Amateurs and would-be professionals alike thus have an excellent chance of producing decent-sounding speakers on their first or second attempts---a fact…
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Almost every audiophile, whether hobbyist or professional, has taken a stab at building loudspeakers. Combine the fundamentals of cabinetmaking with some basic electronic theory, connect a few good drivers to a well-designed crossover network, and you're on your way to pretty good sound. And now, with widely available resources like crossover design software and high-quality prefabricated cabinets, the task is easier than it's ever been.
Sidebar 3 Measurements
I performed the quasi-anechoic measurements of the Dynaudio Excite X12 with DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone. The speaker's rather clumsy grille was left off for the measurements. The Excite X12's specified voltage sensitivity is 86dB/2.83V/m; my estimate of its sensitivity was a bit lower than that, at 84.8dB(B)/2.83V/m, which is below average. This speaker will work better with relatively high-powered amplifiers, such as the Creek integrated and Audio Research power amp BJR used for his auditioning. However, while Dynaudio specifies the…
Letters from July 2010 (Vol.33 No.7):
Won't get fooled again!
Editor: I grinned the whole way through Artie's May write-up on restoring Large Advent speakers from the memories it evoked. Back in the day, my audiophile pal had a pair of Advents while I opted for the EPI sound. I foolishly sold my two pairs of circa-1973 EPI 100s in the 1990s during a couple of downsizing periods. It didn't take long for me to track down another set a few years later.
After reading Art's piece, I did the only thing I could do: I dropped 40-year old music on the 'table and let them babies…
Letters in response appeared in the March, April, and May 2000 issues:
Epiphanies
Editor: I just finished reading Markus Sauer's article in the January issue. This is the kind of writing that generates those life-changing moments of clarity that are so rare in my life. My highest praise to Stereophile for printing it.
The nature of my epiphany is of my very perception of music. Until this day I had assumed that only the most accurate reproduction, the truest to the original, could be the answer to my quest. But my listening is almost all for pleasure, and not necessarily for…
Fred Mills
JACK FROST: Jack Frost
Arista ARCD8667 (CD). 1991. Steve Kilbey, prod., eng.; Pryce Surplice, eng. AAD? TT: 58:54 In 1991, Steve Kilbey (Church) and Grant McLennan (Go-Betweens), presumably both in the throes of relationship woes, hired a string section and joined forces under the assumed name of Jack Frost. The resulting LP married the best of both worlds—Church's lush, atmospheric rock drama and the Go-Betweens' sunny, strummy baroque folk—and yielded a sweetly textured, emotionally battered breakup album. From "Threshold" 's disco-flavored white soul and the crunchy…
JACK FROST: Jack Frost
Arista ARCD8667 (CD). 1991. Steve Kilbey, prod., eng.; Pryce Surplice, eng. AAD? TT: 58:54 In 1991, Steve Kilbey (Church) and Grant McLennan (Go-Betweens), presumably both in the throes of relationship woes, hired a string section and joined forces under the assumed name of Jack Frost. The resulting LP married the best of both worlds—Church's lush, atmospheric rock drama and the Go-Betweens' sunny, strummy baroque folk—and yielded a sweetly textured, emotionally battered breakup album. From "Threshold" 's disco-flavored white soul and the crunchy…
Recently, on the Stereophile Web forum, reader Natal commented on Robert J. Reina's review of the Creek Audio Destiny integrated amplifier in the January 2007 issue: "Maybe it's just me but I've never found any piece of electronic equipment sexy."
My first reaction was pity. Be there a man with soul so dead / Who never to himself hath said / Hubba-hubba, zing-zing-zing / I've got to plug into that thing?
My second thought was somewhat more rational: Right on, Natal—stereo components are just appliances. After all, nobody thinks toasters or vacuum cleaners are sexy, right…
These are the first interconnects and speaker cables I have reviewed for Stereophile. Each of us has his little niche, and editor John Atkinson likes us to play in the sandboxes we most enjoy. For me, that has usually meant inexpensive speakers and expensive tube electronics. But there's another reason I've tended to shy away from cables.
About 15 years ago, there was an explosion of new cable companies, each of which appeared to be boasting that its innovative designs were right and everyone else's were wrong. Some of these cables were interesting, but many seemed to be nothing…
I positioned the Burmester B25s 5' from the front wall, 6' apart (measured from the tweeter centers), and toed-in 45° to focus on my listening chair 7' away. This placement maximized soundstage depth. I biwired the B25s by using four Pure Silver Cable double-ribbon speaker cables. I used two different solid-state amplifiers from Mark Levinson: a pair of ML-2 monoblocks (50W into 4 ohms) and, later, a No.334 (250Wpc into 4 ohms). The B25 allowed me to hear these amps' characteristics: the ML-2s' three-dimensional, transparent sound at more intimate volumes, and the No.334's lease-busting bass…
I've always wanted to review a Linn product.
But what, exactly, is a "Linnie"? I've heard several definitions over the years: 1) a fan of audio gear manufactured by Linn Products; 2) an audiophile who believes that a system's front-end, whether analog or digital, is its most critical part; 3) an audiophile who believes that a system's ability to "carry the tune" and inspire the listener to "tap his feet" to the music is at least as important as its neutrality, resolution of detail, and ability to soundstage.
My purchase of a Linn Sondek LP12 turntable in 1982 certainly…
For the seventh consecutive year, Stereophile has named a select few audio components the "Products of the Year." In doing so, we recognize those components that have proved capable of giving musical pleasure beyond the formal review period.
There are five individual categories: Loudspeakers (including subwoofers), Amplification Components (preamplifiers, power amplifiers, etc.), Digital Sources (CD players, transports, processors), Analog Sources (phono cartridges, turntables, tonearms, FM tuners, etc.), and Accessories (everything else).
The two most important categories, however,…