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Recreating a Classic: The Sceptre S8 -‐ Review http://www.exound.com/modules/reviews/view.article.php/192

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Recreating a Classic: The Sceptre S8

Submitted by: Fei Fei Source: exbound.com 2013-‐09-‐18 Read: 644 Count of Chinese characters: 4,178

Warfare requires coordination between generals and soldiers. The number of soldiers is important, as is the strategy of the generals. In the battle of the studio monitors, most manufacturers launch two types of speaker into the market: an entry-‐level series focusing on sales volume and word of mouth, and a high-‐end series that favors technology and design points, like the M-‐Audio AV and BX series, the KRK Rokit and VXT, and the Focal CMS and SM6 (the SM9 is more like a model number). If a manufacturer launches three product lines, one will usually be less successful.

For PreSonus, the newcomer to the battlefield, the Eris (the "goddess of conflict"), has performed as well as we predicted since its market launch three months ago. It started out with a small victory by entering the Tian Shui Top 20, a feat which has rarely been seen in the last decade within the mature European and American audio speaker market. We have finally seen a new name at the top end of the list. Its momentum is similar to that of the M-‐Audio ten years ago.

Now PreSonus’ “General” has arrived, the Sceptre. PreSonus does not have any official explanation for the name Eris, however, they have stated that the Sceptre will bring you top quality sound at an affordable price. The official explanation is that the name commemorates a 1960s independent music company called "Sceptre". Anyway, let’s review the performance of this “General”.

(Click on an image and zoom in to 1280 x 960)

Appearance▆▆▆▆▆: It’s common sense that an expensive product should come with


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suitably expensive packaging. Just like the Focal CMS, we have not seen better packaging and a greater number of accessories than that of the Apogee One and CMS, while the Solo6 is quite simple. The Apogee One and Duet come with abundant packaging and contents, while the Symphony I/O comes with a single device that requires the customer to install the DB25 cable themselves.

I was therefore relieved when I saw the Sceptre’s packaging – it certainly does not intend to please you with the packaging alone. On the contrary, it is as low-‐key as most of the products costing ten thousand RMB. However, inside the packaging is a pair of this year’s most eye-‐catching studio monitors.

The S8’s packaging is one size larger than that of the Eris E8, as is the volume (the E8 is one size larger than the

HS8). The S8 is packed in simple corrugated paper, double the thickness of the Eris packaging. A single unit

weighs 11.3kg, 3kg heavier than the HS8, and only 1.5kg lighter than the metal box edition. Note the depth of the

S8: 34cm, almost the largest depth in the 8-‐inch series, so you need to prepare a big rack.


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At first glance, you may well be surprised by the

Sceptre, which is very different from all other

mainstream studio monitors:

l Coaxial design: Speakers with a coaxial design are

usually high-‐end models, such as the Tannoy

Precision series, the ME-‐ Geithain, and the KS

Audio C series.

l Horn: This is normally seen in PA speakers, but is

rare in ordinary studio monitors. The horn design

is only seen in the most expensive,

top-‐of-‐the-‐line main monitors, such as the

Weslake SMI, the JBL M2, the Augspurger, the

Oceanway and the TAD.

l As you’re getting a sense of how special the

Sceptre is, I’d like to introduce the Altec 604,

which will be very familiar to any Western audio

mixer in their fifties or sixties. The Sceptre is

simply a tribute to it.

l The Altec Lansing 604 was the first pair of coaxial boxes in the recording industry. Designed by James B.

Lansing in 1944, it quickly gained popularity and became the first “industry standard”. Due to the fact that

veteran recorders were heavily dependent on the Altec Lansing 604, production continued until 1998. It

saw almost 20 revisions across 54 years and has the longest history of any studio monitor.

l Inspired by the Altec Lansing 604, a British company (Tannoy) launched a different coaxial design in 1946. l James B. Lansing started a new company named JBL (his initials), after he left his previous company.

