The Manta is a special speaker in many ways. Why did we make it, and what is the reason for its peculiar design? Learn about cardioid, where the name comes from - and most importantly, how did it turn out in the end?
One of the reasons behind building the Manta was attention. Not just attention around Manta itself, but in the form of brand awareness.
When people see our first offering, the SBS.1 speakers, I can understand how some will think "boring bookshelf speaker". This was intentional to an extent, as they were designed to be minimalist. To allow you to put two speakers and a subwoofer in a living room and get big sound without a lot of visual impact. But due to their small size and neutral looks, they're easy to underestimate.
Most don't understand the massive difference in dynamic capability in a 2.5-way speaker designed to play with a subwoofer, as opposed to the traditional 2-way speaker it resembles. They look similar, but it's just a different league alltogether.
As a new manufacturer who builds a somewhat anonymous product, it's easy to be underestimated. That's why the idea came to make a speaker that was "over the top" in more ways than one. Something with very high sound quality, unique solutions, striking design and with a midbass capacity beyond belief.
We obviously hoped a lot of people would purchase the Manta when it was released (and they did!). But we also hoped there would be a trickle down effect. That some people will find that they can't afford the Manta, or want something with a design that is less ..loud. And due to the Manta, the SBS.1 will be harder to pass by or underestimate.
People will no longer look at the SBS.1 and think "boring bookshelf", they will think "Hey, isn't that the manufacturer that makes the Manta? I want to know more!"
I have a great passion for music, and find it immensly satisfying to build great speakers that bring out emotions in others as they listen to their favorite music. It's great to have a name that evokes emotion in people as well. But since we're all different with different experiences, that can be hard. Anyway, the name MANTA at least makes me emotional. And why is that? How did the name come about?
One reference is the Manta ray and how the ports in the upper chamber may resemble the form of a Manta. But the main origin of the name is actually a car, the Opel Manta. How on earth is that connected to anything you may ask? To answer that, we need to go back in time.
My late uncle was the person who originally got me into hifi back in the 80s, as he was a DIY speaker builder. He was also stuck in a wheel chair and suffered from a rare disease that he ultimately lost his life to. Being just a kid back then, I didn't really think about his wheelchair as anything other than objective fact, to me he was just the coolest guy ever. He built his own speakers, and he also had what in the 80s was a super cool car: A neon green Opel Manta.
So the MANTA is a tribute to him and how he got me into all this, now decades ago.
It was an easy and natural choice to follow the basic design principles from the SBS.1, creating an active 4-way design with dedicated midbass and subwoofers taking over at 100hz (read more about designing for subwoofers in the design story about the SBS.1 here). We just supersized everything. Twice the power, twice the capacity. A cabinet that is three times larger. I wanted it to be more powerful and dynamic than almost any other hifi speaker out there. And it is. The target (that we met) was less than 0.5% THD @ 96dB / 1m. The maximum SPL is 122dB@1m per speaker.
The concept of cardioid was also introduced, initially for the midrange only, but during development it was changed to a dual cardioid design, making it cardioid all the way down to where the subwoofers took over.
Finally ports were introduced in the baffle itself, on each side of the coax. They improve the dispersion characteristics from around 800hz and way up in the high frequency area. How? The coax driver "sees" a more narrow baffle, which is now suddenly 185mm as opposed to the real baffle width of 360mm. Diffraction from the edge are spread out in frequency and time, becoming less of an issue.
To cover the important upper bass / lower mid, we selected a stiff, light, high performance and high sensitivity 12" (!) midbass driver.
All of this adds up to a high end, controlled directivity speaker with extreme capacity.
The crossovers of the MANTA are assymetrical 1st order crossovers. This means they are primarily 1st order, ensuring crossovers with perfect frequency response and no phase shift. Further down (or up) in the frequency range, a second, 2nd order crossover is activated to ensure the roll-off is steep enough.
In addition to the natural roll-off due to the cardioid enclosure, there is also an active high pass filter at the low-end to reduce bass output. This limits driver excursion and distortion even when playing extremely loud.
Finally all digital filters are very low Q (typically below 1) to minimize ringing and artifacts, making for a very natural sounding speaker.
It certainly looks different. But it is a result of functional design rather than trying to look weird on purpose. We already mentioned the baffle ports, and the ports on the side is what enables the cardioid dispersion that you can read more about below. Inside, rigid bracing reduce resonance and acoustically resistive dampening assist in making the cardioid work the way it is supposed to.
At the bottom we included the only bit of vanity or "for looks" feature, which is the walnut stripe that also feature the Sigberg Audio logo in silver.
The finish is high quality satin black. Included with the speakers are also black, one piece, stainless steel stands with a 4 degree tilt.The end result is a speaker that looks purposeful, some would even say menacing.
Traditional speakers radiate sound in all directions. This means less energy at the listening position. Severe reflections from the walls leaves you with a distorted and inferior version of the original sound.
The unique enclosure of the MANTA has a cardioid radiation pattern, directing most of the energy towards the listener. The result is better sound even in less than perfect rooms.
The vented midrange chamber reduces reflections from the side walls and the wall behind the speakers. The result is increased clarity and improved soundstage. This is what gives the MANTA its unique vocal performance, and ability to sound clear and tidy even on complex music productions
The MANTA achieves cardioid like performance down to ~80hz, improving the experience of bass pressure and punch in the listening position. The tight and consistent midbass experience is crucial for the rhythmic, dynamic nature of many music genres.
The Manta features a dual cardioid system, where the four octaves from 100hz to 1600hz is covered by two individual cardioid systems and two drivers, instead of one. This means that instead of loosing efficiency, the system is roughly as effective as a traditional sealed system.
As the frequency range of a cardioid system increases, you'll get gradually increasing cancellation towards the front and reduced efficiency. This is avoided by setting up a cardioid system with a more narrow frequency band. Incidentally this merges well with our philosophy of having a dedicated driver in the important midbass range.
As far as I know there is no other dual cardioid speaker out there, so this is a pretty unique approach that gives the benefit of cardioid without loss of efficiency.
There are also many who wonders if the cardioid effect is placement sensitive. The answer is no. The slots on the side of the speakers actually cancel out sound as the sound leaves the speakers. It does not cancel out reflections from the walls. The sound is already attentuated when it reaches the walls in the first place.
When measured, the effect is present 0,5m from the speaker, and it's also present 2 m from the speakers. This means that the cardioid effect is present and effective regardless of how the Mantas are placed in the room. You can place the Mantas as close as 10-15cm from the wall (leaving room for cables) and still enjoy great sound!
While we are inherently science driven, it's of course not just about measuring the speakers. Listening sessions are a crucial and major part of the development. The speakers go through countless iterations of crossover / digital filter configuration, and basically all iterations has one version based on the measurements, and a subsequent variant "By ear".
This means I first tune them based on measurements on- and off-axis (attempting to balance the two), then I listen for a few days and do additional adjustments based on what I hear. Then perhaps something is difficult to get perfect, so I measure again to help me understand what the problem is. Then do some adjustments based on the measurements, and then go back to listening and additional adjustments based on the listening sessions. This way the response is continuously balanced based both on on objective data and real listening impressions over time, and across a broad range of music genres.
The Manta took about 18 months to develop, and has taken the breath away from both audiophiles, studio engineers, producers and reviewers. We set out to create a flagship, endgame type speaker and, in my humble opinion, mission accomplished.
Combined with our subwoofers the MANTA is a true full range speaker. Everything from fragile female vocal performances to full on heavy metal is presented in a lifelike and engaging way. Due to its unique dispersion characteristics combined with a point source driver, the Manta presents a soundstage and immersiveness unlike almost any other speaker out there.
Unbelievably it combines this inherent, true to life sound with a dynamic capacity that is also unlike almost any other speaker out there. There is virtually no limit to how loud it can play. Even at elevated levels, the sound is rich, effortless, uncompressed and fatigue free.
The cardioid loading also means this awesome sound can be experienced even in less than perfect rooms.
In conclusion, I am extremely happy with both the MANTA itself and the reception it has received!
Learn more about and purchase the Manta from the MANTA product page.
Looking for even more details from the development journey? Check out the MANTA development threads on ASR (English) or Hifisentralen (Norwegian)
]]>"I have always dreamed about a system where I can play any kind of music, and it will sound great no matter what. Now I have it, and I almost have to pinch myself to believe it's true. But let me start from the beginning.
I used to wish I enjoyed typical 'hifi music'. It would certainly make life easier. Sure, jazz and acoustic music could sound impressive. However, I quickly got bored and switched to what I really wanted to listen to. But then it didn't sound so impressive anymore. It just didn't feel the same with metal or electronic music. And hard rock from the '80s? Forget about it.
