Satorique Esprit Sub - The subwoofer

Subwoofer extension to the Satorique series

• Tiny size,
• but exceptional performance thanks to
• novel enclosure design.
• Includes amplifier active module and enclosure kit.

Satorique Esprit Sub with Bass Transline Principle

In the listening room the wish for a good subwoofer was often expressed
Actually, I thought, it should be easy to find a high-class subwoofer for the Satorique home theater, but when I listened to the acoustic detailing and the incredibly real performance of the Satorique 1 and the Petit, I started to wonder. A subwoofer with Satorique aspirations!

We have already heard several sound descriptions of subwoofer combinations from our customers. Here are just two examples of many:

"My subwoofer makes nice lift and booms nicely when watching movies, it's enough for home theater support."

Another customer says, "At a live music concert, I turned off my subwoofer and just let the Satorique play because I felt the upper bass wasn't playing properly, mixing all the bass with the Satorique bass."

I myself didn't fare much better when I listened to subwoofers at HiFi trade shows. Hum cubes, that's what the subwoofers are often called and it really has nothing to do with the Satorique series. There is a lot of discussion about subwoofers. A topic that occupies many enthusiastic hi-fi and home theater lovers and often creates frustration.

Most developments today are trimmed for maximum level and not for a musical bass. It is also not uncommon that many subwoofer developments are not even implemented because they fall victim to the red pencil of cost planning from the outset. The lengthy testing of drivers and the development of an elaborate enclosure is time-consuming and costly. This does not work in the low-budget area. In the self-build, the distribution costs for a finished subwoofer are omitted and thus enable a cost reduction. Here, the self-build is clearly at an advantage.

The demand of our customers for the Satorique series is high and since we know that our customers appreciate our efforts, we took on the project. The Satorique series has already established itself as a brand here and this gives you the certainty that it will be constantly expanded in the future. This applies not only to the stereo range, but also to home theater.
The volume of a bass reflex box with TML ports is our bass transline principle.
This sounds both difficult and interesting, and it is.



Nothing ventured, nothing gained. So we start with measuring the chassis. Here it is useful to measure the change of the Tiele and Smal parameters for different volumes and to analyze the change of the parameters. A driver for audiophile bass should therefore have approximately the same efficiency at low levels as well as at higher levels. Now this is not a matter of course. There are many woofers that are so heavily damped via the surround that they no longer have linear behavior and play particularly quietly during quiet impulses. Thus these drivers are inverse in behavior to human hearing. During these series of measurements, a driver that had already attracted attention for its high low-frequency potential emerged as suitable for the Satorique series.

There is a crude recipe for the lowest tones: increase the diaphragm mass and the resonant frequency decreases. Simple and effective, however that is also clear, the quality increases and the tendency to drone with it. So according to literature, it is now quite favorable to develop a transmission line for the optimum low frequency yield. Another way, is to realize the low tuning of a bass reflex enclosure via passive diaphragms. Therefore now a hermaphrodite was built, an enclosure, which is to be assigned from the volume to a bass reflex box and which receives ports after the construction criteria of a TML. Here, the low frequency yield was optimized by simulation and the flow losses of the housing were minimized by the installation of wooden profile strips. The result is a compact subwoofer with the precision and fine dynamics as the Satorique1 and Petit play.
Superior cabinet construction using CNC parts for the perfect enclosure
It doesn't get more compact than this. The bass transline principle turns out extremely small, which benefits the living room friendliness.

The cabinet construction should be feasible for everyone, whether in a hobby room or on the kitchen table. There is also no need for a tool park to build the case. If you want, you can put your cell phone next to it and build your case picture by picture. Dry construction also makes sense, because it protects you from mistakes that can't be fixed after gluing. I'm sorry that I don't explain every board now. After all, there are assembly instructions included with the kit for anyone who prefers to have it in paper form.

Since it was summer and my neighbor likes to watch, I built the good piece in our garden. Why squat in the den even with the nice weather.

When it comes to varnishes, I always like to try something new. This time the choice fell on a varnish for boat builders of the brand International. Pre-Kote is a one-component precoat paint and is suitable for International's topcoat. I chose this one in premium high-gloss white. The fact that these paints are extremely impact resistant and resistant to liquids is self-explanatory due to the purpose for which they were developed. I'm thrilled, but that doesn't mean that everyone can put their Coke down on it in the home theater.













Amplifier module with class AB circuit for the reproduction of natural instruments.
The solid oldschool amplifier module with class AB circuitry was used as the amplifier module. DSP is useful with this sub at most for room correction, but not for correcting the playing behavior of the driver. The choice also fell on this module, because in the past switching power supplies could not convince and of course the damping of a transistor amplifier is the icing on the cake for a very precise playing sub. Thus, the sub can perfectly reproduce impulses, as well as sound effects, as well as natural instruments in all their complex structure.



Now the Satorique subwoofer is ready

And how does it sound?

When I connect the Satorique Petit to the Unison Research-Unico Due stereo amplifier with subwoofer output and lower an acoustically transparent fabric curtain, it sounds like a giant Satorique 4 is standing in front of me.

It plays like a giant gong that plays far deeper than a bass drum. You can literally feel the bass. It's like the gong is being struck in space. With electric basses the same experience: real live atmosphere, nothing presses. The sub plays and even with the Satorique 1 completely natural.

And with movie effects, the bass lines are there, present to the point and ultra deep. I can only recommend it to every home cinema owner.

In a nutshell: a subwoofer with a wonderfully musical bass. Because with a good active woofer like the Satorique Esprit, you hear more details. Even in the midrange, it sounds furious. It sounds improbable, but you should try it. That's because when the bass plays deeper and cleaner in the setup, the midrange also sounds much cleaner.



Even with large speakers that have good low-frequency potential, it sometimes makes sense to use a subwoofer to add even more low end and spaciousness.

This question is sure to come up: Can I also use the Esprit subwoofer for other speaker combinations, such as in the living room or home theater. Yes, but please don't complain that the little one pushes your rooms to the limits. It can not only play musical bass, but also deep like its larger colleagues. Around 20 Hz is not a big challenge for it.

The whole thing for under 1000 euros with an enclosure kit, an active module and a driver on reference level is quite a fair offer, I think.

All home theater people who want to integrate the Esprit Sub into their existing home theater system will get suggestions from us about which power amplifiers they can use to drive the Esprit Sub.

Greetings yours Marcus