In the January issue I reviewed the $650/pair Phase Technology PC80 loudspeakers and found them to offer good performance for their modest price. The PC80s are solidly built (1"-thick cabinet), attractive (real wood veneer), and had some special musical qualities not normally found at this price level. In particular, they had smooth tonal balance and the ability to throw a large soundstage with pinpoint images. In fact, the PC80s were one of the best-imaging speakers I'd auditioned in my listening room. My primary…
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Robert Harley wrote again about the PC80 in September 1991 (Vol.14 No.9):
Sidebar 3: Follow-Up Measurements
Fig.1 shows the PC80's FFT-derived anechoic response, measured over a 30° lateral window with the grille on. The 2.5kHz peak is still apparent, but is lower in amplitude than that seen in my original measurement made with the grille off. This suggests, as I stated in the PC80 review, that the grilles should be left on for listening.
Fig.1 Phase Technology PC80, anechoic response on tweeter axis at 45" with grille on, averaged across 30° horizontal window and corrected for microphone response, with the complex sum of nearfield woofer and…
Lonnie Brownell reviewed the PC80 Mk.II in December 1995 (Vol.18 No.12):
Phase Technology PC80 Mk.II Compact Monitor: That's quite a mouthful (and a lot of keystrokes), so I'll refer to this as the PC80 II. RH reviewed the previous incarnation of this speaker, the PC80, in Vol.14 No.1, p.214. The tweeter is new, with a lower-mass dome material, and is mounted flush with the baffle; the crossover now features 24dB/octave slopes; the woofer magnet is 50% larger; the woofer's flat diaphragm is constructed on a Kevlar cone rather than a paper one; and the woofer now features a butyl-rubber…
Sidebar 4: Lonnie Brownell's System
Here's the cast of characters in this production: The Analog family was portrayed by Linn Axis as the 'table, Linn Basik Plus as the tonearm, and Shure V-15 Type 5MR as the cartridge. The Digital gang was played by Magnavox CDB-560 as the transport, Audio Alchemy DTI as the anti-jitter device, Audio Alchemy DITB as the converter, with Illuminati Data/Video Flex and Data Flex Studio as the cables. The staff of Control and Amplification Inc. were played by Audible Illusions 2A as the preamp, and Audio Alchemy OM-150 Overture as the power amp. Also in…
Sidebar 5: Mk.II Measurements
I did some preliminary listening to the PC80 Mk.IIs before I measured them. This is a pretty good speaker for the price: relatively neutral with a surprising amount of bass. My estimate of its B-weighted sensitivity was a little below specification at 88.2dB/2.83V/m, but this is still on the high side for a small speaker. The PC80's impedance magnitude and phase are shown in fig.1: although it drops to 5 ohms in the lower midrange and to 6 ohms or so in the high treble, it generally approximates the specified 8 ohm load. The port tuning is revealed by the "…
Sidebar 6: Specifications
Description: Two-way, reflex-loaded, stand-mounted loudspeaker. Driver complement: one 6½" solid flat-piston driver, one 1" soft-dome tweeter. Crossover frequency: 2.1kHz (Mk.1), 2kHz (Mk.2). Crossover slopes: 24dB/octave acoustic. Frequency response: 55–20kHz ±3dB. Sensitivity: 88dB 2.83V/1m (Mk.1), 90dB/2.83V/1m (Mk.2). Recommended amplifier power: 25–100W. Nominal impedance: 6 ohms (Mk.1), 8 ohms (Mk.2).
Dimensions: 8 5/8" W by 13¼" H by 8¼" D (Mk.1), 9.5" W by 11" D by 15.5" H. (Mk.2). Shipping weight: 32 lbs (Mk.1), 36 lbs (Mk.2).
Finish: light oak,…
"You want to review the MDA 1000 along with the MC 275 amplifier in the same column?" Ron Cornelius, product manager and field training manager of McIntosh Laboratory, was incredulous.
Why not? Best of the past meets best of the present. 1961, meet 2004. I love incongruities. Besides, Ron set this up by delivering the two units together.
I love this—in part because the two units work so splendidly together. Not that I'd shell out $8000 for an MDA 1000 as easily as I wrote out a check for the MC 275.
Eight grand is a lot to pay for a D/A converter. Other DACs…
Sidebar: Specifications
Description: Two-channel D/A converter with seven digital inputs, balanced and unbalanced analog outputs,volume control, and automatic selection of sampling frequency from 32 to 96kHz. Frequency response: 4Hz–45kHz, ±0.5dB (sampling frequency 96kHz and 88.2kHz), 4Hz–22kHz ±0.3dB from (sampling frequency 48kHz), 4Hz–20kHz ±0.3dB (sampling frequency 44.1kHz), 4Hz–15kHz ±0.3dB (sampling frequency 32kHz). Total Harmonic Distortion: 0.002% at 1kHz. S/N Ratio: >110dB, A-weighted. Dynamic range: >100dB (1kHz). Rated output voltage: 2V (unbalanced and balanced…
One of the things endured by engineers and journalists involved in the design and discussion of high-end components is the seemingly endless attacks from those who, for whatever reason, feel that there is something unhealthy, even vaguely immoral, in the whole idea of wanting to listen to music with as high a quality as possible. The Listening Studio's Clark Johnsen reminded me recently of a letter from Daniel Shanefield that I published in the January 1984 issue of Hi-Fi News & Record Review that illustrates the whole genre: "It is utterly useless to write an amplifier review based on…
There is a wider point to be made concerning Mr. Self's conclusions. The danger lies not in his beliefs but in his insistence that those of us who rejoice in all the different shadings of sound quality possible from amplifiers—those of us who not only recognize "brown" but appreciate all the different browns bequeathed us by the Almighty—should cease to do so. Mr. Self's beliefs are a subset of my own since, if differences exist, it is quite possible for those differences to be small enough to be unnoticeable, whereas Mr. Self's world view, like Dr. Shanefield's, allows for no other. But…