StereoNET: Hulgich Audio Serenade Loudspeakers

SEPTEMBER 2017

Hulgich Audio

SERENADE REVIEW / HULGICH AUDIO / SERENADE LOUDSPEAKERS

HULGICH AUDIO

SERENADE 2-Way Stand-mount Loudspeakers From $3840 (depending on finish)

“Nick Hulgich is now a proud Australian and values the importance of home grown development and production”

I’ve long had an impossible to test theory that

But for the record, it should be noted that

Whilst Hulgich loudspeakers embody

a loudspeaker embodies the personality of the

along his musical trajectory, Nick imbibed the

Nick Hulgich’s idea of what a loudspeaker

designer crafting it for our listening pleasure.

best the British loudspeaker design tradition

should be, he turns to Nireus for advice on

has to offer.

measurement and the best combination of

Read all you can about Spencer Hughes

components for the best possible sound.

of Spendor, Jim Rogers of Rogers

“I always loved the magic midrange of

Loudspeakers, KEF’s Raymond Cooke and

Tannoys, Spendors and Chartwells. I thought

Nick Hulgich is now a proud Australian

of course Peter Walker of Quad fame after

at the time how no one bettered the British

and values the importance of home grown

listening to these luminaries’ models, and you

midrange. They got it right and when you

development and production.

may arrive at the same notion.

consider that’s where 98 per cent of all

Without scientific rigour my theory remains a notion but with this proviso: should you

reproduced music lives, it was and is quite a design achievement,’’ Hulgich said.

meet a speaker designer who is a total pain

And he’s right, of course. When you delve into

in the derriere, don’t be surprised when his

American speaker history one thing stands

speakers engender the same reaction.

out: expensive US loudspeakers have few

Meeting Nick Hulgich and an afternoon spent listening to his Serenade speakers recently, has done nothing to assuage me to think differently.

Nick is a consummate speaker designer who is above all a passionate music lover whose musical journey began in Buenos Aires, Argentina when at an early age he was nourished by his parent’s and grandparent’s love of jazz and tango.

For a more comprehensive biography and an in-depth review of Nick’s flagship, Astor speakers, you could do worse than read Marc Rushton’s review here on StereoNET.

rivals but gosh, more affordable models with some notable exceptions, emphasise bass, treble and dynamics but hardly reach the same magical midrange qualities of similarly priced English loudspeakers.

After a degree in industrial design from the University of Buenos Aires, Nick’s lifelong passion for music and audio reached an apogee when in 2010 he met Goran Nireus of Audio Excite Loudspeaker design.

“Goran is seriously one of the best loudspeaker designers in the world. He’s now our technical engineering consultant and his 30 plus years of experience can be heard in all of our models,’’ Hulgich said.

“My family loves Australia. Accordingly, we’d like to give something back so our products will always be locally made and will directly support the Australian economy,’’ Hulgich says.

Hulgich sells his speakers directly to consumers. This business model has been used successfully by brands such as Osborne Loudspeakers. But it’s not a model that delivers the widest possible audience.

Direct representation does give consumers a much lower price but not the possibility of auditioning the products up close and personally in a variety of locations.

Quite possibly Hulgich could develop a handful of models that could be ranged by hi-fi specialist stores throughout Australia. An idea worth pursuing because brands the calibre of Hulgich Audio deserve to grow and prosper.

“crafted to deliver great sound in difficult listening environments”

Introducing the Serenades This teamwork produced the Serenades that

amongst them the LS35/A. A speaker that

Nick personally delivered after a long arduous

sounds divine driven by Quad 15-watt per

drive from Adelaide to Melbourne.

channel mono amps.

The Serenade is a classic two-way ported

As for speakers presenting amplifiers with

design but with a unique quality. They’ve

difficult loads, how about Quad’s 57 and 63

been crafted to deliver great sound in difficult

electrostatics. If I were an amp looking at their

listening environments.

load, I’d give up and look elsewhere. But their

“This model is designed for use in near-

sound was/is sublime.

boundary locations but you can expect the

Which is a way of saying the Serenade’s

same dynamic response, soundstage width,

low sensitivity didn’t faze me. Nick being the

depth, height and harmonic expression as

consummate and thoughtful designer that

you’d get from larger, floorstanders.’’

he is, and recalling my designer/personality

Probing a little more revealed Nick designed the Serenades to deliver a high degree of

theory enquired gently about the equipment that would be used to drive his loudspeakers.

control over a huge frequency range along

The Elektra power amp delivers 250-watts

with a pinpoint soundstage and sophisticated

per channel into an 8-ohm load, and 350 into

bass performance.

loads of 4ohms. Along with the muscle, it’s an

“If I had to sum up the Serenades I’d describe them as a speaker that you can effortlessly enjoy for long periods at both high and whisper quiet volume levels,’’ he said.

