Satorique S4 – beyond the borders

Satorique 4 Loudspeaker

Foreword

What moved us to release the Satorique 4 into the audiophile world before the Satorique 3 is simply because the playing partners for the eagerly awaited Satorique 3 have not yet been available. So we'll skip this one for now, and the Satorique 4 model will follow.
 
Thus, the Satorique 3 - when the time comes - will certainly have its due appearance in the listening room at a later date.

The technology: with two new drivers at once

Two new loudspeaker drivers are used in the Satorique 4.
 

 

 
The 7.5" MW19P chassis has Thiele-Small parameters comparable to its smaller brother in terms of overall Qts and Vas. Coupled with a 3 Hz higher resonant frequency, it quickly becomes clear that no big boost in low-frequency response is to be expected. However, with a combined net volume of over 40 liters, the 35 Hz limit is easily reached. The advantage is the larger diaphragm area and the slightly larger excursion, which ultimately leads to a perceptibly higher sound pressure. All in all, this woofer is an excellent choice for a three-way design.

 

 
In the midrange, two 5" MW13P drivers are used in a common, closed 8 liter cabinet. Actually, we didn't want to shoot all our powder at once and use the proven tweeter TW29R - known from the Satorique 1 - in the high frequency range. However, the level of over 93 dB in the bass-midrange put a spoke in our wheel. So we decided without further ado to use the new TW29RN, which is the required 4 dB louder thanks to its more powerful drive.
 

 
Milling depths:
Mid-bass:7.5 mm
Tweeter: 5 mm
 

 
A three-way design is much more complex and time-consuming to tune than a two-way speaker! Three loudspeakers with mostly different levels must be brought to the same level and especially with parallel-connected chassis, the ohmic load must also be kept in mind. To make matters worse, a vertical arrangement of the drivers (especially in a D'Apollito arrangement) is accompanied by stronger directivity in the vertical and the measuring distance should be at least 2 meters. Without an anechoic chamber for low frequencies a difficult undertaking. For this reason, the bass frequencies (except for near-field measurements) always appear with a certain ripple caused by floor reflections.

The cross over:

In the low frequency branch a 2nd order filter is sufficient. In order to achieve this really cleanly, it is necessary to smooth the upper impedance bump by means of an R-C-L link. Otherwise the bass would become too powerful.
 

 
We gave the green light to the use of a heavy-duty transformer core coil over a roller core coil because of the low distortion and equally low internal resistance. The 7.5" jewels thank us with dryness and precise imaging up to considerable volumes. The bass reproduction always remains controlled.
 
The high pass filter for the two midrange drivers is a bit special: A common 2nd order filter would strongly boost the midrange, which we definitely don't need. A 1st order filter prevents this, but only gives the desired slope of 12 dB in conjunction with an R-C-L element. Although a series-wired series resistor would also help the problem, it is not a very promising solution sonically. The filtering between midrange and treble is done in the well-tried manner. The impedance curve is within a 2 Ohm range, which makes a correction for tube amplifiers unnecessary.
 

The housing: 5 parties in one house

In order to enable people to get started with self-build loudspeakers, who do not want to tackle such a project due to time constraints or their tool equipment, we offer a high-quality cabinet kit. The complete body is made of 19mm MDF raw. The 3D baffle is made of 30mm MDF. Optionally, the body can be made with 19mm MDF primer white, 19mm MDF black or 18mm birch multiplex (extra charge).
 
For private reproduction here is the detailed drawing :
 

 
In the following we show the assembly with the housing kit.
 

 
Here very nice to see the separate chambers with the CNC milled struts. When building the cabinet, please make sure that the cutouts of the inner bracing are large enough, otherwise you will get a mismatched double chamber bass.
 

 
Carefully wet the edges with joint glue and insert the lamellos. Tighten everything with tension belts or screw clamps.
 

 
The crossover compartment for the woofers is located in the lowest compartment of the floorstander.
 

 
At the top left of the picture you can see the CNC cutouts for the remaining woofer volume, where two mats of Sonofil find a home. Also the small details distinguish such a kit - like here the cutout for the transformer core coil.
 

 

 
The lamellos give the kit a secure hold and fix the baffle. The 3 D baffle is also provided with cutouts on the back in the area of the speaker chassis.
 

 
Cabinet with baffle: ready for sanding and painting.
 
For a very stately speaker, the speaker cabinet didn't turn out that big. In our case, we did not glue the baffle.
 

 
So, for priming and painting it went for the Satorique 4 in the paint booth. The 3D baffle and the cabinet were to be painted signal white.
 

 
The baffle is fresh from the paint booth. The 3D front does not look cluttered at all. The light refracts at the phase in the area of the D'Appolito arrangement and shows the wonderful curves of this baffle. The silhouette thus appears very narrow and comes very close to the overall impression of an elegant speaker.

Solder the crossovers:

The crossover is neatly built on a specially milled circuit board. This belongs to the scope of delivery and is delivered ready built.
 
 
Large components, such as Audyn Caps, are glued with solvent-free adhesive and additionally secured with cable ties to guarantee durability.
 

 
Well packed between Bondum 800, the tweeter/midrange crossover finds its native place in this compartment.
The coils are also secured with non-magnetic brass screws and glue.
 

 
The analog high-end crossover for the woofer compartment: everything well screwed in place.
The large coil is firmly soldered to the woofer crossover. For better accessibility, it is screwed to the crossover compartment.
 

 
Pre-labeled cables make it difficult to mix them up. The pole terminals are soldered to the switch and the cables.

Housing insulation: Damping 10, Bodum 800, Sonofil

 
In a closed midrange cabinet, the Damping 10 fulfills its intended purpose at lower frequencies. In a reflex cabinet, interference in the midrange should be prevented without obstructing the flow, otherwise the bass reflex function will be impaired. Bondum 800 compressed polyester wadding, attached to the walls, is very suitable for this purpose. The rest is loosely filled with Sonofil.
 

 
Since the baffle was in the paint booth and a minimal warpage has occurred on the baffle due to the heat development, it is advisable to use a construction PUR adhesive. In this way, you can be on the safe side when subsequently gluing the baffle because the construction adhesive fills the joints and swells.
 

The wedding:

Now the housing is as sturdy as if made from a single cast.
 
The tweeter / midrange unit is then soldered. Pre-drilling and screwing the 5 parties in one house as well asstraight alignment of the chassis pays off visually. When the bass reflex tube is inserted untrimmed into the large bass reflex port, the finished box can finally be heard.
 

 

 

Sound description:

I was particularly curious about the listening session with the Satorique, especially regarding the D'Appolito arrangement of the drivers. What kind of sound does this arrangement produce in our 30m2 separated listening room?
 
The size of the room is such a thing for itself: probably no one has the perfect room at home and often one tries to change the sound by different setups in order to avoid possibly unfavorable room modes.
 
Which immediately brings me to the topic of the woofer compartment: How powerful does the diaphragm area of the two woofers affect the bass reproduction? In this class, it's not about extreme power, but about the precision of the reproduction. The transformer core coil plays a decisive role in controlling the light Papyrus diaphragms - the Satorique 4 doesn't allow itself any mistakes: bass is reproduced in a structured way, with the necessary grip and without loss of control and airiness. The Satorique 4 repays this with exceptional bass precision up to the maximum volume level. It can play very loud and remains clean. The renunciation of the last bit of low bass in favor of the joy of playing such fast and light membranes fascinates me again and again. We listened with great interest to some selected CDs.
 
What is the sonic benefit of the D'Appolito arrangement? Is there a frequency-independent stable spatial imaging? And it came out even better than I thought: A wandering from the midrange to the tweeter, which I perceive at least acoustically with one or the other speaker, did not occur here. The virtual point in space remains. It was pleasing to see how unproblematic the Satorique 4 was in our medium-sized listening room. However, in a larger room it would certainly improve in terms of room imaging. But who has a dance hall at home?

Home cinema session: The somewhat different listening experience

And what about the home theater suitability? To clarify this, a separate listening appointment was scheduled: Some young people came to the combined viewing/listening appointment on Thursdays and also brought their Bluray player including visually accompanied music. They did not have CDs or LPs. So we quickly set everything up and wired the equipment for the music videos.
 
