Dear Gordon:
Although we have had a few chats over the past years I can't really say I know you. Nevertheless I identify with you in that we are both pioneers in our respective fields, and have put up longer than most with the…
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The following was submitted as a letter to J. Gordon Holt, in response to his Editorial "Digital Revenge," in issue #53 (August 1982, Vol.5 No.6). We are publishing it as a guest editorial, because the writer is one of the few audio people whose judgement we respect who disagrees with us about digital's merits. The feeling, it would seem, is mutual.—Ed.
BOB MARLEY: Exodus: 30th Anniversary Edition
Island 314 586 408-2 (CD). 2007. Bob Marley & the Wailers, prods.; Karl Pitterson, eng.; Guy Bidmead, Terry Barham, asst. engs.; Chris Blackwell, Aston Barrett, Karl Pitterson, mix. AAD? TT: 37:18
Performance *****
Sonics *****
Island 314 586 408-2 (CD). 2007. Bob Marley & the Wailers, prods.; Karl Pitterson, eng.; Guy Bidmead, Terry Barham, asst. engs.; Chris Blackwell, Aston Barrett, Karl Pitterson, mix. AAD? TT: 37:18
Performance *****
Sonics *****
What kind of record would you make if someone had just tried to assassinate you? How would that kind of event be reflected in the music? Would the prevailing emotions of the music be bitterness? Fear? A seething desire for revenge?
Those were the questions surrounding Bob Marley in London from…
It was 45 years ago this month that the first issue of Stereophile, just 20 pages in length, went in the mail. It had been founded by one J. Gordon Holt. Gordon had been technical editor of High Fidelity magazine in the 1950s, and was tired of being asked to pander to the demands of advertisers. "I watched, first with incredulity and then with growing disgust, how the purchase of a year's advertising contract could virtually insure a manufacturer against publication of an unfavorable report," he said in a 1974 article looking back at those dark times. And if a company didn't buy advertising,…
Readers often ask how I choose components for review. My method is simple: Ninety percent of what I review is gear that has impressed me at one of our Home Entertainment Shows, or new designs from manufacturers whose products I've liked in the past. The remainder are assigned by John Atkinson.
This time I tried something different. I contacted three audio retailers whom I trust for their hearing acuity, passion for music, and honesty, and asked each this question: "Which affordable speaker have you heard lately that impressed you?" (My working definition of affordable…
Playing recordings of bombastic orchestral works, I was very impressed with the Chorus 807V's lower bass range. From the timpani passage in the first movement of David Chesky's Violin Concerto, from his Area 31 collection (SACD/CD, Chesky SACD 288), to the bass drum in the finale of Stravinsky's The Firebird in the recording by Antal Dorati and the London Symphony (CD, Mercury Living Presence SR90226), I felt I was listening to larger, more dynamic floorstanders. I had the same reaction to the opening tracks of Kraftwerk's Minimum/Maximum (CD, EMI ASW 60611)—when cranked to rock-concert…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way, bass-reflex, stand-mounted loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (25mm) TNV aluminum-magnesium inverted-dome tweeter, 7" (180mm) Polyglass-cone woofer. Crossover frequency: 3kHz. Frequency response: 50Hz–28kHz, ±3dB. Low-frequency point: 41Hz. Sensitivity: 92dB (2.83V/m). Impedance: 8 ohms nominal, 4.2 ohms minimum. Recommended amplification: 25–175W.
Dimensions: 17.5" (448mm) H by 9.2" (237mm) W by 13" (333mm) D. Weight: 22.2 lbs (10.1kg).
Finish: Ebony-Moka.
Serial Numbers Of Units Reviewed: 10A003579/80.
Price: $995/pair. Approximate…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: VPI TNT IV turntable, Immedia RPM tonearm, Koetsu Urushi cartridge; Rega Planar 3 turntable, Syrinx PU-3 tonearm, Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood> & Aurum Beta S cartridges.
Digital Sources: Lector CDP-7T, California Audio Labs Icon Mk.II Power Boss, Creek Destiny & CD53 Mk.II CD players; Pioneer DV-333 DVD player.
Preamplification: Vendetta Research SCP-2D phono stage, Audio Valve Eclipse and Audio Research Reference 3 line stages.
Power Amplifier: Audio Research VT100 Mk.II and Reference 110.
Integrated Amplifiers: Creek…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured the Focal Chorus 807V with its grille removed. Its voltage sensitivity on the tweeter axis was significantly higher than the average I have measured over the years, at an estimated 90dB(B)/2.83V/m, though this is a little lower than the 92dB specified. Though its impedance drops to 4.1 ohms at the bottom of the midrange, and there is a combination of 5.8 ohms magnitude and –40° electrical phase angle at 120Hz (fig.1), overall the speaker is a fairly gentle load for the partnering amplifier to drive.
Fig.1 Focal Chorus 807V, electrical…
"No, the Dynaudio Confidence C1 isn't a small loudspeaker, but it is a stand-mounted two-way monitor." I was struggling to explain to Fred Kaplan what I was working on for this month's deadline.
"So it would be good for people with smaller rooms?"
"That's what I thought at first, so I set them up in my small listening room, where they were fantastic, but later I decided I had to hear them in my big room, too. So I brought the C1s upstairs—and darned if they didn't shine in a room that most 'monitor' speakers can't fill."
"So let me get this straight," said Fred…
While auditioning the C1, I received a copy of Twin Falls, by Deidre Rodman and Steve Swallow (CD, Sunnyside SSC-1149). Duets of fretless electric bass and piano can be a hard row to hoe, but Swallow is endlessly inventive, and Rodman has a Debussyan flair for melody and dynamics. The C1 seemed particularly adept at conveying the nuances of touch and attack—and at capturing the instantaneous shifts in direction that occur in improvisation at an exalted level. The combination of e-bass and piano seems designed to bedevil any two-way loudspeaker; if the crossover has any weaknesses, the leap…