I had to compromise. I hunted for speakers with a warm sound because I couldn't bear the thought of guitar riffs becoming unbearable at higher volumes. At the same time I wanted detail and clarity, but it seemed impossible to have it all. Then I discovered SBS.1 from Sigberg Audio.
'Too expensive' was my first thought when I caught a glimpse of the new speakers from Sigberg Audio on Hifisentralen (Norwegian Audio forum). Nevertheless, there was something about them that intrigued me. These speakers were not 'mercilessly revealing.' Could this be what I had been dreaming of?
High-end sound that allows for air guitars?
The idea of SBS.1's features stuck with me, and I was also tired of constantly swapping equipment. When I thought about how much my equipment swapping had cost me, it didn't seem terribly expensive to consider buying an SBS.1 setup from Sigberg Audio.
I had to learn more. The development thread for SBS.1 on Hifisentralen was a good resource. I started from the beginning of the thread to gather all the information I could about these speakers. It didn't take long before I got excited. A dedicated driver for midbass! Could that be part of what I was missing? Why my system often sounded thin and unengaging? The fact that the speakers were designed to play with a subwoofer was a stroke of genius. Almost all speakers, no matter how big they are, need a subwoofer to sound really great. I also liked the idea of small stand-mount speakers that could be placed close to the wall, and the fact that this was a complete system. Plug and play! But was it too good to be true? Could it really be this easy to get the sound I wanted?
As I began to read listening impressions from experienced hifi enthusiasts who were used to large and heavy setups, all doubt disappeared. It took something special to impress these seasoned enthusiasts, but one after another, they shared shocking and eye-opening experiences after hearing the sound of SBS.1 paired with Sigberg Audio subwoofers. And they played Rammstein and Rage Against the Machine! Incredible! It was settled. I decided to buy a pair of SBS.1 and an Inkognito 10 subwoofer.
Although Sigberg Audio is often associated with dynamic range and capacity, it was something entirely different that caught my attention the first time I heard the SBS.1 speakers in my living room. I had just connected them, and was only testing to see if I had sound with a random song. I hadn't intended to listen to music. The speakers were still far from being properly set up on the floor, and the subwoofer wasn't adjusted. But something caught my attention. I was astonished to find myself listening much longer than I had planned. This sounded like real instruments! Nothing stood out, and there was no typical 'sound signature' as I was used to from other speakers. Just authentic, live music. It was almost surreal to have such an experience from a stereo system.
Since then, I've spent many hours in front of SBS.1 and Inkognito 10. While I still don't listen much to typical 'hifi music,' I enjoy a wide range of other genres. I can play any kind of music, and it sounds great regardless. It's absolutely mind-blowing when I play impactful metal or electronic music. And the '80s hard rock has truly made a comeback; old albums from Accept and Scorpions that I had given up on are now flourishing like never before. Even classical music is a completely different experience to listen to. There's nothing hermetic about the reproduction, and it feels like the symphony orchestra has taken a seat in my living room. Real instruments! Even alternative music like deathrock, darkwave, and post-punk sounds absolutely fantastic. Not genres known for having sound quality as the primary focus..
I used to think it was impossible for the same speakers to convincingly reproduce death metal, baroque, techno, and gritty punk in a way that made you feel like the speakers were made for that exact genre. Now, I have speakers from Sigberg Audio."
-Ivar Teigland
Want the same experience as Ivar? Check out the Sigberg Audio SBS.1 active speaker system!
]]>Velvet recording has a a setup of Sigberg Audio Manta Wideband cardioid monitors with dual Sigberg Audio 10D subwoofers in their recording studio, as well as Sigberg Audio SBS.1 with dual Sigberg Audio Inkognito 10 subwoofers in their mixing&mastering studio.
]]>Velvet recording has a a setup of Sigberg Audio Manta Wideband cardioid monitors with dual Sigberg Audio 10D subwoofers in their recording studio, as well as Sigberg Audio SBS.1 with dual Sigberg Audio Inkognito 10 subwoofers in their mixing&mastering studio.
Can you share a bit about your background and experience?
My name is Christer Krogh, and I'm the head engineer here at Velvet recording. I've been into music since I was five, and have been playing the guitar and singing my whole life. I have a talented brother who is a guitar player and musician that made me want to start with music as well. I've been in a band for as long as I can remember, and been doing studio work since the early 2000s. Here at Velvet recording I'm the head engineer and I'm involved in some capacity in everything we do. Depending on the project I do recording, mixing and mastering as well as producing.
I suspect those in our audience who are non-professionals may be unsure about what the differences are between these roles. Can you explain briefly what is done in the different phases? And what is a producer, anyway?
The producer is like the the director of the track or album. The producer may be involved in arranging the tracks, discussing artistic intention, and even assist with writing. In short, the producer is artistically involved and has a direct impact on the way a track turns out.
After the raw tracks from the recording studio have been recorded, the mixing engineer combines all the tracks into a coherent whole. This includes adjusting levels, EQ and even adding compression and adjusting tonality. Back in the day this was a simple process of adjusting levels of the the four or five tracks you had available. On a modern recording there can literally be a hundred tracks. The result from the mixing gives a clear indication of how the end result will be.
The mastering engineer receives a mixed down stereo track, and this is very the final touches are applied. We ensure the mix translates to everything from cheap air plugs via car radios and home stereos. If it's an album we also ensure that all tracks have a similar sound and the same volume. The loudness is also adjusted to work well for publishing to the streaming services and different media.
Can you share a bit about Velvet recording?
The studio was built in 1989, and known as Studio Nova until 2004. It was then rented out for a period of time, until it changed to Velvet Recording in 2010. I own the studio together with my partner Eldar Von Essen. We record everything from new and unsigned bands to the most well known artists in Norway. Genres span from country to black metal.
We have an awesome recording studio with great atmosphere. And while we sometimes record track by track, we love recording with the entire band playing. We are lucky to have many talented artists and musicians making that possible! Besides the large recording studio, we also have a mixing & mastering studio.
You have the Sigberg Audio Manta accompanied with two Sigberg Audio 10D subwoofers as the main monitor setup in your recording studio. Tell us all about it!
I have to start by telling about a member of Norwegian band Hellbillies and a frequent visitor of our studio, who popped by to listen last week. After the listening session he was blown away! He especially loved the dynamic range, since he often wants to really blast it to get that live / PA feeling. He couldn't believe how powerful and true to life his guitar tracks sounded! Sharing the experience of the Mantas with our customers in ways like that has been a lot of fun.
But where to start - the Mantas are awesome in so many ways! The first and weirdest experience was how Manta sounded unlike any monitor I've heard, but at the same time instantly familiar. You always have to spend quite a while to get to know and understand a new monitor, but with the Manta it was different. I got this instant reaction, thinking that they not only sounded great, but they sound exactly right!
The Mantas are set up in our recording studio, so the real instruments and singers are literally next door. It's scary how realistic and natural they sound. I had a late night session where I recorded various instruments myself. I sat at the piano recording a track, and then went back to listen. Hearing every small detail as I've just heard them in real life, down to the creaking of the floor as I shifted my position on the chair was an uncanny experience.
Why do you think the Manta sounds so lifelike?
The resolution and level of detail is incredible. It has actually made me approach recording in a completely different way. I make choices I've never done in the past, we even changed how we set up the microphones in the room. It's hard to explain, but with Manta it feels like I have a much wider palette of options. I can also position instruments and sounds in the mixes in a more surgical way much earlier in the process. I can start doing the final balancing of frequencies really early, during actual recording.
Another surprising but awesome thing is how it's easier to find room for the different instruments. I turn frequencies and tracks down to a lesser degree than before. Instead there's suddenly room to turn things up and push it towards the front. That goes for all the different instruments and frequencies, and thanks to the the full range, high definition bass of the dual 10D subwoofers, I'm especially able to be more bold in the low end.
One may think that with plenty of bass available, I may create mixes that are too thin. But the sound is perfectly balanced. What happens is that you get more transparency and information about what is really going on. I sometimes have people over who bring mixes they've done on other monitors. After listening here they realize their mix is actually too thin. There's more room in the bass frequencies than they thought. Other times you hear mixes that sound just fine for instance on the NS10, but when you listen to the Mantas you realize there's muddiness in the bass that wasn't reproduced at all on the NS10s, and that drowns out the midrange.
This transparency and increased definition makes it easier to navigate the entire frequency range. I give drums and bass tracks more room than I've done before, without any individual part drowning out anything else. Traditionally when a band comes into the control room to listen to the recording, there's always someone asking me to increase the volume on their part of the track, so they're able to hear their contribution better. Not so with the Mantas. It's a very interesting effect.
Learn more about the incredible Sigberg Audio MANTA before reading on!
I know you've also been impressed by the headroom. Could it be that the dynamic range of the Mantas contributes to the large, lifelike sound?
