Oh boy, affordable two-ways—what fun.
But the…
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As I trundled the WATT/Puppys off to the Stereophile laboratory complex for our test procedures (see my review in the last issue), I idly wondered to myself, "Gee, what am I going to do for an encore?" Visions of exotic butterfly-like horns danced in my head (nope, J-10 Scull gets those babies). I was tantalized by the call of ambitiously designed behemoths (Major Tom gets those, he's got the room for 'em). Maybe some jewel-like, state-of-the-art minimonitors? (JA glommed 'em—editor's prerogative, y'know.) So what does that leave me?
Those used to the bass signature of most ported two-way designs are in for a shock when they hear the Templars. The solidity of the bass image is impressive: punchy, articulate, and phenomenally well-defined. (It did not come as a surprise to learn that Alan O'Rourke plays bass.) Glen Velez's various frame drums were filled with dynamic energy and portrayed with such precision that I could hear his fingers buzz against the membrane as they lightly brushed the slowly moving drumhead. Everything was placed within a well-defined soundstage, which in turn was obviously a different acoustic from…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way, bi-wirable, floorstanding, infinite-baffle loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (25mm) treated–fabric-dome tweeter, ferrofluid-cooled and -damped; 6.5" (165mm) treated–paper-cone woofer with a pure rubber surround, cast chassis, and high-flux magnet system. Crossover frequency: 2.6kHz. Frequency response: 55Hz–20kHz, ±3dB. Sensitivity: 87dB/W/m. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms. Amplifier requirement: 20–100W.
Dimensions: 8" (190mm) W by 10.5" (260mm) D (at base) by 28" (700mm) H. Weight: 26.5 lbs each.
Serial numbers of units tested: 17483 A/B.
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Sidebar 2: Rocking with Ruark
Ruark may be an unfamiliar name to many US audiophiles, but Brian O'Rourke has been designing loudspeakers for 25 years—first at Diesis and, since 1986, in partnership with son Alan at Ruark. The elder O'Rourke (Ruark is the old Celtic name from which O'Rourke derives) is a master cabinetmaker and member of the Guild of Master Craftsman; this craftsmanship permeates the construction of all Ruark speakers. Alan brings to the firm his background as a precision engineer, not to mention his musical passion as a professional bassist. This is the second Ruark…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
This is a cute speaker. And easy to drive, too, as can be seen from its impedance curves (fig.1). Dropping to just 7 ohms in the midrange and 6.3 ohms in the high treble, with a moderate phase angle above the bass, the Templar will work with low-powered amps, as WP found. The sealed box is tuned to a highish 65Hz—the frequency of the big magnitude peak in the bass—which is about what I expected from the box size. Note the wrinkle at 325Hz, which indicates the presence of a strong cabinet resonance at this frequency. The Big Man didn't hear anything amiss in the…
Back in the early 1970s, the BBC needed a physically unobtrusive, nearfield monitor loudspeaker for use in outside-broadcast trucks. Accordingly, they instructed their design department, which at that time featured such luminaries as Dudley Harwood (the "father" of the polypropylene cone, who went on to found Harbeth) and the late Spencer Hughes (the "father" of the Bextrene cone, who went on to found Spendor), to produce such a model. Thus, not only was what was then probably the finest collection of British speaker-design talent involved in its development, there were no commercial…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way, stand-mounted, sealed-box loudspeaker. Drive-units: 0.75" (19mm) ferrofluid-cooled, fabric-dome tweeter, 4.5" (110mm) polypropylene-copolymer–cone woofer. Crossover frequency: 3kHz. Crossover slopes: third-order, 18dB/octave. Frequency response: 80Hz–21kHz ±2dB. Sensitivity: 85dB/W/m (2.83V). Nominal impedance: 8 ohms. Power handling: 45W unclipped program. Amplifier requirements: 25–100W. Maximum spl per pair: 99dB at 2m. Distortion at 90dB spl: less than 1% second harmonic, 200Hz–21kHz; less than 1% third harmonic, 50Hz–21kHz.
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Sidebar: Review System
Power amplifiers were either a pair of Mark Levinson No.20.6 monoblocks or a YBA 2 HC, while the preamplifier was either the Melos SHA-1 headphone amplifier used as a line-stage, the YBA 2, or the Audio Research LS2B. A Mod Squad Phono Drive EPS amplified LP signals from a Linn Sondek/Cirkus/Trampolin/Lingo/Ekos/Arkiv setup sitting on an ArchiDee table. Digital source was variously a Theta DS Pro Generation III, a Counterpoint DA-10 with UltraAnalog DAC module, a Mark Levinson No.35, or the new Sonic Frontiers SFD-2, all driven by a Mark Levinson No.31 transport via…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The Studio 3's impedance (fig.1) doesn't drop below 8 ohms, making it a very easy amplifier load. (This graph nicely illustrates the facts that maximum electrical phase angles occur at relatively high magnitude values, and that both maximum- and minimum-magnitude values coincide with 0° phase.) The sealed box is tuned to 93Hz (the peak at that frequency reaches 21.7 ohms), significantly higher than either of the other two loudspeakers reviewed. No wrinkles in the lower midrange can be seen, implying a relatively well-braced cabinet construction. The sensitivity,…
Gotta get this one written up right away—you never know with digital products. Always something new.
Many of us balk at the idea of spending 4k, 3k, or even 2k for an outboard digital processor, when something better will likely come along soon, and maybe for less money.
Too bad about the Musical Fidelity Digilog—a very musical (if not especially detailed) unit selling for $995, which is no longer imported into the US.
I've found something else for you.
The Meridian 203 Digital Converter.
I have to confess this is one of those products I was…