{"id":39054,"date":"2024-10-01T11:32:41","date_gmt":"2024-10-01T09:32:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hifi-advice.com\/blog\/?p=39054"},"modified":"2024-11-07T13:44:26","modified_gmt":"2024-11-07T11:44:26","slug":"velikinac-audio-lab-sirius","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hifi-advice.com\/blog\/review\/loudspeaker-reviews\/loudspeakers-passive-reviews\/velikinac-audio-lab-sirius\/","title":{"rendered":"Velikinac Audio Lab Sirius"},"content":{"rendered":"

Review organized by Michel Warlop for Velikinac Audio Lab<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/h4>\n

Sirius Retail price, incl. VAT and Transport: \u20ac87.500 (as reviewed)
\nCustomizations at additional cost<\/h4>\n

Velikinac Audio Lab is a Serbian family company headed by father and son Velikinac. It was born out of a deep love for good sound and the desire to achieve the most realistic sound from a loudspeaker. Velikinac Audio Lab builds on thirty years of dedication and painstaking testing of the most diverse acoustic technologies and solutions.<\/p>\n

Below are photos of some of their earlier models, each with its unique features.<\/p>\n

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Valikinac Differo<\/em><\/p>\n

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Velikinac has built tried and tested projects and unique models designed to satisfy the most refined audiophile and aesthetic aspirations for themselves and as OEM manufacturers for other companies. All products are built by hand in their workshops, where the manufacture of the cabinets is entrusted to craftsmen with many years of experience, and each piece of construction is precisely processed and checked multiple times before it finds its place in the finished product. In addition to cabinet making and veneering in natural wood, Velikinac Audio Lab also produces crossovers for all its models and drivers of its own construction, which is rare in the business.<\/p>\n

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Velikinac Margarita<\/em><\/p>\n

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Velikinac Audio Lab’s portfolio spans many models based on diverse designs. The company builds speakers of its own design and models based on DIY designs, optimized and refined according to its specifications. Additionally, these models can be ordered in a well-honed standard configuration or, uniquely, custom-built according to the customer’s wishes.<\/p>\n

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Model Fakir One<\/em><\/p>\n

For instance, if one prefers a particular Altec driver in combination with a bullet tweeter and front-loaded woofer, Velikinac can build it. Whether one prefers active or passive drivers, field coil drivers, Mundorf, Jantzen, or Lundahl components for the crossovers, it’s all possible. Naturally, Velikinac does not blindly use the specified custom components, but they carefully implement them so that they combine them in a musical result they approve of.<\/p>\n

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Velikinac uses a stacked “woven” particle board construction for the Sirius <\/em>to achieve the most natural sound, and they also build the horn structures themselves.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Next: Sirius<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Sirius<\/h3>\n

The subject of this review is the Sirius, a four-way speaker based on a Visaton design. It uses a mix of compression drivers for treble and midrange and conventional drivers for the lower midrange and bass.<\/p>\n

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This system’s size, heft, and weight pose quite a challenge for a review. For this reason, I was asked to review these speakers in the customer’s carefully honed system. The customer in question is Michel Warlop, who many will know as an audio distributor for the Benelux. After retiring from this position, Michel focused on installing this dream speaker system in his dedicated audio room.<\/p>\n

The Sirius speakers are imposing in size yet friendly and elegant. Their segmented nature provides all the adjustability benefits of a modular system, while the total absence of a metal frame or any metal interconnecting parts exudes a decidedly natural vibe. In speaking with the designers, it was emphasized how each component is implemented such that it performs most naturally while carefully avoiding any resonance or ringing.<\/p>\n

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The levels are adjustable for the mid, upper mid, and treble units, allowing precise calibration of focus and coherence.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Designed to enable optimal tonal characteristics, the Fidelity speaker cable and Synapse interlink contain strip conductors made of solid copper with a mixture of gold.<\/em><\/p>\n

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System Context<\/h3>\n

The system consists of the Taiko Audio Extreme music server, Aries Cerat Impera Reference preamp, Aquablue GM70 amplifier for midrange and treble, and Heremans HAV2508 amplifier for bass. All cabling is by Velikinac Audio Lab. The room is heavily treated to ensure the equipment performs at its best.<\/p>\n