After a few listens, we came up with the Satorique 4. Since the release of the Satorique 4 was imminent anyway, we set up the brand new speakers and plugged them in.
 
TheSatorique 4 brings the band realistically into the room. But with the Blueray, the goosebump factor increased a lot more. I was drawn to the Cathedral live. It literally sucked me into the TV.Have I missed something so far? Blueray was not the big issue for me until now. Even at this moment, here at my desk, writing this report - with only two small PC boxes - the memories are coming back. I confess not to have heard of the band before.
 
Well, back to the action: The request came up to be allowed to listen louder. Of course I answered, I don't mind a little louder. But so loud - We were surprised and agreed that even for a home theater the bass is more than sufficient. Subwoofers are certainly not necessary for such concerts.
 
We can't remember ever turning up our stereo that loud. At extreme levels, I have rarely heard a bass foundation so precise.
 
The tweeter is not a whitewash when it comes to different styles of music, but is honest in its portrayal of the singers. Who does not know it when the singer sings or screams abruptly into the microphone at a live concert.

Conclusion:

The Satorique 4 prefers and neglects no frequency range, its balance in all tonal ranges it masters with a nonchalance as only known from live concerts. Playing through individual musical genres with individual disciplines in the various rock jazz blues classes could be saved. Tonally balanced in all registers, downright boring. A speaker for clean listeners.
 

Our Satorique 4 - Master singer -

Dear Mr. Nötzel and loudspeakerbuilding team!

In the fall of 2019, Felix, my daughter's friend, told me about your website and I became curious. The descriptions and the appearance of the Satorique 4 appealed to us immediately and so we thought "No Risk - No Fun" and already the order was out - a decision that should turn out to be a real stroke of luck - but more about that later.

The order and all the "trappings" up to delivery went smoothly and then, it was the end of November 2019 was the package there. Appropriate to the upcoming Christmas season, we unpacked the boxes. Everything packed with attention to detail, perfectly labeled and complete (here and there some reserve, if something goes wrong) - as it should be - a great start.

While Felix, he is the IT expert of us, modeled the construction plan with the CAD software Fusion 360 and coordinated and designed the extremely pleasing 3D front with me, I was responsible for getting the necessary MDF boards, in rough cut. For the outer appearance it was clear: a real wood veneer must come, and we found at the wholesaler "olive tree" a very vivid / fiery grain.

Since we had set ourselves the goal of manufacturing everything ourselves as much as possible, we also turned the stainless steel spikes ourselves. Only for the coasters we relied on the LINN skeets, which I had already tried and tested.



With the finished CAD files we were able to get started and with the help of Felix Vater, who provided us with his CNC milling machine, all MDF components were machined.

Impressions:

After testing the accuracy of fit, especially with the chassis cutouts, we could start with the assembly of the housing. The information of the construction plan and the instructions on your homepage were very helpful and feasible without significant problems, well, there are always a few small "problems", but that makes it exciting.

1st pass: Dry run assembly

To simplify gluing, flat dowel milled holes were added. Thanks to the precision of the CNC and careful work, the housing was already very accurate in the dry run.



After the first dry run was successful, the tricky part could begin, the gluing. First, the "tweeter and midrange" chamber outside the cabinet was glued together.

Then it was the turn of the rest of the cabinet. Here the order plays quite an important role.

Our Tip:

Glue all the inner struts and a side wall at once, so we got a very accurate and good result.



..... admittedly, it looks a bit messy, but worked out well.



A PUR adhesive was used as the glue. This promises an absolutely tight case, as it still swells while it dries. However, it is quite annoying to remove swelling glue, because even the fresh glue can only be removed more or less well with solvent.

The picture shows an almost finished glued box. Only the front still needs to be glued. This is done later, as the front goes to the varnisher and the rest of the box is veneered.



But even before veneering can be done, everything must first be sanded flat. No edge or unevenness must press through the beautiful veneer afterwards.

Now, the start of the veneer work

We lightly moistened the selected olive wood veneer in advance and pressed it for a day to achieve the smoothest possible surface during processing. This step and the subsequent plan milling of the edges (with a router) and subsequent sanding in several grit gradations was by far the most time-consuming part of the work. However, since we already had nice weather during this period, we were able to do this in the garden. With the amount of dust generated, that would have been a problem in-house.

We were able to glue the two long side parts with a vacuum press. This is practical in that the vacuum press produces a uniform and very high pressure.



After each side that was veneered, we:

1. checked if the edges are glued firmly and if they need to be re-glued
2. removed the veneer paper from the joint
3. routed the edge with the help of a router and a sharp flush cutter.

What sounds like a lot of work, it is also after several hours, one or the other necessary touch-up and sanding and a well-deserved working beer, the result looked like this:


The oil used was a tung oil, which really brought the wild and intense grain of the olive tree veneer to life.


For the front, we decided to paint it gray/silk matte.

However, we left this step to the specialist - an appropriate paint booth must be there - otherwise it would have been a pity for the whole effort.



Now it was finally so far, the assembly and installation of the switches, interior insulation and wiring could start. The instructions for this - 1A! We decided on a bi-wiring design because there was already the plan and the budget for a system expansion to a horizontal BI amping, one power amplifier each for low and mid / high frequencies.



When putting the chassis in place, we had a short shock! The painter had meant it too well and we had to sand again carefully at one or the other recess. But now the chassis are really solid.

.........and finally a few impressions of the finished Satorique 4 from Felix and Gregor:







Then the moment we had been looking forward to: the first power-up of the Satorique 4 for a first check if everything is wired correctly and running.

MISSION COMPLETED

..... and now a few words about the sound / listening experience:

The Satorique 4 plays with an incredible ease, mids / highs / lows - simply everything there, unagitated, unadulterated - as it should be. At this point, a big praise to the Intertechnik team - you have developed a really coherent concept!

A loudspeaker that invites you to listen to music for hours. There is nothing annoying, nothing overdrawn and artificial in the sound image - that's how it should be. Simply TOP.

What must also be said is, it mercilessly reveals the quality of the sound carrier whether vinyl, CD or streaming. With good recordings, you are so rewarded for it.

Here is a small excerpt from the music pieces, where we were spellbound during joint listening sessions, how live, detailed and relaxed the Satorique 4 sounds:

Vinyl:
Lester Bowie - All the Magic / For Louie
Luis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald - Ella and Luis again / Makin' Whoopee
Frank Sinatra - Live in Paris - 07 June, 1962

Streaming/TIDAL:
Patricia Barber - Companion / Black Magic Woman (live)
Ben Webster & Oskar Peterson - The Touch of your Lips

The players, my HIFI audio chain:

Preamplifier: Artkustik Diamant
phono preamplifier: Artkustik Diamant MC
2 x power amplifier Artkustik Rubin 2 x 135W / 8 Ohm, bi-amping circuit horizontal

turntable: Pro-Ject Perspex + Speed Box
Cartridge: Ortofon Cadenza Bronze (MC)
Streaming: Mini DSP SHD
Cabling: Audio cables from Artkustik, Naim and Linn LS cables - BI-Wiring - QED Performance

Since I also like listening to classical music and appreciate music by Richard Wagner very much, Felix and I decided to name our Satorique 4 "Meistersinger (Mastersinger)" - a, in our opinion, fitting name for a really successful loudspeaker!





Finally, a big thank you again to the loudspeaker construction team - especially Mr. Nötzel, who was always there for us with questions.

Warm Christmas greetings from Vienna to Kerpen and PLEASE CONTINUE SO.

Vienna, November 2021
Felix and Gregor

PS: To all who read our story: it is simply incomparably beautiful to build a loudspeaker yourself, the emotions when the first notes are heard - that is wonderful.

Just try it out!

Pärs second Satorique: The S4 from Sweden

Hi Marcus, I promissed you some words and pictures about my S4 construction
Here you have my review:



I simply couldn't hold back and I really wanted to continue building. So I decided to upgrade the Intertechnik Satorique 3 to the Satorique 4.

