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Stand Loudspeaker Reviews
Epos ES 14 loudspeaker
Thomas J. Norton, Various  |  Jun 28, 1995  |  First Published: Jun 28, 1988  |  0 comments
Americans might be forgiven if they haven't heard of Epos. A small, British specialist loudspeaker manufacturer, it was founded in 1983 by its designer, Robin Marshall—an ex-BBC engineer and a onetime consultant to Monitor Audio, according to Roy Hall of Epos's US importer, Music Hall. Their first model, the ES 20, didn't make it to the US, and was apparently a bit too pricey in the UK to make much of a splash there (about £700, $1300 at the current rate of exchange—a mint in a country with the patent on sub-$500/pair (UK prices!) two-ways). In 1986 or thereabouts, the new, smaller ES 14 was introduced, using updated versions of the same drivers in a smaller, ported cabinet. Music Hall only recently began importing the Epos into the US.
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Recording of the Month
Recording of June 1995: Train a Comin'
Richard Lehnert  |  Jun 20, 1995  |  0 comments
STEVE EARLE: Train a Comin'
Steve Earle, guitar, harmonica, vocals; Peter Rowan, guitar, mandolin, mandola, vocals; Norman Blake, guitar, dobro, fiddle, Hawaiian guitar; Roy Huskey, acoustic bass; Emmylou Harris, vocals
Winter Harvest WH 3302-2 (CD only). Steve Earle, William Alsobrook, prods.; Wayne Neuendorf, Mike Elliot, engs. ADD. TT: 40:01
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J. Gordon HoltPhono Preamp ReviewsHistorical
Vendetta Research SCP-2 phono preamplifier
J. Gordon Holt  |  Jun 11, 1995  |  First Published: Jun 11, 1988  |  0 comments
Few people in the audio business would deny that John Curl is an audio design genius—arguably the greatest one of our generation. He designed and built the electronics for Mobile Fidelity's SuperMaster and David Wilson's (of Wilson Audio) UltraMaster tape recorders, two of the three best analog recorders in the world. (The other is Keith Johnson's home-brew unit.) He designed the JC-1 head amp and JC-2 preamplifier sold under the Mark Levinson name some years ago. He designed head amps for SOTA, Michaelson & Austin (TVA), and has done consulting work for more high-end companies than you can shake a stick at.
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Tube Preamp ReviewsJ. Gordon Holt
Audio Research SP-11 preamplifier
Anthony H. Cordesman, J. Gordon Holt  |  Jun 10, 1995  |  First Published: Jun 10, 1986  |  0 comments
If there is indeed a renaissance of tubes in high-end audio—and it is clear there is—much of the blame lies with Audio Research Corporation.
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Tube Preamp Reviews
Conrad-Johnson PV10 preamplifier
Corey Greenberg, Sam Tellig  |  Jun 09, 1995  |  First Published: Jun 09, 1993  |  0 comments
Last September, in Vol.15 No.9, I started my quest for the Ultimate Kilobuck Tube Amp with reviews of the $995 Panor/Dynaco ST70-II and the $1695 Nobis Cantabile. While neither really fit the bill—the Dynaco fell a bit short in terms of sonics, while the Nobis was priced a bit higher than a thou—they got me thinking of the Ultimate Kilobuck Tube Preamp. Because the greatest amp in the world can only sound as good as whatever drives it, and there's no sense looking for a kick-ass affordable tube amp if you're going to play Scrooge McDuck when it comes to the preamplifier.
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Budget Component ReviewsHeadphone Reviews
Grado SR60 headphones
Corey Greenberg  |  Jun 08, 1995  |  First Published: Jun 08, 1994  |  0 comments
What the hell is going on with headphones these days?!
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Floor Loudspeaker Reviews
Energy Veritas v2.8 loudspeaker
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jun 07, 1995  |  First Published: Jun 07, 1994  |  0 comments
If Canada has emerged as a hotbed of loudspeaker production in the past few years, the folks at Audio Products International must be positively sizzling. Of their three lines—Mirage, Energy, and Sound Dynamics—Mirage is perhaps the best known in the US, with Energy running a distant second. Mirage, at least in their flagship M series, features rather esoteric bipolar designs, while Energy sticks to the more conservative, forward-radiating approach. Stereophile has had extensive exposure to the various Mirages (a review of one of the M-series babies, the M-7si, is scheduled for a future issue); our exposure to Energy has been virtually nil, save for the odd Hi-Fi Show and CES. And thereby hangs a tale.
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Stand Loudspeaker Reviews
Sonus Faber Extrema loudspeaker
Martin Colloms  |  Jun 07, 1995  |  First Published: Jun 07, 1992  |  0 comments
Sonus Faber was founded in 1981 by Franco Serblin. Real wood has always featured strongly in the construction of this company's evolving range of costly, compact loudspeaker systems (footnote 1). The first was called the Parva, now in its FM4 form. This was followed by the Minima, a Tablette-sized model. The upmarket Electa came through in the last few years, followed by the Amator-Electa. This series increases in size and weight with each new introduction—for example, the Minima weighed 6kg, the Electa 12kg, the latest Extrema a massive 40kg or 88 lbs.
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Tonearm Reviews
Naim Aro tonearm
Markus Sauer  |  Jun 05, 1995  |  First Published: Jun 05, 1993  |  0 comments
When I was visiting Santa Fe last Easter (footnote 1), one of the subjects I raised with JA was Naim's ARO tonearm. This unique unipivot design has languished in Class K of Stereophile's "Recommended Components" listing for far too long. JA explained that the regular reviewers have quite enough to do, thank you, just keeping up with speakers, electronics, and especially digital. The esteemed Martin Colloms is happily using an ARO on his Linn Sondek, and wrote a review for the English magazine Hi-Fi News & Record Review in May 1991, but since there is a very small but nevertheless vociferous overlap in US readership between the two magazines, it is Stereophile policy not to have two reviews by the same reviewer of a given piece of gear.
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Stand Loudspeaker Reviews
B&W John Bowers Silver Signature loudspeaker
John Atkinson  |  Jun 01, 1995  |  First Published: Jun 01, 1994  |  0 comments
In recent years, computer modeling, finite-element analysis, and laser interferometry have brought about a huge increase in our knowledge about what makes the moving-coil loudspeaker drive-unit work. Nevertheless, it has remained fundamentally unchanged since it was invented by Rice and Kellogg more than 60 years ago. That doesn't mean that it hasn't been refined considerably; in this review I examine the performance of a design whose drive-unit technology has been taken to the limit of what is currently possible, the B&W Silver Signature.
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