Turntable: Primary Control Kinea
\nMusic Server: Taiko Audio Extreme
\nTonearm: FCL en Reference
\nCartridge: Lyra Atlas Lambda SL
\nDAC: Aquablue (NOS Philips TDA)
\nPhono Preamp: Phasemation EA1200 with additional power supply
\nPreamp: Aries Cerat Impera Reference (8dB gain)
\nPower Amp for mid\/treble: Aquablue Odyssey (SET, using GM70 tube)
\nPower Amp for bass: Heremans HAV2508 (based on Hypex Nilai Class-D modules)
\nPower Cables: Signal Projects (various models)
\nInterlinks: Velikinac Audio Fidelity
\nDiffusers: SMT S-wings Diffusers (side walls)
\nDiffusers: SMT V-wings (corners)
\nDiffusers:\u00a0SMT Flower wings (front wall)
\nDiffusers: SMT Diamond panel (ceiling)
\nResonators: SMT V6 x 4 and V4 x 2, and custom-built<\/p>\n

Next: Listening and Conclusion<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Listening<\/h3>\n

The listening session was divided into three sections. First, Ivan played a selection of Qobuz-sourced music on the Taiko music server. Next, I was handed the iPad to play anything I wanted. Lastly, Michel played a selection of LPs on his Primary Control turntable.<\/p>\n

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As Ivan kicked off the session by playing his selection of mixed music styles, containing music I knew and beautiful music I never heard before, it was fascinating to note how my impression developed and diversified as the session proceeded. The thought of a compression driver horn system may evoke aural images of a sharp, beamy, or aggressive sound, which can be off-putting for those who have so far avoided such systems for these reasons. Honestly, this is precisely what I was preparing for, only to find every track Ivan played sounding utterly natural, coherent, and even-handed.<\/p>\n

There was zero sharpness, hardness, or edginess, no artifice, and not even a hint of electronic signature. Involuntarily, my mind searched for aspects of the sound to stand out, only to find none. There were simply no detracting elements in the sound whatsoever.<\/p>\n

I did note a very prominent room model, and Michel later confirmed that the room has a resonance at 80Hz, which he sadly could not eradicate. However, no room is perfect; this is not the speakers’ fault. Since the resonance only appeared under certain circumstances, it was easy to ignore.<\/p>\n

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A peek into the lower midrange horn.<\/em><\/p>\n

As I proceeded to play a selection of tracks I knew well, this feeling was substantiated. Everything sounded precisely as it should, but I initially struggled to understand what made these speakers special. To put it irreverently, early on in the session, I felt the speakers sounded somewhat unimpressive because they did everything well, and nothing of their music portrayal stood out in a typical audiophile manner. Then again, it is a massive achievement for any speaker to sound so natural and coherent, let alone a four-way speaker using different types of compression drivers. Come to think of it, the Sirius is the first multi-driver horn loudspeaker to have an absolutely seamless presentation.<\/p>\n

What’s more, when looking at these speakers and thinking of certain classics with a similar appearance, one may expect quite a bit of coloration. But there was simply none of that. Sure, these cabinets sound different from a speaker with an aluminum enclosure, but the nature of what little character they added was so benign that I would not rate it as more significant than the difference in character between one hifi rack and another. Most importantly, the Sirius’s tonality was evenly spread throughout the sonic spectrum. As I mentioned, these speakers portray everything uniformly well; inherently low and uniform coloration is an essential reason for this.<\/p>\n

But even more impressively for a horn loudspeaker, there was absolutely zero cupped-hands effect! Go figure, the one aspect that has plagued horn speakers since forever, was nowhere to be found. And I mean this! I’ve heard it before, where manufacturers claim to have solved the downsides of their horn speakers, only to find the typical horn issues are still present. Well, in this case, it really is true.<\/p>\n

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The woofer section remains normally hidden behind a fabric cover. The grilles provide an elegant touch, and the speaker is designed to sound best when they are in place.<\/em><\/p>\n