Just last summer I built the Satorique 3 speakers and have been really happy with these and I still am.

However, I enjoy building and wanted to take advantage of what I have learned. Therefore, I was very curious about what the larger model could do to the sound stage. With the experience I got from the previous building I wanted to make these speakers even better.

After some planning, lot of thought and good dialogues with Marcus from Intertechnik, I ordered the parts needed to to build the Satorique 4 speakers. Fortunately I can continue to use the tweeters and bass speakers. I sent the crossovers back in exchange for new items needed for the project. The mid-woofers, some other elements and the empty cabinets are left over and I hope to find another project for them soon. Or maybe someone who is interested in the cases.

Many hours later

Right now I am sittimg here with a big smile on my face and enjoy an incredible soundstage and well-tuned bass and a magical midrange.

I really do not regret that I took the step and upgraded to the Satorique 4.

They play incredibly well with a good spread in the soundstage. Treble and midrange are very detailed but at the same time easy to listen to and the bass is punchy and powerful in a controlled manner.

Regards /Pär

Satorique 4....I am building something new

Contribution from Markus

I am not a great storyteller. But a few sentences I would like to write now, otherwise I think the pictures say more than a thousand words. After 32 years "Pyramid" (see penultimate picture) it was time for something new. I have read a lot on the Internet regarding self-build speakers. I finally landed here. As I find, exactly right.

At first I was torn between Satorique 3 and Dreamcatcher 2. I ended up with Satorique 4. Also because my wife said, if already, then already.

I have not listened to any of them. I have oriented myself only on the reports here. Decided ultimately the gut feeling, which has never disappointed me. I am not clueless about woodworking, is among other things one of my hobbies. Have already built several complete kitchens, bathroom furniture and other smaller pieces of furniture. So if I do not go into every single processing step here, I am still open to questions at any time.Zum Zuschnitt

To the cutting

I used MDF 19mm for the body. Actually, I cut everything myself. But in this case, the hardware store can do it much faster and more precisely than I can on the panel saw. I do not want to advertise here for Bau....s in HD, but the cutting there is top. Fitting to the half millimeter. I made the miter cuts myself. So the sides that I still sawed myself, I ordered accordingly larger.





I glued without lamellos or the like. If you tighten the screw clamps sensitively, nothing shifts.







When it came to painting, I was persuaded to use a water-based varnish. (One wants to be environmentally friendly). I have certainly painted 4 times with the roller and also 4 times everything sanded again. I do not get along with this stuff. I just did not get a smooth surface. The stuff just dries too fast, you can not correct anything. In the end, I ended up with a solvent-based paint. It worked right away. The varnish gives you more time and also runs very clean.



Front and back I have then provided with 32mm beech heartwood. But none of the hardware store, but ordered online from a gluelam manufacturer to measure. Again, perfect to the millimeter.
For the shaping of the front, I used the "Agile" as a model. The corresponding tool for milling the bevel can be seen in the pictures. I then sawed the transition with the Japanese saw and finely sanded it with the Rotex (180, 240, 320).







The front and back were treated with Osmo hard wax oil, which I also use for all the furniture I have built so far.

Now they are ready, the Satorique 4

Building was a lot of fun, I would do it again anytime.

But I was also very impatient, and eager to see what then finally comes out of my "wooden boxes". After all, I bought "blind", or one must say, "deaf". It is now a week since the initial commissioning. I have found, one needs time and muse. With yourself and with the Satorique 4. The whole reveals itself to you gradually, if you listen to music consciously. You know your repertoire, what you listen to all these years, by heart. Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, Leonard Cohen, Mark Knopfler, Eagles, to name just a few.

But suddenly you discover and hear things that were never there before. Everything is more differentiated, clearer, more spatial. The singer is right in front of you. The bass, not obtrusive, but dignified crisp, dry, simply ingenious. I almost have the impression that the speakers are getting better every day.

I am sure I have done everything right.





Many thanks to the developers of these great speakers. Very great.

Many greetings
Markus

Satorique 4 built in the beautiful Black Forest

Contribution from Achim

Me and my apprentice Yorick had a lot of fun building these speakers.
As a master painter, it was very important to me to place great emphasis on appearance and design.
On the pictures you can see that we filled the curves at the front at right angles.
This allowed us to mill a chamfer around the front.
Yorick was a great help there, as he knows his way around the router.

2K polyester filler, Mdf must be primed beforehand.



The boss at work.





The apprentice at work.



Milled front bevel and also a small bevel on the corners around.



The bevel on the front was painted with anthracite and the finer bevels around the sides in black.
The very beautiful egg veneer we finished with wood oil.



Here we have already moved to the apartment.




For the brushed aluminum front, we have invisible magnets embedded on the back.
Of course, the Yorick has milled the exact fit again.

There she stands!

It was great fun to combine the technical expertise of the development team with the craftsmanship of me and Yorick.

I always wanted to listen to my music with good sound, so it always annoys me to hear badly mastered music.

The last 5 years I was with my Infinity Irs Omega yes already at a high level, when I had started together with Yorick the premiere, we were simply thrilled by the sound of the great box, brilliant bass from the bottom out, perfectly matched with the height and the middle.

Actually, soccer was on that evening with "SC FREIBURG". We are big fans of this great club here around the corner and never miss a game. What happened?

We listened to the Satorique 4 and forgot about the soccer.
Thanks for the awesome sound.

Have all fun with the high-end self-build.

Gruß Achim

SATORIQUE 4 – A short Christmas story

Contribution from Vlada

After I have built with my father in the summer after Marcus's recommendation blindly the Satorique 2 (of which I have also written a report) and the result was such a great surprise in all directions, I began to be very curious, how must then the higher series - the Satorique 4 - sound.

In the meantime, we also visited a hi-fi studio, where more expensive high-end box was demonstrated to us with great expectation. There you can not imagine how happy I was when I had to admit that my S2 play better and that they are worth every penny.

Mid-December 2016 - After much deliberation about whether it was really worth it to put almost twice as much money (compared to S2) into homebuilt speakers, I finally called Marcus from I.T. again, and after a short conversation agreed and ordered. Because the winter was unfortunately ahead of us, I knew that the construction will be a bit more complicated than in the summer.

A large package

Because I was a bit lazy this time and the cutting of the whole box was cheap, I ordered the same. So you can easily build the boxes almost "instant".

Two days before Christmas, the shipping company rang and down in the basement was a perfectly packed box on a pallet - a great Christmas gift that weighed 96 kg.



Because all parts were made on a CNC machine, the gluing is very simple and precise work. It is enough to have only the joiner clamps and Ponal D3 glue. The Lamello flat dowels on the edges simplify the assembly.

So, on December 24, we began the assembly.

Enclosure

First, the inner parts are glued together with the rear side and a side wall. Everything must be firmly fixed with the carpenter's clamps. Apply enough glue until it comes out in the corners.





When all the inner "ribs" have been built in, you can then close the "box" with the second side wall.



Next day, the superfluous remnants of the glue on the edges sanded. Then you have less work in painting. The transitions between the MDF boards must be totally smooth.


Meanwhile, we were called to dinner on Christmas Eve. It was a pleasant break.



The rear side was painted with white polyurethane 2K paint. Later still varnish is applied.

We built the Satorique 2 in white color/rosewood veneer combination. The S4 should get the same suit. The front and back will be done in Signal White gloss and the left, right and top will be veneered with rosewood. This time we wanted to try veneering ourselves instead of giving it to a carpenter. We were surprised how easy it ended up being. All it takes is contact cement in a spray can. Then spray MDF and one side of the veneer, wait a short moment, put it together and fix it for about 2 hours.

The veneer is simply cut with scissors like wallpaper.





After a few hours, the edges of the veneer are cut off and fine sanded with a sandpaper. Then the parts are oiled with hard wax oil from Remmers.



The oil perfectly reveals the structure of the wood and protects the surface from mechanical damage, giving it a smooth sheen.



This is how the page looks before and after the application of the oil. Darker and with more details.