That's a good point! It's easy to hear how they are different in this respect when you listen to a raw recording as opposed to a track where compression has been applied. On most monitors, the difference actually isn't that big. Manta reproduces the full dynamic range of a raw recording in a completely different way. We have large in-wall main monitors that we use for those bands who want to play back their recordings really loud, for that live sensation. But with the Mantas we can play as loud as we want, and they sound better too! We simply don't need the old main monitors anymore.
It's awesome that your mixes sounds so good through the Mantas, but how does it translate? What happens if you switch to your trusted old Yamaha NS10s for instance?
That's the interesting part, they translate great! Somehow the room to push everything forward was there all along, it was just more difficult to find. There was always an element of searching and guessing what would work. With the Mantas the entire process is much more effective, and the end result is better.
Black Metal is an interesting genre, and a good example. The drums especially are often intense and very fast, and hard to get right in the mix. I try to get it to sound like we recorded it back in the 1990s, but with better sound.
Many modern Black metal recordings have the entire drum track replaced by samples because there's a trend to have every attack of equal loudness. I don't like that programmed sound, as it becomes too clean and "nice" sounding. There's no dynamic range. I don't feel anything when I listen to it. I'm lucky enough to often work with talented drummers. Then I always try to get a real, live recording and to get that source material recorded as well as possible. Blending something like that into a mix is much easier with the Mantas.
The B3 Organ is another example of an instrument that is difficult to find space for in the mix. With the Mantas I work with different frequencies than I usually do, and it's easier to find a place for it.
Talking about the NS10s, some say they sound so bad that if your mix sound good on those, it will sound good on anything. You have several different monitors in the recording studio, including those trusted old NS10s. What is important in a studio monitor, and has the answer to that changed after you got the Mantas?
Haha! Yes, and there may still be some truth to that, but now I hardly use the NS10s anymore. I sometimes switch to them to see how it sounds, and it always translates well. The Mantas sound like they have a million more pixels. As I mentioned it feels like I have more options, and it's easier to experiment and find good choices. It's weird, because in many ways the Mantas is the complete opposite of the NS10.
One of the important things with the NS10 is that it's easy to hear if the midrange is off. You can hear if the snare drum is 0.5dB too loud. With Manta, everything including the midrange is excellent. I used to think having "flat" or thin sounding monitors like the NS10 or the Auratones was important to be able to hear that critical midrange. Every other monitor sounded colored somehow, and clouded that important midrange. Not the Manta.
With Manta and the dual subwoofers we now have a very even frequency response, and full range bass. The cardioid dispersion means we have little coloration from the room. Both Manta and the subs also have built-in DSP that allow you to correct for the room should that be necessary. Ultimately, we don't have to worry about making mistakes due to the room coloring the sound we hear. It sounds natural and right. It's well known that as an engineer, not only do you have to get used to new monitors, you also have to get used to the room. With Manta, this is no longer true to the same extent.
Another controversy is what the correct in-room response is for a studio. The Manta setup has an even, but sloping in-room response and true full range bass down to 20hz. The rise from 10khz to 50hz is ~6dB in-room in the recording studio. How do you perceive the tonality of this setup? How does it sound compared to what is going on live in the recording studio?
As I mentioned earlier, it's scary how natural and realistic it sounds. To me the tonality is spot on. All the artists who have been here to record and listen to the Mantas are awestruck by how real and good they sound! It's a big plus to be able to present the music to the artists in such a great way. It's also fascinating how even the sound is in the entire room. With a wide mixing console you typically have to move back to a small sweetspot to hear the effect of precision EQ. I no longer have to do that.
Also, the band is typically lounging all over the place when they want to listen to the result, and now the frequency balance and perceived volume is the same everywhere! We used to have bass muddiness towards the back of the room where we often have people listening. With our new setup there's no frequency build-up regardless of where you are.
Thank you for sharing in great detail about your experience with the Sigberg Audio system! Do you have any final thoughts to add?
I find most modern monitors that people rave about to sound "processed" somehow, and fatiguing to listen to. So I was very curious about that when we first set them up, but the Manta doesn't sound like that at all.
Another important point is that working with the Mantas is less draining, and more fun! I'm normally toast after a ten hour session, but with the Mantas I can do twelve hours straight and still feel fine! Also towards the end of a session I normally come back the next day to replay my work, and I instantly hear that I messed up due to being too tired or ear fatigued towards the end. With the Mantas, the EQ choices I made in the middle of last night still sounds great the next day.
At the end of the day (pun intended), it's just a better tool!
The Sigberg Audio MANTA wideband cardioid monitor is available now!
Read more about Velvet Recording: www.velvetrecording.com
]]>
First things first, let's start with where and how to place the speakers in your living or listening room. We designed Both the SBS.1 and Manta so you may place them close to the wall (the back of the speakers 10-15cm / 4-6 inches from the wall). That said, further from the wall may work too. You can experiment with having them up to 1 meter from the wall (measured from the baffle or front of the speakers).
Set the speakers as far apart as possible in your room. They should be at least as far apart as the distance to the listening position.
You may not have a choice with regards to listening distance, but if you do: I enjoy the immersive experience of sitting close to the speakers (2.5-3m). That said, all our speakers are powerful enough to work well in fairly large rooms.
We recommend setting up our speakers with zero (0 degree) toe-in. This means the speakers are parallell to the wall. Due to the point source nature of our speakers, this gives the best of both worlds. A precise imaging combined with a wide soundstage.
You can experiment with 0-15 degrees toe-in to see how that affects soundstage and high frequency energy. Use what suits you and your listening space best. If you want to a balanced stereo perspective in a somewhat wider listening area (like all three seats in a sofa), some toe-in may be beneficial.
Position your speakers so that the tweeter is roughly at or slightly above ear level. With the SBS.1 you would normally achieve this with a speaker stand that is about 60-70cm / ~23-27 inches. With the Manta we recommend using the included stand for best results.
If you have a Sigberg Audio subwoofer, select preset 2 on the subwoofer. Then use the gain control on the subwoofer, or external subwoofer volume control if present on your preamp or processor, to adjust the bass level to your liking. A common suggestion is to play a well known track with some distinct bass. Turn the volume of the sub up until the bass is clearly heard, then decrease the volume until the bass falls back naturally into the mix. You may need to experiment with many tracks to get a good average level.
We recommend using the built-in EQ feature of our subwoofers to equalize the bass response. If you don't have the competence (or patience) to do that manually, an external room calibration device is a good alternative. This will make the exercise of setting the correct volume level much easier. The result will be better and more consistent bass across different songs and genres.
If you have a subwoofer from a different brand, experiment with a crossover of 80-120hz. 100hz is the recommended starting point. What works best may vary depending on the subwoofer and how the internal crossover is designed.
Also note that the bass level is fundamental (pun intended) to how the entire frequency band sounds. The wrong level on your subwoofer may not be noticed as too much or little bass, but rather as problems in other parts of the spectrum. For instance, if you think the top end or midrange sounds thin, it may actually be that your bass level is too low. And if the midrange sounds muddy, the bass level may be too high.
Finally, how good a speaker will sound is always limited by the acoustics of the room you place it in. Modern living rooms are decorated with no curtains, rugs or other soft materials. This may look good, but it's not ideal if you want great sound. Anything with a soft surface as well as randomly scattered furniture work well as natural acoustic treatments. Think back to how living rooms looked back in the 80s (or google it if you weren't born yet), and you get the idea. If you are unable or unwilling to add natural acoustical measures, you may need to think about acoustic panels, possibly camouflaged as pictures or located in the ceiling. If you could get a large rug in front of the speakers / your listening position, that would be great as well. Consider consulting a professional. You may also contact us for advice on how to improve the acoustics of your specific room.
Stuck with a sparsely decorated room with many hard surfaces? Use preset 3 on your speakers, which will soften the high frequencies. This may help even out the energy distribution in your room.
This should get you off to a good start, and allow you to enjoy the full potential of your new Sigberg Audio speakers. If you have questions about any of this, feel free to reach out to us and we will assist in any way we can!
]]>
The Antimode X2 is a preamplifier, DAC and automatic room calibration device, all in a very small box.
Typical use case is a stereo system, either with just speakers, or with one or multiple subwoofers. You have three (2.1) output channels: stereo outputs for speakers, and a mono subwoofer output.
Unlike its big brother the X4, the X2 does not support XLR, only unbalanced RCA connections. It's still a very competent device, and the sound quality leaves nothing to be desired with our SBS.1 active speakers.
After spending literally five minutes looking briefly at the manual and then running the automatic room correction, I sat down to listen to a few tracks. My immediate thought was that the sound quality was excellent! The default tonal balance after automatic correction was a bit lean for my taste, but the overall sound quality was great. My current reference is the much more expensive Antimode X4, and I couldn't immediately notice any degradation in sound quality after switching to the X2. Impressive!
