@carlob mentioned that my subwoofers looked interesting and suggested I created a thread to share a bit more information, including of course objective measurements. I'll start out with a more subjective / informative post to share a bit about the product and concept, then I'll add an additional post with some measurements. I did a lot of measurements during prototyping and designing these subwoofers, but actually lost most of it due to a hardware failure, but I plan to do new measurements soon. Did some today for the 10" version (see next post), I currently don't have a 12" version set up here, but will get back to that.
The goal of this post isn't (just) to advertise for the subwoofers, but to share a bit about the thinking behind it and and be as open as possible about the process, hopefully it's interesting to some. I have product management / development background, and wanted to use startup / Lean / Agile principles when launching this, so everything has been done at a very small scale and quite quickly. I opted for "standard" but high quality components, but are looking into custom drivers etc now.
So what so special about this product?
I know a lot of you are all about massive subwoofers and maximum SPL, this is not what this product is about. The design goal was to build a subwoofer that could easily blend into modern interiors (as in high WAF / not having to sneak it past your significant other) while providing accurate sound reproduction and realistic sound pressure (defined as 105db peak at listening position) in a normal living room. This resulted in a subwoofer with an unusual form factor (very shallow enclosure), and support for wall mounting. As it sits very low on the floor it doesn't take up much visual space, and could even be hidden below couches or other furniture. The included damping feet uses an M8 mount, which means you could theoretically replace them with furniture feet and pretend it's a coffee table. It could also be wall mounted anywhere you please, either hidden behind something or visible. There are two versions, almost identical in size, but differes in drivers and amp. I chose high quality components (Hypex and Scan-Speak), and the cabinet was designed and prototyped over several months based on driver parameters, measurements (both response and vibration tests) as well as tight collaboration with one of the best cabinet builders in Norway, who have built hundreds of custom subwoofers and loudspeakers including horns, typically massive stuff for custom home theaters. It resulted in the following two models:
INKOGNITO 12:
They are currently available in satin white and satin black. The cabinets will be built in England by a company with loudspeaker and subwoofer cabinets for B&W, KEF, REL and Meridian (among others) under the belt, while the final assembly and testing is done in Norway.
Other design considerations:
I spent the majority of listening tests using music, as accurate reproduction of music is very important to me. Not surprisingly, this means it also works well for movies, within it's SPL capabilities of course. It has three DSP settings, one that goes deep, one with somewhat less low end lift, and also more aggressive high pass filter, which will allow you to play ~3dB louder without significant distortion. The subwoofers also have active limiters which means you don't have to worry about the drivers crashing and burning. In practice it's almost impossible to bottom out any of the subwoofers in a normal living room situation with music, but movies with lots of low end content will of course challenge the low end capability when played very loud. The assumption was that most customers in the market for something like this rarely played at extremely loud levels, and would value accurate sound and the ability to have a subwoofer that blends in visually over maximum SPL.
Room coupling
A I guess not scientifically proved idea is that having the driver facing close to a wall or floor will reduce the room node problems for that specific plane. I don't have any other proof for this than measurements and listening tests and anecdotal evidence from testers (see below). But my impression is that the fact that both the driver is very close to the floor/wall, and the entire enclosure also is very shallow, somehow reduce issues with room nodes. I get less room interaction with this subwoofer than a regular sealed subwoofer at the same position. It also works very well half way up the wall (even less nodes triggered).
Customer feedback
I've been running a test pilot program for a few months now where people could borrow a subwoofer (or even two) for free, in return for giving me feedback on the product. The general feedback is that they sound very accurate and precise with very good low end extension. A very consistent feedback is also that they integrate very well and easily with the main speakers, feeling like a natural extension of the speakers. Just the other day the 12" subwoofer was tested in a Norwegian hifi magazine receiving 5/5 stars, again commenting specifically on ease of integration. Conclusion: "The sound of Sigberg Audio Inkognito 12 is deep, powerful and impressively controlled - and it's never been easier to integrate a subwoofer with your main speakers." - Scandinavias largest hifi magazine currently has a subwoofer for testing as well, due out in September.
Check out https://www.instagram.com/sigbergaudio/ for pictures and also some behind the scenes / build picture, showing internal bracings etc.
Next post: Measurements.
