Review of the mobile audio system for karaoke parties Sven PS-1900

A recent review of the Sven PS-1500 acoustics notes the manufacturer’s desire to increase the size and power of its party systems. The new model, the PS-1500, promises an impressive 500 W and a weight of over 10 kg. While retaining some portability thanks to the built-in wheels, it is no longer as easily portable as the more compact previous versions. These devices are now called «mobile party audio systems» given their limited, but still available, mobility.

However, it should be noted that another Sven model was not mentioned in the previous review — PS-1900. It also has Bluetooth, an Aux input, jacks for microphones and musical instruments, built-in audio processing, an LED display, the ability to play files from USB drives, and backlighting. However, this model is over a meter tall, weighs over 17kg, and claims 1000W of power, making it a real monster for those looking for maximum volume.

The design of the previously tested Sven PS-1500 model was unique, reminiscent of the old “music centers” of the last century and evoked nostalgia. The PS-1900 has a slightly more austere design, but overall the impression remains the same. The main attention is drawn, of course, to the backlight — without it the speaker looks less impressive.

In the Sven PS-1900 model, the backlight is organized in a unique way: LEDs are located in protruding elements, which also perform a decorative function. In contrast, the PS-1500 takes a more classic approach, placing LEDs around the speaker membrane behind a translucent ring. Additionally, there are bright white LEDs on the top of the front panel that create a strobe effect.

The speaker has impressive dimensions: 350×1018×372 mm, and weighs 17.2 kg. On the front panel there are two woofers and two tweeters, and on the back there are holes for two bass reflexes, as well as wheels for easy transportation and a power connector.

On top there is a small LED display and a control panel, which we will look at in more detail later. In addition, there is a stand for a tablet or smartphone, which ensures that the mobile device is securely held in a convenient position for reading song lyrics during karaoke.

The screen has sufficient brightness and contrast for convenient operation even in bright daylight. It consists of five 14-segment indicators and several icons at the top. Despite its small area, it is quite informative, displaying all the necessary information, including the connection type and the active equalizer preset. Icons for FM radio reception modes, as well as playback and pause status may also appear on the screen.

There are two high-frequency speakers, and relatively large ones, their diameter is 72 mm. The membranes are covered with a grille, which serves not only for protection, but also as a design element.

The woofers are also pleasing in size — 180 mm, from which you can clearly expect impressive bass. The translucent part is almost invisible if the backlight is turned off.

The side and back walls are covered with matte black paint with a rough surface. This coating looks durable and pleasant to the touch, but the MDF body is susceptible to scratches, so it is recommended to handle the device with care. Unfortunately, there is no protection against water, so using the Sven PS-1900 outdoors requires special care to avoid moisture.

The carrying handle is medium-sized, large enough for a large man's hand, but a little tight. However, this is enough to control the speaker using the built-in wheels. In any case, it will be difficult to lift and move it from place to place due to its weight of 17 kg. Under the handle there is a panel with a connector for connecting the power cable.

There is also another cable that serves as an antenna for receiving radio signals. It comes with a tie, but it doesn’t look very neat and when unfolded it can interfere with the speaker’s transportation. It is not surprising that the developers of the series did not provide a removable antenna cable or did not use a wired cable for connecting to the sound source for this purpose, as is usually the case.

As mentioned earlier, there are two bass reflex holes on the rear panel, which indicates the developers' commitment to effective low-frequency sound. These holes are 70mm in diameter and are protected by an internal fabric mesh to prevent foreign objects from entering the case.

The wheels are wide and securely fastened, their diameter is 45 mm. In addition, small rubber feet are installed at the bottom of the Sven PS-1900, ensuring stability and reliable placement of the speaker on a horizontal surface.

The Sven PS-1900 is relatively easy to disassemble — there are a lot of fasteners, but they are all logically placed and can be easily dismantled. All the most interesting things are hidden under the top panel.

On the inside of the panel there are boards that provide operation of the buttons, controls and display.

The LED display controller is SM1623B — we also saw it in the slightly smaller Sven “party acoustics” reviewed earlier.

The body is assembled with high quality, and a 10 mm thick medium-density fiberboard board is used for the outer walls. The two boards inside are secured using self-tapping screws that are screwed directly into the case material. This solution may not look the most elegant, but it does provide a secure fit.

The tweeters are installed on the plastic part of the front panel, which is quite successful — unlike woofers, they do not vibrate so much during operation. However, the markings on them turned out to be uninformative, which does not allow us to extract any additional useful information from it.

On the right side of the illustration above we see the speaker power supply, which is clearly purchased assembled from a third-party manufacturer.

In this case, we are more interested in the board located on the left, with a large heatsink, which we remove. It’s worth noting right away that the build quality evokes only positive impressions — all the details are made carefully and efficiently.

Remove the radiator and clean the layer of thermal paste. This time the amount of thermal paste is perfectly selected — no frills. Let us remind you that the pictures are clickable, and each one can be enlarged for a more detailed look.

The radiator serves to cool two amplifier chips, which the manufacturer even mentions in marketing materials for the device — this is STMicroelectronics STA516BE.

According to the data sheet, each of the amplifiers is indeed capable of delivering 2x250W with six-ohm speakers, although there is a significant level of distortion. Thus, in theory we can get 1000 W, although the manufacturer traditionally indicates the maximum value on the packaging, for which it is difficult to blame him — although this is practiced by almost everyone.

Under the amplifiers there is an STA309A audio processor from STMicroelectronics, which is responsible for sound processing, including an equalizer. MVsilicon BP1064L2 is responsible for implementing the Bluetooth connection.

