I didn't really expect any surprises in our measurements of the Threshold SA/12e, and none were found. It would, in fact, be hard to imagine better objective performance at the current state of the art. Frequency response was a total non-event—that is, flat within 0.1dB from 20Hz–20kHz (fig.1). Fig.2 shows the Threshold's THD+noise. The three lowest curves indicate (respectively) the low power figures of 1W into 8 ohms, 2W into 4 ohms, and 4W into 2 ohms. The third curve from the top is the 250W into 8 ohm measurement. It edges just barely over the 0.1%…
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Stereophile September 1991, Vol.14 No.9, Followup
When John Atkinson asked what I'd like to review for the September issue, I responded immediately that I had some unfinished business to attend to. When I reviewed the Threshold SA/12e monoblock (Vol.13 No.12) and Rowland Model One (Vol.14 No.4) stereo amplifiers, I left a few threads hanging. I'd promised a follow-up comparing the big Thresholds with one of that company's less pricey (though still far from cheap) stereo amplifiers, and I had yet to try a pair of Model Ones bridged as monoblocks. Hence this update.
Associated…
Since he joined Snell Acoustics in the mid-1980s, Kevin Voecks, their chief designer (footnote 1), has been involved in the design or redesign of the entire Snell line, from the minor revision of the Type A/III (incorporation of a new tweeter), to the complete redesign of the Type C (now the CIII). Snell Acoustics is located in Massachusetts, and although Kevin spends a good deal of time there or at the measurement and analysis facilities of the Canadian National Research Council (NRC) in Ottawa, he does a great deal of his conceptual and preliminary design work, as well as his listening, in…
Norton: I guess every designer approaches it differently, but when you originally conceive a new loudspeaker design, where do you generally start your process—how does your conceptual process work?
Voecks: The conceptual process is the part I like—by far—the most, because it's the really creative part, and comes pretty easily. You usually say that you need a speaker in a certain price range—that's usually the direction that you start in—then you start to think about what kind of things could be done for that price. For instance—at $2000 for the CIII, what can we do to make it demonstrably…
Norton: I mentioned, in passing, in a recent article that the listening room is the last frontier of audio. You've done some interesting things in this area. The other day you mentioned to me a new program that Snell is developing to help the customer select the right listening position and the right position for his loudspeakers.
Voecks: That's right. It calculates all the room modes based on its being a rectangular room, then predicts the areas where you will activate room modes and where you won't, and gives options from best to worst for speaker placement. That will be a free service…
When I say that this past—and last—Summer CES in Chicago was dead daddy dead, I'm not talking about fewer high-end exhibits and attendees than ever before. I'm talking I walked in the front door of the Chicago Hilton and almost puked from that smell of dead, mealy meat that hits you in the face and kicks-in the gag reflex. The smell of death you can taste even if you're breathing with your mouth. In most religions, it's a sin to let something that dead just sit there without at least spreading some lye on it to kill the stink. I once cut a man for misadjusting the VTA on my cartridge, and…
Still, coming directly from the ultra-tight, well-defined bass of the NHTs, the C/V's low end betrayed its ported origins by tending toward a slower, more thumping character than the fast and agile sealed NHT woofer. This gave the impression that the bass was lagging somewhat behind the rest of the range during strong rhythmic music, such as Jimmie Vaughan's "Don't Cha Know," off Strange Pleasure (Epic EK 57202). Although the C/V suffers from this to a much lesser extent than the other big Snells, such as the B and B minor, there was still a trace of it in the C/V when compared with the NHT…
Sidebar 1: System
The Snells replaced my longtime reference NHT 3.3s in my He-Man rig, and were driven by an Aragon 4004 Mk.II 200W solid-state power amplifier—another long-term fave I got no plans of retiring any time soon. Preamps used were the Audible Illusions Modulus 3, my own buffered job, and an Exposure XVII. LPs were played on a Well Tempered Table fitted with a Naim ARO arm and Sumiko Transfiguration cartridge; CDs were played on a Theta Data Basic transport Linque'd to Theta's Gen.V processor. Eight-tracks were played on a Wollensak 8050A deck. Interconnects were Kimber's KCAG…
Sidebar 2: Measurements
Despite its size, the C/V is only moderately sensitive, at a calculated 87dB/W/m (B-weighted). With its tone control set to its flat, 12 o/c position and the rear tweeter turned off, the Snell's impedance (fig.1) only drops below 6 ohms in the midrange, reaching a minimum value of 4 ohms at 450Hz. However, with the HF control at maximum and the rear tweeter turned on, the magnitude drops almost 2 ohms at 40kHz, which may be a problem with some old-fashioned tube amplifiers. The port tuning is revealed by the saddle in the impedance plot at 25Hz, implying good low-…
Sidebar 3: Specifications
Description: Three-way floorstanding vented loudspeaker. Drivers: two 8" woofers, two 5" midranges, one 1" titanium-dome tweeter, one switchable rear-firing 1" tweeter. Crossover frequencies: 300Hz, 2.8kHz. Recommended amplifier power: 50–250W. Rated sensitivity: 90dB/W/m in anechoic half-space. Impedance: 8 ohms nominal, 5 ohms minimum.
Dimensions: 46.75" H by 10.5" W by 17.75" D. Weight: 230 lbs/pair.
Finishes available: oak, dark oak, walnut, high-gloss black real-wood veneers.
Serial numbers of speakers reviewed: 1537/1538.
Price: $2499/pair (…