T.H.E. Show Newport 2011

Digital Ear (Room 1 of 5)

Michael Lavorgna  |  Jun 7, 2011

Retailer Digital Ear from Tustin, CA was all over this show. I had to keep checking my notes since I began to feel like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day—"I'm in the Digital Ear room, again? But I just left." Room 1 was the Revel/Levinson room—Revel Ultima Salon2 speakers ($21,998/pair), Mark Levinson No.53 monoblock amplifiers ($25,000, the first-ever switching amp from Levinson), Mark Levinson No.326S preamplifier ($10,000), the No.512 CD/SACD Player ($15,000), with cabling from Transparent Audio. I felt this tiny room did not allow you to fully appreciate what you might hear if you were in a more appropriately sized room with this kind of gear. As is, I would not recommend the Revel Salon 2s—a JA favorite—for near-field listening.

COMMENTS
Jeff0000's picture
Submitted by Jeff0000 on June 7, 2011 - 1:19pm

Michael:

What was the room size? Width, depth and height.

Thanks,
Jeff

michaelavorgna's picture
Submitted by michaelavorgna on June 7, 2011 - 8:16pm

 

But my best guess is it was small" x small" x small". I don't mean to be glib and I can understand why you'd want to know but exact room dimensions fell outside my purview.

While I was in this room there were two other guys, reviewers I believe, and they agreed that best sound was achieved by elevating themselves about 2 ft. about the centered listening seat. My guess is there was no way to get far enough away for the drivers to integrate properly. So the more important dimension would be related to distance from the loudspeakers, which I’d guestimate was no more than 5’ or 6' in this room, i.e. less than enough.

Jeff0000's picture
Submitted by Jeff0000 on June 7, 2011 - 9:12pm

Michael:

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

Yes, 5' or 6' away is way too close.

Thanks,

Jeff

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