Just as big brother X4, the automatic room calibration is extremely easy to set up. The included microphone looks similar to the one included with Antimode 8033 and Dual Core. Based on measurements done pre/post correction, it looks like the device corrects up to around 2khz. The main focus is still on the bass/midbass area up to around 500hz, and rightly so. Due to the way high frequency reflections work in a room, it's almost impossible to properly correct for room issues in the higher frequencies. The entire process is fully automated, and takes around 5 minutes to complete.
In our room we have X2 connected with two Sigberg Audio SBS.1 active speakers and a single Inkognito 10 subwoofer located in the left front corner. Antimode recommends placing your subwoofer in a corner if possible. After the automatic correction was done, it had evened out the response between 20-100hz by eliminating a couple of peaks, and also slightly lifted the area from 100-200hz. The sound result is neutral with an even response, but on the lean side for my taste. That is easily fixed with the manual options: Increase subwoofer volume and/or add a tilt to the bass. For now, the crossover to the subwoofer is fixed to 80hz (2nd order (12db/oct) highpass and lowpass), but this will be user adjustable in a future firmware update.
The Antimode X2 has simple yet powerful options for manual tuning of the sound. In the bass you can add a lift/tilt to increase the level, and you can select at which frequency band it operates. At the most narrow setting the lift starts at around 80hz, and at the widest setting it starts all the way up at 500hz. You can also increase/decrease the midrange, and the center frequency can be adjusted (default 1.5khz). Finally you have a treble tilt that starts at around 4khz. If you have a subwoofer, the level can be adjusted. The combination of all these settings give you pretty good control over the final sound. In our situation we adjusted the subwoofer level + added some bass lift. The result was a full, tight sound with clean mids and highs.
The Antimode X2 is a small, powerful and user friendly unit that can help you take control over the acoustics of your room. The room calibration capabilities will without doubt vastly improve the sound of your system!
]]>The audio industry is a conservative one. This is true both when it comes to manufacturers as well as the customers. Why change what works? Active loudspeakers have existed for decades, but have only recently started to slowly gain ground against the traditional, passive speakers. And it's long overdue. Let's examine what's different with an active speaker, and why it's the best choice.
An obvious difference is the way an active speaker is powered. Active speakers have built-in amplification, and often individual amplifier channels for each driver. This enables the manufacturer to provide the proper amplification required to get the maximum out of each driver. This also means you don't have to worry about finding the correct amplifier matching your speakers, and can save the expense of a power amplifier. All you need is a good preamplifier and/or streamer with volume control.
A crossover is a network that directs the different parts of the frequency range to the different drivers in your loudspeaker. Passive speakers have a physical crossover consisting of passive components and circuitry. These are less accurate than their digital counterparts, and also less effective, lowering the sensitivity of the speakers. A high quality, passive crossover will also be expensive.
In modern, active speakers you have digital sound processing where the crossover network exists in the digital domain. Digital crossovers can be made far more accurate and also far more complex than a passive crossover without any loss of sound quality. Handling the crossovers digitally before amplification is also more effective.
While a passive speaker only requires loudspeaker cables from your amplifier, an active speaker requires power, since it has an amplifier built into it. It also requires a signal cable from your preamp or source, typically an RCA or XLR cable. You will also find that a comparable active speaker will often look more expensive than a passive speaker, at least until you factor in the fact that there are one or even several amplifiers built into it.
Now you know the basic difference of a passive and active speaker. An active speaker done right has several advantages as outlined above, which is why Sigberg Audio makes exclusively active speakers and subwoofers. Learn more at our homepage!
]]>
This is the story behind the Sigberg Audio SBS.1 active speakers, the design choices made and the reasoning behind them. Hopefully it is a good read to those interested in loudspeaker design in general and specifically the design choices made to come up with this somewhat unconventional design. There are three things that sets them apart from most traditional hifi speakers. The first is that they are active. There are three built-in mono amplifiers in each speaker, one for each driver. Second, we employ a coax driver. The third and perhaps most unusual, is the fact that they were designed to be accompanied by at least one subwoofer. They have a -3dB point at 90hz. In plain English, that means that they won't play deep bass.
So..Speakers that require a subwoofer? That doesn't make any sense, does it? Actually it does. Let's look into why.
The surround sound crowd has been using subwoofers for ages. You'd be hard pressed to find a home cinema without it. And most of them run active high pass on their main speakers, typically crossing them over at around 80hz. So they have speakers that were designed to play deep bass, but in practice they don't. They're connected to an AVR that actively routes the bass to the subwoofer. And it works. The result is increased capacity for all speakers, less load on the amplifier, and better bass. So why not take it one step further? Why not design the speaker for subwofers to begin with?
However, the main target audience for the SBS.1 speakers aren't surround and movie nerds. The main target audience for both our subwoofers and subsequently the SBS.1 speakers are hifi enthusiasts and music lovers. People who use their system for music first and movies second, if at all. And hifi enthusiasts are a somewhat conservative crowd. To the point that things like subwoofers and advanced DSP (both of which have been natural parts of home cinema setups for a couple of decades) are frowned upon.
Selling the idea of a DSP enabled speaker which required a subwoofer to hifi enthusiasts might be difficult. At the same time, we knew in our hearts that it was a fundamendally good concept. This concept had the potential to provide better bass and better room integration than almost any pure stereo system out there. And we already sold subwoofers, so it was a natural next step from a marketing perspective as well.
Since our initial subwoofer offering, the Inkognito subwoofer, had an unconventional design, we decided to develop a more traditional subwoofer in parallell with the development of the SBS.1 speakers. That became our 10D dual 10" subwoofer.
We also decided early on to be transparent and share with the community throughout the development process. We had a couple of reasons for doing this. First and foremost, sharing is both fun and valuable in terms of being able to get early feedback on design choices. Second, it would provide essentially free marketing of our upcoming products.
The development threads are still available:
SBS.1 development thread on audiosciencereview.com
10D development thread on audiosciencereview.com
SBS.1 development thread on hifisentralen.no (Norwegian)
10D development thread on hifisentralen.no (Norwegian)
To be able to provide a compact speaker with a lot of capacity, a coax driver was a natural choice. This enabled us to employ dual midbass drivers on the same baffle size as a small 2-way speaker. A 2.5-way design meant the coax would play both midrange and midbass, while the second driver was limited to midbass duty (rolling off at 600hz). Some worry about the doppler effect (frequency distortion caused by the driver moving back and forth) when employing coax drivers. In theory this would be even worse with a 2.5-way design, where the coax played all the way down to 90hz. However, this was mitigated with the dual midbass driver design, cutting the required excursion (how far the driver had to move) in half. The fact that deep bass was handled by the subwoofer, also meant excursion would be moderate even when playing very loud.
Another important aspect of a competent coax driver is accurate, pinpoint imaging and a wide stereo perspective. It also has even dispersion characteristics off-axis, meaning it sounds the same (and good!) across a wide listening area. This choice had a significant impact towards our goal of creating a small speaker with big sound. Listeners auditioning the setup early on frequently compared the sound to large, expensive floorstanders.
The speakers were also designed to play with zero toe-in, meaning the speakers could be placed parallell with the wall, as opposed to angeled towards the listener. The wide, even dispersion combined with the accurate imaging of the coax meant you get the best of both worlds if you set up the speakers with little to no toe-in. A very wide soundstage but still accurate imaging.
We had already partnered up with Hypex to power our subwoofers. Hypex produces some of the best amplifier modules on the planet, so we knew they would work very well in a speaker application as well. Active, DSP enabled speakers also meant we would be able to prototype and experiment with crossovers way faster than with a passive setup. It also meant we would have extreme control over frequency response. Finally, powerful and dedicated amplifier modules to each driver ensured we could utilize the full potential of the very capable drivers. In fact each SBS.1 speaker has a total of 350W of continuous power available. This translates to loud, uncompressed playback in any normal sized listening space. Again, listeners auditioning the speakers during the development process was a good indicator that we had something special on our hands. They were literally blown away by the wall of crystal clear sound provided by these small speakers.
This is the major choice that enabled high capacity in a small package, but at the same time meant the customer simply HAD to have at least one subwoofer. This meant the product would not be for everyone. At the same time it is a major advantage. The speakers themselves take less visual space, and using a high quality subwoofer means you have access to bass that surpasses most floorstanders.
This also meant we could choose drivers for the speakers that were optimized for midbass duty. The built-in DSP in each speaker are actively limiting them from playing deep bass. No matter how loud you play, the drivers will have limited excursion and significantly lower distortion than a traditional 2-way speaker that are struggling to produce deep bass.
As a customer this means you can take a modular approach to how you build your system. Start with the speakers, and then add one or multiple subwoofers that have the capacity suitable for your needs and/or wallet. The system can also be upgraded later by adding another subwoofer or replacing your current subwoofer with a more powerful one. Even combining the SBS.1 speakers with a single Inkognito 10 subwoofer gives you deep, impactful bass that will be plenty for most situations. If you just can't get enough, two 10D subwoofers will give you a system that has four 10" drivers in the bass, and a total of 8 individual amplifiers with the combined power of 1700 watts..
