Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Floor Loudspeaker Reviews Audacious Audio

Calix Phoenix Grand Signature loudspeaker

Paul Bolin Jun 15, 2003 First Published: Jun 15, 2003

Of all the components to be seen and heard at an audio show or in a dealer's showroom, the most memorable and attention-grabbing are inevitably the super-speakers—bogglingly expensive, filled with cutting-edge engineering and exotic materials, of mammoth size and weight, with full-range reproduction that shakes building foundations and extends far enough up top to disrupt the navigation of bats. Survey the field, and the biggest Wilson, Aln, JMlab-Focal, Burmester, EgglestonWorks, and Nearfield Acoustics models, to name a few, fit that description.

Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Audes Jazz loudspeaker

Kalman Rubinson Jun 15, 2003 First Published: Jun 15, 2003

When I first got into hi-fi, stereo was just over the horizon and imported products were still rare. The inexpensive ones came from Japan, and you could find them, often with names that changed from week to week, in the open-air displays in and around Cortlandt Street in lower Manhattan. The more expensive brands were European, primarily British, and beyond my financial grasp.

Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

InnerSound Eros Mk.III electrostatic loudspeaker

Larry Greenhill Apr 20, 2003 First Published: Apr 20, 2003

I was trading e-mails with Roger Sanders, manufacturer of the Eros Mk.III electrostatic (ESL) loudspeakers, when it occurred to me to ask him about his name. I was struck that he had the same last name as Gayle Sanders, president of another American electrostatic speaker company, MartinLogan. Were they related? "No," replied Roger Sanders, "it's simply a coincidence that we have similar names. I've never even met him.

Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Dynaudio Confidence C4 loudspeaker

John Atkinson Mar 16, 2003 First Published: Mar 16, 2003

Judging absolute sound quality under the unfamiliar circumstances of an audio show is always fraught with difficulty. If a system sounds bad, there are so many possible reasons for it to do so that pointing a finger of blame at the components is possibly unfair. Conversely, when a room sounds good at a show, it is probable that the components being used deserve some recognition. Such was the case at Home Entertainment 2002 in New York last May, when Dynaudio's Confidence C4 made its debut.

Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

KEF Reference 207 loudspeaker

John Atkinson Feb 16, 2003 First Published: Feb 16, 2003

The very last review I wrote for Hi-Fi News & Record Review (these days just plain Hi-Fi News)—before crossing">http://www.stereophile.com//asweseeit/352/">crossing the Atlantic to take up the reins at Stereophile in May 1986—was of KEF's then-new flagship speaker, the Reference 107. That rave review appeared in the English magazine's July 1986 issue, and was followed by equally">http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/550/">equally positive reports from Stereophile's writers.

Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Kharma Midi-Grand Ceramique 1.0 loudspeaker

Michael Fremer Jan 19, 2003 First Published: Jan 19, 2003

Not for nothing did I name the Kharma-Lamm room at Home Entertainment 2002 the "Best Sound in Show." Show attendees slotted it 17th best [see September 2002, p.59—Ed.], behind other rooms to which I also gave high marks—mostly larger rooms featuring far bigger loudspeakers—but to me, the sound emanating from the Kharma Ceramique 3.2 ($19,000/pair), driven by Lamm electronics, possessed a sublime balance of sonic qualities heard in few other rooms.

Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Canton Karat Reference 2 DC loudspeaker

John Atkinson Jan 19, 2003 First Published: Jan 19, 2003

Despite my 26 years in audio journalism, the amount of stuff I need to know seems to increase faster than I can cope with it. Thus it didn't come as too much of a surprise for me to learn that speaker manufacturer Canton, the Teutonic equivalent of England's B&W, a) was 30 years old in 2002, and b) claims the dominant market share of the German market. Yes, I'd been peripherally aware of Canton through the years, but for various reasons had never auditioned any of their models. I was amenable, therefore, when Canton USA's Paul Madsen suggested to me last May, at Home Entertainment 2002 in New York City, that I review their flagship speaker.

Floor Loudspeaker Reviews Audacious Audio

Mission Pilastro loudspeaker

John Atkinson Dec 22, 2002 First Published: Dec 22, 2002

"Is that it?" I asked.

Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Quad ESL-989 electrostatic loudspeaker

Larry Greenhill Nov 30, 2002 First Published: Nov 30, 2002

I first heard Eugene Gigout's pipe-organ masterpiece, the Grand Chorus in Dialogue, in the Smetana Concert Hall of Prague's Municipal House (Obecnim Dome) on a Saturday evening before the 2002 flood. I recall seeing the delicate, youthful Michele Hradecka sway from side to side to reach the pedals. In response, a massive wall of deep organ chords shook the hall, the magical acoustic blending the delicate, extended highs with the thunderous bass. But this memory mixed the music with the beauty of Prague's soaring church spires, brilliant red terracotta roofs, and lavish palaces.

Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

EgglestonWorks Andra II loudspeaker

Paul Bolin Nov 30, 2002 First Published: Nov 30, 2002

It's always tough to follow an award-winning act. Wes Phillips raved about the original">http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/237/">original EgglestonWorks Andra back in October 1997, and it was subsequently dubbed Stereophile's Speaker of the Year for 1997. The Andra won many other plaudits, and found its way into a number of top-shelf recording studios as the monitor of choice. Such a reputation for excellence is the stuff most speaker designers dream of. It also imposes the burden of expectation—the "new and improved" version of such a knockout product had better be good, or else.