Before closing the box from the top, do not forget to line the interior behind the midrange-tweeter chamber with the sonofil. Do not forget also on the upper side, there must also be the Sonofil (TM).



While the box dries, the crossover is built. The included PCB makes it easy to solder all parts correctly.

Ready for action

Now we work on the interior, the walls are covered with the Bodum or damping material and the crossover is screwed to the rear side under the upper woofer.


The front came from the painter and it looks great.



Now the front can finally be attached to the rest of the box. For this purpose, many towels were used to protect the freshly sprayed surface.



Well, and after a long wait, the finished box can finally be placed next to its smaller sister - the Satorique 2. A nice view, isn't it?





The large transformer and the bass crossover are mounted on the base and the rear terminals get the label. Then just fix the chassis with the screws and the box is ready. Under the chassis I still stuck a line of the foam sealing tape (supplied), so that everything sits perfectly and seals. The HT-MT box needs to be sealed perfectly so that the two MTs work like one piston. When you push one MT, the other is forced out. In are also installed the two triangle blockers from Bodum800. You still have to make enough holes in the bottom floor.



Then I attached the HT and MT turnouts to the rear side. The cables are passed through the holes in the sides. I soldered to the cable ends on the sides of chassis FAST-ON connectors.



The spikes are mounted to the underside of the base and off to the legs, beauty. The box gets, as with the Satorique 2, a French granite base.

And the most important comes at the end

What about the battle between S2 and S4. A question that interested me even before the build.

As I wrote in my review of S2, the S2 was for me a big surprise in the presentation of spatiality, the truth of production, the simply perfect to the size of the box not bergreifliche bass reproduction, a lively real voice reproduction and many other things that you do not expect and expect from such a small box. The S2 is simply a must for anyone looking for the best price / performance ratio. And the S4? I have to admit that the very first notes were somehow different. I ran You and Your Friend by Dire Straits again and I recognized the same tone color as it was on S2. So everything was fine there. The bass was also quite alright, S2 moderately. Well, but there I was wrong. There are actually no deep basses in the track. They came later. Every next track I played, every now and then there was something coming out of the speakers that I didn't recognize in that track. It was kind of strange. But that's just the difference between the S2 and S4. The lowest bass is only played on S4. But not over the top, like you know from cheap "Rutz-dutz" speakers, but subtle when you don't expect it and strong and dry when you want to hear it louder. So I started playing all kinds of tracks where I thought there would be bass in it. It was totally new experience for me, I just didn't recognize the tracks anymore. It was like rediscovering everything.



So now I discover my SACD collection already again, the lowest sound line shows new details. Because my boxes are only about 50 cm in front of the wall, I thought I will have problems with too much bass. Although the instructions say to shorten bass reflex tube, I left it un-shortened. The strength of the bass is enough so, my less than ideal living room is probably to blame. I also recommend it to everyone to go slowly with the shortcut, enough test if the bass strength is enough. So in a nutshell, the S4 brings a whole new world to the lowest bass, it's actually the clarity and all the good stuff from S2 plus a built in accurate subwoofer. So what more could you ask for?

I recommend checking out the track Welcome To The Maschine by Pink Floyd (SACD Wish You Were Here), on the S4 it's just pure reality. You even get scared of being eaten by the machine.

I also tested the home theater suitability, of course. There, the added value over S2 is even more apparent. That's why I specifically bought the Blu-ray of Anathema that Marcus writes about in his build report. The first song just took my breath away. You get such a feeling that the speakers are simply a passageway into the cathedral, and the cathedral stretches out into your living room. The guitar solo in Comfortably Numb in the live version from the latest Roger Waters Blu-ray The Wall just has to be enjoyed very loud, no problem for S4 by the way. No breakdown of details, everything is there, every played string is there. A pure live experience. In the movies, the effects are presented real and the best are various explosions where the windows almost tremble. You really don't need a subwoofer anymore. Everything is included in S4.

I'm sorry that the build is already over, because that's the best part of building your own speakers.
But I'm sure there will be something new soon with the Satori drivers. I still have space under the TV.

Best regards
Vlada

Vladas Satorique 4 Video

Nicos Satorique 4 - Bubinga Pommelé

Contribution from Nico



Dissatisfied with my small and much too bass-heavy system with the red T, I was looking for a more sensible and, above all, but sound quality alternative.

After I had dealt more intensively with the subject of speakers for the first time, I was first overwhelmed by the sheer number of manufacturers.

After a long rummage and paying attention only to the appearance, I have then the B&W 702 S2 in the eye, since these appealed to me visually the most and priced at 4000 euros per pair were still within the financially tolerable.

By chance, I then came with Jens, a good buddy and work colleague in the conversation, this told me enthusiastically about his self-built speakers, which he had bought used.

At first I was very skeptical about the subject of loudspeaker construction, since I had never dealt with the subject before. However, Jens' enthusiasm for his loudspeakers made me curious and so he invited me to his home to try them out.

While we listened to music, he recommended several DIY speaker models, including the Satorique 4, which he had heard at a colleague's house. In the end, I decided after a long back and forth for the Satorique 4, since this was in my opinion with the pre-milled kit for beginners but much easier to build.

So I finally ordered them blindly without having heard them before.
A short time later, Markus from Intertechnik called me and asked me how it came about that I ordered this box without having heard it beforehand, since this is not exactly cheap. What can I say ... I just relied on my gut feeling, the positive construction reports and the unusual design of the baffle could also convince me!

What I would like to mention especially:
Markus has answered each of my questions about the construction of the box very friendly and detailed. Top!

But now I don't want to bore you further with my introduction and continue with the build report. Have fun reading!



So on May 21 it arrived, my much-awaited order.

Delivered the parts on a really big wooden pallet, the chassis, turnouts and insulation came a little earlier in a very large box.



For beginners like me, I would just like to point out to glue the side walls necessarily with the help of an angle! This I had unfortunately not done and had thereby a minimal oblique position of the first side wall. Also the lowest stiffener at the foot end did not fit 100% with me, so I had to sand something, which was ultimately but half so wild. I suspect that I have inserted them the wrong way around.

Now let's move on to insulation.

The cutouts of the insulation for the bass channels before gluing from the inside behind the tweeter-midrange chamber simply sign and then cut out. Works great!
So I have insulated the high-midrange chamber. The whole thing was fixed with a little spray adhesive. Make sure that the bass channels remain free! The high-midrange chamber must also be insulated from above, i.e. below the lid! Also opposite the bass reflex tube must be insulated.

Now let's move on to the veneering of the cabinet.

I preferred to leave this task to Jan, an acquaintance of mine. Jan is ideally a carpenter and thus of course has the appropriate machines (veneer press, CNC router, etc.) in the workshop. Unfortunately, the first attempt to veneer the box went wrong, the veneer cracked after gluing on the entire back wall. After a short back and forth, Jan then came up with the idea of making separate MDF pieces and veneering them, then gluing them around the box - a second body practically. To be on the safe side, he first veneered the parts with leftover veneer, on the second try it worked out wonderfully and looked absolutely awesome!
The newly made and veneered parts:

Here you can already see the beautiful grain of the veneer. By the way, I bought the veneer at Ulrich Furniere in Hamburg-Veddel. There I was shown around in a friendly manner and was allowed to look around extensively. Since the new parts were larger by 12mm per side, a new baffle and rear panel had to be milled, new feet as well. Especially clever I found Jan's idea with the circumferential joint to glue!





Here is another picture of an oiled veneer piece, looks much better right away! The newly milled foot also fits like a glove.

The housings after painting with clear varnish

Why did I choose clear varnish instead of oiling?

As far as I know, a clear varnish sealant is much more durable and also protects the veneer against fading due to UV radiation.

Oiling, on the other hand, would have to be renewed every few years and probably does not protect the veneer against UV radiation.

Stands and baffles painted in black. The base is screwed to the cabinet. For screwing I find impact sleeves in the long run most meaningful. Now it could go to the gluing of the baffle.

I personally find the veneer in combination with the black baffle really breathtakingly beautiful, and the grain is just amazing! For the next box I could also imagine a completely veneered box with inserted baffle.





