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

[sigbergaudio]

He posted tons of photos of the Saranna here as well:

【國外音響展】 2025年挪威奧斯陸音響展實況報導: Norway Oslo HiFi Show 2025 - 第13頁

Index PAGE 02: Entry PAGE 03: Mala Audio - Marten, Esoteric PAGE 04: Mala Audio - Børresen, Aavik, Anzus PAGE 05: Engstrøm - TechDas, AudioNec, Ø Audio PAGE 06: Neby HiFi Concept - Marantz, KEF PAGE 07: Duet Audio - Dynaudio PAGE 08: The Audio Actor - QLN, PrimaLuna, Studer, Nagra...

www.my-hiend.com

 

[Vacceo]

All data aside, I really have to say Mr. Sigberg has created a pair of incredibly classy, elegant and nice looking speakers.

The part I like the most is the fact that they are performance monsters in a very compact size.

 

[sigbergaudio]

All data aside, I really have to say Mr. Sigberg has created a pair of incredibly classy, elegant and nice looking speakers.

The part I like the most is the fact that they are performance monsters in a very compact size.

Thank you! I agree of course. I also think they look way better in real life than in photos (something many visitors at the show also commented). The finish is very high quality, and the shifts between paint and very dark veneer is so subtle you don't necessarily even notice what is going on, it just looks good. The difference between paint and veneer will be larger on the light version of the finish, it will be interesting to see how that is received.

The backwards lean probably also look more severe in photos than what the perception is when seeing them for real. A friend asked if a plant would slide off if it was put on the top, but the tilt isn't anywhere near that hard. Due to the height of the speaker it is emphasized, but in reality it's only 4 degrees.

 

[sigbergaudio]

After both myself, some hangarounds, and a few visitors at the Hifi show this weekened had similar comments along the lines of "Sounds awesome, but they're lacking a smidge in the upper bass / lower mid", I did some measurements today. Based on those, it actually looks like the issue might be as low as the 100–200Hz range, I initially thought it would be higher.

Show tuning is in orange and the new tuning is in green. Heavy smoothing + high-pass at 100Hz to make the difference easier to see. The roll-off towards 100Hz isn’t real — it’s a nearfield measurement at 30cm, so the rear woofers aren’t summing at that distance.

I’ve increased the range around 100–300Hz, but have actually done a bit more than it looks like to achieve that. I’ve adjusted how baffle step is handled and also redistributed energy between the woofers and the coaxial in the 100–200Hz range (giving more to the coax).

The crossover between the coax and woofers has also been lowered from 170Hz and back to 140Hz where it was initially for a good while on the previous prototype. I suspect that is the sweetspot.

 

[sigbergaudio]

On-axis measurement at 1m from my very-well-damped-but-still-not-anechoic measurement corner in the workshop. This is not 100% correct anywhere, but not extremely off either. Probably a few dB gain in the bottom end.

You were saying you'd prefer roll-off before 20hz? Sorry, we don't do that here.

 

[Purité Audio]

Thank you! I agree of course. I also think they look way better in real life than in photos (something many visitors at the show also commented). The finish is very high quality, and the shifts between paint and very dark veneer is so subtle you don't necessarily even notice what is going on, it just looks good. The difference between paint and veneer will be larger on the light version of the finish, it will be interesting to see how that is received.

The backwards lean probably also look more severe in photos than what the perception is when seeing them for real. A friend asked if a plant would slide off if it was put on the top, but the tilt isn't anywhere near that hard. Due to the height of the speaker it is emphasized, but in reality it's only 4 degrees.

A plant on top of speakers!
Keith

 

[sigbergaudio]

The pictures from that Chinese Youtuber does a pretty good job of showing the finish and also the shift between paint and veneer on the sides. Here you also see that while the paint is satin and not gloss, it reflects quite a bit of light and color. From these angles you also see that the tilt isn't really that severe.

(stolen from here: https://www.my-hiend.com/vbb/showthread.php?13441/page13)

 

[Purité Audio]

Leo is a really nice guy, he has been covering hi-fi since the early 2000’s I first saw him at one of my first Munich shows 2006?
He is from HK I believe.
Keith

 

[Vacceo]

Looking at the graphs I have to ask, how deep do they dig on infrasonics? Because 20 Hz flat means there is probably a noticeable in room response probably down to 10hz.

And that leads me to wonder how would two Saranas and five SBS.1 work on a multichannel setup. If you can do something like that for tests, Mr. Sigberg, I'd love to see pics and graphs.

 

[sigbergaudio]

Looking at the graphs I have to ask, how deep do they dig on infrasonics? Because 20 Hz flat means there is probably a noticeable in room response probably down to 10hz.

And that leads me to wonder how would two Saranas and five SBS.1 work on a multichannel setup. If you can do something like that for tests, Mr. Sigberg, I'd love to see pics and graphs.

That would probably be a pretty powerful multichannel setup, but if you were to do that I'd probably add some subs as well.

