Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Metaphor 2 loudspeaker Ancillary Components

Sidebar 1: Ancillary Components

Analog sources were my Linn/Ittok/Sumiko SHO (or the ELAC ESG 896 H) and the Well Tempered Reference Turntable and Arm, with the same cartridges. Digital sources included McCormack's Digital Drive SST/DAC-1, the Assemblage DAC-1, Audio Alchemy DDE v1.1, and Audio Research CD-1.

Preamplifiers employed included Conrad-Johnson's EV20SE, Audio Research's SP-9 Mk.III, Audio Alchemy's DLC, and McCormack's Micro Line Drive, with Creek's OBH-8 or McCormack's Micro Phono Drive phono preamps where needed. Conrad-Johnson Premier Eleven A, VAC PA-80/80, Audio Research D-200, and Ayre V-3 amplifiers all saw use.

Tying everything together were Transparent's Music Wave Reference speaker cables and Music Wave Ultra interconnect, and everything sat on Magro 24 component stands, D.J. Casser's The Shelf, Bright Star Big Rock 2s, and Townshend Seismic Sinks. To keep the Metaphors' wickedly sharp spikes from sinking into my floorboards—left to their own devices and weight, they tended to burrow toward my downstairs neighbor's ceiling—I used shiny new copper pennies, carefully placing them Lincoln-side up (as specified by Ray Shab) for best sound.—Wes Phillips

COMPANY INFO
Metaphor Acoustic Designs, Ltd.
Centreville, VA 22020
Company no longer in existence
ARTICLE CONTENTS

COMMENTS
Allen Fant's picture
Submitted by Allen Fant on February 18, 2016 - 2:34pm

One of WP shorter reviews. I miss his writing in 2016.
Hope you are well- WP.

fetuso's picture
Submitted by fetuso on February 18, 2016 - 5:59pm

I have a question, please. I'm considering purchasing the Sonus Farber Venere 1.5 bookshelf speakers. Their stand tilts the speaker to time aline the drivers, like the Metaphors. Is this something inherent to the design of these speakers that they need to be tilted? I guess what I'm wondering is why arent all speakers tilted? I ask because I was wondering if I could get away with not buying the stands. Thanks.

John Atkinson's picture
Submitted by John Atkinson on February 19, 2016 - 4:29am
fetuso wrote:
I'm considering purchasing the Sonus Faber Venere 1.5 bookshelf speakers. Their stand tilts the speaker to time align the drivers, like the Metaphors. Is this something inherent to the design of these speakers that they need to be tilted?

When we reviewed this speaker in January 2014 - see www.stereophile.com/content/sonus-faber-venere-15-loudspeaker - we found that the Sonus Faber's dedicated stand tilts it back about 5°, which gives the best integration of the outputs of the two drive-units in both the frequency and time domains. If you don't buy the stands, you are still going to have to tilt the speakers back (or sit on the floor).

fetuso wrote:
I guess what I'm wondering is why aren't all speakers tilted?

The listening axis of most speakers is level with the tweeter, but depending on the drive-units and the crossover, and whether or not the front baffle is sloped-back, this axis may be tilted up or down with with some designs. In which cases, the speaker will need to be tilted.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile

findcount's picture
Submitted by findcount on February 22, 2016 - 4:04am

Fetuso, are you Italian? if not, I would suggest you try out Elac, if you can compare it to a similarly priced Sonus Faber, the Elac will blow it away in terms of definition and accuracy

fetuso's picture
Submitted by fetuso on February 22, 2016 - 4:38am

I do happen to be of Italian ancestry, but that has nothing to do with my interest in the SF. I am focusing on speakers that have either a front firing port or are a sealed box because I don't have enough clearance from the front wall. I actually emailed Elac months ago asking about this clearance and I got a reply from Andrew Jones himself. He advised the B6 would need at least 3 feet of clearance to sound their best. I just don't have near that much room. I'm currently using Wharfedale Diamond 220's, which I happen to really like. They have a downward firing port and their bass response is actually improved as they are moved closer to a wall. I'm looking for a speaker a step or two up the ladder that won't suffer from similar positioning. Another model I'm looking at is the Vandersteen VLR Wood. They are sealed boxes, but there just aren't any reviews that I can find.

Thanks.

fetuso's picture
Submitted by fetuso on February 19, 2016 - 5:18am

Thank you for he reply. I've read that review several times and I recall the writer stating that he felt the stands are a mandatory accompaniment. I have two young boys and stands are impossible, so I was wondering if I buy them if I would need to somehow tilt them. I should probably consider a different speaker. Thanks again.

findcount's picture
Submitted by findcount on February 22, 2016 - 6:21am

i'm not suggesting the Elac B6.....rather the 243.3 model.....it comes with a foam plug to seal the back port....if the price is too high, there's the down-firing ported 190 range......if you really wanted a sealed box speaker, NHT has a 3-way bookshelf speaker too

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