Once home, I immediately started wiring the crossovers and soldering the drivers. When soldering, it is best to use a bit of insulating fleece or similar as a base, so that you do not spoil the surface of the baffle by the spraying solder.

Unfortunately, a bit of solder dripped on the paint, which is fortunately only visible when looking closely.

Also, you should be careful when screwing the chassis beastly that you do not slip with the screwdriver and thereby scratch the surface of the baffle.

I use red spikes with coasters, underneath a granite plate* on foam pads.
As speaker cables I currently still use simple hardware store stripping, which I would like to exchange for "reasonable" Audioquest soon, however.

*The type of stone is called "Emerald Pearl" - ordered at www.granit-discount.com.
Costs about 200 euros for 2 plates.

We additionally secured the screws with screw lock, as well as the screws of the stand. The place looked like a battlefield during assembly, but what do you put up with? The girlfriend has meanwhile rather pissed off, I do not understand at all ... ;)

How impressive the box looks on the small Ikea lacquer table! The second box in the background still nicely protected packed. The bass reflex tube I left untrimmed.

The whole thing is powered by a Jeff Rowland Continuum 500 integrated amplifier from 2011, as a DAC I use a Lampizator Level 5 (4th generation from 2013) with separate dual mono power supply.

Conclusion

The Satorique 4 is really a fantastic sounding speaker. Everyone who has heard you so far has been very taken with the sound and the look of the speakers. Unfortunately, I can not put into words the sound of the speakers.

PS:

As a tip for beginners like me, I recommend always gluing the housing parts with an angle and not by eye - first check whether everything fits together before you glue the parts. It's also best to use joint glue, it doesn't tighten as quickly and is easier to correct afterwards.

Here is a small size comparison of the crossovers. From left to right you see the woofer, tweeter and midrange unit. Below is the large transformer core coil.



The agony of choice with the almost infinite number of veneers... in the picture is only a small selection of samples. Below on the left is, among other things, another Bubinga variety.

I also find the red Padouk, above right, particularly beautiful. Lacquered and with a black baffle, the veneer would certainly also be a feast for the eyes!

Maybe someday with the Agile Dynamics. ;)

My closing words

First of all, I would like to thank every reader who is interested in my boxes and my construction report. A big thank you also goes to Marcus Nötzel and his colleagues, who always helped me with questions and advice. Great cinema!
I would also like to apologize for the late completion of the construction report.

Overall, the construction of the boxes has dragged on from May to December, the wait was of course extremely difficult for me. The moment and the feeling when the boxes were then finally built in front of me and gave the first sounds of itself, was really indescribable. When you assemble something with your own hands, then sounds come out at the end and it then also sounds indescribably good... it's madness! If you've never built a loudspeaker before, you probably can't imagine the feeling, but I can only recommend it to anyone who is interested: Do it! Dare, you will not regret it.

Building a loudspeaker is not a witchcraft in itself, because the many building reports have helped me a lot, even during the construction of the Satorique 4.

In the meantime, I can proudly say that the self-building virus has taken hold of me and that I will probably never buy a finished loudspeaker! I am also very much looking forward to the next project, although it will be very difficult to top the sound of the Satorique 4.

With kind regards,
Euer Nico!

Satorique 4 - Hopefully reached the end

Contribution from Markus

It was quite funny; a few years ago there was suddenly silence at the front door

No more kids waiting for me to come home from work. So, what to do? The free time had to be used sensibly.

Gaaaaaaaaany time ago I had built a Visaton subwoofer for my home theater. So the decision was made quickly: The new hobby will be loudspeaker building. At that time I didn't know yet, into which financial abysses this can lead ;-))). So the first kit was ordered quickly; one became many:

1. "Miv... something" with high-end crossover ;-) - was "dusted" by my son. Then I found (like each of you) the site "Lautsprecherbau.de" with many building suggestions.

So it went on like this

2. Vota 2 - then wanted the other son
3. SB 417 classic - which then stayed with dad
4. Audible 34 - Son No. 1 needed additional speakers

I wanted to take them to Christian's first listening event in Ingolstadt, but they fell victim to a party shortly before.

5. SB 36 - necessary replacement for the Audible.
6. SB 36 Center
7. SB 15 Front-High and effect speakers

In the meantime I was also in Kerpen and met Marcus here. I listened to the Duetta, Doppel 7, Little Princess etc.. Hängengeblieben is the:

8. Satorique 1 - for the terrace

The Satori 1 stands covered in my outdoor seating by the pizza oven; enclosure weatherproofed with sandstone wallpaper. I sit here all summer while reading, making pizza, etc. This speaker is phenomenal.



So it came then but as it had to come. I sat at the pizza oven and browsed again on lautsprecherbau.de and Marcus had just put the construction report of the Satorique 4 online.

I immediately answered the phone: "Marcus, can we expand the Satori 1?" Unfortunately, he had to disappoint me here; that's not possible, but I should be patient a little longer because there is a Satori 3 coming. Maybe there is something possible. So wait..............feels like an eternity.

My plans continued to mature mentally anyway

I wanted to build the S4 (this should be in the living room) and when the S3 was then presented with Beryllium tweeter, everything was decided:

It will be the S4 with beryllium tweeter.

The two Satorique 1 are remodeled to the matching center speaker. This I had already clarified in part by email with Marcus and also received from him the matching switches. Apropos: I find this a SUPER SERVICE!

In October 17, I visited Christian and Tanja in Ingolstadt and listened to his Eton Arcosia Primo Plus. He then recommended me the Agile - ahhhhhhhh - this is the most expensive box!. But very tempting. After another phone call with Marcus......., again: the guy is tops!..........es remains: Satorique 4 with beryllium. So, whoever has made it this far will now get the construction report.

The housing planning

How should it be? The image search on Google, Yahoo, etc. helped me a lot here. In the end, the decision was made to build the S4 in the style of the Focal Grande Utopia. This time I wanted to make straight side panels because I had already built enough oval boxes and straight surfaces are easier.

At the same time, during lunch breaks, I thought about how to construct the whole thing. An adjustment of the angles of the individual modules as with the original Utopia was much too complex and not necessary. So I had the idea to realize the whole thing with hinges. Here I am then flexible with the angles until the two pretty ones stand in the living room and sound. Then I can "play" with the angles until I like it. The required spacers for the rear will be manufactured and attached afterwards.

To test the WAF factor, I quickly made a sample out of cardboard and showed it to my wife. After the first fit of laughter, she then gave her OK! The design was also quite fast.

Many thanks here to my wife Geli, called mouse. She is very "resilient" here.

The fronts and the lower / upper sides of the modules are painted black; the front of the HT module gets a stainless steel plate with milling of the speaker designation; side parts are veneered and also finished with clear lacquer.

Cross over

I knew the Satorique 1 - crossovers as powerful. So I planned from the beginning to build the bass crossover and the MT/HT crossovers separately. The bass crossover in the bass module; the MT-HT crossovers in one of the MT modules. The cables between the modules should look professional; hence the decision to hide the cables in fabric tubes.

Oh by the way, the construction phase will show that the planning phase can't be long enough.

The building phase

When ordering the blanks, it is important to order boards for TWO speakers. In the parking lot of the Bauhaus, I came but quite into the brooding, when I looked at the blanks so - too late, shortly before 20 o'clock. So then on Monday again order the rest.
Nevertheless, I started gluing the first boards on Sunday. I quickly realized that I would have problems with the wiring of the MT and HT modules if I glued them completely. Because of the small volumes that were necessary here, I had to build a dead space into the HT/MT modules. I therefore decided to install the cables before the final gluing of the modules; each module thus gets two binding posts, which are then used to connect to the turnout. If you rummage on the Internet, what there is everything for pole terminals, you can already spent a small fortune here. I decided for an affordable middle way. They should look high quality and be affordable.

The idea described in the planning phase to install the MT/HT crossovers in one of the MT modules was thus already obsolete again. Everything goes into the bass module. The assembly of the individual modules then went quickly from the hand, Schaubzwingen were not necessary.