With the built-in DSP to our disposal, we were able to both experiment quickly and make design choices that would be difficult to implement in a traditional, passive crossover. The crossovers in the SBS.1 speakers are assymetrical 1st order crossovers. This means they are primarily 1st order, ensuring crossovers with perfect frequency response and no phase shift. Further down (or up) in the frequency range, a second, 2nd order crossover is activated to ensure the roll-off is steep enough.
In addition to the natural roll-off provided by the small cabinet, there is also an active high pass filter at the low-end to reduce bass output. This limits driver excursion and distortion even when playing extremely loud.
The SBS.1 cabinet gradually evolved throughout the development process and several prototypes were built. The cabinet consists of three separate chambers: One for each driver, and one for the amplifier mounted in the back. The cabinet also has a 4 degree tilt. This allows us to tune the speaker to provide slightly more high frequency energy in the room, since the on-axis is tilted slightly away from the listener in the vertical plane, and also in the horizontal plane since they're designed to play without toe-in. The drivers are flush mounted, and the chambers are generously padded with felt on all surfaces, with an extra thick layer on the back wall of each chamber.
From a technical perspective the cabinet didn't need to be as deep as it is. The depth was chosen partly because it looks better, and partly because it was hard to find suitable loudspeaker stands for the initial, more shallow design. We are also all used to seeing quite deep loudspeakers, since the internal volume is needed to produce deep bass. But as we know, the SBS.1 doesn't have that problem.
The small footprint means the cabinet is inherently rigid, and the internal walls provide additional bracing. The fact that bass is reproduced by separate subwoofers means the speakers are completely unaffected by the vibrations generated by the deepest bass notes.
Many have tried and failed to properly integrate a subwoofer with their stereo setup. We wanted to reduce this problem as much as possible. Since the listening room has a major impact on how bass is reproduced, it's almost impossible to guarantee a perfect result. But we could at least do our best to minimize potential problems.
Both the speakers and all our subwoofers are sealed. This eliminates the phase shift inherently present in loudspeakers and/or subwoofers that have bass reflex ports. Second, the crossover frequency between the SBS.1 speakers and our subwoofers are perfectly matched out of the box. This essentially means all that is left is to volume match the subwoofers to the speakers, compensating for room gain and/or personal taste.
For the advanced user it's also possible to use the onboard DSP to calibrate the speakers and/or subwoofers frequency response. This makes it possible to fix problems introduced by the room. We also decided to partner up with DSPeaker and provide their Antimode products for sale to our customers. The Antimode range of products provide automatic room calibration with no prior knowledge necessary, as well as powerful manual options for those who'd like to tweak further. The sum of all this means anyone could get near perfect bass with a Sigberg Audio setup, and with far less effort.
What did we want these speakers to sound like? The goal was that the speakers should give the experience of a neutral, balanced sound. But we knew that to many hifi enthusiasts, "neutral" translated to boring. And we did NOT want to design boring speakers. We also did not want the speakers to be "revealing" in the sense that bad recordings sounded really bad, or even worse, unlistenable. Some high end speakers sound great on really good recordings, but piercing and unforgiving on everything else. Not the SBS.1. Finally, we also wanted them to have a full and punchy sound, with an element of sounding "larger than life".
So to sum up:
We spent countless hours over the course of almost 8 months before finalizing the configuration for the production speakers. Technical measurements done both indoors and outdoors and in a number of different rooms large and small. Tuning and tweaking the frequency response and crossovers. Frequency response and dispersion characteristics were verified in an anechoic chamber with a Klippel measuring system. Endless listening sessions, listening to hundreds of different tracks across all genres of music in an attempt to provide a balanced sound that worked across different rooms and taste in music.
We are extremely happy to report that all the hard work has paid off. The sound of the final product (available for purchase at the Sigberg Audio SBS.1 product page) can be summed up in the bullet points above.
Finally, the built-in DSP in all our products provides the customer with a manual 9-band EQ. This means you may further tailor the sound to your taste, and/or correct for the impact of the listening room.
The end result is a breathtaking listening experience, both when it comes to sound quality and capacity. Mission acomplished.
We hope this glimpse into how we have worked to design and build the SBS.1 loudspeakers was an interesting journey. Thank you for reading!
]]>The Antimode X4 is a high-end preamplifier, DAC and advanced EQ / room calibration device. That's a lot in one box. What makes it different from other preamplifiers is obviously the onboard DSP (Digital Sound Processing) capabilities. We'll get back to that soon.
It also has 4 individual output channels (all 4 supports both RCA and XLR), which makes it one of the few high-end devices out there that can properly handle a setup with one or even two subwoofers. It can be configured to run with dual subwoofers in either dual mono or stereo, and crossovers can be defined either manually or automatically.
The X4 uses top-shelf Burr-Brown PCM1792A DAC chips that are individually measured and hand selected. Distortion (THD) is extremely low at 0.0008%. And boy can you tell. Before we even get to the DSP capabilities of this device, it's immediately obvious that the sound quality is extremely good. Many are reluctant to add DSP to their expensive stereo systems, worried that it will reduce the overall sound quality. You need not worry with an X4 in your setup. We've had 4,000USD preamps in our setup before, and the X4 easily sounds as good or better.
One of the major selling points of the X4 is the advanced onboard room calibration. It's extremely easy to set up, and everything you need including microphone and microphone stand are included in the box. As opposed to the other Antimode products, the X4 operates in the entire frequency range. The main focus is still on the bass/midbass area, and rightly so. Due to the way high frequency reflections work in a room, it's almost impossible to properly correct for room issues in the higher frequencies. The result after running the calibration process also shows that the Antimode makes few and very light touches above 1khz. If you want to actively limit how high the X4 attempts to correct the response, this is user selectable. The entire process is fully automated, and takes 5-10 minutes to complete. The included quick start guide is easy to follow.
In our room with two Sigberg Audio Manta active speakers and dual Sigberg Audio 10D subwoofers, the result is an almost ruler flat response from 20-120hz, and above that some peaks have been evened out. Otherwise the response has been left largely as is. The resulting sound was breathtakingly good, with tight, dry bass and clear mids.
The Antimode X4 also offers many options for manual tailoring of the sound, including bass tilt / treble tilt, 9 band parametric EQ and individual adjustment of the subwoofer level. After the automatic correction, we used the bass tilt feature to add a bass shelf that restored some of the bass level that was lost after straightening out the response. We also spent some time applying individual EQ filters in the parametric EQ to fill out some of the dips in the midbass area that Antimode had decided to not fix. After a few rounds of listening, it turned out that it actually sounded better when it was left alone, the way the automatic correction initially did. So we ended up dialing back on the manual EQ. We finally settled on a configuration that was pretty close to what the X4 did automatically. The careful approach of the X4 obviously works, and this is the first time we've tested an automatic room correction device that we couldn't easily improve upon with manual adjustment.
The Antimode X4 is the perfect companion for a high end system (with or without subwoofers), and the room calibration capabilities will without doubt vastly improve the sound of your system.
The Antimode X4 is available for purchase directly from Sigberg Audio
]]>One of the main questions many ask themselves when looking at subwoofers, is how low will it go. What is the deepest bass notes (or explosions) the subwoofer can reproduce? This is actually surprisingly hard to find out, as this may be specified very differently.
Here is a typical specification:
25-160hz (-6dB)
The first is the frequency range which the subwoofer can play. From the deepest to the highest frequency. So we are looking for the first number to be as low as possible.
But what does the "(-6dB)" mean? A subwoofer will typically aim to be "flat" through the entire frequency range, which means all notes the subwoofer can play are of equal volume. But in practice any subwoofer will have a natural (or artificially enforced) roll-off towards the lower frequencies. The specifications often indicate this with "-3dB" or "-6dB". In our example, the specs indicate that the subwoofer has started rolling off significantly at 25hz, and at this frequency, the volume will be 6dB lower (half as loud) compared to the main frequency range where the subwoofer has a flat response. So if two subwoofers both are specified with the same frequency range, but one is -6dB and the other is -3dB, the latter will go deeper.
Sometimes the "-x dB" isn't specified at all, and then it's anyone's guess. In addition it can be measured either in a anechoic chamber, or in-room. Then the difference can be up to 10hz. So in general it's hard to compare between manufacturers.
And how low is low enough? Most music rarely dip below 40hz, and very few tracks dip below 30hz. So if the subwoofer response is in the 20s, you're probably good for most music. If you want to be sure that you have a subwoofer capable of reproducing any and all music including room ambience from things like live recordings, you should be looking for a subwoofer that can reach at least 25hz. If you are looking for a subwoofer for movies, you may want it to go even deeper. But then you are typically looking at quite expensive subwoofers, and/or relatively large ones.