If you’re interested in the history of studio monitors, you may wish to listen to my public lesson, “The Past and Present of Studio Monitors”, at http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNTkyMTY4NTEy.html


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Skills▆▆▆▆▆：This might be the most difficult evaluation we have ever presented. I hope

that I am fully prepared.

I have rated 70-‐80 pairs of speakers over the last nine years. For me, all good quality products costing ten thousand RMB are roughly the same: similar cost, almost identical dimensions, 1-‐inch dome high frequency and dual frequency (close crossover frequencies), as well as having a similar style and tuning. (This requires balance and objectivity.) Therefore, it makes no sense to switch speakers of the same price level, unless you happen to find something completely different.

l In addition, the S8 has a very large reverse phase hole, an attractive frosted blue power LED, a slightly

arched front panel, which is free from screws, and is surrounded by a 1.5cm deep groove that has no

function (for decoration only?).


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l As with most speakers costing ten

thousand RMB, the S8 only has balanced TRS or XLR input. Commercial unbalanced input is unfortunately not supported.

l The middle of the volume knob defaults to the best Unity position.

l Yellow light low switching includes: 60/80/100Hz

l Green light high frequency (2kHz) includes: +1/-‐1.5/-‐4dB

l Red light Acoustic Space is for low frequency adjustment under 250Hz. Supports attenuation (maximum -‐6dB).

l “Coaxial” is a concept familiar to many. Both high and low frequency units are located on the same axis to

ensure the conformity of the high and low acoustic image. A regular speaker presents notable timbre

changes when it is located vertically / horizontally, or when the high frequency part faces inside or outside.

However, the coaxial deployment always performs constantly.

l Between the 1940s and 1960s, studio monitors were almost all of a coaxial design. After being forgotten for

many years, people have recently begun to demand the coaxial design again. For example, the Genelec

8260 and the ASP Coax. Some brands are also trying to deploy the coaxial design in some entry level

speakers, such as the M-‐Audio M3-‐8, Equator, Prodipe and PreSonus. History is a cycle.


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Due to the technical complexity, there are not many coaxial unit designers. The mainstream coaxial designs are

usually split into two types: the Altec type and the Tannoy type. The original intent of Tannoy was very clever: do

not let the high frequency overpower the low frequency. However, they came across a problem: the interaction

between the high frequency and the low frequency, in other words, intermodulation distortion (IMD). The

crossover frequency was a particular problem which was not solved until the 1970s by Universal Audio.

Coaxial design also faces other problems, for example, inner horn reflection (sound waves reflecting back off the

unit wall). This problem was solved by the famous designer Dave Gunness from Fulcrum with time difference

balance (TQ) DSP. It has many functions, but in a nutshell, TQ compensates for the missing parts and eliminates

unnecessary sounds.

A lot of DIY fans boast about how brilliant they are by replacing an operational amplifier or unit. If they actually designed a speaker they would understand that the unit is an integrated whole. A slight move in one part may affect the situation as a whole. You have to deal with so many uncertainties once you change one single part. To tackle the problems of analog circuits, in recent years people have begun to use DSP, but mostly for "post processing" such as volume and EQ. The "early phase" is mainly digital frequency division, which is a big waste. The DSP chip itself is not worth much; what is valuable is what’s inside the DSP.


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The TQ algorithm is incorporated at the very beginning of the speaker’s design. In addition to post EQ and volume, the TQ algorithm adjusts different frequencies, phases and amplitudes in the initial stage to overcome physical restrictions in the analog circuit and box casing. For instance, the inner resonance of the abovementioned horn reflects different frequencies and amplitudes at the unit at different times, so it is impossible for it to be based on a fixed EQ. It is necessary to add a timeline for complex two-‐dimensional computation.

