"<A HREF="http://www.Stereophile.com//features/44/">Who Stole The Bass?</A>" asked Anthony H. Cordesman, writing about minimonitors in the April/May 1987 <I>Stereophile</I> (Vol.10 No.3). And for the designer of a box loudspeaker, the fundamental design decision, at any price level, is how much bass extension to aim for. It will always be possible to design a speaker with extension down to 20Hz, but will the result be musically and commercially successful? Will the designer end up with a speaker hypertrophied in that one area at the expense of every other? Will, indeed, the result be feasible technically? For example, for a given cabinet volume, gains in low-frequency extension have to be balanced against corresponding drops in sensitivity, and it is quite possible that to go for 20Hz extension will result in a 60dB/W/m sensitivity, equating with a speaker that only plays <I>extremely</I> quietly, and thus of no use to anyone.

<B>P&#196;RT: <I>Fratres</I></B><BR> <I>Fratres</I> for strings & percussion; <I>Fratres</I> for violin, strings, & percussion; <I>Fratres</I> for wind octet & percussion; <I>Fratres</I> for eight cellos; <I>Fratres</I> for strings; <I>Fratres</I> for string quartet; <I>Fratres</I> for cello & piano. Plus: <I>Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten</I>, <I>Summa</I>, <I>Festina Lente</I><BR>Rudolf Werthen, I Fiamminghi (The Orchestra of Flanders)<BR> Telarc CD-80387 (CD only). James Mallinson, prod.; Jack Renner, Tony Faulkner, engs. DDD. TT: 79:00

"Pssst, Sam. I've got this great speaker for you."

"Pssst, Sam. I've got this great speaker for you."

"Pssst, Sam. I've got this great speaker for you."

For those of us who have succumbed to the enticements of surround-sound for music, Audio Research's SDP1 is both vindication and cause for rejoicing: vindication because surround-sound's acceptance by such an ultraconservative, uncompromising company as ARC will give it a respectability in the high-end community that it never enjoyed before, and cause for rejoicing because someone has finally done music surround right.

For those of us who have succumbed to the enticements of surround-sound for music, Audio Research's SDP1 is both vindication and cause for rejoicing: vindication because surround-sound's acceptance by such an ultraconservative, uncompromising company as ARC will give it a respectability in the high-end community that it never enjoyed before, and cause for rejoicing because someone has finally done music surround right.

For those of us who have succumbed to the enticements of surround-sound for music, Audio Research's SDP1 is both vindication and cause for rejoicing: vindication because surround-sound's acceptance by such an ultraconservative, uncompromising company as ARC will give it a respectability in the high-end community that it never enjoyed before, and cause for rejoicing because someone has finally done music surround right.