, and in sound and quality to eminent brothers.

Sven Audio HP-514t is a passive speaker system, which means you need an external amplifier. Since we are assembling a home theater, the AV receiver will act as an amplifier. Thanks to the characteristics of this kit, literally any entry-level receiver will do, and this is actually a big plus for the 514s. This review is intended primarily for those who decide to assemble their first home theater. And for its modest cost, the Sven Audio kit, I’m not afraid to say it, plays just fine!

The set consists of the largest front speakers, the center speaker from which all dialogues in films sound, and the rear speakers to create a complete sound panorama. Despite the fact that the sizes of the speakers are different, they give a smooth sound picture, without obvious gaps and drops, even if you do not use the receiver’s auto-tuning, which smooths out such moments. The 514s came out in two colors: strict black wenge and light warm beech. You can choose depending on your taste and the situation in the room, or which more interesting kit for the price and in good condition will turn up on the secondary market.

I understand that soundbars are now in vogue due to their compact size and lack of wires. But in fact, the problem with the wire is somewhat far-fetched. Here is how I solved this issue. I placed the center and fronts on the pedestal, and the rear on the wide armrests of the sofa. Sub placed between the bookcase and nightstand. All the wires are perfectly located behind the cabinet, they are simply not visible.

I ran two cables to the rear speakers along the perimeter of the room in a cable channel along the top of the plinth, they are also not visible. If you have a plinth with a cable channel in your room, you can run the cable to the rear right inside it. So it turns out that the problem of wires is far-fetched and in fact everything is solved very simply and quickly, even if you have already made repairs.

Appearance and characteristics of Sven Audio HP-514t

The fronts are two-way. Mid-bass driver with a diameter of 157 mm or 6 inches, a diffuser made of varnished paper, a suspension made of soft rubber. HF tweeter 27 mm translucent plastic. Phase inverter with a hole on the rear panel. Connection with threaded clamps.

The rears are two-way. Midrange driver with a diameter of 101 mm or 4 inches. HF tweeter 19 mm, silk. The body is closed. Connection via spring clamps.

The center channel is two-way. Two midrange drivers with a diameter of 101 mm or 4 inches. HF tweeter 19 mm, silk. Connection via spring clamps.

Although the kit is shelf-mounted, the total weight of the kit is 24 kilograms. Grills are attached to the front of the speakers by means of four plastic pins. The grills themselves are made of gray fabric with the Sven Audio logo. You can leave it with the grills, you can remove it, you can alternate it as you like. Special rubber feet are provided under the fronts to reduce vibration transmission. There is an opinion that under the shelf acoustics it is necessary to provide a rack, but this is not so. You can safely put it on a table, cabinet or other furniture, the main thing is that the base is reliable and does not resonate to the beat of the speakers during operation.

All columns are made neatly, on the front part there is a decorative bevel smoothly turning into the same bevel on a removable grill. Decorative wood veneer is glued everywhere. Everything is very neat and tight fitting. The speakers are pretty nice and my wife quickly got used to them.

You can connect speakers to the receiver with any copper wires, a section of 1.5 mm2 will be more than enough, or you can use the bundled wires if they are left from the previous owner.

The sound of the Sven Audio HP-514t kit

This speaker system belongs to the category of bookshelf speakers. This means that a subwoofer is needed for it, so that in the cinema the DC would play the entire frequency range. Shelf acoustics are primarily designed for small rooms up to 20-25m2, and the bottoms are played by a subwoofer. For ordinary apartments – this is the best option. Because floorstanders in small rooms can quite often resonate and hum in unison with the room and nothing can be done about it, only if the living room is completely drowned out, which no one will do. A home theater subwoofer is a must.

In my living room 18m2 514s paired with a subwoofer SA 620W sound great! Taking into account the fact that I have an ordinary living room without acoustic treatment. Late in the evening and at night I watch movies without the participation of a subwoofer, this sound is enough for me on the 514s, and at the same time I do not interfere with the sleep of my neighbors and my family. In addition to movies, I watch concerts on DVD and Blu-ray, play video games, just listen to music in the background. For all these tasks, the 514s fit very well as a starter kit. Of course, we are talking about inexperienced listeners, but such people are in the majority. If we compare, then all the previous sets of multimedia speakers for PC and DC out of the box played much worse and I simply could not listen to music and concerts on them. Due to the low resistance of 8 ohms, they will play with any AV receiver, and a fairly good front sensitivity conveys all the nuances of a soundtrack or a movie soundtrack even at low volumes.

In terms of sound, the 514s with a subwoofer are well suited for electronic and techno music, hip-hop and dance tracks. Vocals also sound good, as well as instrumental parts recorded at concerts. On these speakers, you can easily distinguish whether the Dolby Digital or DTS codec is playing. HD lossless codecs sound particularly good. All concerts on Blu-ray are recorded in HD codecs. Music and soundtracks in DTS and HD codecs sound louder, brighter, and more detailed than regular DD.

Below is a video of the full review, where you can listen to examples of recording the sound of music in stereo and movies from Blu-ray paired with a subwoofer. Of course, you won’t be able to hear the real sound on stereo as I hear it with my own ears in my living room. The recording conveys only the nature of the sound and gives a certain idea of the sound. I just tried to share my impressions of what I heard and felt while watching directly on the video, along with the comments there is a video sequence and sound, so that the audience could get the most complete impression of what is happening. At the same time, he told his story of acquaintance with this set of speakers for home theater, shared the nuances of the WAF factor (Wife acceptance factor) and recommendations for arranging acoustics.

Advantages of the kit

• This is a full-fledged two-way speaker 5.0 made of MDF for creating a home theater
• Will sound good on any entry-level AV receivers, even at low volumes
• A fairly neutral design that will fit well into the interior
• Ridiculous price in the secondary market
• Possibility of a gradual upgrade of the DC

Kit Disadvantages

• New ones have not been released for a long time, you will have to look for a suitable kit in the secondary market
• You’ll have to buy a subwoofer, AV receiver, wires and deal with it all
• You will have to resolve the issue of the WAF factor and negotiate with your wife

Conclusion

Sven Audio HP-514t is a great option for those who have now decided to assemble their first home theater with minimal investment. The sound in the cinema paired with a soundbar in rooms up to 20m2 is very good for an inexperienced viewer. And on this set, you can easily listen to music in the background at medium volume. I enjoy watching concerts recorded on Blu-ray, the immersive effect paired with a 100″ screen is just great! Such a home theater will be an entertainment center for the whole family when you can get together in the evening and watch your favorite cartoon or movie, play video games or listen to a concert This is all the more true now, when there are problems with movie rentals in cinemas, and there is already a lot of available content with surround sound for the home, including official online services… Of course, you can buy a soundbar, but this is somewhat not the right solution and it looks more like a big compromise. And it’s almost impossible to gradually upgrade the soundbar, improving the sound. But a system based on an AV receiver, passive acoustics 5.0 and an active subwoofer can be improved on individual elements. And in the future you can take a new set of 5.0 acoustics, on replacement of the 514th, as he himself did.But all those one and a half years, the 514th set brought a lot of positive emotions to the whole family!

Thank you very much for your attention! They will be happy to discuss their home theater option in the comments, as well as read about your kits.