Due to the not optimal cuts from the hardware store ... next time I'll go to the carpenter ... then came a somewhat larger spatula action on me. Well, the weather was nice, so this could be done at least in the sunshine outside.

After this was done, it went to the veneering. I first thought of veneering only the two sides and painting the back, front and top/bottom black; but then I decided to veneer everything except the back. I used the SaRaiFo (Safe the Rainforest!) veneer "Rosewood Santos". These veneers are applied to a flow; and are manufactured in such a way that the rainforest survives. In addition to this advantage, they are much less brittle and some are available in extreme widths. My measurements were 250cm x 42 cm (3 sheets) and 250 x 64 cm (1 sheet). I decided to use the iron-on method for applying the veneer sheets. I have to say that this works better and gets cleaner each time I do it. Next time I would probably veneer just the front first, then do the baffle routing, and then veneer the rest of the surfaces. I already had everything veneered. So when transporting the modules it was always: ATTENTION, just do not get stuck somewhere.



After the routing, the slanted MDF rails were attached to the undersides of the modules (glue and screws); these are necessary to position the modules at an appropriate angle. In order to be able to determine the optimal distance and angle of the individual modules to each other, I had previously simply placed wood scraps between the modules and visually assessed.............here again: planning phase is not equal to construction phase.......You remember.........there was once talk of hinges?

Afterwards, the backs, the bottoms and the rails were painted with varnish (a varnish technician friend of mine recommended a velour roller for varnishing, because the result is much better than with a foam roller). Two coats of varnish gave a very good result; since both the undersides and the backsides are actually "invisible" in the living room and the flow already gave a very good surface, I did not do the time-consuming sanding. The MT/HT modules were then glued together. The bass modules remained on their own.



For a long time, I flirted with clear varnish as a finish, but then decided on waxing. In the building materials market I bought appropriate furniture wax. (Basis is beeswax) The application with a cotton cloth was problem-free. Here, however, I can recommend to really only apply the wax in the direction of the grain and to immediately wipe away too much applied wax. I did not.............10 rinsing sponges later, all modules were brought to a high gloss; sore muscles say hello.
Then it was time to install the turnouts. WHAT A BLAST!!! If these turnouts are not high-end, there are no high-end turnouts!!!

Initially, I had thought to build them myself, but Marcus was so nice ....(thank God; thank you for that).



I really take my hat off to it. Since I had provided the bass modules with two stiffeners, I decided to install all crossovers in the lower third of the box. This is also where the bass reflex tube is installed (...........have I already mentioned that this is also very powerful???). So this area remains free of damping wool anyway. Since the crossovers have very high quality terminals for the complete wiring on the boards, this went very easily from the hand.

To be able to do all this, however, I had to saw open the bottom of the bass module beforehand. As already written above..............the planning phase cannot be long enough.

The next step was to attach the various damping mats. For the MT chamber, Marcus packed me self-adhesive mats; these things are really sticky. For the bass section, Marcus had recommended Bitumex panels, since I had only built the cabinets out of 19mm MDF. These are also self-adhesive and reduce resonance vibrations. After I then cut and installed the Sonofil mats also for the bass modules, the normal insulation wadding still came in. To keep the MT/HT modules secure on the bass section, I used wooden dowels to create a connection that makes it easy to remove the top section when needed.

Then it was ready:

The wedding

All drivers were installed and fit very precisely into the milled holes. The tweeter is currently still somewhat protruding; here it is planned to cover the front with stainless steel sheet. This will give the box an even more noble touch.


After everything was wired up, the loudspeakers were weighed into the living room (each speaker now weighs a total of about 55kg) and connected.

The two hang on a Marantz stereo amplifier PM 8003; after I slowly turned up the volume control from the 0 position, disillusionment set in. A bass module did not work. After I had uncovered the crossover again and had telephoned with my brother-in-law I had the assumption that it could be because of the transformer core coil. Here I had shortened the connecting wires; thus pinching off the area of the wires with conductivity. The beautiful copper-colored wires, which I had then wired to the boards, were coated with non-conductive protective lacquer. After this was removed by sandpaper, everything worked fine.

Already the first notes were then the hammer

The only problem last night was that I couldn't decide what I wanted to listen to. Absolute favorite was of course Adele Live at the Royal Albert Hall; I bought it after Bass-Attack tested my box and had the Blu-ray with me. Dolby DT-HD; more is not possible with 9.1. "Fields of Gold" by Sting, for example, is also something special. I'm looking forward to the time when all drivers are properly tuned, but already now I do not regret having built these speakers; the purity in the high and mid-range is second to none........in my opinion superior to the ER4 AMT. And tonight there is Battleship or Transformers on the ears.



Finally, I would like to thank everyone again, but especially Marcus. I think it's really great that this site exists, but I wish the forum would get a little more life again. My door is of course open to anyone who wants to listen to this exceptional speaker.

Looking at the pictures for the build report, I noticed that I will probably have to invest in some rinsing sponges again to polish the surface even more. But I didn't want to keep you waiting any longer. In this sense Happy New Year.

Markus.......with "k"
 

.........., a year gone already?

 

Satorique Center

Last year around this time I promised Marcus to write a build report about my Satorique Center.
As written in the construction report of my S4, I wanted to convert my two Satori 1 from the garden into a center. Marcus had provided me with a turnout for this purpose. For the garden / free seat I wanted to build something new. ("Satorique 4 - Hopefully arrived at the end")

The design stood quite quickly:

He had to fit in the designated place in the living room. This is a "niche" under the TV. The volume of the Satorique 1 was simply doubled "Pi times thumb"; the dimensions then designed to fit............lucky; everywhere about 2mm!!!!! Air.
Since the center is thus quite close to the ground, I have slightly beveled the front, so that the radiation of the drivers is diagonally upwards. Works great.





As you can see in the pictures, the whole thing is a compromise, because the center disappears behind a flap. The black area seen in the picture is a fabric for speaker coverings. There used to be a glass panel in the flap; it was removed; the resulting "hole" was covered. Thus, it looks quite respectable when the flap is closed.
The original plan to remove the flap and install the center firmly does not fit from the WAF (Women-Acceptance-Factor). Well, my wife doesn't have to agree to everything.
For normal TV viewing, etc., it also works in the "suboptimal range".





When the screen is put up and the home theater starts, we open the flap and all three drivers shine out into the open. It doesn't look particularly great then.............but it's dark in the cinema.
For the construction I used 19mm MDF boards; I had some veneer left over from the construction of the S4, so I could veneer the front and the lid. The rest remained "naked", but you can't see that.
When I installed the turnouts, I made sure that the HT turnout was as far away from the MT/TT turnout as possible.
Marcus had pointed out to me at the time of the S4 report that I had not installed the points optimally.
I have so far refrained from a correction (I find them even as the hammer)............stattdessen I plan to build new housing for the summer. MAN has to build something. This time I want to build cases with solid wood fronts, but there are no detailed plans yet. A report, if desired, I will make but gladly ;-)

To the sound?

The center sounds almost as good as the Satorique 1, has of course more "boom" due to the second driver; in the sound image it fits into the home theater top. I started about 30 years ago with a Sony 5.1 system made of plastic cabinets. This was replaced by the Infinity Alpha series. Subsequently, the jump to the center. The final stage of expansion is now the Satorique Center. Sonically always audible differences.

Currently I have the following setup:

- Pioneer SC-LX 78 home theater receiver
- Marantz PM 8005 stereo amplifier
- Pioneer BD-LX 58 and Apple TV as feed players
- Satori 4 as main speakers; hanging from PM 8005; this can be switched between power amp and HIFI mode.
- Satorique - Center
- SB and JBL-Control 1C as surround speakers

Oh one more thing..............at the end of the story I bought the missing drivers again and put the Satori 1 with the yes still existing crossovers back into operation.
Sometimes I act already completely brain-free

I hope it was fun to read the report.
Greetings
Markus

Ralfs Satorique 4

Contribution from Ralf



After 30 years, which I have spent happily with my self-built Eton speakers, an enthusiastic tale of a friend, about a listening appointment of the systems Satorique 2, Satorique 3 and 4 suburb in Kerpen, gave me the idea to think about an update of my current speakers. So I quickly made an appointment to listen to the systems.