TQ is capable of many things through complex operations, such as decreasing acoustic coloring, offsetting unit defect, eliminating standing waves within the casing and adjusting precise phase. For further information, please refer to the whitepapers at the official Fulcrum website: http://fulcrumacoustic.com/technologies/whitepapers.html

Why the horn? The horn has a longer history than the dome design. The latter was designed in 1967, and became popular in the 1970s. Before that, the horn design was used because it has a more stable performance with larger sound pressure levels, the weak point of the dome design. Therefore, the horn design remained unbeatable in PA systems and top-‐end main monitors. Unfortunately, no unit is perfect. Whether is it a soft dome, a metal dome, a reverse dome or a pneumatic high frequency, PreSonus is confident enough to adopt the horn design in mid-‐range speakers.

l What we understood by high frequency used to be the soft dome. As the purchasing power of Chinese

consumers increases and more foreign brands enter the Chinese market, we have seen the Focal reverse

beryllium dome, the Adam Haier pneumatic high frequency, the Manger full frequency unit and so on.

l The horn is the earliest speaker and monitor design, and in fact other high frequency units can also take a

horn-‐shaped casing. However, the Sceptre adopts an authentic compression driver, which is usually

thought to be more energy efficient, with more robust and swifter middle and high frequencies. It also uses

a bigger acoustic pressure level, but the high frequency extension is not as good as that of a soft dome.

l Although officially fairly low-‐key, I’m still interested in the S8 low frequency unit. The unit center is fixed

and connected to the unit by a Spider network. Spider is usually located within the inner unit (normally in


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yellow), intended for unit resetting. The Septre actually has internal and external double resetting, and its

speed (instantaneous) is exceptional.

l There are many interesting design features in this unit. For instance, the vibrating membrane is an

old-‐fashioned paper cone (reinforced with glass) and the high and low frequencies share the same

neodymium magnet for cooling.

l My respect to 53-‐year old David Gunness (right). He has worked as chief R&D engineer for EV and DAW,

and co-‐founded the Fulcrum Acoustic speaker design company in 2008. He is an icon of modern coaxial and

horn designs. In a 2012 article about David and his TQ technology, the U.S. magazine Wired wrote that “He

finally solved the problem of smeared sound in nightclubs.”

l Unlike regular designers, David majored in Electronics and Computer Engineering at university. He is an

expert in computers and DSP.

Skills (disassembly) ▆▆▆▆▆: The most eye-‐catching things when the back cover of the

Sceptre is removed are the two magnetic filters connected to the unit (the first time I have seen these) and the metal mesh cover. We have disassembled dozens of speakers, but this is the only metal mesh we have ever seen. (The MM27 has metal mesh too, but it is very expensive and we wouldn’t risk disassembling it.) The official explanation of the purpose of the mesh is “internal ventilation”.


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As far as we know, all Class D models come from Europe: the ICEPower and LC Audio from Denmark, and the PMC and Barefoot Hypex from the Netherlands. This Sceptre dual 90W Class D comes from Anaview (Sweden). It has a chip-‐level design capability and great processing ability. We have disassembled almost all the speakers in this industry, but this is the first time we have been unable to remove the power amplifier. We looked it up on the Internet and found out that the model is probably the ALC0180 (dual 90W, the other parameters are matching). The unit price of the Profusion is 70 GBP, roughly 700 RMB.

l Based on the statistics of the speakers launched

this year, top-‐end models lean towards the

energy efficient Class D series, such as the

Barefoot MM27, the PMC twotwo, the Genelec

M series, and the Dynaudio XEO.

l The Anaview’s power amplifier is even more

special than the Sceptre’s. We were unable even

to find its power amplifier chip. On visual

inspection, it appears to be located at the

bottom, but there was no way to take it out due

to the complexity of the assembly.

l What is even more amazing is that from the side

view, the chip is not placed against the back

panel, nor the so-‐called ventilation mesh. The

dual 90 power amplifier chip requires no

ventilation! We are totally amazed.

l The Sceptre power amplifier comes from the less well-‐known Swedish Anaview. If you google ‘Anaview

Amplifier’, most of the images found are pictures of Volvo. The Anaview Class D power amplifier is only

deployed in the top-‐end models (such as the S60 and the V60).


