Birth of New Speakers Serenata Audio Violoncello

[asliarun]

Thanks for the review. The speakers look absolutely superb in terms of cabinet design, quality of finish, and even the gorgeous driver. I also love the grill! Clearly, a lot of thought has gone behind this build. By the way, are those tube style binding posts?

Denim, thanks for the review as well. It is especially rare to read reviews of rock and hard rock music on horn style speakers. Most everyone sticks to the audiophile favourites.

One request - can you please update the first post of this thread with your review? That way, it would be easy to access the review straight away instead of having to read the entire thread.

Thanks
Arun

 

[moktan]

Thanks Denom for the great review which as some have already noted has focussed on a very catholic selection of musical genres. I am reading this thread with great interest. I am sure these would compare favourably with some reputed single driver speakers such as the Omegas. Have you by any chance heard the Omegas? 'cause whenever I enquire in other forums people speak quite highly of them.

 

[denom]

Thanks for the review. The speakers look absolutely superb in terms of cabinet design, quality of finish, and even the gorgeous driver. I also love the grill! Clearly, a lot of thought has gone behind this build. By the way, are those tube style binding posts?

Denim, thanks for the review as well. It is especially rare to read reviews of rock and hard rock music on horn style speakers. Most everyone sticks to the audiophile favourites.

One request - can you please update the first post of this thread with your review? That way, it would be easy to access the review straight away instead of having to read the entire thread.

Thanks
Arun

Thanks for appeciating my review, BTW its Denom not Denim
What is tube style binding post???
As for your request, can't do that now, as no access to editing & also its good coz that it can't be done as the thread would be too long! hyeah:

Thanks Denom for the great review which as some have already noted has focussed on a very catholic selection of musical genres. I am reading this thread with great interest. I am sure these would compare favourably with some reputed single driver speakers such as the Omegas. Have you by any chance heard the Omegas? 'cause whenever I enquire in other forums people speak quite highly of them.

:lol: Catholic genre of music or furniture????

Jokes aside, I think have covered almost every genre of music, save a few that I do not relate to
Never heard the Omega's, would love to but no chance of doing so unless someone who has them allows me to come over for a listening session.

 

[moktan]

:lol: Catholic genre of music or furniture????

catholic
/?kaTH(?)lik/
Adjective
(esp. of a person's tastes) Including a wide variety of things; all-embracing.
Synonyms
universal - general

 

[SerenataAudio]

Some photographs taken during the build process of the prototype..

The Back Loaded Horn Enclosures after receiving the final coat of polish.

The enclosure before polishing.

The inner section of the enclosure freshly polished. The side walls of the enclosure are constructed using the principles of constrained layer damping.

 

[jetlag]

Hi Denom
Looks great. Can you share more pics of the internals. Any measurements done to test the sensitivity. The Sigmas are great drivers...looks like you are entering the realms of orgasmic listening

Peace
Jetlag

 

[a.kr.sriv]

Cost Sirji??

 

[SerenataAudio]

The Serenata Audio Violoncello is a single driver back loaded horn speaker using the highly regarded Fostex 168 E Sigma 6.5 inch full range driver. The driver represents a superbly refined piece of engineering and is a classic example of art meets science. The design of the cone and centercap is called hyperbolic paraboloid. The underlying concept is creased paper is more rigid than straight paper. Due to the hyperbolic paraboloid crease geometry; Fostex engineers were able to use an extremely thin and light material (banana pulp) for construction of the driver cone and center cap without compromising on the rigidity. This results in an extremely low moving mass (8.7gm). The low moving mass is driven by a powerful ferrite magnet that gives this driver the lightning fast speed, agility and precise control that ultimately translates into heightened dynamics and precision with tonal textures of vocals and instruments. The surround and spider is formed in a up down roll pattern for accurate control of cone movement.

Lighter cone also means smaller voice coil (30mm); which leads to lower inductance. Light cone, low inductance means high efficiency (94.5db) and greater bandwidth.

However these drivers need reinforcement at the lower frequencies. A high EBP of 188.89; low Qts of 0.26 and a limited Xmax of 1.6mm makes this an ideal driver for Back Loaded Horn enclosures.

The Fostex recommended BLH design was used as a base with some thoughtful and well calculated internal and external modifications. The objective was to construct the speakers without using any electronic filters or compensation circuitry and also bare minimum use of damping materials to preserve the dynamics that's so characteristic of horn speakers. The complete frequency response balancing is achieved through acoustic means.

