Sigberg Audio Manta (12" wideband cardioid active speakers) development thread

[sigbergaudio]

Preproduction enclosures have arrived, a few quick shots straight off the pallet - not even dusted off and it's the wrong stand, but here they are anyway! Loving the look! The pictures doesn't really portray the grille properly, but with that on it looks even more retro, suddenly felt like I was in the 60s or 70s.

 

[Honken]

Very cool, have you considered showing them next doors over here in Sweden? I'd love to have a listen to them now that they are getting close to the final product!

 

[sigbergaudio]

Very cool, have you considered showing them next doors over here in Sweden? I'd love to have a listen to them now that they are getting close to the final product!

Likely not in 2023, I've even just cancelled one of two shows here in Norway. Pretty busy both with the Manta and another product (nothing official on that yet), so I suspect 2023 will be somewhat of a sleeper year with regards to hifi shows and stuff. But if you don't live too far from Oslo and happen to be close by, we've got permanent show room / listening rooms with both the Mantas and the SBS.1 speakers. In that case feel free to reach out!

But I do of course agree that we should show them in Sweden as well. Are you familiar with the different Swedish hifi shows / venues, which would you recommend that we present at?

 

[Honken]

Likely not in 2023, I've even just cancelled one of two shows here in Norway. Pretty busy both with the Manta and another product (nothing official on that yet), so I suspect 2023 will be somewhat of a sleeper year with regards to hifi shows and stuff. But if you don't live too far from Oslo and happen to be close by, we've got permanent show room / listening rooms with both the Mantas and the SBS.1 speakers. In that case feel free to reach out!

But I do of course agree that we should show them in Sweden as well. Are you familiar with the different Swedish hifi shows / venues, which would you recommend that we present at?

Understandable, but who knows - I've never been to Oslo in the summer.

I know that the DIY/enthuseast scene is quite alive and well but I haven't had much luck with the vendor sponsored events - rather typical HiFi snobbishness there in my experience.

I've spoken quite a bit with @DanielT about local enthuseast shows along the west coast here - in other words, not far from Oslo. But naturally they have less attendees than the regular HiFi shows.

 

[DanielT]

Understandable, but who knows - I've never been to Oslo in the summer.

I know that the DIY/enthuseast scene is quite alive and well but I haven't had much luck with the vendor sponsored events - rather typical HiFi snobbishness there in my experience.

I've spoken quite a bit with @DanielT about local enthuseast shows along the west coast here - in other words, not far from Oslo. But naturally they have less attendees than the regular HiFi shows.

Glad you said DIY/enthuseast. For fun tinkering - enthuseast, as I see it. With that said, the question is whether the stuff was/is good? Well, some solutions, DIY speakers for example have been really good. You have to take it for what it is and the skill level, the ambition level, all the levels you can think of vary.
It is mostly a gathering to socialize and have a good time.

From a purely commercial, marketing point of view, I don't think Sigbergaudio has much to gain. But on the other hand, just to talk about sound and HiFi, so why not.

A pair of speakers has been in and of themselves world class and another pair of speakers that may be considered "High End". They are seen here:

Hifi Vintage DIY fair with pictures

I visited this fair yesterday! DIY & Vintage meeting in Mölnlycke Here is a short report. When: 6 November 2021 Where: Country: Sweden City: Gothenburg I took pictures myself BUT most were so damn blurred so I borrow pictures from this thread, taken by other participants. Pictures taken from...

audiosciencereview.com

Next meeting April 1, 2023, in Gothenburg.

Edit:
A translation of:
"The last enthusiasts(De sista entusiasterna)

In the middle of roses and chlorophyll, in life's disciplined garden soil
We stand up with a tumultuous jump like the weed blasters
We are probably the last enthusiasts
Because if you gave in to the grief, no balloon was lifted with the basket
And no seagull was allowed to fly high above the masts
We are probably the last enthusiasts

Enthusiasts hit their heads in the poles (Well hey you!)
There is a mocking laugh from the prophet of woe ( ha ha ha)
A twist, a jerk and up the corks fly!
We want the last spasm, should be a spasm of enthusiasm."

 

[sigbergaudio]

Assembly of the new Mantas has started, and i can just FEEL that this is going to be awesome!

Thank you to everyone who has followed this thread so far, and Merry Christmas to everyone! Updates will follow as soon as the new Mantas are assembled, and a trip to the anechoic chamber at Seas has also been scheduled for early February. Who said High-end had to be boring?