The goal of this post isn't (just) to advertise for the subwoofers, but to share a bit about the thinking behind it and and be as open as possible about the process, hopefully it's interesting to some. I have product management / development background, and wanted to use startup / Lean / Agile principles when launching this, so everything has been done at a very small scale and quite quickly. I opted for "standard" but high quality components, but are looking into custom drivers etc now.
So what so special about this product?
I know a lot of you are all about massive subwoofers and maximum SPL, this is not what this product is about. The design goal was to build a subwoofer that could easily blend into modern interiors (as in high WAF / not having to sneak it past your significant other) while providing accurate sound reproduction and realistic sound pressure (defined as 105db peak at listening position) in a normal living room. This resulted in a subwoofer with an unusual form factor (very shallow enclosure), and support for wall mounting. As it sits very low on the floor it doesn't take up much visual space, and could even be hidden below couches or other furniture. The included damping feet uses an M8 mount, which means you could theoretically replace them with furniture feet and pretend it's a coffee table. It could also be wall mounted anywhere you please, either hidden behind something or visible. There are two versions, almost identical in size, but differes in drivers and amp. I chose high quality components (Hypex and Scan-Speak), and the cabinet was designed and prototyped over several months based on driver parameters, measurements (both response and vibration tests) as well as tight collaboration with one of the best cabinet builders in Norway, who have built hundreds of custom subwoofers and loudspeakers including horns, typically massive stuff for custom home theaters. It resulted in the following two models:
INKOGNITO 12:
- 12" scan-speak driver (down-firing / towards wall)
- Hypex FA501 (500W rms)
- Sealed enclosure
- 650x540x170mm (+30mm for feet/wall mount)
- ground plane: 23-160hz
- typical in-room: 18-160hz
- 10" scan-speak driver (down-firing / towards wall)
- Hypex FA251 (250W rms)
- Sealed enclosure
- 650x540x155mm (+30mm for feet/wall mount)
- ground plane: 25-160hz
- typical in-room: 20-160hz
They are currently available in satin white and satin black. The cabinets will be built in England by a company with loudspeaker and subwoofer cabinets for B&W, KEF, REL and Meridian (among others) under the belt, while the final assembly and testing is done in Norway.
Other design considerations:
I spent the majority of listening tests using music, as accurate reproduction of music is very important to me. Not surprisingly, this means it also works well for movies, within it's SPL capabilities of course. It has three DSP settings, one that goes deep, one with somewhat less low end lift, and also more aggressive high pass filter, which will allow you to play ~3dB louder without significant distortion. The subwoofers also have active limiters which means you don't have to worry about the drivers crashing and burning. In practice it's almost impossible to bottom out any of the subwoofers in a normal living room situation with music, but movies with lots of low end content will of course challenge the low end capability when played very loud. The assumption was that most customers in the market for something like this rarely played at extremely loud levels, and would value accurate sound and the ability to have a subwoofer that blends in visually over maximum SPL.
Room coupling
A I guess not scientifically proved idea is that having the driver facing close to a wall or floor will reduce the room node problems for that specific plane. I don't have any other proof for this than measurements and listening tests and anecdotal evidence from testers (see below). But my impression is that the fact that both the driver is very close to the floor/wall, and the entire enclosure also is very shallow, somehow reduce issues with room nodes. I get less room interaction with this subwoofer than a regular sealed subwoofer at the same position. It also works very well half way up the wall (even less nodes triggered).
Customer feedback
I've been running a test pilot program for a few months now where people could borrow a subwoofer (or even two) for free, in return for giving me feedback on the product. The general feedback is that they sound very accurate and precise with very good low end extension. A very consistent feedback is also that they integrate very well and easily with the main speakers, feeling like a natural extension of the speakers. Just the other day the 12" subwoofer was tested in a Norwegian hifi magazine receiving 5/5 stars, again commenting specifically on ease of integration. Conclusion: "The sound of Sigberg Audio Inkognito 12 is deep, powerful and impressively controlled - and it's never been easier to integrate a subwoofer with your main speakers." - Scandinavias largest hifi magazine currently has a subwoofer for testing as well, due out in September.
Check out https://www.instagram.com/sigbergaudio/ for pictures and also some behind the scenes / build picture, showing internal bracings etc.
Next post: Measurements.
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Based on our testing there are no negative effects.
