March Audio Sointuva AWG Bookshelf Speaker Review by ERIN's Audio Corner

[Matias]

Ouch, this is painful to see. Hopefully the chassis will get replaced soon.

 

[concorde1]

Photo 1. Cracked speakers

My goodness, thank you for sharing, I hope that doesn't happen to my WG pair.

I got mine in May 2022 and they look fine so far.

 

[janbth]

It's nice to see my speakers here.

If it helps, I'm writing my first reply after signing up.

I ordered these speakers on 5/8/22 from March Audio. Here are the notes I requested when I placed the order.

"RAL 5011, steel blue matte painted front panel finish with Wandoo wood enclosure like D&D C8 enclosure.(the waveguide can be black)"

These speakers are beautiful to look at and have great measurement data, but I had a some of issues with the opened binding posts and HOD(High-Order Distortion) when I first received them.
Since then, the speaker has been used primarily behind a soundscreen, with the exception of once a year when it was allowed to come out of the soundscreen to oil the wooden enclosure.

I recently took it out for oiling and discovered that the wooden enclosure was cracking, so I stopped using these speakers.
I will be contacting the manufacturer to resolve this issue as soon as possible.

Photo 1. Cracked speakers
Photo 2. My soundscreen environment
Photo 3. Sointuva after oiling last winter

That’s one serious crack! Please keep us informed.

 

[Gudfala]

That's no good at all, now I'm worried about mine.

 

[restorer-john]

I've followed up earlier today, but at this point I'm not expecting much.

Just call March Audio? (check the time/day from wherever you are so you don't wake him in the middle of the night)

 

[restorer-john]

I recently took it out for oiling and discovered that the wooden enclosure was cracking, so I stopped using these speakers.
I will be contacting the manufacturer to resolve this issue as soon as possible.

See here:

March Audio Sointuva Speaker

@March Audio, lovely looking speakers! I don’t see on the order page any indication of whether the price is per speaker or per pair.

www.audiosciencereview.com

My March Sointuva Speakers

Considering the size of the panels in these little speakers, I wouldn't have any problems with solid timbers being used. In fact, I'd rather something real and solid, than some poxy MDF or composite sh#t board.

www.audiosciencereview.com

Make sure you keep this thread updated.

 

[Waddles]

Just call March Audio? (check the time/day from wherever you are so you don't wake him in the middle of the night)

View attachment 366042

I have done, a few times.

I sent the original email on the 10th of April. A few days later I left a message on the phone number on the website. I've heard nothing but silence.

I always just get the answering machine, and yeah, I left a message but didn't hear back. First call was two weeks ago now.

 

[Waddles]

I got a fairly prompt reply to the follow up. I have to assume my original messages got lost somehow? Hard to say, but all seems fine now.

 

[Penelinfi]

I got a fairly prompt reply to the follow up. I have to assume my original messages got lost somehow? Hard to say, but all seems fine now.

Maybe he was busy with something? Recently he replied to a couple of forum posts too.

 

[YSC]

I got a fairly prompt reply to the follow up. I have to assume my original messages got lost somehow? Hard to say, but all seems fine now.

or maybe it's now on the web.. ok, I am going into conspirency theory.

I personally believe that they are investigating potential cause or what to do to improve in case this is not a isolated issue, much like will it fail vs when will it fail type of issue. I personally appreciate real wood but these known troubles of real wood enclosure is really a pain in the butt.

 

[Matias]

It's nice to see my speakers here.

If it helps, I'm writing my first reply after signing up.

I ordered these speakers on 5/8/22 from March Audio. Here are the notes I requested when I placed the order.

"RAL 5011, steel blue matte painted front panel finish with Wandoo wood enclosure like D&D C8 enclosure.(the waveguide can be black)"

These speakers are beautiful to look at and have great measurement data, but I had a some of issues with the opened binding posts and HOD(High-Order Distortion) when I first received them.
Since then, the speaker has been used primarily behind a soundscreen, with the exception of once a year when it was allowed to come out of the soundscreen to oil the wooden enclosure.

I recently took it out for oiling and discovered that the wooden enclosure was cracking, so I stopped using these speakers.
I will be contacting the manufacturer to resolve this issue as soon as possible.

Photo 1. Cracked speakers
Photo 2. My soundscreen environment
Photo 3. Sointuva after oiling last winter

Have you contacted March Audio to solve your issue? It is very uncommon for these to crack.

 

[Sokel]

See here:

March Audio Sointuva Speaker

@March Audio, lovely looking speakers! I don’t see on the order page any indication of whether the price is per speaker or per pair.

www.audiosciencereview.com

My March Sointuva Speakers

Considering the size of the panels in these little speakers, I wouldn't have any problems with solid timbers being used. In fact, I'd rather something real and solid, than some poxy MDF or composite sh#t board.

www.audiosciencereview.com

Make sure you keep this thread updated.

And they cracked in the exact way @bluefuzz predicted here.
We have to listen to experience more than we do I think.

 

[Drengur]

'tis but a scratch!

 

[bluefuzz]

And they cracked in the exact way @bluefuzz predicted here.
We have to listen to experience more than we do I think.