With great expectations, I went together with my friend to a hearing appointment in the 200 km away hearing studio. After 5 hours of listening and a very patient employee of was clear: It must be the Satorique 4. So ordered all the parts and waited.

The first delivery the housings are here!!! Finally unpack and get started.

Quite a lot of boards!

Board by board it becomes a box.

Done: Everything glued.

Now still sanding and milling the shadow gap!

Meanwhile, the rest has been delivered.




So now paint but before that solder the crossover.



I decided to go for a stone look and got myself some granite effect paint from the spray can.



I think the result is something to be proud of.

Now install the speakers and crossover.

The woofer crossover mounted in the floor and later the tweeter or midrange crossover screwed to the rear panel.

After a longer playing time now the first sound impression

What can I say: Exactly as desired! Highs and midrange are perfect! The bass is deep and powerful.

One CD after another were listened to and the previously heard difference (of my old ETON speakers) was even more audible. A high-end speaker that plays all types of music perfectly and also allows volume levels far above the usual.

Tips and tricks

If possible, attach the midrange and tweeter crossover to the rear panel, including cables, directly before assembly.

When painting, I first applied a base coat of Schöner Wohnen DurAcryl Fenster- und Türlack with the roller and after 1.5 hours applied Dupli-Color Granit Effect spray paint liberally to get the desired surface effect.



Greetings
Ralf

Home cinema on reference level!

Contribution from Mazaksklaus



A few months ago I decided, it must be in my beloved home theater a new front equipment! I went online in search of which speakers it should be now. I looked around at auction houses, classifieds and all sorts of sellers. After several failures and unsuccessful negotiations, I eventually came across the Electa 1027be, which made a good impression on me. I had not heard them yet. With all my uncertainty, I registered in a forum and asked for help. The help also came, but not as I imagined.

Basic statement in the forum and also from my Hifi dealer:
"A home theater equipment should be as homogeneous as possible! Say, 5 or more of the same LS, or even a coordinated system of a brand or series!" This statement I can confirm today!

In said forum, however, was predominantly advised to a Klipsch system, which could not convince me but simply. So I bought the Focal. And lo and behold, they were great! Now of course a suitable center had to go, it had to go fast, because once the idea is in the head it must be implemented ;-) Stupid, but it is so... goes here certainly most so! So I made a "new" Focal cc 1008be to find the almost as much as the two front LS cost. No matter! 500km later was then also the center arrived in the living room, and look, WOW what an increase (previously I had as a center a ...... HTM 1).

Ok the tip about homogeneous was worth gold.



After several films at high levels I then suddenly noticed that every now and then the bass hit ... hhmm doof but good is by adjusting sure to get a grip.
Now I was registered in the forum and researched me through some posts whose writers had really impressive home theaters, and I kept coming across SELF-BUILDING ... Self-build!? That should be what ?

Hhmm well I am someone who actually always tries to build something himself before he buys something for a lot of money.... but loudspeakers? Yes well of course the partly very noble optics, the advertising, the test reports, the distribution, the production of all this and much more costs a lot of money, what is then actually left of the budget that really flows into the material of which I then also ultimately hear something? Probably not much! So self-construction ... yes self-construction I make myself nevertheless better times cleverly. So I rummaged through the Internet for SBLS (self-build speakers) and now came across a certain name again and again, of whose structures were always spoken in the highest tones.



I thought, ok the things must be the madness call the man at...... yes call, one says that so easily .... no chance ... ok then just mail, it is slow, ineffective and annoying, but if there is no other way.... so out with the mail.... He answered several times quite friendly, but without answering my questions and even on the request to make a telephone appointment, (Because I had an infinite number of questions) he did not want to talk to me. After a week I thought then Rene, the man does not want your good 2600Euro, so leave him alone. From your field of application, the home theater, he also holds nothing. Since you could hear no boxes sample because completely unsuitable (by the way, we have the year 2016) ... but well topic chopped off my money should go somewhere else. Now the page loudspeaker construction appeared.

One mail later, I TELEPHONED with a certain Marcus, a friendly and VERY accommodating man!!! A few weeks or days later, I made my way to Kerpen with a good buddy (who I spontaneously got excited about). Arrived at an inconspicuous building, which was very easy to reach, we discovered a cardboard sign written with sharpie on the floor, which showed us the way down into the cellar. The first impression: "Well, this can be something" (I was only used to HighEnd dealers, where it looks a little different) .... but no matter my buddy and I find "so shed" yes cool. No tütü and chi-chi ... In the catacombs received us an imposing figure named Marcus! "The coffee is warm, the fridge is there, beer and coke all in there, help yourselves!" Horny ... what a guy! :-) Short tour, short Vorjesprääch, put out the boxes that I had picked out, once the High Holy Duetta, the Double 7 and the Satorique 2.....

Oh so, at my insistence was also exclusively for me or us a TV in the listening room. I had my Oppo BD player under my arm and a few of my best music BDs. Everything was Ruck zuck angeklemmt, our butts on the couch and off gings ....zuerst the double 7 concert purely ... Play... a little louder than room volume ..... well not really, ok, but not cool ... I prefer the Focal.


Next up, the Duetta, the Saint.... based on my previous research, my expectations were of course way way too high. She was good but hhhmmm.... "What else do you have Marcus?" That's right the S2..., "it's next to us" ...2 minutes later it stood in front of us, inconspicuous without giant volume, we were excited. The first sounds came out, WOW "That little thing does that?!" Looked, yes there are the cables in it, crass!!! And at that price ?! The Duetta is almost twice as expensive, that was not worth the extra price, although for me the tweeter is not the real thing.

So the S2 should be it. But I was not completely satisfied with it, almost perfect, but only almost ... I said to Marcus, "The one in a larger version, that would be it!" Because I know me. At my levels, it's not enough (by the way, my companion agreed with me in all respects!).... So we both stood next to the S2 and conveyed my request to Marcus. About one size bigger... He looked at us, took a deep breath and said "Maybe I have something for you, but you have to promise me not to write anything on the Internet before the publication of it! ... What we? No, not us! ... Ok, what's next?! He got up, went to the corner, where an old blanket hid something underneath. A "Erlkönig" ?! Under this old blanket slowly came out a high-gloss white painted beautiful box, no, a LOUDSPEAKER.

My first thought "Haaallooo who are you?! ... Now the space in front of the TV was a little tight.Marcus: "The Duetta can go away or?" Me: "YAP!!!" ... The S2 came also immediately away, I had only eyes for the large white.

The cables came in, I pressed play 3..2..1.... boa is the horny. 20sec. of my favorite BD and it was happening around me. This is it!!!!! No! ... It will be ;-)!!!

We listened to a few pieces in the setting set by Marcus, after my question already louder. Now my companion and I decided to leave the room volume and listen loudly, as we were used to. So I asked Marcus if I could turn up the volume? A horrified face looked at us " Even louder" ? ... "Huh that's not loud!?"


I looked at my companion and we did not know quite whether that was meant seriously.... Marcus again " So loudly nobody wanted to hear here yet!" ... We laughed at first....OK!? Crass but that was really not so loud! ... "But yes of course makes even louder!" Ok... I jumped on the regulator and screwed times to the right .... So! That's loud now! ... Whereby a little bit still goes... so to the regulator (I hate by the way these puristic Hifi amplifiers without remote control). A song flew into our faces at full level. Marcus followed the whole event from his armchair without showing any pain in his face.

We both just grinned ... So loud,so clear and effortless the air movements came out of the big white. I was thrilled ... After a few pieces I said: "So that was loud! And that was awesome!"

I showed Marcus a few more pieces of my collection and he seemed really amazed what there is great on Bluray. He quickly took photos of all the sleeves, and then showed us his favorite pieces from the phone ... Also cool! Forgotten was also quickly the speaker selection, the S4 was already bought!