The cabinet is constructed out of void free hard wood ply, tone woods and plantation certified veneers. The enclosure is hand polished both inside and outside using shellac based lacquer. The natural lacquer is used to achieve a tonal balance as close to musical instruments as possible. Pure wool compressed felt is used as a damping material directly behind the driver.

The internal wiring is done using Supra Cables from Sweden. The binding posts are gold plated. Connections are established using WBT silver solder.

Final optimization of the speaker would be done once the drivers are fully broken in. The horn mouth would be lined using thin felt and pure silk to control residual mid frequency presence if any at the horn mouth.

 

[asliarun]

My apologies, Denom. Android auto correct is to blame.

I have briefly heard omega speakers but the only casually and it was a bass reflex design. Really good sound though even based on my brief experience, especially voices.

I saw the tube connectors on some boutique brand speakers but can't recollect where now.

Again, hats off on this real high quality build.

 

[denom]

catholic
/?kaTH(?)lik/
Adjective
(esp. of a person's tastes) Including a wide variety of things; all-embracing.
Synonyms
universal - general

Thanks for shedding light, I learnt something new. Appreciate it

Hi Denom
Looks great. Can you share more pics of the internals. Any measurements done to test the sensitivity. The Sigmas are great drivers...looks like you are entering the realms of orgasmic listening

Peace
Jetlag

Hi Jagdish, hope Serenata Audio has covered your queries in his post above. Yes, rightly observed about me having entered the realms of orgasmic listening, wish to remain here for quite a while :yahoo:

My apologies, Denom. Android auto correct is to blame.

I have briefly heard omega speakers but the only casually and it was a bass reflex design. Really good sound though even based on my brief experience, especially voices.

I saw the tube connectors on some boutique brand speakers but can't recollect where now.

Again, hats off on this real high quality build.

Thanks Arun, look forward to you locating & sharing info on the tube connectors.

 

[asliarun]

Thanks for shedding light, I learnt something new. Appreciate it



Hi Jagdish, hope Serenata Audio has covered your queries in his post above. Yes, rightly observed about me having entered the realms of orgasmic listening, wish to remain here for quite a while :yahoo:



Thanks Arun, look forward to you locating & sharing info on the tube connectors.

Found it! I was trying to remember Electra tube connectors.
They claim to have better contacts than most other connectors.

Electra Interconnect Cables

 

[denom]

Found it! I was trying to remember Electra tube connectors.
They claim to have better contacts than most other connectors.

Electra Interconnect Cables

Thanks Arun! Had come across such tube connectors probably by the same company, that were provided by Dannie Richie for the NEO Speaker kit which FM surrealstix has put together for himself.

I remember that they felt quite cheap to look at & did not give much pleasure in connecting the banana plugs of the speaker wires, but yes, they are very easy to connect & fuss free!

Maybe serenata audio will decide further upon implementing their use in their next build.

 

[vkalia]

Where are you guys located - in Kolkata (a friendly suggestion - it'd be helpful to list that info on your website )?

 

[denom]

Returning from another listening session of the violoncellos, this time following items were part of the chain:

1) The amp was a Dared VP300B
2) Supra classic 16 awg wire used as speaker wires terminated with WBT banana plugs.

Heard the following music, this time the genre predominantly played was jazz.

Carmen McRae / Black Coffee - YouTube

Ornette Coleman - Law Years - YouTube

Thelonious Monk - Round About Midnight - YouTube

Dave Brubeck - Take Five ( Original Video) - YouTube

The Music Of Brazil - The Girl From Ipanema (Instrumental) - YouTube

JIm Reeves-Streets of Laredo - YouTube

Golden Classics Yesudas Cd 2 songs, download MP3 songs free - Hindi Oldies - Dhingana Music

Rainbow - Man on the Silver Mountain - YouTube

A Meeting by the River tr01 - YouTube

Couple of observations:

# Speakers now post 50 hours burn-in sound pretty balanced & settled.

# 300B amp synergy with the violoncellos is pretty amazing.

The music sounded detailed, focused & very well layered. Lots of finer nuances highlighted, a lot more emotional contact made with the music. The highs were getting rolled off well as being characteristic of the 300B. The mids were really well presented & textured, with no extra emphasis on them, which was good. The lows were much well defined, tight & engaging.
The jazz music played was just fantastic, it gave the impression of us being transported to a live jazz club setting, realistic & very satisfying experience.

The Yeshudas CD played was really poor in production values, yet the vocals were well presented & clear. The fact that the 300B amp was rolling the highs off was a blessing a disguise with this CD as otherwise the music would have gotten shrill & unbearable!