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The second chip board is reverse mounted, as in the Eris. The chip is completely enclosed and hard to dismount as well (the screws are sealed up with glue). We managed to solve this problem with violence. This signal processing board comes from PreSonus, the preceding stage and audio interface design should be easy for PreSonus. The 33079 operational amplifier acts as the EQ, the Codec is AK4621, 115dB for dynamic input/output, and the DSP is ATMEL. Of course, the most valuable TQ algorithm comes from David.

This is also the first time we have seen this kind of box design. We were surprised once again. It is the first time we have seen the cotton sound absorption material. The inside sponge layer is glued at both sides of the box casing in order to isolate the power amplifier and the unit. No screws were found on the inside of the unit. You know there are no screws on the front either, so we did not remove the unit as well (we didn’t dare pry it open).


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Tone Quality▆▆▆▆▆: Innovation means risk. When Apple was still a start-‐up company, it was easy to come up with groundbreaking innovations. But now that the iPhone has grown to have millions of users, it is difficult to change the habits of such a huge user base. So, do not expect the iPhone 5S to come up with any huge surprises. The Sceptre is one of the most wonderful speakers we have ever seen, so we expect the sound to be different. Yet there should be a balance between gains and losses. What matters is what is achieved and what is sacrificed, and whether it is worth it.

l Low Frequency: The Sceptre has two layers of repositioned Spider. The bass is too fast. The S6 is almost the speed of a 4-‐inch. Listening to 50-‐60Hz at the speed of a 4-‐inch gave me the impression that the bass was faster than the treble. The S8 is a little slower, but almost as fast as a 5-‐inch. We used to focus on the speed of the mainstream design when evaluating the speed of a speaker, but the Sceptre is entirely different. To obtain such speed, the Sceptre has had to sacrifice a little dive. The S6 has a slightly higher dive than a regular 5-‐inch, and the S8 is lower than that of a regular 8-‐inch, which is close to that of the 7-‐inch speakers.

l Medium Frequency: We are familiar with horns from PA systems for small stage performances. The S6 is typical of horns: it is too rigid. We used to comment on the "softness" or "rigidity" of sound boxes, however, the S6 is entirely different. Many sound engineers are looking for a replacement for the Yamaha NS 10M Studio, but they found that the sound is not identical at the same frequency (such as in the HS5). The S6 has a similar speed and rigidity except for the frequency, and the profile is very high. To my surprise, the S8 is much more restrained – you may not be able to tell that S8 has a horn if you close your eyes. However, it is still more rigid and quicker than regular speakers, close to the performance of three-‐way speakers.

l High Frequency: The weak spot of traditional horns is that due to physical restrictions, you must choose either large amplitude or fast vibration. Note the difference between the crossover frequencies: the S6 is 2.2kHz, while the S8 is 2.4kHz. Usually, the crossover frequency of an 8-‐inch is lower than that of a 6-‐inch (in the same series), so the low frequency unit can focus on super low frequencies. The Sceptre is the opposite: it enables the S8 horn to focus on super high frequencies.

The S6 has a very satisfactory horn, and the upper limit of the frequency is just about audible. It is likely that 14kHz has a significant High Shelf, and the S8 does not have any noticeable attenuation. As I said, you won’t be able to tell that the S8 has a horn. The S8 is the first pair of speakers (at this price level) that can achieve recording level quality without a three-‐way frequency. Since extension


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is not a problem, the advantages of the horns shine through. Whatever the size of the acoustic pressure, the high frequency remains stable. The Eris E8 is clearly ineffective in our brand new 40M2 hall (four meters high), but the performance of the S8 is stable. So it is only the horn that is able to fill a space of this size.

SonicSense has compared three pairs of mainstream monitors: the A7X, the S8 and the 8050a. The test data (figure on the left) is consistent with that in the Sceptre commercial (figure on the right, presented by David). Many people think that the A7X has a lower frequency, but you can tell from the figures below that it is raised by 3dB at 100Hz. The medium and low frequency curves of the S8 are remarkably consistent with those of the 8050a, while the dive is the same as that of the A7X. Regarding super high frequencies, the A7X has an increase of nearly 2dB starting from 6kHz, and the 8050a is just fine. The S8 starts to attenuate from 14kHz but only up to 2dB at 20kHz. So the extension is far greater than traditional horns.

