Sigberg Audio Saranna (fullrange, cardioid active floorstander) development thread

[sigbergaudio]

Saranna is now in my living room, where I usually have SBS.1 and Inkognito. There's almost a bigger difference between SBS and Manta/Saranna up here in the living room compared to my dedicated listenign room, since the acoustics are worse here.

The sound in general, and the vocals especially, are noticeably clearer and "different" than SBS in this space. As soon as you turn the volume up a bit, you can hear that there's something special about the presentation. In terms of tonality, I'm currently using the preset that gives me a +2dB tilt in the bass, since I usually listen at a more moderate level here, and it works well.

I haven't applied any EQ yet, and I don’t really experience any major issues with the bass or anything wrong with the tonality. But as mentioned, I'm playing at a moderate level and will take some measurements later.

I don’t think many people would be dissatisfied with this sound in their living room.

 

[sigbergaudio]

I don't remember if I shared THD measurements of the Saranna? This is not the most current prototype, but likely representative. This is @96dB.

Pretty reasonable I'd say. Not sure exactly what's going on at 1.5khz since this is a couple of prototypes back (still barely above 1% though), otherwise it's below 0.5dB in most of the spectrum. Also in the bass, still not crossing 1% at 60hz.

Not sure why the measurement hasn't recorded THD below 60hz, will look at that the next time I'm at Seas.

 

[Matt_Holland]

I don't remember if I shared THD measurements of the Saranna? This is a couple of prototypes back, but likely representative. This is @96dB.

Pretty reasonable I'd say. Not sure exactly what's going on at 1.5khz since this is a couple of prototypes back (still barely above 1% though), otherwise it's below 0.5dB in most of the spectrum. Also in the bass, still not crossing 1% at 60hz.

Not sure why the measurement hasn't recorded THD below 60hz, will look at that the next time I'm at Seas.


View attachment 397649

Impressive!
What do you think is going on at and above 10KHz?

 

[sigbergaudio]

Impressive!
What do you think is going on at and above 10KHz?

Not sure exactly, some kind of issue inherent to the driver probably. It is almost exclusively 2nd harmonic in nature, and varies a bit by angle.

But except a couple of spikes we're still under 2% at 96dB. That is extremely unlikely to be audible above 10khz, given the fact that if we're playing 10khz at 96dB, most of the energy in the lower end of the spectrum will be way louder.

 

[Matt_Holland]

Not sure exactly, some kind of issue inherent to the driver probably. It is almost exclusively 2nd harmonic in nature, and varies a bit by angle.

But except a couple of spikes we're still under 2% at 96dB. That is extremely unlikely to be audible above 10khz, given the fact that if we're playing 10khz at 96dB, most of the energy in the lower end of the spectrum will be way louder.

Yes it’s all rather academic when you put it into context.
I wondered if the 10KHz spike is related to the side wall slots?
I really like this design though and although I haven’t read every page of the thread, I’ve enjoyed following the development and appreciate the effort you’ve made to take us all in the journey.

 

[sigbergaudio]

Yes it’s all rather academic when you put it into context.
I wondered if the 10KHz spike is related to the side wall slots?
I really like this design though and although I haven’t read every page of the thread, I’ve enjoyed following the development and appreciate the effort you’ve made to take us all in the journey.

Hm, I don't believe so, but I do see that the Manta actually have something similar (although lower in level, there it's at 1-1.5% even at the peaks).

Thank you, it is fun to share as well!

 

[sigbergaudio]

 

[Matt_Holland]

View attachment 397891

Why the large grille? I think a round one that just covers the coax would look much better.

 

[Purité Audio]

Or square?

 

[sigbergaudio]

Or square?

Small square does not look good, tested that.

 

[sigbergaudio]

Why the large grille? I think a round one that just covers the coax would look much better.

Yes, that is a matter of taste. I like this look better. If you are going to cover it up, it might as well look more traditional. Hopefully most will leave it off.

 

[Matt_Holland]

Yes, that is a matter of taste. I like this look better. If you are going to cover it up, it might as well look more traditional. Hopefully most will leave it off.

The single coax driver on a baffle is a strong design feature and I think a round grille would maintain this knowing that some people will want to keep it on.

If you prefer the traditional look have you tried a full length grille? I’m not convinced the 3/4 length has any coherence to the design language. Sorry.

 

[sigbergaudio]

The single coax driver on a baffle is a strong design feature and I think a round grille would maintain this knowing that some people will want to keep it on.

If you prefer the traditional look have you tried a full length grille? I’m not convinced the 3/4 length has any coherence to the design language. Sorry.

It's hard to know how it will look in real life of course. But on the drawing board I've tried small round grille, small square grille, 3/4 length, full length.

 

[Matt_Holland]

It's hard to know how it will look in real life of course. But on the drawing board I've tried small round grille, small square grille, 3/4 length, full length.

View attachment 397893

Ok fair enough that looks more balanced than I thought it would because of the logo at the bottom.

 

[sigbergaudio]

Ok fair enough that looks more balanced than I thought it would because of the logo at the bottom.

Also note that we're still in development. The next step is to create a sample pair, with the finish and grille and all the details as I've envisioned it. If something (for instance the grille) doesn't work practically or visually, it'll be changed before production.

 

[ryanosaur]

Grilles optional.
#just sayin

 

[ryanosaur]

Ok fair enough that looks more balanced than I thought it would because of the logo at the bottom.

But yes... I'd agree that the unnecessarily large 3/4 length grille looks good... or should I say, as I would expect.

 

[sigbergaudio]

It's great to see Norwegian innovation in the audio industry (beyond ourselves of course )! There's a new startup called Egeland Acoustics that has impressed me with a refreshingly scientific approach to isolation feet. Through tests and measurements, we can see that they genuinely provide a significant reduction in transferred energy and vibrations.

That's why I've decided to use custom feet from Egeland Acoustics for Saranna! The reasoning is in part because I like the product, and in part because I think it's cool to help spread the word about another Norwegian audio company. All our products already have soft / decoupling feet, but not nearly as advanced or as precisely tuned as these!

Egeland acoustics offer a range of premade and also custom feet. The website is only in Norwegian still (google translate probably works well enough though), but inquiries can be made directly to [email protected].

In case anyone is wondering, we're not deviating from our focus on a scientific and functional approach. In other words, I’m not going to claim that these feet will make significant changes to the sound coming from the speaker. However, decoupling from the floor is always beneficial - and the Egeland feet also have a great look and feel – which isn’t unimportant in this price range.

Good isolation feet can offer indirect benefits, like in my own living room: Here, the situation involves wooden floors on the second floor, and I have a wooden staircase that can resonate if the floor vibrates too much. This disappears with soft decoupling, thereby reducing the practical distortion at high playback levels.

They have an interesting structure and feel, and flexes both horizontally and vertically when you squeeze it with your hand, but yet are quite firm and stable when used under the speakers. They are designed specifically for the weight put on them by the product, and measurements show how the vibrations are effectively reduced when the proper weight is applied. Here is how they look inside:

Presentation (preliminary) on the Saranna product page:

 

[sigbergaudio]

Subject to change, but choices of finish as per current plan:

 

[napfkuchen]

Maybe you already have, but could you explain why the speaker is tilted backwards? What's the effect on vertical directivity? (Reminds me of Audio physic speakers btw)