Birth of New Speakers Serenata Audio Violoncello

[denom]

Something that I was keen to be part of for a very long time, from the genesis of the design & then on being privy to its creation & finally it getting the proverbial kiss of life!

Behold the latest creation from Serenata Audio, the Violoncello !

Excerpts from the Serenata Audio Website
Speakers - Serenata Audio High Sensitivity Speakers

"Violoncello

Our flagship speaker, the Violoncello is a full fledged ultra high end back loaded horn using the 6.5 in Fostex FE168ESigma driver. This is an absolute no compromise custom built speaker. This speaker excels in every genre of music; offering the musicality and the timbral purity thats necessary for the emotional connect with intimate genres of music like Jazz, Classical - Chamber Music or Country Music; to the scale, dynamics and sheer energy demanded by Symphony Orchestral or Heavy Metal Recordings."

PS: Now that the pics are up, let me be very forthright by saying that this thread is going to be a long one that will be kept updated as time goes by, with updates & progress made with various elements being introduced into the picture as & when they take place. So, I hope FM's won't mind the thread to continue for a while


Associated gears that were part of the chain
Serenata Audio Violoncello Speakers
Lyrita Audio 2A3 Integrated Amp
Pro Audio CDP
Custom ICs & Cat5 Speaker cables (Serenata Audio)

Extensive Listing of Music Heard:

Jagjit Singh - The Unforgettables
Baat Niklegi - Jagjit Singh - YouTube

Zakhir Hussain - Making Music
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Making_Music_(Zakir_Hussain_album).
Tracks 1,2,3 & 4

Eva Cassidy - Wonderful World
Eva Cassidy - What a Wonderful World - YouTube

Rockstar OST
Kun Faya Kun Full Video Song Rockstar | Ranbir kapoor - YouTube

"Jo Bhi Main" Full Song - Rockstar Feat. Ranbir Kapoor, Nargis Fakhri - Ar Rehman Music (Video) - YouTube

Nana Mouskouri - Collection
Amazon.com: Collection: Music

Nana Mouskouri - "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" (1969) - YouTube

Love Changes Everything - Nana Mouskouri - YouTube

Nana Mouskouri - "Seasons in the Sun" (1974) - YouTube

Vivaldi - 4 seasons
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons; Concertos RV 580 & RV 551 - Salvatore Accardo | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic

Dire Straits - Love over Gold
Amazon.com: Love Over Gold: Music

Dire Straits - Telegraph Road [COMPLETE STUDIO VERSION] - YouTube

Olga Kouklaki - I U Need
OLGA KOUKLAKI - Antivirus (OFFICIAL VIDEO) - YouTube

OLGA KOUKLAKI - I U Need (OFFICIAL VIDEO) - YouTube

Ozzy Osbourne - The Essential Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne - Goodbye to Romance - YouTube

Ozzy Osbourne - I Just Want You - YouTube

Miracle Man - Ozzy Osbourne - YouTube

Suzanne Vega - Greatest Hits
suzanne vega tom's diner - YouTube

The Essetntial Stevie Ray Vaughn & Double Trouble
Stevie Ray Vaughan - Little Wing - YouTube

Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone
Yo-Yo Ma plays Ennio Morricone # The Good, The Bad and The Ugly - Ecstasy of Gold - YouTube

Rain Coat OST
Ost: Raincoat: Amazon.co.uk: Music
Piya tora kaisa abhimaan - YouTube

Ustad Alla Rakha* With Zakir Hussain & Fazal Quraishi* ? A Gift To Ustad Alla Rakha 75th Birthday
http://www.discogs.com/Ustad-Alla-R...stad-Alla-Rakha-75th-Birthday/release/2797664

Allah Rakha, Zakir Hussain, Fazal Qureshi -Teen Taal Trio (Part 2) - YouTube

Don williams - Best Of
DON WILLIAMS-I'M JUST A COUNTRY BOY - YouTube

Essential Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen: Lover Lover Lover (Live 1974) - YouTube