The design of the Serenades gives them a low sensitivity of 85dB. Not a problem, as in my experience low efficiency doesn’t necessarily equate to a heavy load for an amplifier.

And for the record, some high sensitivity speakers sound as if they’ve been powered by a transistor amplifier with its “loudness’’ button turned on.

amplifier with loads of refinement, grace and poise. It’s also a low distortion design with neutrality as its hallmark.

Rather than describe the Elektra, I invited Nick to have a quick listen to the system comprising an Audio Research Reference 7 CD player, Elektra pre and power amplifier driving Wilson Audio Sasha speakers.

We played a CD of soprano Felicity Lott performing Gustav Mahler’s Ruckert Lieder and the accompaniment by the Schumann Quartet. The sound pleased Nick and he asked me to send him the disc’s details so

Also for the record, the most enjoyable

he could buy it for personal listening pleasure

loudspeakers I’ve owned have all been

and to use at Hi-Fi Shows with his speakers.

medium to low sensitivity models, chief

“impeccable standard of fit and finish”

An eye for detail, passionate about music

25mm front baffle. It measures 22cm wide,

and audio design, thoughtful, unassuming,

54cm high and 41cm deep. Each speaker

modest and soulful. That’s my impression

weighs 16.5 Kgs.

of Nick Hulgich and a neat capsule of how I experienced his Serenade loudspeakers.

While it’s a large stand mount, the Serenade looks smaller and sleeker than it is thanks to

The Serenade’s frequency response is 37-

its sloping front baffle and sweeping stands.

23000 Hz, power rating is 100 watts, and

As for the finish, much like the flagship Astor,

impedance is 8 ohms.

it’s clearly world class.

The driver compliment is a 1.2-inch ring dome

Visitors to my listening room provided

tweeter fitted with a non-resonant diaphragm

unsolicited praise for the Serenade’s

for minimum high frequency distortion. The

impeccable standard of fit and finish. The

tweeter also has an optimised balanced

review pair was finished with Queensland

compression dual-chamber for superior

walnut.

dynamics.

Hulgich provides a choice of several finishes

The midwoofer is a 6-inch unit with a hard

and these are: American oak ($3840),

paper cone made of Norex natural fibres.

American walnut ($4100), Australian Walnut

It comes with a soft low damping rubber

($4300), Jarrah ($4100), Teak ($4300) and

surround for superior transient responses

piano black or white ($4500).

while the chassis is made of cast aluminium for optimum strength and low compression.

My affection for drivers with paper cones comes from decades long experience. Used well, quality paper coned drivers have a musicality and tonal rightness unmatched by synthetic cones. As for the matching of paper-coned drivers with valve amps, let’s just say that’s what they use in paradise.

The Serenade’s crossover point is 2000 Hz and it must be said is inaudible thanks to a beautifully conceived crossover network, populated by Jantzen and Mundorf coils and capacitors and silver-plated copper cable from the crossover to the drivers.

The Serenade is a large 28-litre stand mount.

The cabinet is made from 22mm MDF with a

As a bonus, house-proud audiophiles can order the Serenades in a colour of choice but at an extra cost.

In a nice touch so typical of Nick Hulgich’s thoughtfulness, an impedance correction circuit is available for those choosing to drive the Serenades with valve amplifiers.

The circuit makes the speaker’s impedance more linear and tube amp friendly. It can be bought as a separate unit for $350 per pair or built into the Serenade’s existing crossover for $150.

The optionally available purpose-built stands were designed to get the Serenade’s tweeters at the right ear height when seated on a standard height chair. Cost is a considerable $1600.

SPECIFICATIONS

Loudspeaker type / / 2-way front ported Frequency range / / 37-23000 Hz Power rating / / 80 W Sensitivity / / 85 dB / 1 m / 2.83V Impedance / / 8 ohm Drivers Tweeter / / 1.2” ring dome tweeter with non-resonant diaphragm for minimum high frequency break-up. Optimized balanced compression dual chamber design for improved dynamics.

Midwoofer / / 6” hard paper cone made of Norex natural fibers. It has a soft low damping rubber surround for transient response.

Chassis made of cast aluminium for optimum strength and low compression.

Crossover point / / 2000 Hz Internal wiring / / Silver plated copper Cabinet / / 22 mm mdf, with 25 mm mdf front panel Dimensions / / 22 x 54 x 41 cm (WxHxD) Net weight / / 16.5 Kg each

“ability to generate an expansive soundstage”

It’s all in the listening The Serenades were used in

all the way up to prestige models

wider than the Contour could

The sonic gains were almost

a system comprising an SME

costing the price of a luxury

muster. Much deeper and higher

like inserting a model further up

20/2 turntable fitted with SME V

class car.

as well.