After several musical performances I had a quick look at the clock ... "Oh already 21:45, oh my" ....I thought: "But now it's over, the good man must slowly go to bed" ;-) No, little joke! No one made an effort to end the session but reason should prevail, it was finally Thursday. So it's over, we're still driving more than a hundred kilometers home! Still briefly a few questions clarified to the price and when it will give and off home! For this already times all thanks to Marcus. I have rarely experienced such a courteous "dealer" who gives so much effort and takes a lot of time! Simply great!!!!



A few days later, the first symptoms of the listening session appeared. I became impatient!!! ... Actually, I have no time for such "nonsense", like building boxes, because we are building and the house must be finished. Nevertheless, I nagged Markus a few weeks after the visit already, when there would be the things now to buy? I could already go to get the housing and in between already glue. At some point I got the relieving mail "The housings are ready! ... All right, into the car and off to Kerpen ...

Marcus was just tinkering with the Micro AMT, of which briefly ran ONE and I just thought: "That's the little thing there ?!" "Yes!" "Awesome!!!"

So where are the housings? :-) After a pleasant short chat they disappeared in the trunk and quickly they were in the workshop ... Well, ok in the shell ... Now I had of course no quiet minute more.

A week later I had vacation and the carcass had to wait of course. I began to glue! This fitting accuracy of the single parts of the case kit was super, even for me as a metal builder! Quite quickly and easily the housings were together and with sufficient drying time also clamped and lashed.



Well, as I said, I am a metal builder and the optics only with paint or wood was not an option for me! So the S4 was clad with steel and painted, very elaborately painted, which also unfortunately Due to the order I chose and stupid impatience went in places in the pants. Stupid, but is now so well ... Dry in my opinion, I dragged the empty housings, some of which were already insulated, into the living room ("Shit are they heavy now! And that without the crossovers and the chassis, well that can be what!") As I then upstairs arrived, the paint was not dry! Or rather not yet completely solid! "Shit, two impressions in the varnish made ... well is then just now so."





Any attempt to touch up would only make things worse, so hands off! I'm just not used to wait so long for paint or glue ... normally it is: welding, cool down, paint on it, a few hours later griffest (and not over several days to dry) Next time I know better!





So now I have to solder! Personally, I would prefer to weld it, but according to Marcus can not Small joke ;-)... It actually went quite well until I came to the terminals to solder the cables to it. That took forever until they were warm. But even that worked. The crossover I had to install later, because a capacitor was still missing, which was delivered later ...That was fiddly, the compartment is narrow, and the insulation makes life difficult.



Eventually everything was done and after I got from our company electrician a few soldering tips went better (To warm up always give a little tin on the piston tip, which conducts the heat better) Remaining insulation and the chassis pure, (so slowly it's about time that I'm done, I have no more desire) the Ls to their destination maneuvered.



"Oh damn are these things heavy", cable on and great, everything runs,also sounds good but apparently they really need their break-in time (which I always thought was humbug) ,which they should get! After a few hours of running I tested them and I was more and more enthusiastic! Details I didn't notice before. Clean at high levels, what a great box!!!













The only mistake was that I bought the Focal a few weeks too early! I could have saved the 2200Euro! I'm looking forward now, soon to be able to build the S4 Center ... No there is not yet!

By the way, the S4 play on 54sqm!

I would the S4 but even now no longer give away, although due to the still short play-in time certainly still hides potential!

Greetings

Peter's Satorique S4

Peter's report





Oh, what a feeling it is to unpack the first, self-saved, hi-fi speakers, sitting on the floor in the teenager's den - I can still smell that sweet mixture of PP cones and foiled chipboard of the little Infinity when I think of it. After a few years, around the beginning of the 1990s, the desire for "higher" fidelity arose, which led to the DIY of a Focal 033. I had the cabinet of the small, fine speaker with titanium dome cut out of white marble by a stonemason, and because of its proud 18 kg, I couldn't get it out of its own way. After two decades and three changes of home, I added an active self-built subwoofer with 2 Alcone woofers to provide reasonable sound in the living room, which had grown to 40 m2 in the meantime. At the age of 50, I'm slowly growing up and the desire for equally grown-up loudspeakers arises. It's clear that it should be a 2.0 system because I still have two ears and the speakers won't be used for a home cinema. It should be a fine, classic floorstanding speaker that can conjure up noticeable levels in the living room even without active support. Sometime during the first year of Corona, I stumbled across Intertechnik and their Satorique. I was immediately taken with the S4: the D'Appolito arrangement, which I'd always had my eye on with Dynaudio, in combination with a double bass foundation, which also visually contributes to the fact that you know where up and down is, Danish chassis know-how married with German engineering, yes, that could be something. After studying some very helpful construction and especially sound descriptions and a phone call to Marcus Nötzel, I embark on the adventure of purchasing this rather expensive kit without ever having heard the speakers. The son also trusts the reports (and as a physicist the frequency curves) and orders an S2 at the same time, but that's another story (see Valentin's S1).

Even if the sound and manufacturing properties and also the price often speak in favour of MDF or plywood, for us as music-making inhabitants of a wooden house it has to be "real" wood. In order not to risk unwanted resonances and to live up to the sublimity of the S4, I set out in search of appropriately mighty walnut wood.

I was very lucky when the incredibly heavy, thick posts, which had been slowly drying naturally in a hayloft for 8 years, were now stored in the living room, halved in thickness, to adapt to the final room climate. It was not planned that the precious woods would remain in the living room under the standing desk for nine months, but good things take time.





To the chagrin of my patient wife, the loudspeaker cabinets are then glued where they will stand in the future: in the living room. In the meantime, we go outside for further work. How good it is to be in a warm room in autumn: After impregnation with natural oil from Auro (No. 121), insulation, soldering and screwing are done at the dining table.
 


After a year of project work, the curiosity about the sound that is to come is almost unbearable. After a two-week total breakdown due to the "bat flu" and just in time for Christmas, the time has finally come: the Satorique is allowed to contribute to the illumination.



Very thoughtfully, my old MacBook is opened, which houses a multitude of music files in Apple's Lossless format, the TEAC AD H01 audio converter and the Yamaha AS 700 are fired up and then - a brief pause. Which piece of music should deliver the first sound of the S4? It's quickly clear - it has to be the number that came over the little Infinity's more than 30 years ago from the first CD we bought: Tracy Chapman, "Baby can I hold you". Closed eyes, open mouth, the heart beats faster. What a sound! Then it's on to Melissa Etheridge and Suzanne Vega. Impressive, this incredible transparency, lightness and the sound of velvet and silk. Especially with Eva Cassidy's "Ain't no sunshine". And how present and crisp the drums sound on Dire Straits' "Where do you think you're going" from the resampled album "Communique". A dream! And what surprising details can be discerned from the E Street band around Mr Springsteen of late. And how unagitated and sublime these beautiful speakers radiate towards me.

Not a day goes by without one or two hours of acoustic exploration. Repeatedly switching between the old small Focal with the titanium dome and the new Satorique S4, however, let some string music, such as the violin music of Kiesenhofer, give rise to a very slight suspicion that the silk dome of the S4 sounds gentler than the violin would in reality. And yes, the one or other metal in the form of glockenspiel, hi-hat or cymbal could be a little sharper for my taste.

A few weeks - and many musical performances later - Marcus Nötzel says on the phone that he can understand my feelings. If I wanted, I could send the crossovers back to Intertechnik and they would make them beryllium-fit for the price of the components.





No sooner said than done, and yes, what else can I say. The painful weeks without the S4 and the not entirely negligible surcharge for switching to the beryllium tweeters let the S4s, to my (titanium-minded) ears, reach top form. Randy Crawford gives you goosebumps with "I've never been to me". Sara K.'s "All Your Love (Turned Into Passion)" leaves you in disbelief, and the Eagles' unplugged version of "Hotel California" from 1994 brings tears of happiness to the eyes of the listeners. The acoustic enlightenment seems to have succeeded.



Peter, Köstendorf near Salzburg, AT

PS: Right after the first rehearsal with the stepfather, the Father & Son project became a "Grandfather, Father & Son - Project" with another S1, this time made of cherry wood.