Stentor SR1500 Violin Student II 4/4 5-stars Reviews

Great violin - I wish I could actually play it.....

Just started learning violin so I'm unable to review it with any 'authority'. However - first impressions: 1) the (red) case is very functional - it protects the Stentor well. The top pocket is perfect for housing your spare set of strings. 2) The violin itself looks terrific - it's much lighter than I thought it would be. 3) It's far from annoyingly loud but remember - as a beginner the best I can do (for now) are the initial screechy notes. 4) No problems whatsoever with initial setup/tuning - it is indeed an ideal learner/starter instrument - I'm happy with it. Recommended. Happy screeching.

warm sound

I'm in love with my violin

Sehr gut für Anfänger

Gutes Instrument für Anfänger. Nix zu bemängeln bei dem Preis/Leistungsverhältnis

Love in first sight

love it! perfect for learning and intermediary players.

Excellent starter violin

Perfect for beginners at a very reasonable price.

No Problems

This is the first violin I have had or used. It sounds good and is solid enough.

It seems well made and I have made progress with learning it.

The action is not high and the tuning holds ok if the pegs are in properly. The fine tuning is made of plastic parts, I would prefer natural, but it's not topmrange.

The case is good and comes with detachable shoulder straps, it is sturdy and reliable, no zips bust yet, but DARK RED, which I wouldn't have chosen if there was an option.

Best student violin!

This violin was recommended by online teachers and students alike, and for the few extra pounds, its worth getting the student 2 over the student 1. I also spruced mine up with a set of dominant strings, but its honestly not necessary and plays great with the standard strings it ships with. It is important to understand that in order to learn, progress and advance as a student violinist, you need your instrument to be able to sing for you - if you are fighting with your instrument to make it sound somewhat like it should (tuning every session or non resonant sounds on certain scales) then it will be difficult to progress - this violin won't fail you, and instead you can work on what YOU are doing wrong instead of figuring out what's wrong with your violin. Don't make the same mistake that I did and buy a "violin shaped object" as a non committal way of deciding if you want to learn to play. Buy one of these, and if you decide not to continue, i guarantee there will be someone out there who will buy it from you in new condition elsewhere!

excellent value

We bought these violins for our daughters when they started playing many years ago. Not only were the specifications spot on, there were also reviews available online by violinists stating these were excellent value.

As it turned out, these violins were good enough that our daughters violin teacher, who was initially a bit sceptical about us ordering these, started advicing her students to get these as opposed to the low-cost alternatives from Yamaha which had previously been their go to recommendation.

Now that our middle daughter has progressed further she has moved on to a rather more expensive instrument but the Stentor SR1500 served her well and we would not hesitate to recommend this to someone getting started or even an intermediate violinist on a tight budget. Considering the price, it's really hard to fault it.

Perfect value for money

Do not expect a virtuoso sound, but I bought it as a study fiddle for Irish music, and it's perfect for my use.

Very nice violin for this price range!

Besides some minor issues for the bridge (should be a little bit shorter and the G string is closest to the D string than it should me as my teacher mentioned) and the scroll (not so fine made but it does not affect the playability of the violin), this violin have really nice and clear shound an it is easy to tune, as it holds its tune even as a new violin. Very nice case and bow also, absolutely the right violin for a beginer.

Very good for beginners!

I'm an adult beginner (21) and I spent hours comparing a number of beginner violins. I decided to go with this one since it had a lot of positive reviews. When I went to my first lesson I was nervous about what my teacher would think of it. Fortunately, she said it's one of the better instruments for under 200$ and even asked me to send her the link. She played a little on it too and I was amazed how good it sounded! Of course, my go on it wasn't anything less than awful but I'm motivated to keep practicing after hearing what's possible. If you're looking for your first violin, you can't go wrong with this one! :)

Looks and feels good

First of all I have to mention that I'm not a violin player, and this is the first time I put my hands on a violin.

I bought this violin as a gift for someone who wants to learn to play it.

For my inexperienced eye, the violin looks, feels and sounds very well and I really don't have cons to complain about.

Very good for its price.

I am a beginner, so you will have to take my advice as such.

I am very glad of the violin itself. A good warm sound (for its price at least), easy to tune, it keeps its tune for a long time.

I gave only four stars for the quality, due to its case (really could be improved without more cost). The rosin is unacceptable: I think it would be better NOT to include rosin than what was provided: it does not bring justice to the violin.

The bow is good (ebony frog, real horse hair).

Would recommend it.

Excellent violin for serious learner!!

first of all the violin looks lovely, Having never played one before I don't have much experience but listening to my friends violin of the same price, this thing beats it by a mile. nice to play and nice sound, though I would definitely change rosin and am going to change the strings soon.

Perfect violin for beginners

My violin teacher recommended me to buy the Stentor II and I am glad I did! It was delivered very quickly with a rosin, a bow and a very nice case.

Pefect package but don't forget to get an extra set of strings and a shoulder rest!

Nice violin but please buy other set of strings.

The G string broke while tuning and couldn't even reach its tone. The overall package seems fine but buy another set of strings just in case.

Update: After almost a year with this violin I've updated my review. The violin is holding quite well and the sound quality is much better after you upgrade the strings (I'm using standard dominant strings).

The perfect gift for a beginner!

I bought this Violin as a gift for my brother, he is really happy now with it. And it got a really decent volume optimal for practicing, the tone is really woody.

The Pareto principle violin

The pareto principle is a observation that a lot of the time, 80% of the result can come from 20% of the work. The Stentor SR1500 is this principle in violin form. For the price you get an extremely high quality violin that both look and sound great. The only other thing I feel you need to buy to get the full experience is some better strings and a shoulder rest.

Sure the violin might not have all the softer qualities, the "soul" of a more expensive artisan violin, that's not at all something you can expect at this price point. However if you are simply looking for a cheap but really, really good violin, this is the right choice.

With this you have a great violin that can stay with you a long time and that you, thanks to the price point, don't have to worry about breaking or loosing it.

Stetor SR1500 review

Personally, I'm really enjoying this product. I think it's a perfect example of a beginner violin. Usually when buying cheaper products for beginning a new instrument, they tend to be somewhat harsh in tone and build quality but this has quite a rich tone, is build very well and you get everything you need to start up, case, bow, rosin - All you need.