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I've worked at <i>Stereophile</i> for eight years, and, in a time when people change jobs as often as they change cars or television sets, eight years is a pretty good stretch. In that time, I've taken part in some exciting and memorable things, from <a href="http://www.stereophile.com/news/050205Day4/index.html">Home Entertainment Shows</a> and <a href="http://www.stereophile.com/news/010905ces3/index.html">Consumer Electronics Shows</a> to the live recording of <a href="http://www.stereophile.com/musicrecordings/907att/index.html">Attention Screen at Merkin Hall</a>. But <i>Stereophile</i> is fifteen years older than me, and I missed so much.

Mutine's Pascal Ravach was demonstrating the small, but striking, Duevel Planets omnidirectional speakers (CDN$1495/pair), The Planets consist of a floorstanding vented cabinet with an upward-firing 5" woofer and 1" horn-loaded tweeter. The drivers fire against reflective spheres, which disperse the sound.

A close up of the business end of a Duevel Planet loudspeaker.

A closer look at Vienna Acoustics' coaxial tweeter-midrange unit. The central dome is supported by the magnet pole-piece of the flat midrange driver&mdash;and the strengthening ribs are said to dissipate standing waves on the surface of the driver.

Kevin Wolff, Vienna Acoustics' new international sales manager, poses next to the new $25,000/pair The Music loudspeakers.That rotating section of the cabinet contains Vienna Acoustics' revolutionary (<I>hah!</I>) new, flat, concentric 7" tweeter-midrange unit, which handles frequencies from 200Hz to 20kHz. A separate super-tweeter takes over above the audioband.

Right about now, I suppose John Atkinson and Wes Phillips are pulling into a rest stop, somewhere off the New York State Thruway. The sky is Sinatra blue and the air whispers secrets of spring. The doors to the Land Cruiser shut with a gentle thud, and the guys stroll into a 7-11 for some black peppered beef jerky, Nacho Cheesier Doritos, and a couple of tall Mountain Dews.

I believe <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/interviews/232">Ken Kantor</A> said it first: a couple of years ago, in his September 1990 interview with Robert Harley (Vol.13 No.9), he remarked that "there's no reason why a two-way 6" loudspeaker can't be the equal of almost the best speaker out there from a certain frequency point upward, with the possible exception of dynamic range." When I read those words, they rang true. If you put to one side the need to reproduce low bass frequencies and can accept less-than-live playback levels, a small speaker can be as good as the best, and allow its owner to enjoy the benefits of its size&mdash;visual appeal, ease of placement in the room, and the often excellent imaging afforded by the use of a small front baffle.