I don't know how many speakers of this type March Audio has sold – I have a feeling they have been quite successful – if this is the first example that has cracked then perhaps the problem isn't as bad as I predicted. The cracked baffle looks to have a rather gnarly grain pattern which is often likely to be unstable. It's always the prettiest pieces of wood that crack the first ...

It would be interesting to know the humidity profile of where the owner used these speakers compared to where they were built. For guitars it's generally recommended to build (or at least do any cross grain glueing) at a relative humidity of ~40%. This is roughly in the middle of typical indoor humidity which can vary from 80% or more in a warm wet summer to 20% or less in a centrally heated home in winter.

 

[YSC]

I don't know how many speakers of this type March Audio has sold – I have a feeling they have been quite successful – if this is the first example that has cracked then perhaps the problem isn't as bad as I predicted. The cracked baffle looks to have a rather gnarly grain pattern which is often likely to be unstable. It's always the prettiest pieces of wood that crack the first ...

It would be interesting to know the humidity profile of where the owner used these speakers compared to where they were built. For guitars it's generally recommended to build (or at least do any cross grain glueing) at a relative humidity of ~40%. This is roughly in the middle of typical indoor humidity which can vary from 80% or more in a warm wet summer to 20% or less in a centrally heated home in winter.

I would bet the numbers of unit sold isn’t that great as it’s pretty new, and the variance in wood grain, type of wood used are more distributed. Plus it’s fairly new speaker to really test the longevity. Overall I bet it won’t be that widespread but is an inevitable risk to some “lucky” customers

 

[Keith_W]

It would be interesting to know the humidity profile of where the owner used these speakers compared to where they were built. For guitars it's generally recommended to build (or at least do any cross grain glueing) at a relative humidity of ~40%. This is roughly in the middle of typical indoor humidity which can vary from 80% or more in a warm wet summer to 20% or less in a centrally heated home in winter.

He is in Albany, Western Australia. The humidity there varies between 67% - 72%.

Perhaps Alan should rethink what species of wood he offers for export. Wood acclimatized to conditions in one country may not do so well when exported to another.

 

[bluefuzz]

He is in Albany, Western Australia. The humidity there varies between 67% - 72%.

Yes, but that's the outdoor humidity. 70 % relative humidity outdoors at 20 °C is unremarkable and unlikely to be a problem for wooden things. 70% relative humidity outdoors at 0 °C will result in a relative humidity indoors far under 20 % when warmed up to comfy room temperature. Cold air can hold less moisture which is why the humidty drops considerably in winter in centrally heated homes.

Building boxes like the Sointuva at, say, 30 – 40 % relative humidity would perhaps alleviate the potential to crack but there are no guarantees. Wood does what it wants to do ...

 

[Keith_W]

Alan sent me a message on another forum and asked me to pass on this info.

Hi Keith

I have been made aware of the ASR thread about the cabinets. As you know I cannot post there but please feel free to pass on this info.

We have not received any correspondence from the customer in question. Can I ask a favour? Can you post for him to get in contact so that we can arrange a solution? We take this sort of problem very seriously and want to fix it as soon as possible. We would also like to understand the problem and why it happened. It would be helpful to know the environmental conditions - I do note what looks like a large de-humidifier/air conditioner in the pictures he posted.

For other readers interest:

The Sointuva has been very successful and there are a great many of these speakers out in the wild now, all over the world. We really don't see problems with cracked cabinets. If we did we would be bankrupt replacing the cabinets and shipping them around the world.

It should be noted that the cabinet in question is an early variant. We subsequently have changed the design of the cabinet, changing and improving its bracing and panel jointing methods. So cabinet stability and integrity is not an issue. This change wasnt done to rectify any observed integrity issue, it was primarily for manufacturing ease and to change the panels natural frequencies. However, the changes should also reduce any potential for cabinet problems further.

The wood is conditioned at around 45% environmental humidity, and its water content is tested during manufacture. These, are all reasons why we dont see problems.

Very simply, one observed problem does not equal a fundamental issue. All products will have a percentage of failures, its inevitable. Our product failure rates are vanishingly low which is why we pay for shipping from anywhere in the world in the unlikely event a product needs to be serviced. You dont see any other manufacturer doing that. Whats important here is that we, the manufacturer, fix them to the customers satisfaction as soon as possible.

 

[YSC]

Alan sent me a message on another forum and asked me to pass on this info.

I think Alan is allowed to be posted here again? or did I confused him with Erin for that matter?

 

[amper42]

Alan sent me a message on another forum and asked me to pass on this info.

The post from March makes it sound like He pays for return postage. You should know March Audio stops any free shipping once the warranty period is ended (with no leeway). The company also changes the warranty period so you have to watch out. For instance, when my P452 amp failed March wanted me to pay shipping back to Australia and repairs even though the current warranty period offered is 5 years on the amps. He says it was only a 3 year warranty on my unit. So buyer beware. If you are out of warranty even 60 days, it's on your dime, even if longer warranty is in effect for new purchases. Don't expect grace. Cracks happen with wood. It's a matter of nature. Don't be surprised if it's outside warranty. And don't be surprised if it cracks again after being fixed. That's what happened on my grandfather clock base. Wood and humidity interact.