 

[sigbergaudio]

One speaker assembled and measurements and testing will commence. Photos taken during assembly and early testing, so apologies for fingerprints and dust. Objectively it still looks awesome.

Fun detail: The ports in the baffle now have the same depth as the ones on the side. For those who noticed, in the previous version the holes in the baffle were quite deep due to the double baffle thickness. On this version the baffle is still double in the lower chamber (for the 12" driver), but not on the upper. Result: Ports now look exactly the same both on the side and on the baffle.

 

[Rednaxela]

Love the grille!

 

[sigbergaudio]

Just a quick mood picture from a listening session with the new preproduction units

 

[ryanosaur]

Just a quick mood picture from a listening session with the new preproduction units

View attachment 254023

So when should I expect my test pair, please?

 

[bogart]

Just a quick mood picture from a listening session with the new preproduction units

View attachment 254023

Holy smokes you aren’t kidding about the scale of them compared to their little siblings! These scream rock and roll at high SPL!

 

[sigbergaudio]

Holy smokes you aren’t kidding about the scale of them compared to their little siblings! These scream rock and roll at high SPL!

Yes, they are WAY bigger. Interestingly(?) the design is intentionally loud not just to bring attention to themselves, but to the brand in general. Because even though their siblings are significantly smaller, the SBS.1 can rock and roll like crazy too. So the intention is for people to go "Okay if the Mantas can look like this and sound like that, perhaps I should check out the SBS.1 as well". Let's see if it works.

The Mantas are roughly the same size as the JBL L-100, but again similar to the SBS.1, that doesn't really tell the full story about their capabilities and capacity, since the 12" driver you're looking at is a pro midbass driver rated at 1000W and 96dB sensitivity, with -3dB point of ~90hz. So if the SBS.1 is loud, the Manta is L O U D.


Related, this is our frontpage at the moment:

 

[Purité Audio]

The Mantas look and I am sure sound superb.
Congratulations.
Keith

 

[sigbergaudio]

Thank you @Purité Audio !

Yes I'm into early listening sessions on the newest iteration of the cabinets now and it sure does sound pretty awesome! An average of the left+right channel in-room at the listening position is interesting as well, notice how there's no obvious SBIR-effects or dips in the 100-300hz area where one typically sees those. A combination of a slight emphasis on the midbass and the cardioid effect makes the in-room slope pretty darn even - and mostly within +/-3dB. Your mileage will obviously vary depending on your room as well.

 

[sigbergaudio]

Quick update:

We expect to start accepting pre-orders in March. Those who purchase during the pre-order period, and with that becoming among the world's first owners of these amazing speakers, are expected to receive their Mantas in August at the latest!

 

[sigbergaudio]

Some updated / confirmed physical specifications as well:

• The speakers are 36x60x35cm / 14x23.5x13.8 inches
• Weight per speaker: 24kg / 53lbs. Estimated total shipping weight with included stands (custom, one piece black steel stands): 60kg / 132lbs.
• Total height on the stands will be 107cm / 42 inches - with the tweeter at 96cm / 37,8 inches.

 

[sigbergaudio]

Did sound pressure testing with CTA-2034 pink noise today.

So the Manta specs are now updated with Maximum SPL of 122dB@1m (per speaker).

 

[sigbergaudio]

One step closer to opening the presales, product photos are now up on the website.

See the rest here: https://www.sigbergaudio.no/no/products/sigberg-audio-manta-1-active-speakers

 

[D!sco]

I may have missed it, but I'm curious about the coaxial enclosure. Is it just mounted to the front baffle, or does it have it's own box-in-box like most three-ways? I love the little wooden base, btw. It's a nice "vintage" touch.

 

[sigbergaudio]

I may have missed it, but I'm curious about the coaxial enclosure. Is it just mounted to the front baffle, or does it have it's own box-in-box like most three-ways? I love the little wooden base, btw. It's a nice "vintage" touch.

There are two individual internal chambers (both cardioid loaded), created by a divider inside the cabinet between the two drivers. So not exactly a box-in-box. Remember that this is active too, so there's a separate chamber for the amp in the back as well, so it's not as deep as it looks.

The dual cardioid is what makes it a bit special, it's both unusually wide band (it's significantly more attentuated above 600hz than both Kii and Dutch for instance), and also very efficient (practially no power loss from the cardioid loading).

Just came back from Seas and their Klippel earlier today actually, will share some updated data on the cardioid effect soon.