A final problem with the frequency response specification is that often isn't linked to SPL (how loud it can play). So the specifications may imply that it can play 20hz, but it doesn't say how loud it can reproduce those frequencies, and that's pretty essential. So you may come across very small subwoofers that claim to go very deep, but in practice these frequencies will be inaudible.
Not all brands will include this specification, and if they do, it's often unclear exactly what the number means. Sound pressure is typically measured in decibel, and a specifiaction can look something like this:
Max SPL: 100dB
This still leaves us wondering about a few things. At what distance was this measured? Typical distances are 1 or 2 meters. 100dB at 1 meter, equals 94dB at 2m. At which frequencies? Lower frequencies are progressively harder to reproduce at high volumes. If a subwoofer can reproduce 100dB at 30hz, that same number may be down to 90dB or even less at 20hz. Finally, at what distortion level? Is it reproducing this sound pressure level quite comfortably, or is the subwoofer about to bottom out?
If you want to have any chance at comparing this between subwoofers, you may try looking for something called CEA2010, which is a measurement standard for determining maximum SPL levels. It typically includes information about the distance, frequency or frequencies, and distortion level. Without this information, it's hard to compare SPL across brands.
A small note is that even with a CEA2010 measurement, we only learn about the final "breaking point" of the subwoofer, where the distortion gets too high. It does not say anything about the distortion at moderate playback level. So two subwoofers with similar CEA2010 results, may show very different distortion levels at moderate levels. This is often what separates a more expensive subwoofer from its cheaper cousin.
To be able to make sound, a subwoofer needs one or several subwoofer drivers. The size of the driver is typically specified in inches. So you will see something like 12" driver - indicating that it has, not surprisingly, a 12 inch driver.
In theory, a bigger driver will be able to reproduce the same SPL (sound pressure) with less distortion. The same is true if the subwoofer has multiple drivers. As you may suspect, in practice it's a bit more complicated than that. The quality and abilities of a driver is determined by a host of different parameters. So two different, equally sized drivers may have completely different qualities depending on how they are built. Which is why you may find a 12" subwoofer for anything between 100 and 10,000USD. So the size and number of drivers gives you an indication of the subwoofer capabilities, but it's not the whole truth.
There are a number of different cabinet types, but for this guide we will stick to the two most common. Sealed and ported. As a general rule, sealed subwoofers will be more precise and is often preferred for more music-oriented subwoofers. Ported subwoofers on the other hand, may be more effective - and is often the preferred design for cinema-oriented subwoofers. Ported subwoofers are also larger than sealed. Note that expensive, ported subwoofers with low port tuning may rival a sealed subwoofers in sound quality - but will still typically be significantly larger.
So if size is a factor, a sealed subwoofer is probably the way to go. If you want as much sound pressure as possible and don't care about the size, ported might be best. If you want your cake and eat it too (have a small, precise and high capacity subwoofer) it will be expensive.
Did you know that the Sigberg Audio 10D subwoofer is the smallest dual 10" subwoofer in the world?
I saved this for last because contrary to popular belief, this is actually the least important specification. The power required by a subwoofer is heavily influenced by the cabinet size and the driver parameters. This means that two 500 watt subwoofers may have a maximum sound pressure level and overall capabilities that are very different. It has also become somewhat of a marketing fad to boast impressive numbers. If the power figure sounds too good to be true, it probably is. The easiest advice here is to simply ignore this part, and trust that the manufacturer has fitted the subwoofer with an amplifier that is the right size (very likely).
Hope this helps, and happy subwoofer hunting!
Done reading? Time to check out Sigberg Audio active speakers and subwoofers!
]]>Getting a subwoofer properly integrated in a high quality music system requires a bit of work. Is it even worth it? Many movies have a lot of low frequency content, some even below 20hz. But what about music?
We decided to study typical frequency content in contemporary music. We wanted to determine the low frequency response required by your system to properly reproduce the recorded material. Our approach was to perform a spectrum analysis of a number of different tracks, with the goal of determining the target frequency response of our music oriented subwoofers.
This is not by any means a scientific study of all music. While sampling a large set of tracks across many genres, we intentionally looked more at music we already knew to have a good bass fundament. In other words, music that someone who owned a high quality system with a subwoofer would be inclined to play. So this is not by any means an average of all music of all time.
We found that even in tunes perceived as quite rich in bass content, the most powerful frequencies between 20-200hz was typically in the 50-70hz region.
Tracks with content below 40hz was common.
Tracks with content below 30hz was less common, and this was typically found in tracks with obviously very deep bass, and most likely to be found in newer recordings with synth/electronic instruments.
Tracks with content below 25hz content was relatively rare.
Does this mean you'd be fine with a system that doesn't go below 30h-40hz? Based on our findings we concluded that for music reproduction you need a system that can produce content at least down to 30hz perfectly. Thus, 30hz can't be at the limit of the system. You need a system that is quite capable at least down to 20-25hz to confidently reproduce 30hz and above with low distortion. On the other hand, if your taste is limited to genres with less bass or mostly older recordings, a limit of 40hz would probably be fine most of the time, so this is also dependent upon what you listen to.
All Sigberg Audio subwoofers have an expected in-room response down to 20hz or below. Almost no music goes this low, and content below 30hz is more tactile than audible. Despite this, there may still be important information at the very bottom end of the spectrum. Recorded hall ambience of concerts or orchestras may extend this low, adding to the perceived richness and sound stage. Also, by ensuring our subwoofers have the capacity to reproduce the full audible spectrum, we can confidently say that we will reproduce any musical recording with high fidelity.
What is not so easily spotted from typical specifications, is that due to cheap, inferior drivers and often poor bass reflex design, many subwoofers have high levels of harmonic distortion even at moderate listening levels.
We use drivers and amplifiers of extremely high quality and very low levels of distortion, ensuring an accurate reproduction. Rest assured that our subwoofers will keep up with even the most expensive high end loudspeakers in terms of sound quality, dynamics and precision. After experiencing a properly integrated high-end subwoofer, you will never want a system without it again.
]]>In this guide we go through the basics of running Audyssey room calibration and making sure it is configured for the best possible sound. This is a topic with lots of nuance and edge cases, but if you don't want to spend hours and hours on figuring it all out, this guide should get you off to a good start!
Current Marantz and Denon receivers uses Audyssey. You can also find it in some older models from Onkyo and Nad. Refer to your user manual if you are unsure.
The first mistake many do, is not following the calibration process properly. So let's walk you through it. Starting the Audyssey calibration process can be done directly from the receiver menu (refer to your user manual for specific instructions for your model). Many newer models also support the Audyssey MultEQ app. See separate section below for a few notes on that.
The number of measurements you can take depends on your receiver model. You can also skip measurements if don't have the patience to go through all, but try to do at least the 6 main measurement positions. The picture below gives an indication of where to place the microphone. It should be placed with the microphone facing straight up, and at ear height, so having a camera tripod can be useful.
Start at the main listening position (position 1), and go from there. As you can see from the picture, the measurement positions are actually quite tightly placed. Audyssey recommends keeping all measurements within 60cm (2 feet) of the first position. So if you have a large sofa, the measurements should actually be even tighter than it looks like in the illustration above.
Follow the on-screen instructions until you're through the calibration and are asked to save the results.
These settings can be adjusted individually for each input / signal source, which means you can have different settings for your music source and for your TV / movie source.
Dynamic EQ
Dynamic EQ is essentially a loudness feature that adjusts the loudness curve depending on your listening volume. In most cases this works very well, and allows you to enjoy a full sound with proper bass even at low and moderate listening levels. I recommend you keep this setting ON for both music and movies.
Dynamic Volume
This is a normalization feature that reduces the difference between soft and loud sounds. This is useful when watching TV at moderate volume, and helps speech sound clear, and prevent sudden explosions from waking your kids. I recommend you keep this on the LIGHT setting for regular TV content at moderate sound levels, and OFF if you are going to watch a movie at a louder level.
I also recommend turning it OFF for music.
(This section is from our "How to set up your subwoofer (properly)" article, which you may also find useful)
There are a couple of things Audyssey typically gets "wrong", so let's check those.
Crossover: Crossover is the frequency at which the receiver starts to roll off the bass, and hand it over to the subwoofer. This can typically be configured as one setting for all speakers, or individually for each speaker category (front, center, back, etc). Your receiver attempts to measure what your speakers are capable of, and configures the crossover accordingly. It's often a bit optimistic on behalf of your speaker, so the default isn't necessarily the best choice of crossover. Typically, you will get a much better bass response if you relieve your speakers of the deepest bass, even if you have pretty large speakers.
