Time and time again I get letters from readers who have relatively small rooms asking why they can't get an even tonal balance from their [insert brand-name of massive, flat-to-20Hz behemoth here] speakers.
The answer is a no-brainer: If you have only…
Description: Two-way, reflex-loaded, stand-mounted loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (25mm) metal-dome tweeter, 5" metal-cone woofer. Crossover frequency: not specified. Frequency response: not specified. Sensitivity: 84dB/W/m (2.83V). Nominal impedance: 6 ohms. Amplifier requirements: 100–200W.
Dimensions: 13.75" (349mm) H by 8.1" (206mm) W by 13" (330mm) D. Weight: 26.5 lbs (12kg) each.
Price: $2497.50/pair (1995); no longer available (2006) (matching Pedestal stands cost $499/pair). Approximate number of dealers: 23.
Manufacturer: Platinum Audio Ltd., 10…
The loudspeakers under test were positioned for the best sound (with only one pair of loudspeakers in the listening room at a time), generally some 3' from the rear wall (which is faced with books and LPs) and approximately 5' from the side walls (which also have bookshelves covering some of their surfaces). Each pair of speakers sat on their dedicated stands, these spiked to the concrete floor beneath the rug/pad, and was driven by the magazine-owned pair of Mark Levinson No.20.6 monoblocks, a Mark Levinson No.333 dual-mono amplifier (review underway), or a…
The Platinum's plot of impedance magnitude and phase (fig.1) reveals it to be basically an 8 ohm load, with drops to 5 ohms or just below in the lower midrange and mid-treble. The tuning of the twin ports is revealed by the impedance minimum at 44Hz. As I found in my auditioning, however, the Solo is not very sensitive, 2.83V rising just 83.5dB (B-weighted) at 1m (footnote 1). Phil Jones has obviously decided to trade off sensitivity against bass extension (see later). No resonances make themselves known by causing wrinkles in the impedance curves, but a single…
For those of you who can peel off and drop 25 or so $100 bills on what would be, for most of us, a sheer self-indulgence, I can confidently state that the Sound Devices Model 722, a hard-disk–based, high-resolution, portable audio recorder ($2650), is the coolest, most desirable piece of audio hardware I have encountered in a dog's age. Although designed as a rugged, high-performance, foolproof, battery-powered portable stereo recorder for electronic newsgathering (ENG) and video- and film-sound recording (especially…
In short, Sound Devices has put lots of thought and lots of practical experience into the Model 722. It's not quite foolproof, but it's clear they've been looking out for the end-user.
The owner's manual and the LCD screen's menu structure, if they did not quite fill me with trepidation, at least made me acutely aware that…
When I bought my first car, in 1976—a secondhand Datsun B-210, which rusted to a shambles before I even finished paying for it—my stepfather advised me to have it insured by the friendly agent who wrote all of his own policies. The two men played golf together on the same course, played cards at the same Elks Club, and went to the same cookouts. They were friends, and friends give friends the business.
My stepfather's agent worked hard for his money: He played golf and gin rummy and…
Beginning in 1975, Deneen owned and operated Paragon Audio of San Carlos, California, designing and manufacturing affordable tube electronics. Then, in 1979, he sold Paragon to ADC. After staying on to help manage the line for a short while, Deneen left audio altogether and moved…
Infinity has rarely played the modification game. Only when a new product developed production…
More on the continuing saga of the 4.5, now into its fifth modification in a relentless attempt to conquer the sounds of trombones and cellos...
The latest version is better than any of the previous ones, which is only to be expected after all. The original hardness is completely gone, the stupendous low end and high end remain unscathed and while that elusive (at least for the 4.5) capacity for vulgarity when called on has been improved, the system is still more lushly polite than aggressively outspoken.
We…