After we lifted the big Vivid Giya onto a rotating platter, JA got under the hood and connected the speaker cables to his test amp. JA <i>loves</i> it when speaker terminals are hidden beneath a speaker. For a larger view, visit <a href="http://forum.stereophile.com/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/2217/passwor… Gallery</a>.
JA uses a little camera to monitor the rotation of the speaker on the platter. The platter turns at five degree intervals while JA measures impulse response. For a larger view, visit <a href="http://forum.stereophile.com/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/2216/passwor… Gallery</a>.
JA positions his microphone in such a way that any room reflections become insignificant. For a larger view, visit <a href="http://forum.stereophile.com/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/2215/size/bi… Gallery</a>.
JA uses a different mic, set at a much closer proximity to the drive-unit, to capture the side-firing woofer’s nearfield response. For a larger view, visit <a href="http://forum.stereophile.com/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/2214/size/bi… Gallery</a>.
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<I>I am not in the mood for whirling.</I>—the Beatles, "Revolution 9"
It's been over two years since I <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/subwoofers/907jl">reviewed</A> a pair of JL Audio's Fathom f113 subwoofers. <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/musicintheround/1106mitr">Kalman Rubinson</A> and I both gave the f113 top marks for delivering clean, powerful bass in a wide variety of full-range systems. At the end of the review period, JL Audio's Carl Kennedy told me that they wouldn't send me another subwoofer for review until they had developed one that outperformed the Fathom f113 (footnote 1). To this day, the Fathom f113 tops the subwoofer category in <I>Stereophile</I>'s "Recommended Components."
If the cover of the latest issue of <I>Uncut</I> is any indication, “lost” albums never lose their appeal for the musically–inclined or obsessed. Music fans always want what they don’t have or haven’t heard or hear is <I>hard to get</I>. It’s the allure of the forbidden record. And it’s a chief symptom of the record collecting psychoses.
In <a href="http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/now_on_newsstands_stereophile… April issue</a>, Robert Baird talks to Okkervil River’s Will Sheff about his recent collaboration with Roky Erickson, the wild-eyed frontman for the famed 13th Floor Elevators.
The May 2010 issue of <i>Stereophile</i> is now on newsstands. Jon Iverson opens this issue by exploring “The Holy Trinity of Audiophiledom.” The idea was born on the morning of February 9. I had sent an e-mail to Jon, directing his attention to <a href="http://forum.stereophile.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=82398&an=0… post</a> in our forum regarding one reader’s experience with cassettes and cassette decks. Jon responded by directing <i>my</i> attention to that morning's <a href="http://cgi.stereophile.com/cgi-bin/showvote.cgi?663">Vote question</a>, which also dealt with cassettes.