Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

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Floor Loudspeaker Reviews
Meridian D600 digital active loudspeaker
John Atkinson  |  Sep 09, 2006  |  First Published: Nov 09, 1989  |  0 comments
In audiophile circles, it is the "Stuart"—electronics designer Bob Stuart of the Boothroyd-Stuart collaboration—who has received most recognition. The contribution of industrial designer and stylist Allen Boothroyd has gone relatively unremarked. Yet as I unpacked Meridian's D600 "Digital Active" loudspeaker, I was struck by Boothroyd's ability to make the humdrum—a rectangular box loudspeaker—seem more than just that. The man has one hell of an eye for proportion. From the first Orpheus loudspeaker of 1975, through the Celestion SL6 and 'SL600 (where AB did the industrial and package design), to this latest Meridian loudspeaker design, his brainchildren look "right," to the extent of making competing designs appear at minimum over-square and clumsy, if not downright ugly.
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Floor Loudspeaker Reviews
Thiel CS2 2 loudspeaker
Sam Tellig, Various  |  Sep 03, 2006  |  First Published: Apr 03, 1992  |  0 comments
"Well, Sam, are there any speakers you are really excited about?"
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Floor Loudspeaker ReviewsJ. Gordon HoltHistorical
Infinity Reference Standard 1B loudspeaker
Anthony H. Cordesman, J. Gordon Holt  |  Sep 03, 2006  |  First Published: Apr 03, 1985  |  0 comments
I'll say one thing right off about the Infinity RS-1B: It sure looks as if you're getting your money's worth.
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Floor Loudspeaker Reviews
Legacy Audio Whisper loudspeaker
Paul Bolin  |  Aug 19, 2006  |  0 comments
More than any other component, it is the loudspeaker that seems to invite the most audacious—some would say flat-out lunatic—efforts at design. There have been attempts at full-range plasma speakers, speakers one had to hook up to tanks of pressurized gas, speakers with drivers attached to what looked like copper salad bowls (the infamous Tri-Torr of the early 1990s).
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Floor Loudspeaker ReviewsAudacious Audio
The Waveform Loudspeaker
Larry Archibald  |  Aug 12, 2006  |  First Published: Nov 12, 1989  |  0 comments
John Ötvös, the father of Waveform Research Inc. and The Waveform Loudspeaker, hesitates not at inviting ultracritical examination: "The Waveform is the most accurate, the best, forward-firing loudspeaker in the world." Period. Reviewers, of course, welcome such statements, and I'll be examining that one, but I'll also try to answer the inherent reviewing question of whether the Waveform is a good place for you to park $9800 on your way to "the highest of high-end sound" (that was our slogan for the first Santa Monica High End Hi-Fi Show).
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Floor Loudspeaker Reviews
Waveform Research Mach 17 loudspeaker
Larry Greenhill  |  Jul 30, 2006  |  First Published: Jun 30, 1997  |  0 comments
I first heard the Canadian-made Waveform Research Mach 17 loudspeaker system in New York City at HI-FI '96, Stereophile's Home Theater & Specialty Audio Show. Another Ontario native, Chris Russell of Bryston Ltd., had raved to me about their sound. His recommendation sent me outside my assigned reporting area and down to the sixth floor of the Waldorf=Astoria, to dimly lit room 602—full of ASC Tube Traps, amplifiers, cables, and the twin truncated pyramids of the Mach 17s.
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Floor Loudspeaker ReviewsBudget Component Reviews
Revel Concerta F12 loudspeaker
Kalman Rubinson  |  Jul 23, 2006  |  0 comments
I am a Revel junkie. Their Ultima Studios have been my reference loudspeakers for years, and I've spent many happy hours with their Performa F-30s and Ultima Gems. They're all great speakers. When the original Gem was launched, it was made clear that all the corporate and economic weight of Revel's parent company, Harman International, was behind the development of this new line. When I visited Revel some years back, I saw cutting-edge design and development, in-house manufacturing of the most critical parts under the tightest scrutiny, and quality control of nearly compulsive meticulousness. All of this was reflected in the speakers' prices, which were reasonable for their quality and performance.
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Floor Loudspeaker ReviewsBudget Component Reviews
DALI Ikon 6 loudspeaker
Robert J. Reina  |  Jul 23, 2006  |  1 comments
When I review an affordable loudspeaker, first impressions are important. Once I've unpacked the speaker, noted the quality of its construction and finish, and have complimented or grumbled about the ergonomics of its five-way binding posts, I fire 'er up and give 'er a first listen. Occasionally, the sound will put a smile on my face, either because I'm impressed with the amount of uncolored detail emanating from such an affordable product, or because the speaker sounds so sweet that I'm intoxicated.
