Columns Retired Columns & Blogs |
Sonus Faber Guarneri Memento.
It's easy for an audiophile to fall in love with grand, state-of-the-art speakers, but when it comes to high performance in a small space, fewer jewels stand out. Reader Gus Kund wants to know: What is your favorite bookshelf speaker?
A pair of Sonus Faber Concertino on my computer’s desktop with no (place for a) sub: and a pair of Vienna Acoustics Webern on the dresser in the bedroom with a little REL sub. Both systems are listened to much more often than my main system.
If I have one, it is the pair of Windor 200s my father gave my brother and me when we were boys. I loved them and they crushed many much more expensive speakers, setting me on the road to audiophiledom. I'm sure better speakers are available today, but I haven't gone out to listen to them.
The Neat Petite. I bought these speakers 15 years ago. They now serve as my second system in my bedroom. Every morning and evening I am still surprised about the great sound they can produce. The Audiolab integrated amplifier I bought at the same time still does sterling service.
Shhh! My closest held audiophile secret: The Alesis Monitor 1. Yes! Alesis! Unbelievable and damn near free on eBay. Very easy to drive with my Eico HF81 (14 tube watts). I've taken these to more than one HI-FI shop only to leave the sales guys scratching their heads in disbelief. Get the first generation Monitor One (not the MK2). And keep it quiet...
I built 'em! My creations are the best part of my computer/bedroom system. Swans 1" fabric dome tweeter and a 5.25" Dayton woofer in a 0.40 cu ft bass reflex cabinet constructed of 1.25" MDF. Crossover is quasi-third order on the woofer, 2nd order on the tweeter. Coils are Jantzen heavy guage, caps are Solen, resistors are Mills low induction units. Frequency response is 52-21kHz+/-3db. I have yet to find anything costing less than a grand that will embarrass them. Total construction cost was about $200. And, they're finished in the most peculiar shade of yellow one can imagine!