The Sivga Luan feels like a set of headphones that ends up getting a recommendation primarily for its very good drivers more than the rest, although there's enough elsewhere to not hold it up either. The new 50 mm nickel/biocellulose-style drivers work hard and play harder in giving you better bass extension than even the $499 Sivga SV023. I'd say the two trade blows when it comes to dynamic range too with the SV023 having better micro-contrast and the Luan offering better layering with faster tracks. The older Phoenix is more or less left behind by these two and I'd easily recommend the Luan over the Phoenix which costs the same. I'd go as far as to say that the Luan is a more enjoyable set in general even compared to the SV023 to where this is the new leader in the Sivga headphones lineup as far as I am concerned. I want to see what Sivga can do with these drivers in a more balanced tonality too although I know it's not likely to happen. If you do get the Luan then play around with EQ and, for once, reduce bass on an open-back set to see how much it can help with mids accuracy—this helps address my two main complaints to a good extent, albeit the back dampening still is a factor here keeping things from getting to the HIFIMAN Sundara/Sennheiser HD 6XX levels of accuracy.

The chassis itself is well built and Sivga continues to offer two colors/finishes down to the solid wood cups used. These come with matching accessories in the form of a handy carry case and a color-coordinated cable, albeit I found this stock cable to be the least impressive of all the Sivga pairings I've tested to date. It isn't as easy to re-shape and looks/feels less premium. Thankfully Sivga listened and have finally updated the cable connectors to 3.5 mm allowing users to easily use other cables without breaking the bank. This helps address one of the remaining issues too. The pads themselves I would say will be fine for most people to where really the cons list above can be handled and nothing comes off as a dealbreaker—especially when you note that this kind of warmer tuning is not commonly seen with open-back sets to begin with. The Sivga Luan really feels like the best version of this sound signature at this price range or even slightly above and thus wins a comfortable recommendation from me for those wanting something similar.