Chelsea Hotel No. 2 - Leonard Cohen - Singing - YouTube

Ry Cooder & V.M. Bhatt - Meeting by the river
Ry Cooder & V.M. Bhatt - Longing (A Meeting By The River) - YouTube

Quite a lot eh??? :licklips::yahoo::clapping:

Enough for tonight, will follow up in next post detailing the speaker description both appearance & sound wise.
Some more time to put thoughts required together, so request all to be patient for the description

 

[ghatgepatil]

This design .... ? Great!
Fostex fe168e sigma back loaded horn loudspeaker

 

[denom]

This design .... ? Great!
Fostex fe168e sigma back loaded horn loudspeaker

Yes, but its has been optimised quite a bit, so in essence the shell looks similar but its not identical

 

[ghatgepatil]

This 'zebrano' veneer finish looks the best and not 'one of the best'! Awaiting your detailed views.

 

[clickdiyto]

This 'zebrano' veneer finish looks the best and not 'one of the best'! Awaiting your detailed views.

 

[GeorgeO]

Looks good, and should sound good too. BLH systems here and loved the sound.

 

[vinehs]

Congrats ! on your achievement...
:clapping:

 

[captrajesh]

Behold the latest creation from Serenata Audio, the Violoncello !

Congratulations to the company and thank you Denom for bringing it to our notice. Hope they have a dealer in Chennai where Chennaites can go for an audition.

I can see a tinge of rust on the speaker grill. Care should be taken that not only the sound but also the fit and finish is top notch.

BTW, hope the grills can be removed during auditioning.

 

[heliumflight]

Denom your music system is a treat to the eyes.

 

[captrajesh]

Denom your music system is a treat to the eyes.

Uh oh, is that Denom's system? Sorry to have missed it as I skimmed through the longish post since I logged in before starting for work.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

WOT, NEW SPEAKERS?

Genelecs for sale? :lol:

...No of course not, but no harm in asking, eh?

Congratulations on this new project. Looks like it is going to sound good.

That is a very splendid piece of furniture too. Very splendid.

 

[ghatgepatil]

WOT, NEW SPEAKERS?

Genelecs for sale? :lol:

...No of course not, but no harm in asking, eh?

Congratulations on this new project. Looks like it is going to sound good.

That is a very splendid piece of furniture too. Very splendid.

Guys, it seems you all got it wrong here. Denom has auditioned this speaker, which has been made by someone else. Check the website.

That furniture looks to be of Anglo-Indian style quite commonly seen in Calcutta areas.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Ahh... Confusion rains (or reigns!).

denom has auditioned some very interesting boxes of late. It is a little hard to keep track of what is resident.

 

[heliumflight]

Yes, he is on the road of becoming a professional HiFi reviewer.

 

[SerenataAudio]

Congratulations to the company and thank you Denom for bringing it to our notice. Hope they have a dealer in Chennai where Chennaites can go for an audition.

I can see a tinge of rust on the speaker grill. Care should be taken that not only the sound but also the fit and finish is top notch.

BTW, hope the grills can be removed during auditioning.

Thanks for the feedback. I truly appreciate it.

The grille is removable. Its a 2 piece grille, wherein a ring is mounted on the enclosure and the top layer of the grille could be fastened using a push mechanism.

The brown tinge that is visible is not rust but most likely a reflection of the veneer or probably a hue created due to the lighting in the room. The grille is of an extremely high quality that I import from Madisound in US along will all components that goes into the speaker including binding posts, internal wiring cables, silver solder (WBT) and the screws and T nuts.

It was a matter of personal choice that for the prototype I decided to use traditional french polish technique using shellac and tree sap based lacquer for the complete speaker, both inside and outside exactly the way a luthier would build a stringed instrument. I avoided a PU or Melamine spray polish on purpose. Tone woods and void free architect ply has been used for construction of the cabinet using traditional joinery techniques.