You should never choose a crossover that is LOWER than what your receiver selected, but often it's a good idea to go higher. Even if you have large speakers and your receiver set the crossover to 60 or even 40hz, the THX recommendation of 80hz is a good choice most of the time, even with large speakers. You can even try 100hz.
Speaker settings: You typically have this setting for each speaker category, and it can be set to either "small" or "large". What this really means, is whether the crossover you configured in the previous point is active or not. If you set it to "large", the speaker will play the full range of frequencies, and not send anything to the subwoofer. As a general rule, this should be set to "small" regardless of how large your speakers are.
Note: When watching movies, the soundtrack typically have a dedicated subwoofer or LFE channel. If all your speakers are set to large, this channel is the only thing that will be sent to the subwoofer. When listening to music, your subwoofer will be quiet. A workaround for this is selecting a subwoofer setting called "LFE+Main" if you can find that in your settings. This will have the subwoofer and main speakers both play bass during music. Typically this gives poor integration, and is not advisable. So set all them speakers to small.
Volume: You may need to adjust the subwoofer volume after room setup. Many find the need to turn the volume up by 3-6dB. Here you just have to try what sounds best. This can be done either with the gain (volume) control on the subwoofer, or in your receiver settings.
Sometimes the calibration messes up, making the sound a bit muffled, or perhaps too bright. Often just running the calibration process again may fix this. You can also try tilting the microphone slightly towards the rear (if too muffled) or front (if too bright) to see if this helps.
If your receiver supports the MultEQ app, it has one trick in particular that may be worth knowing about. After running the calibration from the app, look for the setting called "MultEQ Filter Frequency Range". This controls how much of the frequency range is corrected by Audyssey. Generally, the most important thing is to have Audyssey correct the lower (bass) frequencies. Personally I limit Audyssey to 500hz, but you can experiment in the area around 250-500hz. This will leave your main speakers largely untouched by the calibration, leaving more of the sound signature of your speakers intact. This may help if you feel the "spark" is gone from your main speakers after calibration.
If you got this far, you should be well on your way to a good result, and will be able to enjoy great sound from your Audyssey enabled receiver! There are of course always exceptions to general guidelines, so feel free to experiment.
A final tip: Whenever you move (re-position) your speakers or subwoofer(s), you need to re-run this process. Some people even move to a new house without rerunning Audyssey. It's important to understand that Audyssey is a room calibration system. New room, new calibration!
Enjoy the music and movies!
Done reading? Time to check out Sigberg Audio active speakers and subwoofers!
]]>To get the most of your subwoofer, you should have a fairly high crossover, typically around 80hz. This will not yield good results if your amplifier doesn't have a highpass filter that relieves your main speakers of the same frequencies.
To help our subwoofer customers and others find amplifiers that will properly support a subwoofer in a 2-channel setup, we have decided to curate a simple list of amplifiers and preamplifiers/streamers that support this.
If you are lucky enough to own our speaker systems, either the Sigberg Audio SBS.1 active speakers or the Sigberg Audio Manta wideband cardioid monitor matched with our subwoofers, this is less of a problem. Our speakers are high passed by design, and can be connected to any preamplifier for perfect subwoofer integration.
Anthem STR Series
The Anthem STR series are truly modern 2 channel amplifiers with active support for subwoofers, and even feature ARC room correction capabilities. Built-in DAC.
Parasound HINT 6
The Parasound HINT 6 is an advanced integrated amplifier with adjustable crossover for both subwoofers and main speakers. It also features home theater bypass and built-in DAC.
Devialet Expert pro 220
The Devialet is a highly configurable amplifier that can be configured for subwoofer connection and also crossover configuration. Perhaps not the most intuitive solution, but potentially very powerful.
Lyngdorf TDAI series
Lyngdorf is well-known for their advanced room correction software, and their TDAI-series amplifiers is a great choice if you want a high quality stereo setup with both room correction and subwoofer support.
Marantz NR-1200
This slim 2-channel receiver has a dedicated subwoofer output and configurable crossovers that activates a lowpass filter for the subwoofer and highpass for the main speakers, in a similar fashion as surround receivers. Combine this relatively cheap receiver with a power amplifier, and you'll have a very potent solution. It also has integrated DAC and Spotify/TIDAL/etc support.
Denon DRA-800H
Integrated amplifier with dedicated subwoofer output and configurable crossover and streaming capabilities.
NAD M33
A truly modern stereo amplifier with high quality power from purifi class D amplifier modules. Subwoofer support and room calibration.
NAD D3045
Compact integrated amplifier with bluetooth and HDMI. Pre-out with selectable crossover (40/80/120hz).
Outlaw RR2160
Integrated stereo receiver with dedicated subwoofer output and selectable crossover (60/80/100hz).
Yamaha R-N803D
YPAO Room correction and subwoofer output as well as streaming options, though no variable crossover, at least not manually adjustable.
Yamaha WXA-50
A neat and effective streamer with integrated amp. Separate subwoofer output. No selectable crossover.
MiniDSP SHD Power
MiniDSP is a powerful platform with Dirac Live support and also full support for configuring outputs for instance for subwoofers.
Bluesound Powernode2i
This powered streamer is an inexpensive option that will work well for many. It has a subwoofer output with a variable crossover.
Buchardt I-250
This Hypex based integrated amplifier has subwoofer out and both variable highpass and lowpass.
Antimode X4 is a high end preamplifier with advanced room calibration (both automatic and manual eq) and full support for subwoofer, including variable highpass/lowpass.
Antimode X2 is a tiny preamplifier with advanced room calibration and full support for subwoofer, currently with a fixed 80hz crossover (will be adjustable in future software update)
MiniDSP SHD
MiniDSP is a powerful preamp/streamer platform with Dirac Live support and also full support for configuring outputs for instance for subwoofers and active speakers.
NAD C658
Both XLR/RCA preouts as well as separate subwoofer outputs topped with Dirac Live room correction below 500hz makes this a very good platform for active speakers and subwoofers.
Bluesound Node 2i
RCA pre out for active speakers and also a separate subwoofer output with a variable crossover.
Yamaha WXC-50
A neat and effective streamer / preamp with RCA pre out for active speakers and a separate subwoofer output. No selectable crossover.
Parasound P6
A very versatile preamp from a subwoofer perspective. Variable highpass and low pass as well as adjustable subwoofer level.
Please let us know if you are aware of other stereo amplifiers or preamplifiers / streamers with subwoofer support, and we will add them to the list!
]]>But if we are true to our word when we claim that these subwoofers will provide you with both high-end sound and realistic sound pressure during music and movies, how on earth do we pull that off?
We're happy to explain what's under the hood, read on to find out!
First of all, they're not actually as small as it may seem in the pictures. On the floor, they have a moderately large footprint (65x54cm). But they are unusually shallow. On the floor, the height is only 18,5 cm for Inkognito 10 and 20 cm for Inkognito 12. Still, this translates to roughly 30l volume for our 10", and almost 40l for our 12". The option of on-wall installation will of course also help free up floor space despite the size.
With such a shallow enclosure, you might assume we use inferior, shallow mount drivers. In reality, we use full size 10" and 12" drivers, each weighing more than 6kg. We literally had to carve out 3mm in the back plate of the cabinet to make them fit. To fuel them, we use high-end grade amplifiers with plenty of power and advanced DSP capabilities.
That the cabinet is small(ish) and shallow, actually works to our advantage, as it makes it easier to make a rigid cabinet. There are of course a number of braces inside the cabinet to make it as stiff as possible. Also, the size isn't randomly choosen, it has been specifically constructed based on the parameters of the drivers and the design goal of this subwoofer range. The cabinet is sealed, as it is the only thing that makes sense. It would not be feasible to create a ported subwoofer of this size without port noises and distortion at high playback levels.
Finally, we have gone to painstaking lengths to make sure we realize the full potential of the woofers. If we had accepted the natural frequency response of the driver in a sealed cabinet, we would have left a lot of bass on the table. Instead, we use simulation and DSP to utilize as much as possible of the available cone travel at any given frequency. We have also engaged with Scan-Speak engineers to make sure we fully understand the capabilities of the drivers. The result is a flatter frequency response and significantly louder and deeper bass than would be possible without DSP.
We want every bit of cone travel available, and no more. We don't want your movie to be interrupted by the sound of your subwoofer bottoming out and distorting heavily. This is a fine balance, and many subwoofers fall off the edge trying to master it. We think you will find that the Inkognito subwoofers can stay in their default "Deeper" setting for almost anything. But if you prefer to play even louder at the expense of a little low end extension, we provide a separate preset called "Louder" that will allow you to do just that - adding an additional 2-3dB of SPL to your disposal at higher frequencies, while removing the same at the very bottom end.
We hope this helped explain how "designer boxes" can play both deep and loud, accurately reproducing your music and movies, the way they were supposed to sound!
