Stentor SR1500 Violin Student II 4/4

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!

I played Stentor SR 1400 aka Stentor Student I for some months and Stentor II is bit better, price difference of some 10€ is worth it. Stentor I is more suitable for little hands, kids, it's like small step down. My recommendation for adults is Stentor II.
Case and bow is also totally ok, can't complain.
Sound is not perfectly clear, but good (keep the price in mind).
Pegs keep tuned, ok, no problem. Bridge is in place, ok.
Laquer, finishing is very satisfying. Violing and bow are looking decent, really good, no coplaint. No scratches etc, quality is good.
Strings are playable, cant's say good, but don't have to change immediatly, at your will.
Of course, this set is only for beginners, not even for intermediate.
But it's lot's better than, for example Gewa Pure Violinset HW 4/4, don't enen think about it, it's terrible, tried it.
Don't know about Hidersine Studenti, was also considering this. And Roth&Junius Europe Student. Last one was strongly recommended by Thomann advisors, but is 100€ more expencive... If you're looking for sth more quality, maybe better choice, because made in Europe (like said in Romania vs Stentor in China), worth to try.

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.

As the title says, this violin is pretty good for its price and I'm really satisfied with this purchase. Don't expect it to be the best violin, but it's probably the best option as a starter violin. It has a really nice sound (my teacher's words) and looks beautiful.
The only con of it is strings.. Yea, the quality is pretty bad. The metallic 'cover' started to come off as I tighten the sting, but they didnt break :D Despite of that, they sound good for me.

Couple words about thomann: I'm so glad that I've found this shop. I wasn't able to find any good violins in my local shops, even in my country, so Thomann really saved me. I was surprised that they ship to my country with really reasonable shipping price. Thanks a lot!

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.

I bought the Stentor II after a lot of time spent researching the best entry level violins at competitive prices. Out of all the student violins out there, I believe this one gives greatest value for money and won't be cast aside quickly as the student improves.

I like that the tuning pegs are made from ebony which is a durable and reliable wood. This violin also has a fine tuner for each string which saves a lot of time and trouble especially when the strings are still new. The finish is very nice on the violin. It has clearly been made with care.

I was tempted to buy a cheap -£50 violin instead, but after hearing the intonation on one belonging to a friend, I opted for the Stentor II and I am glad I did. It sounds so much better straight out of the box.

It was delivered very quickly with no problems, as with everything I have ever purchased with Thomann.

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.