 

[denom]

This 'zebrano' veneer finish looks the best and not 'one of the best'! Awaiting your detailed views.

Working on it right now, should be ready for posting soon

This 'zebrano' veneer finish looks the best and not 'one of the best'! Awaiting your detailed views.

Working on it right now, should be ready for posting soon

Copy pasting answer just like you did with FM ghatgepatils

Congrats ! on your achievement...
:clapping:

Actually Serenata Audio's Hardwork !

Congratulations to the company and thank you Denom for bringing it to our notice. Hope they have a dealer in Chennai where Chennaites can go for an audition.

I can see a tinge of rust on the speaker grill. Care should be taken that not only the sound but also the fit and finish is top notch.

BTW, hope the grills can be removed during auditioning.

Big Bro, no rust! Lighting playing tricks :lol: You need to come ASAP to Mumbai & have a 'listen'

Denom your music system is a treat to the eyes.

Thanks! It is a treat alrite hyeah:

 

[denom]

WOT, NEW SPEAKERS?

Genelecs for sale? :lol:

...No of course not, but no harm in asking, eh?

Congratulations on this new project. Looks like it is going to sound good.

That is a very splendid piece of furniture too. Very splendid.

:yahoo::lol:hyeah::licklips:

You never know whats gonna happen down the road eh??? Especially our 'roads' hyeah: Wait & watch!

Guys, it seems you all got it wrong here. Denom has auditioned this speaker, which has been made by someone else. Check the website.

That furniture looks to be of Anglo-Indian style quite commonly seen in Calcutta areas.

Spot on both counts! Thanks for clearing the confusion :clapping:

Ahh... Confusion rains (or reigns!).

denom has auditioned some very interesting boxes of late. It is a little hard to keep track of what is resident.

And plenty more to happen down the 'road'

Yes, he is on the road of becoming a
professional HiFi reviewer.

Looking forward to the long, hard winding road ahead,
Thanks for the good wishes, appreciate it :thumbsup:

 

[denom]

Continuing from where I left off in the 1st post of this thread, let me get to the Appearance & Sound of the Violoncello's:

Appearance:

The first thing that hit me right between the eyes is the size & scale of the Violoncello's
BIG, BAD & UGLY, like HULK!!! Massive flexing of its muscles, looks & weight wise, further aided by the 10" Speaker Grille which makes you look intently at the driver only to realise that a slightly smallish driver, well in comparison to the grilles atleast by way of 6.5" Fostex Sigma Drivers. Serenata audio tried another approach then that of simply using a removable cloth grille frame to cover/protect the drivers & also hide the mouth. It, though is an option which can be left to the prospective buyer, to suit his taste/requirements.
Below the driver is a huge gaping mouth of the horn enclosure that looks like it will swallow small children in whole, without breaking into a sweat :lol: The front aside, the other sides are simply flat surfaces with nice veneer pasted & subsequently polished in the method as described by serenata audio in their post. The fact that they have been very patient in executing the process at every step of the way, be it with the choice of materials used, the best available in the market, the attention to details pertaining to the fit & finish, the mad lengths of going to ensure that each part of the enclosure is made as desired, with patient use of time to allow each part to be ready prior to assembly, so that no rushing of assembly makes the end result look & more importantly sound average. The very fact that the violoncello is made as painstakingly & basing the philosophy behind it to that of a musical instrument shows the passion of serenata audio. 30 odd coats of natural cellulose based polish were applied to ensure the entire surface of the enclosure especially the internals was as smooth as possible, for ensuring no bad influence on the sound output. A lot of effort, which 1 can not actually do justice to without having a look & feel of the violoncello's.

I will request serenata audio to impart more info on the enclosures & add/correct to the above description of mine.