]]>Most of the article is written with the assumption that you have an amplifier / receiver / processor with a dedicated subwoofer output and crossover capabilities, but there's a small section towards the end for those who don't - so scroll down if that's you! It also assumes you have a decent subwoofer that has the capability to keep up with the rest of your system.
Also, the first thing to do is to try to find a good place for your subwoofer, this article gives some guidance on that subject.
Note: This is all general recommendations. It's always a good idea to experiment, and of course choose what you think sound the best. If you have the equipment and knowledge to measure the results, even better.
Before running the room setup procedure on your receiver, let's check the settings on your subwoofer. We'll go through the most common controls likely to be present on your subwoofer.
Volume / Gain: Set this straight up or half-way to max (12 O'clock).
Crossover: Set this to max (typically 160 or 200hz). Your receiver will control crossover.
Phase: Leave this at 0 degrees for now. This will also be handled by your receiver.
If you have any other controls or settings on your subwoofer, leave them at their default setting.
All modern surround receivers have pretty advanced room calibration systems that will automatically set distance and levels to all your speakers, including the subwoofer. Most also do a decent job at applying EQ to correct for standing waves in the room. This makes the life of your subwoofer a little easier. Follow the instructions on-screen and/or refer to the manual of your amplifier / receiver for this point.
Note: Whenever you move any speakers, your subwoofer, or move the entire system to a different room - this procedure needs to be run again.
There are a few things that surround receivers often get "wrong". Let's walk through them and adjust as necessary. Please refer to the manual if you are unsure how to find these settings.
Crossover: Crossover is the frequency at which the receiver starts to roll off the bass, and hand it over to the subwoofer. This can typically be configured as one setting for all speakers, or individually for each speaker category (front, center, back, etc). Your receiver measures what your speakers are capable of, and configures the crossover accordingly. That's not necessarily the best choice of crossover. Typically, you will get a much better bass response if you relieve your speakers of the deepest bass, even if you have pretty large speakers.
You should never choose a crossover that is LOWER than what your receiver selected, but often it's a good idea to go higher. Even if you have large speakers and your receiver set the crossover to 60 or even 40hz, the THX recommendation of 80hz is a good choice most of the time, even with large speakers. You can even try 100hz.
Speaker settings: You typically have this setting for each speaker category, and it can be set to either "small" or "large". What this really means, is whether the crossover you configured in the previous point is active or not. If you set it to "large", the speaker will play the full range of frequencies, and not send anything to the subwoofer. As a general rule, this should be set to "small" regardless of how large your speakers are.
Note: When watching movies, the soundtrack typically have a dedicated subwoofer or LFE channel. If all your speakers are set to large, this channel is the only thing that will be sent to the subwoofer. When listening to music, your subwoofer will be quiet. A workaround for this is selecting a subwoofer setting called "LFE+Main" if you can find that in your settings. This will have the subwoofer and main speakers both play bass during music. Typically this gives poor integration, and is not advisable. So set all them speakers to small.
Volume: You may need to adjust the subwoofer volume after room setup. Many find the need to turn the volume up by 3-6dB. Here you just have to try what sounds best. This can be done either with the volume control on the subwoofer, or in your receiver settings.
If you don't have an amplifier with crossover capabilities or room correction software, you can still benefit from adding a subwoofer to your system. It may however be a bit more difficult to integrate with the main system.
Since you will be unable to cut any bass from your main speakers, you will need to select a lower crossover frequency than you'd otherwise would. You also need to set the crossover on the subwoofer. You need to experiment to find the right crossover frequency, and having a look a the specifications of your speakers might be helpful. Slightly above or below the lowest they are specified to reproduce, might be a good starting point for the crossover. Let's say you have monitors rated at 69-20,000hz. Then a crossover of 60hz might work. But 80hz may work too. Your room affects the response, so you just need to test what works.
You also need to dial in the volume manually. Try to increase the volume until you can clearly hear the sub, and then dial it back again a little bit.
If your subwoofer has a phase control, you can experiment with this too. Have a friend test different settings, and choose the one that sounds best (not necessarily the one with the most bass).
There are other settings to look into, but those are different depending on your receiver brand, so that's beyond the scope of this article. Hope this was helpful!
Done reading? Time to check out Sigberg Audio active speakers and subwoofers!
]]>Listening to these lyrics from Tunnel of Love back when I was a teenager, I imagined a group of kids on a beach. I imagined them looking beyond the sea towards a magic city across the ocean. Much later I found out that the Spanish City wasn't a city at all. It was actually a permanent funfair in Whitley Bay, England. But the mental image I got when hearing the song didn't change. Listening to it even now, decades later, it still evokes strong feelings in me. A sliver of the magic I felt back then, still remains.
Music has a weird way of affecting us. The impact of movies are multiplied by soundtracks carefully designed to trigger our emotions. A song on the radio that our brain associates with a long lost friend, suddenly makes us tear up.
This magic ability mostly persists even on low-fi equipment. An old car radio or even the puny speaker of a phone may trigger the same feelings. Which is why we need to remember that it's that experience that matters. It's not the audio equipment that is the goal. It's not even the music. It's the magic that happens when you listen.
Even though the magic of music is present through all music systems, we truly believe that when the sound quality is better, the experience is better. We also believe that the presence of accurate bass is one of the key factors required to improve it.
So at the end of the day, we'd like to do that for you. We build subwoofers so we can be a part of the magic. So we can listen to music with you.
]]>
That's a good question, though a weird one, since the person asking the question often don't have much choice in the matter. Most of us don't have the luxury of a dedicated listening room. Which means you have a very limited number of practical positions for your subwoofer. Sometimes just one. This guide was written to help our customers get the most out of their subwoofers. If you have a dedicated room, awesome! If you don't, let's figure out how to make the most of what we have. Our Inkognito subwoofer is ideal if you have limited space and/or placement options. If you don't own a Sigberg Audio subwoofer (yet), fear not. Most of the recommendations are general in nature, and will apply to subwoofers of any brand.
Also, when you've found the sweet spot for your subwoofer, make sure to read this article about how to set it up properly.
There are many myths and "rules" about subwoofer placements. The problem is that every room and setup is unique. So the true answer is that there is no true or universal answer to this question. You need to experiment within the options available to you in your specific room.
You've invested a lot of money in a competent subwoofer. To get value for that money, you will need to invest some time in setting it up properly. Let's first debunk a few myths, then move on to setting up the subwoofer so it works the best in your room.
Myth #1: Don't place your subwoofer in a corner
Nobody puts Baby in a corner (bonus for catching the movie reference). You will find lots of articles and videos about why not to put your subwoofer in a corner. And you will find others that say you should. The main reason against is that it will excite room modes and give you uneven bass response. This is technically true, but it's also an argument FOR corner placement, as room modes means that the room is amplifying certain bass frequencies. Which translates to free bass (yey!). And as we live in the bright and shiny future full of fun technological advancements, most of us have amplifiers with advanced room calibration capabilities. These systems are almost magic, especially in the bass. They will help even out the frequency response, so that we can get both free bass and good sound.
Does it always work perfectly? Certainly not. Is corner placement worth trying if you have that option in your room? It most certainly is.
Myth #2: Don't place your subwoofer towards the wall
Since we're building subwoofers that support an on-wall mounting with the driver facing the wall, you won't get a prize for guessing that we don't agree with this one. The arguments against this position is mostly the same as for the corner placements. Here's the interesting thing when placing the subwoofer driver close to the wall. Dips caused by room reflections are pushed higher up in the frequency range. If you're lucky, completely outside of the effective frequency range of the subwoofer. You also get some of the same gain or "free bass" as with the corner placement.
Does the direction of the driver matter from a sound quality perspective ? No, as the frequencies reproduced by a subwoofer is non-directional, and spread equally in all directions. As a consequence, facing the driver towards the listening position is not necessary.
Myth #3: I don't play that loud, so I only need one subwoofer
Myth #4: Subwoofers are mainly for movies. You don't need a subwoofer at all for music, at least not if you have large main speakers
This is not technically a placement myth, but an important one. As our subwoofers are actually designed for music first, and movies second - we obviously disagree. I don't care how large your main speakers are, they will always benefit from a high quality subwoofer. It will not only improve the bass - As you relieve the main speakers of their most difficult task (reproducing low frequency bass notes), more power will become available to the rest of the frequency band. This results in increased dynamics and a cleaner sound. When you add a subwoofer, the sound of your main speakers will improve.
The subwoofer crawl
Finally we get to the point of the article! If you have a dedicated room, feel free to follow the age old advice of dumping the subwoofer in the chair or couch where you intend to listen. Then crawl around on the floor listening for the location with the most bass. Voila, you've found the spot where your subwoofer likely sounds the best. This method works, but you may end up with the subwoofer in an impractical position. Also, if you have several listening positions, it may not be the optimal location for all of them.
Go with what you have
Placing multiple subwoofers