The Rainbow CD sounded the best that I've heard it ever! It sounds pretty lifeless & unenjoyable on most systems that I have heard it on, so was completely surprised by how well it sounded, actually was really happy that finally I heard 1 of my favorite CD's play some of my favorite tunes this well!

In a nut shell, the violoncellos appear to be blank canvasses that paint different pictures with different amps partnering them.

I played some GNR & Priest too albeit very briefly, as it became clear that the 300B was not a good bet for hard rock & metal genres of music & restricted the violoncellos to reproduce the music in the desired manner.

The next session has already been planned, with a DHT Pre & 2A3 Power amps being next on pairing with the violoncellos.

Stay tuned!

 

[arj]

The Serenata Audio Violoncello is a single driver back loaded horn speaker using the highly regarded Fostex 168 E Sigma 6.5 inch full range driver. The driver represents a superbly refined piece of engineering and is a classic example of art meets science. The design of the cone and centercap is called hyperbolic paraboloid. The underlying concept is creased paper is more rigid than straight paper. Due to the hyperbolic paraboloid crease geometry; Fostex engineers were able to use an extremely thin and light material (banana pulp) for construction of the driver cone and center cap without compromising on the rigidity. This results in an extremely low moving mass (8.7gm). The low moving mass is driven by a powerful ferrite magnet that gives this driver the lightning fast speed, agility and precise control that ultimately translates into heightened dynamics and precision with tonal textures of vocals and instruments. The surround and spider is formed in a up down roll pattern for accurate control of cone movement.

Lighter cone also means smaller voice coil (30mm); which leads to lower inductance. Light cone, low inductance means high efficiency (94.5db) and greater bandwidth.

However these drivers need reinforcement at the lower frequencies. A high EBP of 188.89; low Qts of 0.26 and a limited Xmax of 1.6mm makes this an ideal driver for Back Loaded Horn enclosures.

The Fostex recommended BLH design was used as a base with some thoughtful and well calculated internal and external modifications. The objective was to construct the speakers without using any electronic filters or compensation circuitry and also bare minimum use of damping materials to preserve the dynamics that's so characteristic of horn speakers. The complete frequency response balancing is achieved through acoustic means.

The cabinet is constructed out of void free hard wood ply, tone woods and plantation certified veneers. The enclosure is hand polished both inside and outside using shellac based lacquer. The natural lacquer is used to achieve a tonal balance as close to musical instruments as possible. Pure wool compressed felt is used as a damping material directly behind the driver.

The internal wiring is done using Supra Cables from Sweden. The binding posts are gold plated. Connections are established using WBT silver solder.

Final optimization of the speaker would be done once the drivers are fully broken in. The horn mouth would be lined using thin felt and pure silk to control residual mid frequency presence if any at the horn mouth.

beautiful !:clapping: congratulations and wish you success. Which tone woods do you use ?
natural lacquer is a great choice.. so is Supra cable

 

[josephjohnt]

Returning from another listening session of the violoncellos, this time following items were part of the chain:

1) The amp was a Dared VP300B
2) Supra classic 16 awg wire used as speaker wires terminated with WBT banana plugs.


# 300B amp synergy with the violoncellos is pretty amazing.

The music sounded detailed, focused & very well layered. Lots of finer nuances highlighted, a lot more emotional contact made with the music. The highs were getting rolled off well as being characteristic of the 300B. The mids were really well presented & textured, with no extra emphasis on them, which was good. The lows were much well defined, tight & engaging.
The jazz music played was just fantastic, it gave the impression of us being transported to a live jazz club setting, realistic & very satisfying experience.

The next session has already been planned, with a DHT Pre & 2A3 Power amps being next on pairing with the violoncellos.

Stay tuned!

Congratulations, that's a neat looking setup :clapping:

 

[john_k_antony]

Any chance you could try the speakers with Dared VP-845 . Very curious to know how they perform on Rock and Metal front with more muscular and powerful 35w/ch Dared VP 845.

Thanks,
John.

 

[denom]

Any chance you could try the speakers with Dared VP-845 . Very curious to know how they perform on Rock and Metal front with more muscular and powerful 35w/ch Dared VP 845.

Thanks,
John.

Request Byju to grant your wish hyeah:

 

[john_k_antony]

Request Byju to grant your wish hyeah:

Sure . Let me try my luck.

BTW, from your experience, what would you guess the synergy would be?

 

[denom]

Sure . Let me try my luck.

BTW, from your experience, what would you guess the synergy would be?

My gut feel is that it should work, but how well I can only confirm when I actually hear the pairing.