Here's down to 10hz, the -3dB point at around 15hz it seems. -10dB at 11hz in this measurement. Depends on placement and room gain what you'd actually see at the listening position.

 

[sigbergaudio]

Here are just the bass drivers measured from the rear in a more of a nearfield situation, 50cm distance perhaps. Some room interaction here, that's why it's not perfectly smooth.

If we call reference around 75dB, it's -3dB at 17hz, -6dB at 13hz, -10dB at 11.5hz.

 

[slaweks]

Is Saranna "more cardioid" than D&D 8c? I use BACCH, and would like to limit back and side reflections.

 

[sigbergaudio]

Is Saranna "more cardioid" than D&D 8c? I use BACCH, and would like to limit back and side reflections.

No, it is likely the other way around. The Saranna has some attentuation to the side and rear, but not as extreme as the MANTA, and also not as extreme as the D&D.

 

[Vacceo]

That would probably be a pretty powerful multichannel setup, but if you were to do that I'd probably add some subs as well.

Here's down to 10hz, the -3dB point at around 15hz it seems. -10dB at 11hz in this measurement. Depends on placement and room gain what you'd actually see at the listening position.

View attachment 439202

The subwoofer part is a given due to room modes.

Well, with graphs published; those are, no doubt output beasts. The start of Edge of Tomorrow should sound absolutely bonkers on the Sarannas.

 

[sigbergaudio]

Is Saranna "more cardioid" than D&D 8c? I use BACCH, and would like to limit back and side reflections.

I realized my answer came across as the Saranna barely having cardioid at all, that is of course not the case.

Here's an informal / unofficial measurement of the latest iteration (0 and average of 120-150-180 degrees).

We're at 5dB attentuation already at 100hz, and around 10dB+ attentuation from 130hz and upwards. Some variations and possible measuring inconsistencies along the way makes it hard to know exactly based on this measurement. But the effect in the 150-500hz range is not far from D&D / Manta. Manta has even more further up in frequency, as it is also helped by a wide baffle.

 

[Tell]

That Saranna really sounded nice! And by that it sounded just as it should with nothing bad that stood out. Maybe the bass wasn't 100% optimal but that could very much be the room or just that I didn't know that music you played at all. But all in all I had a nice stay in your room, that cardioid design really made it nice and clear with a good focus.
Had my camera with me and snapped this picture

 

[sigbergaudio]

That Saranna really sounded nice! And by that it sounded just as it should with nothing bad that stood out. Maybe the bass wasn't 100% optimal but that could very much be the room or just that I didn't know that music you played at all. But all in all I had a nice stay in your room, that cardioid design really made it nice and clear with a good focus.
Had my camera with me and snapped this picture
View attachment 439297

Great photo! And thank you for your kind words. The bass response was not linear in the room, but we got it reasonable with a couple of PEQ adjustments, the modes were at exactly 100hz and exactly 30hz if I remember correctly. We didn't dampen them fully to avoid taking the life out of the room entirely, so especially tracks that were hot at 30hz got a bit boomy.

The speakers themselves were also a bit lean between 100-300hz. This has been remedied now. These are still pre-production units that will be tuned further the next couple of months until production starts.

 

[Vacceo]

I forgot to say, I really like the music choice for the speakers ad: Seigmen.

Considering the specs and my previous comments, I thought that demoing these speakers with Red Harvest's Cold, Dark Matter blasting should be quite an experience, but Mr. Sigberg's choice is also quite appropriate.

 

[sigbergaudio]

I forgot to say, I really like the music choice for the speakers ad: Seigmen.

Considering the specs and my previous comments, I thought that demoing these speakers with Red Harvest's Cold, Dark Matter blasting should be quite an experience, but Mr. Sigberg's choice is also quite appropriate.

Thank you. Yes, and it's not only music, live clips of the band are featured in the actual video as well. I've liked this band for a long time, so I was really happy we were able to make that happen.

 

[sigbergaudio]

Hifi Pig has shared their report from the Oslo Hifi show as well.

They have an extremely extensive report covering almost every room, and they write nicely about all of them, so the (obviously subjective) feedback has to be taken with a grain of salt. That being said I talked to Oscar (the guy who wrote it) when he visited our room, and I think he liked what he heard.

https://www.hifipig.com/oslo-hifi-show-2025-report/#more-215227

"This was a product premier room, with the new Saranna speakers being shown for the first time. These are active speakers with an 8” coaxial front firing speaker and 2 x 8” woofers on the back of cabinet, they have 600w of amplification built in and have a frequency response of 25-20,000Hz.

I got to have a listen to a couple of tracks through them and they are a fantastic sounding speaker – the bass extension is controlled and effortless, the clarity is exceptional and with great tonal balance. Symbolico – I’m Free is such a great bass test track and these were astonishingly good with this song. They have both analogue and digital inputs and there is a built-in DSP with 9-band EQ to help tune them to your room, very flexible."