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Impact Airfoil 5.2 loudspeaker system

"You're a toy junkie!" laughed Trish, my fiancée. "Your life is a search for bigger and better toys!"

I don't remember what particular treasure I'd been gushing about, but she found it pretty amusing. With two small children, Trish's view of toys consists of Barbies and GameBoys, which she enjoys comparing to my sports cars, motorcycles, and treasured Japanese-pressing jazz LPs.

I wouldn't characterize my life as "a search for bigger and better toys," but I am intrigued by interesting things—like Impact Technologies' Airfoil 5.2 loudspeaker system. When I first encountered the…

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System and Setup
During installation, Impact president Mark Conti stressed that the tweeter-midrange units' even horizontal dispersion made their positioning less critical than other speakers', and suggested several different setups. We ended up with the Airfoils firing across my 17' by 23' listening room, the Bending Wave Drivers approximately 5' out from the front wall and about 7' 2" apart, which put them 9' 4" in from the left wall and 6' 6" in from the right. The subwoofers were located behind the towers and slightly inboard, putting the centerlines of their cylindrical enclosures…

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The same was true in the depth dimension. Instruments at the rear of the stage—like the trumpet at the opening of the Martinon/LSO reading of Shostakovich's Symphony 1 (LP, RCA LSC-2322), or a timpani buried deep in the mix—were noticeably larger with the Airfoils, and more vividly portrayed than through other speakers. With the Airfoils, that trumpet seemed to emanate from a point well beyond my listening room's front wall.

All of this expansiveness came at a price paid by smaller-scaled works. Most recordings of smaller, more intimate performances—solo artists, jazz combos, string…

Recording of September 1995: Reger: Sonatas for Unaccompanied Violin, Vol.2

REGER: Sonatas for Unaccompanied Violin, Vol.2
Op.91 Nos. 1, 3, 5, 6
Ulrike-Anima Mathé, violin
Dorian DOR-90212 (CD only). Sergio Bernal, Douglas Brown, prods.; David H. Walters, Douglas Brown, engs. DDD. TT: 55:30

Robert Hesson ended his July 1993 review of Ulrike-Anima Math&#233's first volume of the Op.91 Sonatas for Unaccompanied Violin of Max Reger (1873-1916) with these words: "Let's hope Dorian produces a second volume." Dorian has—and how.

These challenging, satisfying works have languished, seldom performed and almost never recorded, for the better part…

Music in the Round #7

My experience at last May's Home Entertainment 2004 East confirmed that even a big cheerleader for discrete, high-resolution multichannel music must be realistic about the vast heritage of two-channel recordings, which will dominate collections for years to come. Although we can enjoy these recordings with a good stereo system, a multichannel system can offer options that give them new life without superimposing false and disturbing directional effects or smearing the two channels around and behind the listener.

To recap my March 2004 column: Many early researchers and developers of…

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With Trinaural, the performers were more coherently present in the center of the soundstage, and seemed to have greater depth as well as more discrete layering from front to back (or, in multichannel terms, from front to farther in front). I have yet to hear a two-channel recording in which the integrity of an ensemble was not as good as or better when subjected to Trinaural processing. I can say as much for good multichannel recordings with a discrete center signal, but my "old" two-channel recordings couldn't get there without the Trinaural.

Overall, the Trinaural processor…

Music in the Round #7 Recordings in the Round

Sidebar: Recordings in the Round

DVORÁK: Jakobin
Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Bolshoi, Alexander Vedernikov, cond.
fone 024 (2 SACDs)

GLINKA: Ruslan and Ludmilla
Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Bolshoi, Alexander Vedernikov, cond.
Pentatone Classics PTC 5186 034 (3 SACDs)

Both of these live recordings from the opera house capture the excitement of colorful performances from a close audience perspective. Voices are up on stage and the orchestras are in the pit, with a natural balance between them.

MATT HAIMOVITZ: "please welcome..."
…

Parasound HCA-3500 power amplifier

Just in case you didn't know this when you bought the Parasound HCA-3500, it says on the cover of the owner's manual: "Designed in California, USA by John Curl." Described as an "audio design legend," an appellation with which he seems quite uncomfortable, John Curl has certainly been around the audio business longer than most. He's been employed by or has consulted for some of the biggest names in consumer and professional audio—including Harman/Kardon, Ampex, and Mark Levinson—and was the designer of at least two classic products: the Mark Levinson JC-2 preamplifier and his own Vendetta…

Parasound HCA-3500 power amplifier Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Description: Solid-state stereo power amplifier. Power output: 350Wpc into 8 ohms (25.4dBW), 500Wpc into 4 ohms (24dBW), both 20Hz–20kHz. Power bandwidth: 2Hz–150kHz. Current capacity: 120A peak per channel. Slew rate: >200V/µs. THD: <0.025% at full power, <0.025% at typical levels. IM distortion: <0.03%. TIM: unmeasurable. Dynamic headroom: >1.5dB. Interchannel crosstalk: >95dB at 1kHz, >80dB at 20kHz. Input impedance: 100k ohms. Input sensitivity: 1.4V for 100W output, 2.25V for full output. S/N ratio (IHF A-weighted, input shorted): 115dB…

Parasound HCA-3500 power amplifier Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Analog source: Linn LP12 turntable (fully updated), Linn Ittok tonearm, AudioQuest AQ-7000nsx cartridge.
Digital source: PS Audio Lambda II transport, Muse Two Ninety-Six digital processor, Illuminati Orchid digital link.
Preamplifier: Convergent Audio Technology SL-1 Ultimate.
Loudspeakers: Dunlavy Audio Labs SC-IV/A.
Cables: Nordost Quatrofil and TARA Labs The Two interconnects, Nordost S.P.M. Reference and TARA Labs The Two speaker cables, TARA Labs Decade power cables.
Accessories: Argent RoomLenses (5) room treatments, PS Audio P300 AC…