When first turned on, the speaker emits a fairly loud signal, and during other operations it also tends to loudly notify the user. However, the good news is that these sounds can be turned off by simply holding down the sound source button. To connect wirelessly, you can use either the traditional method through the device menu, or a more convenient and faster method using an NFC tag. All you have to do is activate the Bluetooth input, move your smartphone to the tag, agree to the connection request, and the whole process takes less than a minute.

The speaker does not support multipoint connection. When using the Bluetooth Tweaker utility, a complete list of supported codecs and their modes was obtained. However, only one codec is supported — SBC.

The maximum Bitpool value is set to 250, which is significantly higher than the recommended value of 51 for the High Quality profile. This allows the codec to work at its maximum capabilities and will probably not limit the sound quality of the acoustics. It is interesting to note that the previously tested Sven PS-1500 model has a maximum Bitpool of 38, which, although sufficient for party acoustics, is still nice to see a higher number.

With a wired connection, everything is simple: just connect the supplied cable to the source and speaker, and then activate the corresponding input. If you want to get full stereo sound and increase the volume, you can use the support for wirelessly connecting two Sven PS-1900 to one source.

On the top of the speaker, in addition to the Aux input, there is also an output that allows you to transmit the signal further, for example, to a recorder or other acoustics. Given the ability to play audio files and the presence of a built-in radio, having such an output really makes sense. In addition, there are two inputs for microphones and one for a musical instrument. The sensitivity of the microphone inputs is higher than that of the instrument inputs, and there are separate volume controls for each group, which is very convenient.

The connection and control capabilities of the Sven PS-1900 are significantly expanded compared to the PS-1500 model. For example, there is a separate control for reverb and echo effects, which was previously absent and significantly enriches the sound of microphones. For singing lovers, these sound processing capabilities will be more than sufficient.

In the upper right corner of the panel there is a USB port for connecting a flash drive (FAT32 up to 32 GB). The built-in player plays the main audio file formats: MP3, FLAC, WAV and WMA. Although it can penetrate inside folders, due to screen limitations it is easier to store all files in the root of the drive. The radio also works great, easily finding most radio stations even when the speaker is indoors and the built-in cable antenna is folded up. Reception quality naturally improves outdoors with the antenna raised.

The top panel of the speaker has many buttons and connectors, some of which perform multiple functions at the same time. For clarity, let's use the illustration from the instructions for the device, where they are all listed in detail and labeled. The keys are pressed with average force and have a clearly noticeable click. The regulators are made in the form of potentiometers with limited rotation angle. Particularly noteworthy is the central master volume control, which rotates with some effort — this helps to avoid accidental changes in sound level.

It's still surprising that even the larger Sven party speakers don't come with a remote control kit. While more compact models have it, for some reason larger and “semi-stationary” ones do not. However, the good thing is that with a Bluetooth connection, you can change key settings using the source device. There are also several lighting modes, from flashing to “rotating,” which allows you to choose the right atmosphere. A bright strobe light can be useful when dancing.

The wheels on the bottom do their job well—it’s quite convenient to roll the speaker from place to place by tilting it and holding it by the handle. They spin easily, do not make unnecessary sounds — everything is as it should be.

The Sven PS-1900 is a true party audio system and the volume is truly impressive. Even at an average volume level, the sound feels very powerful, and there is plenty of it for even a large room. We can confidently say that these acoustics can fill even a small room with sound, and when using two speakers (wireless connection to two acoustics is supported) create really loud sound, even outdoors. However, it is important to remember that there may be people around who are not prepared for this level of sound.

As for sound quality, the Sven PS-1900 is quite similar to budget active concert acoustics, with an emphasis on low frequencies. At the same time, it provides a fairly smooth midrange and a readable upper frequency range. Despite the emphasis on bass, the mids sound acceptable, and high frequencies are also present in the sound. This is a welcome discovery, given that speakers in this class are typically prone to distortion and limited range.

For clarity, we present a graph of the frequency response obtained by measuring sound at a distance of a meter from the front panel of the speaker at the level of the upper speakers.

The bass sounds moderately boomy — this is expected for a speaker system with two bass reflexes. The graph of the cumulative decline in the frequency spectrum (also known as the «waterfall») also shows two peaks at the tuning frequency of these bass reflexes.

The speaker has a strong bass sound, and there is a button on the top panel that allows you to further enhance the low frequencies. This effect is quite noticeable and can be clearly seen on the sound spectrum graph.

The “buzz” of the low-frequency register predictably increases, but within reason. The mids predictably fade into the background a little, but remain readable.

Five equalizer presets allow you to further adjust the sound to your taste. Of course, it would be great to see the Sven PS-1900 have a full-fledged tone block — it deserves it. But what is not there is not there.

The sound of the Sven PS-1900 is amazing with its quality and volume, and it is ideal as a party speaker. The ability to boost bass with extra emphasis, balanced mids and clear highs all make it an attractive choice. In addition, the speaker has spectacular lighting, various microphone inputs with sound control and effects, a built-in player and much more.

Of course, there are some drawbacks, such as the lack of a remote control and a full-fledged tone control, as well as questions about the design of the radio antenna. However, overall the device is a very good solution. It is not very suitable for a city apartment, but is ideal for a country house or a small club. Sven PS-1900 allows you to organize parties, karaoke and even small concerts. If your budget allows, then the choice between the “junior” model Sven PS-1500 and the reviewed PS-1900 is definitely worth making in favor of the latter, since it offers more connection options, finer-tuning effects for microphones and, most importantly, produces higher quality and louder sound. sound.