Stand Loudspeaker Reviews

The test procedure followed, with minor changes, that established for my previous loudspeaker reviews: the Wharfedales were used with both a Krell KSA-50 and a pair of VTL 100W Compact monoblocks, connected with Monster M1 speaker cable. Preamplifier was either a PS Audio 4.6 with its M-500 power supply or a Mod Squad Phono Drive/Deluxe Line Drive combination. Interconnects were initially Monster M1000, later replaced with MIT 330 and MIT CVT.

Source components consisted of a Marantz CD-94 CD player, which was also used to drive the Sony DAS-R1 D/A converter unit reviewed by J. Gordon Holt in December 1988, a 1975-vintage Revox A77 to play my own 15ips master tapes, and a Linn Sondek/Ittok/Troika setup sitting on a Sound Organisation table for LP replay.

The Wharfedales were placed either on a pair of Chicago Speaker Stands 17" Hercules stands—the latest models with the uprights filled with Sims Vibration Dynamics "Navcom" material—or 24" Chicago Speaker Stands wooden stands. A sheet of Navcom, which absorbs vibration resistively, turning it into heat, was also used between the top-plate of each stand and the loudspeaker. The loudspeakers were carefully positioned for optimum performance, and the stands were coupled to the tile floor beneath the rug with spikes. In addition to a rigorous listening test, with no other speakers in the room, the speakers were used for a period of everyday use.—John Atkinson