Even so, you're not out of the woods. Average consumers will think your product too expensive. Hardcore enthusiasts will consider it too cheap. And since your loudspeaker has been on the market for more than a few years—fundamentally…
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There are three requirements: You must invent a very good loudspeaker that sells for between $1000 and $2000/pair. You have to make enough of them, over a long enough time, to achieve a certain level of brand recognition and market penetration. And you must create a dealer network of reasonable size, with an emphasis on well-promoted specialty shops.
But one cable option deserves special mention: I had excellent results with a pair of Alpha-Core AG-1 speaker cables that were sent to me a couple of weeks into the review period. These flat-conductor silver cables were set up for biwiring, with large spade connectors at the amplifier end and sensibly small ones at the speaker end, the latter cleverly stamped from the conductor material itself. It was a short (4') pair intended for use with monoblock amplifiers scooted as close to the speakers as possible, and the level of system synergy was stunning, with leading-edge transients that were…
Specifications
Description: Four-way, floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" ceramic-coated aluminum-alloy–dome tweeter, 4.5" plastic-cone midrange unit, 8" plastic-cone woofer, 10" fiber-cone "supplemental" woofer. Crossover frequencies: 600Hz, 5kHz. Crossover slopes: first-order. Frequency response: 29Hz–29kHz, ±3dB. Impedance: 4 ohms minimum, 7 ohms nominal. Sensitivity: 86dB/W/m.
Dimensions: 39.75" (1020mm) H by 16" (410mm) W by 10.25" (260mm) D. Weight: 60 lbs (27.3kg).
Finish: None. Black fabric sock.
Serial Numbers Of Units Reviewed: 58274, 58275.
Price: $1995/…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Linn LP12 turntable with Naim Armageddon power supply, Naim Aro tonearm; Linn LP12 turntable with Funk Firm Vector kit, Naim Aro tonearm; Rega Planar 3 turntable with Rega RB300 tonearm; Linn Akiva, Lyra Helikon Mono cartridges.
Digital Source: Sony SCD-777ES SACD player, shipped incognito.
Preamplification: EAR 834P, Linn Linto phono preamplifiers; Lamm LL2 preamplifier.
Power Amplifiers: Lamm ML2.1, Hyperion HT-88 (both monoblocks).
Integrated Amplifier: Simaudio Moon i-7.
Loudspeakers: Quad ESL.
Cables: Interconnect:…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
My estimate of the Vandersteen 2Ce Signature II's voltage sensitivity was 84dB(B)/2.83V/m, which is significantly below average. Its impedance, however, remained between 6 and 8 ohms over almost the entire audioband (fig.1), the only exception being the mid-treble with the treble control set its maximum position, when the impedance dropped to 5 ohms at 6.2kHz and 9kHz. The electrical phase angle is also close to 0° over most of the audioband, meaning that the Vandersteen will be an easy load for an amplifier to drive. This will compensate, to some extent, for its…
Klyne Audio Arts has an almost Zen-like approach to the design of its products. Like the best Japanese designs, Klyne's preamps are aesthetically pleasing in appearance, do exactly what they're supposed to, and their controls are not only where you would expect them to be, but have an almost sensually smooth action. Internal construction, too, is a work of art—the kind of design which, transferred to a tapestry, would grace the wall of any listening room. You have to see the insides of a Klyne preamp to appreciate how attractive-looking an audio component can be. But physical beauty is only…
The only reason for testing the SK-5A with an actual cartridge source was to determine how the unit handles the spurious material unique to disc reproduction: the ultrasonic pulses stemming from slight (or less than slight) groove mistracking. In this area, the SK-5A acquitted itself superbly, adding no perceptible roughening or exaggeration of the pulses. The preamp's front end is, by the way, extraordinarily quiet. With my Ortofon cartridge, however, whose 0.05mV output is by far the lowest of any MC, hum was barely audible at normal, moderately high listening levels, but the hiss level…
Sidebar 1: Review System
For testing the SK-5A, I used what has been my reference system for the past six months or so: an Ortofon MC-2000 cartridge (with and without its own step-up transformer), the Well-Tempered Arm, the SOTA Star Sapphire turntable, Sony's 650 and 703 CD player/converter combo, an Audio Research SP-11 preamp, a pair of the mono Threshold SA-1 power amplifiers, and a pair of Sound Lab A-3 full-range electrostatic speakers.—J. Gordon Holt
Sidebar 2: Specifications
Description: Solid-state stereo preamplifier. Inputs: Phono, Line, Aux, Tape. Controls: Source, Mode (Tape Monitor, Tape Source, Mono), Balance, Volume, Phase (Invert, Mute, Normal). Gain: Phono 22–34dB; Line 14–20dB. Bandwidth: MC phono 1Hz–150kHz; MM phono and Line inputs, 0.5Hz–250kHz. Output impedance: 300 ohms.
Dimensions: 19" W by 2.5" H by 12.5" D. Weight: 12 lbs.
Price: $3250 (1987); no longer available (2007). Approximate number of dealers: undisclosed.
Manufacturer: Klyne Audio Arts, Olympia, WA 98501. Tel: (360) 273-8477. Fax: (360) 273-6991…
This product is a pre-trol. What, you may well ask, is a "pre-trol?" Well, Threshold Corp. calls its FET-10 a preamplifier, but it isn't, really. In fact, it isn't an It at all; it's a Them. Only half of Them is a preamp, and you can buy each half separately. If that sounds a little confusing, maybe it's because some of the old, familiar language of audio is starting to lose its relevance.
Once upon a time, in the dark ages before magnetic pickup cartridges, that part of an audio system that controlled everything—input switching, volume, bass and treble—was called the control section.…