Initial Sound Impressions:

My first contact wrt the sound of the Violoncello's is based on the drivers having been burned in at about 5 hours prior to my arrival for the listening session, which took place at very low volumes & continued in the background whilst I was observing the enclosures from all sides/angles. Post my queries & general chitchat, the actual listening at moderate to little high volumes commenced & based on the subsequent period of time that went by am penning my initial thoughts of what the violoncello's do sound wise.

1st thing to hit me was the huge throw & sound staging followed by uninhibited openness of the sound. Next are the grand scale of dynamics & speed. Its all quite a bit to grasp at first, so many surprises, surprises that I like. All this without paying any special attention to their positioning & such.

The appearance & sound are big, burly & forward. 1 word to describe it would be 'Masculine'. 1 more word - 'Imposing'.

Well atleast thats what I thought initially as the tracks kept playing 1 after the other. Then came some tracks with female vocals & whoa, am blown away for the second time. All the masculinity has disappeared & now female vocals sound well like a females! Feminine, delicate, elegant, subtle, poise are just some of the words I can use to describe the sound here. Little nuances, transitions, finer details, 'harkatey' & modulation are now revealed & that too quite clearly. Expressions are well emoted, delicately at times & firmly when the situation demands. The music genre now gets little heavier & now you can feel the liveliness of the speakers, the energy radiated from them, right in front of you.

The violoncello's clearly exhibit a Jekyl & Hyde character, split personality that takes you back in a pleasant manner, no doubt about it.

As the hours go by, the burn-in effect is taking place, no doubt about it. Mine & that of the speakers hyeah:

Post 3 & 1/2 hours, I am now completely 'zoned-in' with the violoncello's. My mind is focusing on every thing they are doing, making me look at things more minutely, revealing certain details in tracks that I've heard plenty of times, some shocking revelations follow one after the other
Case in point, Ozzy Osbourne is able to emote some rather 'unknown' emotions through his songs, never heard him like that, ever!

Another instance is that of Stevie Ray Vaugh's rendition of the Jimi Hendrix Track - 'Little Wing', we were lost in a comfort zone through the entirety of the track, just mesmerized! :clapping:

I think thats bout all that I can & should write at the moment, in anticipation of listening to the violoncello's post more driver burn in, eagerly wanting to be taken to another level, to listen to more variety of music, some more experiments to conduct, lots to do actually & being impatient to do so!

Like I said in my 1st post, this is going to be a looong thread with postings from my side as 'things' happen & time goes by.....

 

[denom]

Second Visit:

Speaker Burn-in Hours @ 16 hrs prior to current listening session:

Session Duration: 5 Hours, so speakers at 21 hours burn-in at the moment.

Music Heard:

Yo-Yo Ma - Appassionato
Amazon.com: Appassionato: Yo-Yo Ma: Music

Tracks 4 & 8

Yo-Yo Ma & The Silk Route Ensemble - New Impossibilities

Amazon.com: New Impossibilities: Music

Track 7

Zakir Hussain - Rhythm Experience

Amazon.com: Rhythm Experience: Music

Track 8

The Essential Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble

Amazon.com: The Essential Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble: Music
CD2
Track 6

James Last - Universal Masters Collections

Amazon.com: Universal Masters Collections: Music

Tracks 6 & 7

Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow

Amazon.com: Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]: Music

Tracks 4, 5 & 6

Led Zeppelin IV (aka ZOSO)