It feels cruel to break down the performance of such a profoundly musical speaker into the usual audiophile spectra, but let’s do it anyway! The treble is airy and ultra-delicate, the midrange is very pure yet natural and sweet, and the bass is fast and tight, with excellent articulation, but it is very far from being over-damped or over-controlled. Likewise, the bass goes very deep and can have serious impact, but there is no thickness, nor do I hear any port-induced anomalies. What drives the concept home is that all drivers perform in a time-aligned and cohesive manner. This is especially important when one sits close to a speaker. Some horns require massive rooms but this small room with the listening position at an estimated 3 meters from the speaker baffles proves that the Sirius has no such requirements.<\/p>\n

Resolution and focus were very good, and the free-floating and spacious soundstage was impressive, especially given the small room. Imaging in the depth plane was also very good, with performers portrayed at different distances from one another, closer to and further from the listener, where such information was in the recording. The dynamic behavior was very natural, scaling fluidly from the softest to the loudest sounds but not edge-of-seat, stopping just short of blowing one out of the listening chair. The dynamic range is effortless, but the impact is never startling; the speakers always performed organically and gentlemanly.<\/p>\n

This was when the true extent of the Sirius’ strengths unfolded. It wasn’t any particular extremity but the effortlessly natural and wonderfully coherent reproduction of everything you play.<\/p>\n

But the best was yet to come, as this listening session’s third and last section was about to commence.<\/p>\n

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This third section was not planned but followed naturally because the music inspired us. Michel grabbed a record he was fond of for its music content, not its audiophile quality. When you’re in a nice flow, one record can lead to another, so we played the most diverse albums.<\/p>\n

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Remember I mentioned how my impression of these speakers developed and diversified as the session proceeded? Well, the third act hammered the point home!<\/p>\n

As Michel played one non-audiophile record after another, none of us dared say anything while listening. I could only sit silently, mesmerized by the music’s beauty. Even more so than with the music server, the Sirius speakers got out of the way and presented nothing but the music’s soul. Although the system’s resolution easily conveyed the nature of the master recording, there was continuously an abundant sense of hearing real flesh and blood performers playing real instruments. Everything sounded decidedly un-electronic and utterly natural, and it occurred to me that this sounded more like real musicians playing right in front of me than some of the loud and brash-sounding PA-amplified live concerts I attended.<\/p>\n

It did not even matter what we played. Whether Stan Getz, Bach, Handel, Roberta Flack, Stravinsky, or Herman Brood, it all sounded 100% convincing and emotionally massively<\/em> involving.<\/p>\n

So, there you have it. The Sirius is not about technicalities such as resolution, focus, and dynamics, even though it performs splendidly in all aspects. It is about conveying the musical message, and it does this so selflessly, fluidly, and naturally that it can leave one wondering why we chase certain audiophile aspects in particular rather than searching for a speaker system that “simply” connects us directly with the music.<\/p>\n

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Father Savo and son Ivan of Velikinac Audio Lab<\/em><\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

With the Sirius, Velikinac has succeeded where many other brands have not: to build a speaker that has all the advantages of a multi-driver horn loudspeaker system without any of the disadvantages.<\/p>\n

The Sirius conveys the musical message so utterly selflessly, fluidly, naturally, and effectively that it can leave one wondering why we chase certain audiophile aspects rather than searching for a speaker system that “simply” connects us directly with the music. But make no mistake; these speakers also have very low coloration, sound amazingly coherent and uniform, and handle all other audiophile parameters incredibly well.<\/p>\n

This is a large and relatively complex system that has to be set up very carefully. But for those in search of what may be their last loudspeakers, the Sirius deserves serious consideration.<\/p>\n

The Sirus can be ordered as reviewed or in a version according to custom specifications. Additionally, a Field Coil woofer version is currently being developed.<\/p>\n

External Links<\/h3>\n

Manufacturer:
\nVelikinac Audio Lab<\/a><\/p>\n

Address:
\nBude Tomovica 81
\n21471 Ravno Selo
\nSRBIJA<\/p>\n

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