Hulgich’s select range into the

Within a minute of slipping

Within this soundstage it was so

Mahler’s Liebst du um Schonheit,

easy to locate each instrument,

This was evident when I played

one of his Ruckert Leiders sung

each performer and the relative

an SACD, the Japanese pressing

by Felicity Lott the Serenade’s

distances from each other. As

of the Stone’s Let It Bleed album.

minimal distortion was confirmed.

for preserving the leading edges

I often use the track, You Got

of the notes, the Contour was

The Silver as a test piece to

marginally superior. But this

hear if gear treats Ry Cooder’s

rounding of leading edges is

subtle mandolin accompaniment

very slight.

with the respect this maestro

tonearm and Koestsu Rosewood Signature Cartridge, Audio Research Reference 7 CD player, Elektra pre and power amplifiers and Wilson Sasha Speakers.

A wall mounted Quadraspire shelf held the SME turntable and the rest of the equipment was stored in a Quadraspire 4L bamboo rack. Cables comprised Inakustik LS1603 speaker cable and NF803 RCA and XLR interconnects. The speaker cable was supported by Inakustik risers. Power cables came from Nordost and Analysis Plus.

The Serenades were positioned half a metre from my room’s rear wall and a metre from its sidewalls. The area behind the speakers has been treated with Vicoustic diffusers.

Hulgich says low distortion is one of the hallmarks of all its loudspeakers. This proved to be no idle boast. Quite an achievement for a loudspeaker at this mid-level pricepoint considering the majority of loudspeakers I audition have audible levels of distortion, despite the specs provide by the manufacturers.

Loudspeaker distortion is experienced as a level of unease as the brain responds to what the ears accumulate during the listening process. This type of distortion can evade current

In the space between Lott’s voice and the violinist on her left was just pitch-black silence. As the other instruments joined in and

No problem with working

remained a sense of ease as the

dynamic range though as the

The Stones are anything but

performance continued.

Serenades powered through Pink

subtle and you’d expect Mick,

Floyd’s Another Brick In the Wall

Keith and the rest of the boys to

on vinyl without a hint of distress.

hammer away at their instruments

This sense of ease of listening extended to every track played

and vocals almost oblivious to

during the review sessions.

The Wall is essentially stage

But along with the low levels

drama with all the attendant

of distortion, the Serenades

imaging emerging from a huge

The Serenades don’t let them

delivered scads of transparency,

soundstage. Its performance is

overpower the sweet, detailed

tonal neutrality, smooth extended

populated by lots of detail and

sound of this mandolin. A

high frequencies, and a generous

an earful of violent volume level

testament to the Serenade’s

working dynamic range.

swings presented via a storm of

detail reproduction powers

insistent, menacing bass.

and organic presentation of a

Compared to my Dynaudio

Cooder’s contribution.

complex piece of music.

Contour 1.3SE, the Serenades

Small speakers struggle to cope

had a tad less treble extension

with The Wall’s larger than life

By the end of the review, I

and air but loads more deep, tight

presence and it came as no

was left with the impression

informative and tuneful bass.

surprise to hear my Contour

the Serenades are a couple of

speakers reach their limits. But

classes above their pricepoint.

not so with the Serenades that

Refined, accurate but compellingly

seemed to cope with the track’s

musical, the Serenades are a

demands so much better, but

speaker I could buy in haste and

hardly with the consummate ease

enjoy at my leisure.

The Serenade’s midrange was also superior to the Contours and as Lott’s pure voice ascended and descended, the Serenades followed with an enviable neutrality and tonal evenness and smoothness.

Transparency also worked in the Serenade’s favour. The Contours revealing a hint of veiling between the violin, piano and vocals and the listener that wasn’t present via the Hulgich Serenades.

But none the less it’s present in

Commendable as well was the

ranging from budget models, and

musician deserves.

during every crescendo, there

methods of measuring.

loads and loads of loudspeakers

system.

Serenade’s ability to generate an expansive soundstage much

my much bigger Sashas provide.

A towering and thoughtful

Hulgich has a floorstanding

achievement, the Serenades are

version of the Serenades idling

most highly recommended.

away in its workshop. A speaker that going by what the Serenade compacts delivered should be just the ticket as a gateway for tracks as monstrous as Floyd’s.

Over a couple of weeks of constant use, the Serenade’s performance went up a notch.

WORDS: Peter Familari