Amazon.com: Led Zeppelin IV (aka ZOSO): Music

Tracks 1, 4 & 8

Jim Reeves - Welcome to My World: Best of

Amazon.com: Welcome to My World: Best of: Music

https://itunes.apple.com/dk/album/welcome-to-my-world-best-jim/id338223453

Tracks 1, 2 & 3

Emmylou Harris - Anthology

Amazon.com: HARRIS, EMMYLOU - ANTHOLOGY (2CD): EMMYLOU HARRIS: Music

Anthology (2CD) - Album - Harris Emmylou - Music - CDON.COM

Disc 1
Track 9

Guns N' Roses - Uee Your Illusions II

Amazon.com: Use Your Illusion 2: Music

Tracks 3, 9, 11 & 13

Niladri Kumar - Sitar Gaze

http://www.discogs.com/Niladri-Kumar-Sitar-Gaze/release/3536149

Tracks 1, 2, 5 & 7

Salil Bhatt & Pt. VishwaMohan Bhatt - Strings of Freedom

Indian Classical Instrumental Music| Raga Ahir Bhairav (On Mohan Veena) by Pt. Vishwamohan Bhatt - YouTube

Kraftwerk - The Mix

Amazon.com: The Mix: Music

Tracks 1, 2 & 5


The Objective:

1) Listen to speakers minus the grilles
2) More Varied Music Genres

Some pics without the grilles:

Beauty & the Beast

Rear View of Enclosure

 

[denom]

Listening Observations During 2nd Visit:

Will give my observations based on the music heard, in order as stated in the above post.

First album heard of Yo-Yo Ma.
The objective here was to try to differentiate 2 distinctive sounds of 2 Cello's
A) Davidov Stradivarius Cello
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davidov_Stradivarius
B) Domenico Montagnana Cello
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domenico_Montagnana

Mission Accomplished

Found A to be light & delicate in tonality whilst B was deep & strong in tonality. Hope the differentiation of a novice is somewhat correct

The next Yo-Yo Ma album was about the dynamics portrayed through the track played. A track combining chinese folk & western classical music. About a tale rendered having various emotions covered through the music. Never heard this track before so the whole experience was new to me. Could feel the size of the story narrated but sometimes felt what if a higher wattage amp was paired to the speakers??? How would the sound stage change? Something to experiment in the next session

Now Onto Zakhir Hussain album, played to look for attack & resolution. Never heard this album before so again new to me. Enjoyed what I was hearing & found high resolution & attack in spades.

Next is the song that I was thoroughly engrossed in last time I heard it. Stevie Ray sounded as good as I heard him last time, but with addition of finer nuances in attack & micro/macro details.

Listened to No Doubt's killer album & was completely taken back by the bass definition & quality. Groovy bass guitar & live feel especially keeping the measly 2.5 watts amplification in mind! Repeated 2 songs, as was enjoying the music.

James Last renditions of 2 classic tracks were thoroughly enjoyable with delicacy of instrumentation highlighted.

Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow is one of my fav albums. What I loved was the emotion rendered by Ronnie James Dio's(R.I.P) Vocals. WOW !!!! A side note here is that this album has rather poor production values, which were highlighted alright

Onto Led Zeppelin's IV album. A remastered one which quite frankly sounded quite lifeless & not enjoyable, wonder why?

Jim Reeves mellow baritone voice & accompanying velvet orchestration sounded great, with clear identification of tracks recorded using 2A3 & 300B tube amps. Yes, its quite easy to know the difference if you've experienced both of the tube amps.

Onto Emmylou Harris, nice but not my cup of music so just a brief listen of her vocals, which I found very different, but then am not a fan of her so lets move on...

Guns N' Roses sounded brilliant. Axl's screechy vocals getting space, Slash's Guitars & the rest of the instruments well defined & all in harmony. Lovely drum texture & weight of the piano keys when struck hard, all clearly heard & felt.

Now, onto indian string music mode with Niladri Kumar, followed by Pt. VishwaMohan Bhatt & Salil Bhatt. Lovely tonality of the Sitar, Zitar + Mohan Veena & Satvik Veena's, delicacy & attack throughout the passages of this lovely, soothing & invigorating music. Loved it.

A final surprise of Kraftwerk, prior to ending the session. Again, the Speakers surprise me with the electronica genre meisters (Kraftwerk) music sounding peppy, energetic & a downright club atmosphere.

Another enthralling & funfilled session over. Till the next one begins

Adious!