Sivga Peng

Preamble: The very kind Lily at Sivga has kindly sent out the Pengs for review with no expectations of a positive review – and that’s exactly what she’s getting. These guys retail for $449 USD, utilise a 50mm Dynamic Driver, with an impedance of 340 ohm and a sensitivity of 102 dB. These should be VERY interesting! I like to add on all my reviews – I’m listening with my ears, not yours. I’m listening with my gear, not yours. I’m listening with my love of audio, and not yours. YMMV….. Now let’s get our aural hands dirty! Gear: For the review, I will be listening on my Aune N7 amp (https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/aune-n7.28592/reviews#review-39655), SMSL VMV D2R Dac with my Eversolo DMP-A6 OG streamer as source. And because they are 340 ohm, I’ll add my newly purchased Feliks Echo Vibe OTL tube amp and amazing Geshelli Dayzee Dac (w/Sparkos 2590 Pro opamps) setup. It’s Sivga. If it’s Sivga OR Sendy, you’re going to get a lovely cardboard box with the product picture on the front, a top quality “bum” bag as a hard leather case, a really good quality cable (balanced 4.4mm) with adapter and a cloth baggie. They are completely consistent and quality is excellent. Every time! The cans themselves look great with the dark African Zebrawood cups, quality headband and swivel mechanism (lightweight steel with a lambskin strap). The pads are lovely too – so soft and comfortable and angled to get a great seal. Build quality is top notch, as is aesthetics. They weigh only 341g so weight is definitely not an issue here. The Important Stuff: A succinct but powerful playlist. First up, a very interesting track. It begins with a fire crackling in my right ear and winds blowing behind me. Ylva Eriksson’s haunting vocals come in, singing in (I assume) Swedish. Her Soulful voice is ethereal. It’s clean, full and the sounds are separated very well around my head. At 1:25, the metal explodes and it’s bombastic. It’s melodic, powerful and is handled well by the Pengs. The vocals are focused at me but not in my face. Treble is clean but not bright and there’s a lovely bass quality. It doesn’t go to sub-bass territories on this song but it’s nicely placed within the mix. Bass drums (and War drums??) are present but not ocean-floor deep. There is nothing grating or offensive at all here, it’s a lovely listen. Playing God is next and this is clean, crisp, separated very well and staging is very wide. Not so much holographic but wide, left to right. The Aune has massive power (6.5w p/ch @ 32 ohm) and is driving the Pengs with authority and ease. With regards to timbre, guitars sound natural here and are balanced well within the mix. Some good mid-bass here which separates form the mids and is punchy enough. Treble is resolving and detailed. Free Tibet is a bass-canon of a song. It starts warm, alluring and soft. Drums come in and the pace picks up. Vocals enter and everything is staging and separating very well. Then the beat drops……… Oh wow, this hits hard. Sub-bass – welcome friend, we’ve missed you. It’s not 20 hZ (I can’t even hear 20 hZ), but damn it goes deep and powerful. It’s very clean bass too and doesn’t roll-off early. The synth beats are HUGE and SNAPPY!! I’m going to quickly swap to my Feliks Echo Vibe OTL amp to see how the 340 ohm Pengs like tubes. Cable adjustment too, as the Echo takes only 6.3mm. I use my Sivga 4.4mm-3.5mm adapter and pop the 6.3mm on. Convoluted, much???? Emblas Saga again. The start of the song sounds quite similar on both amps. Staging and separation are similar. Treble presence is actually similar too. The Echo Vibe does have a hair more weight overall, especially down low and lower mids. But keep in mind, the Aune N7 is just $399 USD and the Echo Vibe is $999 USD. There’s not a HUGE difference between the 2 so, that speaks volumes for Aune! Playing God again and the Echo has a bit more meat on the bones, but just a tad. It’s fuller, more tonally lush and a bit richer, without losing any treble sparkle. It’s not crisp but detail and resolution are still excellent on the Pengs. I’ll finish the review on the Echo, just to give it the best chance (and I’m a SUCKER for a tube…….). Free Tibet again, and bass is superb when the beat drops. A great listen on the Pengs and Feliks Echo/Geshelli Dayzee (this Dac is a BEAST!!). The bass is huge, clean and powerful. Chocolate Chip Trip is next and staging is wide. It’s not class-leading but it’s definitely not lacking. Bells, chimes etc gently sway from side to side. They reach just outside both ears, which I’m sure the Feliks Echo is assisting to accomplish. Separation of instruments is clean and obvious. I can easily pinpoint 6 different sounds at a time in my nut. Bass isn’t powerful or deep here, but then the track isn’t really bass-focused in general. Carey’s intricate polyrhythms are crashing all around and are snappy, punchy - a real aural cacophony. Peacefield by Ghost has to be one of the most beautiful intros of ANY song, ANY time, EVER……….goosebumps! The choral singing is haunting. Then the guitar comes in clean on the right, maracas are crisp and vibrant on the left. Tobias Forge has such a powerful and commanding voice, on this song, it’s reminiscent of Journey’s more well-known frontman, Steve Perry. This song is clean, vibrant and full. It’s not crisp or sibilant but it still has plenty of treble information, leaning slightly warmer (but not in a bad way). Finishing up with one of the saddest Baroque pieces that I know of, Tomaso Albinoni’s Adagio in G Minor. I once sat listening to over 30 versions of the same piece, and still wanted more. Forlorn, despondent, miserable, gloomy, dejected. I could go on about my Aunt Martha’s life with Uncle Frederikk but I digress…….. This is beautiful. It’s smooth, calm, relaxing and warm. The harpsichord is clean but not bright. The violins are natural and velvety. Then the double bass goes deep for 2 notes and we’re into the mids and upper mids again. This is slippers, pipe, brandy material and the Pengs do it real justice.