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…
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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.
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 (…
Simaudio's Moon LP5.3 MM/MC phono preamplifier ($1400) is silly good! It has single-ended RCA inputs and both single-ended and true balanced-differential outputs. It also offers a wide range of adjustments for gain (54, 60, and 66dB), resistive loading (10, 100, 470, 1k, and 47k ohms), and capacitive loading (0, 100, and 470pF), all accomplished via a series of internally mounted jumper banks. You can even choose RIAA or IEC equalization. Removing the top plate to get to the adjustments reveals boards filled with high-quality parts for the well-isolated power-supply and signal-handling…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid-state MM/MC phono preamplifier with both RIAA and IEC equalization and unbalanced/balanced outputs. Gain: switchable, 40, 54, 60, and 66dB (balanced output gains are all 6dB higher). Input impedance: switchable, 47k, 1000, 470, 100, and 10 ohms. Input Capacitance: adjustable, 0, 100, and 470 pF.
Dimensions: 8" (200mm) W by 3.25" (80mm) H x 11" (280mm) D. Shipping weight: 7 lbs (3kg).
Price: $1400. Approximate number of dealers: 80.
Manufacturer: Simaudio, 95 Chemin du Tremblay Street, Unit 3, Boucherville, Quebec J4B 7K4, Canada. Tel…
Sidebar 2: Measurements from October 2007 (Vol.30 No.10):
In the March 2007 Stereophile, Michael Fremer devoted part of his "Analog Corner" column to a rave review of the Moon LP5.3 phono stage ($1400) from Canadian manufacturer Simaudio. "Out of the box, the LP5.3 proved quiet and sweet-sounding, with bass that was well-controlled, tuneful, and rhythmically solid, a harmonically rich midband, and a somewhat closed-in top end," he wrote. "The LP5.3's macrodynamics lacked the exuberance of the finest phono stages I've heard, but thanks to its impressively low noise, the 5.3's nuanced…
Sidebar 3: More Measurements, from November 2007 (Vol.30 No.11):
Last month, I followed up Michael Fremer's March 2007 review of Simaudio's versatile Moon LP5.3 phono preamplifier ($1400) with a set of measurements. In general, the LP5.3 got a clean bill of health, with very low noise, superb linearity, and excellent channel separation. However, I was concerned about its low overload margin at 20kHz and above, which I felt restricted the LP5.3 to use with phono cartridges with lower-than-normal output levels.
In his "Manufacturer's Comment" in the October issue (p.210), Simaudio…