Apart from the frequencies, we usually ignore the phase response. It is the difference between system time and testing time at varied frequencies. The flat line represents consistency, a leftward curve indicates slowing down, and a rightward curve indicates speeding up. 99% of monitor tests will derive three curves, such as with the A7X. The 8050a has four jumper cables, slower than mainstream speakers. This is the same “delayed resonance” found in metal casings that we commented on in the M Series review. The S8 has two surprising curves. There is essentially no delay at 250Hz and above. The low frequency and the horn bring speed, while the accurate time adjustment of the TQ gives consistency to the S8.

Finally, I touched the back of the S8 after using it for two hours, and discovered that it was cold! The thermometer reading shows 310C (almost the heat of a 4-‐inch box), much lower than mainstream 8-‐inch monitors, which rely on large external fans. This is indeed a puzzle.


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=== Summary of the PreSonus Sceptre ===

We have tested many speakers, but the Sceptre is beyond our comprehension.

After many years of development, you may notice that the products in the industry begin to converge, as with DAWs: FL Studio can record, Cubase can do mixing, and Pro Tools can do sequencing. We all have “elastic audio” and drum machines, which are “learning” from each other. It is the same with loudspeakers, which all have a dome, wave guide holes for high frequency, reverse phase holes at the front and no screws on the front panels.

However, the Sceptre seems to come from another planet, the “Public Address” planet. (The Main Monitor is located somewhere between the “Public Address” planet and the “Recording” planet.) Thanks to technological developments, PA speakers have now reached recording level quality in terms of resolution and frequency extension (of course, PA speakers have absorbed a lot of technology from the recording industry). Their advantages are large acoustic pressure and stability and, even better, low price. So we are not yet mentally prepared for the time when they are ready to kill off the “Recording” planet.

Back in 2009, David Gunness actually tried to tackle the recording industry with a new product called the “Equator”. I had the chance to listen to it, but unfortunately due to its exceptionally high cost, few high frequencies, rigid sound and several other drawbacks, it did not meet our requirements. Four years on, the Sceptre has taken us completely by surprise.

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNjA1NjE3MjQ4.html


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The posts here represent the personal opinions of netizens. This website is not liable for any comments posted

thereinafter.

Black Gorilla: Me and my friends are totally amazed at what we saw.

Sep 23, 21:49 Likes [2] Dislikes [2] Reply

Black Gorilla: MOSFET has seen an improvement, bringing down conductance internal resistance to only dozens,

or tens of milliohms. For instance, M040 has IRFS4615 internal resistance of 42mΩ (maximum), even under the

10A current, MOSFET only consumes 4.2W. The actual working current may be 2-‐3A, 5A maximum. So, for a

class-‐D power amplifier, a bare erection of MOSFET chip (without cooling fans) is quite normal.


Fei Fei: Actually, the Genelec M series didn’t need ventilation either, 50W + 80W, but PMC twotwo’s 50W +

150W needs to be cooled. I checked that ALC0240 (120W+120W) of the Anaview series, needs cooling too:

http://www.profusionplc.com/pro/gex/pcatdtl0?ipartno=ALC0240-‐2300

Although I still tend to think the larger watt the better, it seems that watt is not that important any longer since

this year.

Likes [0] Dislikes [0] Reply

Gdxxczx:

I bought a pair of E8 from exound.com. I saw the test and rating of S8. From the perspective of the loud speaker’s

unit structure, I feel that S8 has a lot better high and medium frequencies than that of E8, but I don’t know

whether the low frequency of E8 is deeper than S8. The volume may be larger but the speed is definitely much

slower.


Fei Fei: E8 ought to have a deeper low frequency. Entry level 8-‐inch devices such as E8 and HS8 usually lose

medium frequency data, and it is hard for them to solve this problem. Even the ten-‐thousand RMB devices

cannot solve this problem as well. Now S8 has another solution besides the three-‐way speaker design.

Likes [0] Dislikes [0] Reply

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