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Floor Loudspeaker Reviews
Vandersteen Audio Quatro loudspeaker
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 16, 2006  |  0 comments
Record playback could have been designed to go from the inside out instead of the other way around. With most pieces of music ending louder than they started, doesn't it make more sense to end the side at the widest circumference, longest wavelength, least congested part of the groove spiral? Compact discs read from the center hole out, and they don't even have to.
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Floor Loudspeaker Reviews
Ruark Templar loudspeaker
Wes Phillips  |  Jul 09, 2006  |  First Published: Dec 09, 1995  |  0 comments
As I trundled the WATT/Puppys off to the Stereophile laboratory complex for our test procedures (see my review in the last issue), I idly wondered to myself, "Gee, what am I going to do for an encore?" Visions of exotic butterfly-like horns danced in my head (nope, J-10 Scull gets those babies). I was tantalized by the call of ambitiously designed behemoths (Major Tom gets those, he's got the room for 'em). Maybe some jewel-like, state-of-the-art minimonitors? (JA glommed 'em—editor's prerogative, y'know.) So what does that leave me?
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Floor Loudspeaker ReviewsThe Fifth ElementIntegrated Amp Reviews
The Fifth Element #36
John Marks  |  Jul 02, 2006  |  First Published: Jun 02, 2006  |  0 comments
Were I trying to make a living by giving piano recitals, David Stanhope's new CD, A Virtuoso Recital (Tall Poppies TP184), just might tempt me to wash down a fistful of pills with a bottle of Scotch. The saving grace being that Stanhope seems to have enough things to occupy himself with in his native Australia. The risk of his showing up in New York City and playing a recital, thereby giving a lot of people existential crises and sleepless nights, seems remote.
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Floor Loudspeaker Reviews
Audio Physic Scorpio loudspeaker
Michael Fremer  |  Jun 26, 2006  |  0 comments
There is a sweet spot in any manufacturer's lineup where minimum price and maximum performance meet. More expensive products in the line may offer higher fidelity, but the cost may not be commensurate with the improvement. For instance, VPI's HRX and Super Scoutmaster turntables cost more than their standard Scoutmaster model, and they perform better—but for my money, the sweet spot of VPI's line is the standard Scoutmaster, with or without such options as the outer clamp and Signature tonearm.
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Floor Loudspeaker Reviews
Kharma Ceramique CE-2.0 loudspeaker
Kalman Rubinson  |  Jun 11, 2006  |  First Published: Oct 11, 2000  |  0 comments
Oh boy! This was one of my most eagerly anticipated auditions. At my first demonstration of an OLS loudspeaker system several years ago, I was bowled over not only by the demo, but also by the idea that OLS's Kharma line was topped by the $1,000,000 Grand Enigma system!
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Floor Loudspeaker ReviewsHistoricalJ. Gordon HoltStand Loudspeaker Reviews
Fulton Musical Industries Model 80 & "J-Modular" loudspeakers
J. Gordon Holt  |  Jun 11, 2006  |  First Published: Sep 11, 1976  |  2 comments
In the last issue we published a rather enthusiastic "Quickie" report on a small, $190/pair speaker system from a new company—the FMI Model 80. It was virtually devoid of low end, even as a stereo pair (pairing effectively doubles bass output), and slightly rough as well as a shade soft at the high end, but it had a quality of "aliveness" to it that almost defied belief. Was it a breakthrough in design? A new transducing principle? No, it was neither. In fact, the Model 80 looks like any one of those hundreds of little bookshelf systems that clutter, the pages of Stereo Review's "Hi-Fi Directory" in tedious profusion.
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Floor Loudspeaker Reviews
Mirage M-3 loudspeaker
Thomas J. Norton  |  May 28, 2006  |  First Published: Nov 28, 1990  |  0 comments
It may surprise some readers to learn that all of the contributors to Stereophile do not get the chance to hear, at our leisure and in familiar circumstances, everything that passes through the magazine's portals. Not that we wouldn't like to, but there just isn't time. Nor are the logistics always right. I was therefore probably as intrigued as the average reader by LA's glowing report on the $5000/pair Mirage M-1 in the June 1989 issue. The M-1s had been on the market long enough for me to have heard them on several occasions, of course, but generally at shows and not under the best of conditions. I did get to hear them briefly at LA's later that same summer, but the hustle and bustle of a Stereophile Writers' Conference party isn't the optimum place for value judgments.
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