Description: Three-way, reflex-loaded loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" soft-dome tweeter, 3" paper-cone midrange unit, 8" plastic-cone woofer. Crossover frequencies: 800Hz, 3kHz. Frequency response: 38Hz–20kHz ±2dB. Phase response: ±10°. Sensitivity: 87dB/2.83V/m. Nominal impedance: 6 ohms. Minimum amplifier power: 40–250W.
Dimensions: 39" H by 12" W by 12" D. Weight: 62 lbs each.
Serial numbers of review samples: 2975 & 2976, 8083 & 8084.
Price: $1350/pair (1985); $1650/pair (1989); no longer available (2007). Approximate number of dealers:…
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Sidebar 3: Specifications
As far as I can tell, Santa Fe–based speaker engineer John Bau had designed but four commercial loudspeakers before the TC-60 was launched at the 1994 Winter CES: in order of appearance, they were the Spica SC50i (1980), the TC-50 (1983), the Angelus (1987), and the SC-30 (1989). None were expensive, and all garnered much praise, both in Stereophile's pages and elsewhere.
Why, then, wasn't Spica one of the most successful speaker manufacturers in the land? Partly the blame must be laid at the feet of the speakers: the one thing none of them did was rock out at party levels. But…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way, stand-mounted, reflex-loaded (QB3 alignment) loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (25mm) impregnated cloth-dome tweeter; 6.5" (165mm) polypropylene-cone woofer. Measured crossover frequency: 3.4kHz. Electrical crossover slopes: first-order, 6dB/octave, high-pass to tweeter; fourth-order Bessel, 24dB/octave, low-pass to woofer. Frequency response: 48Hz–20kHz, –3dB. Sensitivity: 87dB/W/m (2.83V). Nominal impedance: 8 ohms (5.6 ohms minimum at 10kHz). Power handling: 60W continuous, 120W peak.
Dimensions: 21.25" (540mm) H by 11.5" (292mm) W by 10.5…
Sidebar 2: Review context
Power amplifiers used to drive these speakers were either a pair of Mark Levinson No.20.6 monoblocks, a Krell KSA-100S, or a Krell KSA-50S; the preamplifier was the remote-controlled Mark Levinson No.38S, or the value-for-money McCormack TLC-1 buffered passive control unit. 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 a Mark Levinson No.30 or a Counterpoint DA-10, each driven by a Mark Levinson No.31 transport via Madrigal AES/EBU cable. An Audio…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The TC-60 is significantly less sensitive than the Dunlavy SC-I, its B-weighted figure being around 85dB/2.83V/1m. It's easier to drive, however, its impedance (fig.1) remaining above 7 ohms other than in the high treble, where it drops to a still-kind minimum of 6.2 ohms. Note the slight wrinkle in the traces just under 300Hz—this implies the existence of a cabinet resonance at this frequency. The port tuning is indicated by the saddle in the magnitude trace at 29Hz. This is very low for the size of the speaker; it's difficult to predict what the actual bass…
Manufacturer's Comments
Editor: Thanks for the excellent review of our TC-60 speaker, my latest attempt to coax a quart of juice out of a pint jar. John Atkinson did an amazingly good job of delineating the many tradeoffs involved in this (and any other) design. It is such a relief to have been reviewed by someone who actually has a real understanding and appreciation of what goes on under the veneers.
It is also a joy to be working with Richard Schram, Ric Mancuso, and everyone else at Parasound Products. Working with people who are as capable and enthusiastic as they are makes…
If reviewers can be believed, the diminutive, $995/pair Epos ES11 loudspeaker has been a phenomenal success worldwide since its 1990 introduction. Stereophile added its voice to this hallelujah chorus in Vol.14 No.7, when the '11 kicked butt in a blind-listening-panel evaluation of inexpensive small speakers. While the ES11 did plenty of things extremely well, it was inevitable that it was limited in terms of ultimate sound-pressure levels (spls), deep-bass extension, and dynamic persuasiveness. While the ES11 was an unqualified success given its modest size and price, one couldn't help but…
While the bass performance of the '25s did reach deeper and tighten up during break-in, it nonetheless remained mildly loose. The midrange, while always musical, remained polite-sounding. In part, the brilliant clarity of the tweeter threw the bass looseness and midrange politeness into relief. Even great tube amplification (eg, the Conrad-Johnson Premier Eight monoblocks) did little to alleviate these nagging, albeit mild, problems. But good solid-state amplification provided a much more synergistic match. With a single Classé One Thousand, the bass was noticeably tighter and midrange…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Floorstanding, three-way, reflex-loaded dynamic loudspeaker. Drive-units: 8" (200mm) Cobex-coned woofer, 6.5" (165mm) polypropylene-cone midrange unit, 1" (25mm) aluminum-dome tweeter. Connections: three separate inputs for tri-wiring; jumper included for single wiring. Frequency response: 25Hz–22kHz, ±3dB. Impedance: 6 ohms nominal. Sensitivity: 88dB/1W/1m. Power handling: 200W.
Dimensions: 35.5" (900mm) H by 9.2" (233mm) W by 13.5" (343mm) D. Weight: 66 lbs (30kg).
Finishes available: dark cherry or walnut.
Serial numbers of review…
Sidebar 2: Measurements
I calculated the ES25's sensitivity to be a little lower than specified, at 86.5dB/2.83V/1m (B-weighted). Its impedance (fig.1) is also moderately demanding, dropping to 5 ohms throughout the midrange, with a relatively severe electrical phase angle in the upper bass. The tuning of the large port is revealed by the impedance "saddle" at 33Hz, while the wrinkle in the fig.1 traces between 600Hz and 700Hz indicates some kind of resonant behavior. Indeed, the cabinet did prove to be very lively in this region, but it appears to be high enough in frequency to not have…