• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

March Audio Sointuva Speaker

Status
Not open for further replies.
OP
March Audio

March Audio

Master Contributor
Audio Company
Joined
Mar 1, 2016
Messages
6,378
Likes
9,317
Location
Albany Western Australia
Over the weekend I found a problem with the speaker cable used for the testing. A loose connection was casing a (relatively) high resistance which was having an impact on the response. After fixing a further XO tweak was necessary, but the end result is that the data has improved.

On Axis

1606689090367.png


1606689131091.png
 
Last edited:

617

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Mar 18, 2019
Messages
2,403
Likes
5,296
Location
Somerville, MA
So, what's the value proposition you'd make for this speaker? It seems like a good design, the measurements are great, seems well thought out. Does this blow away other small speakers in terms of output?

Also did you figure out the source of the 350hz issue? I doubt it's significant if it doesn't show up in the FR, but I'm curious if you've isolated it.
 
OP
March Audio

March Audio

Master Contributor
Audio Company
Joined
Mar 1, 2016
Messages
6,378
Likes
9,317
Location
Albany Western Australia
So, what's the value proposition you'd make for this speaker? It seems like a good design, the measurements are great, seems well thought out. Does this blow away other small speakers in terms of output?

Also did you figure out the source of the 350hz issue? I doubt it's significant if it doesn't show up in the FR, but I'm curious if you've isolated it.

The value proposition? Well first thing is these will be custom made to your aesthetic taste, be it colour or the wood finishes that are available. There are a lot of reasonable performing speakers out there but many of them are aesthetically terrible IMO. Im not interested in cheap ugly plastic finished boxes however good they may technically be.

So, how does it sound? Yes it does blow away many small speakers. Firstly the bass goes down a very long way. F3 about 45Hz and F6 about 38Hz. Dont know of many, if any speaker of this size (w24cm x d21cm x h45cm) that goes down that low. It does it with exceptionally low distortion. Whilst there are a bunch of active speakers out there that feign going that low, they often do it with massive distortion as they are actively equalised.

I generally have a preference for closed box speakers because to my ears many ported boxes can sound quite loose and uncontrolled in the bass. They often have artificial peaks in their bass too. Whilst the passive radiators in the Sointuva do the same job as a port, they seem to do it much better. No chuffing noises from air flow and tight controlled bass like a closed box, but extends much further down like a ported box can.

The quality and depth of the low frequency response makes a disproportionate impact on the perceived sound quality, its extremely important. I will try and find the Floyd Toole quote on this.

The low distortion means that the sound is crystal clear – you sort of realise how much “fuzz” other speakers are introducing into the sound, and how difficult it is then to hear subtle details which are plainly obvious on the Sointuva. The high frequencies have a “liveness” (only way I can describe it), yet the sound is warm and not over bright like many speakers in my experience.

I lost half of yesterday afternoon because I ended up so engaged listening to music on them :) They just sound fantastic, but I would say that ;)

yes we know what the 350Hz issue is, will be sorted. Im also going to bring down the 2.5kHz bump.
 
Last edited:

MZKM

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Dec 1, 2018
Messages
4,240
Likes
11,462
Location
Land O’ Lakes, FL
Last edited:

tmtomh

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Aug 14, 2018
Messages
2,636
Likes
7,490
I'm looking forward to the final product here - this could be really great.
 

617

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Mar 18, 2019
Messages
2,403
Likes
5,296
Location
Somerville, MA
I find them quite attractive in the white gloss cabinets. I'd tweak the badge and use SS machine screws instead of the black.

I agree with your comments on passive radiators; I like sealed and T line speakers but a good PR design really does check all the boxes, and the only way to go for a high end small design.
 

restorer-john

Grand Contributor
Joined
Mar 1, 2018
Messages
12,579
Likes
38,280
Location
Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
I find them quite attractive in the white gloss cabinets. I'd tweak the badge and use SS machine screws instead of the black.

For me, the badge (although nice in a way) looks wrong. It should keep the black screws but be a black badge with white paint in the engraving. That would match his actual logo, look better and match the black drivers and driver bolts IMO.
 

617

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Mar 18, 2019
Messages
2,403
Likes
5,296
Location
Somerville, MA
Four words: front mounted L pad
 
OP
March Audio

March Audio

Master Contributor
Audio Company
Joined
Mar 1, 2016
Messages
6,378
Likes
9,317
Location
Albany Western Australia
I find them quite attractive in the white gloss cabinets. I'd tweak the badge and use SS machine screws instead of the black.

.
For me, the badge (although nice in a way) looks wrong. It should keep the black screws but be a black badge with white paint in the engraving. That would match his actual logo, look better and match the black drivers and driver bolts IMO.

All input and suggestions welcome :)
 

Mnyb

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Aug 14, 2019
Messages
2,640
Likes
3,610
Location
Sweden, Västerås
The low tuning for the bass is also a factor we don’t hear distortion or other problems that low in frequency.
So a low tuning helps both PR and BR speakers ( hence why I think ported subs are alright if big enough with a low tuning )
But as other products have shown this low tuning in a small box would make a big port with all kinds of problems.
So this driver and box combo sort of points you to a PR implementation ?
 

restorer-john

Grand Contributor
Joined
Mar 1, 2018
Messages
12,579
Likes
38,280
Location
Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
All input and suggestions welcome

I guess you also need a badge that looks good across all colours and finishes. Tricky eh. The Japanese brands used gold (anodized I guess) engraved badges on their TOTL speakers & gear. Your large badge looks good on the Sointuva filling in the space under the woofer.
 

rajapruk

Senior Member
Forum Donor
Joined
Sep 22, 2018
Messages
472
Likes
489
Very nice looking speaker.
I have not read the whole thread, but is there any diagram showing the vertical dispersion?
 

whazzup

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Feb 19, 2020
Messages
575
Likes
486
So, how does it sound? Yes it does blow away many small speakers. Firstly the bass goes down a very long way. F3 about 45Hz and F6 about 38Hz. Dont know of many, if any speaker of this size (w24cm x d21cm x h45cm) that goes down that low.

You had me at d21cm....
I'm assuming desktop nearfield use is not an issue?
 
Last edited:

Phorize

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Apr 26, 2019
Messages
1,533
Likes
2,060
Location
U.K
At the risk of coming across like a philistine, have you considered using grills? It’s obviously a subjective taste thing but I don’t like looking at drivers usually, and the purifi ones are no oil paintings, at least to my eyes.
 

MZKM

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Dec 1, 2018
Messages
4,240
Likes
11,462
Location
Land O’ Lakes, FL
At the risk of coming across like a philistine, have you considered using grills? It’s obviously a subjective taste thing but I don’t like looking at drivers usually, and the purifi ones are no oil paintings, at least to my eyes.
Agreed.

I don’t know how a typical grille would fit on this speaker though. More expensive (I assume), but a plastic grille just on the woofer like my Wharfedale’s use would likely be a deciding factor for some that just hate the look of the Purifi’s surround:
513wharf.promo_.jpg


It’s not magnetic, put fits into the screws.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom