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For the benefit of those who may not have seen GL's review of the similarly conceived M-3si (or our earlier reviews of the original M-1 and M-3), a bipolar design differs from both conventional front-radiating loudspeakers and dipole designs.

The former, of course, describes 90% of the loudspeakers on the market. One or more drivers radiate from the front of an enclosure, which may be configured as a rectangular box (usually), or—if the designer is adventurous and the budget open-ended—as any one of a myriad of other shapes. The…

The Mirage M-1si's impedance curve in fig.1 indicates a load which should be easy to drive. The magnitude of the impedance never drops below 4 ohms or rises above 8.3 ohms, except at the lowest and highest frequencies. The peak at 24.6kHz could be caused by a "trap filter" to tame the high-frequency resonance of the tweeter. The average tuning of the ports is 29Hz—indicated by the "saddle" between the double peaks in the bass magnitude plot. The smaller peaks at 300Hz and 2.5kHz are a reflection of the effective electrical crossover points, the former somewhat…

Though Stereophile's samples of the Mirage M-1si have long since gone back to the manufacturer, I recently had the opportunity to hear them in another application in a visit to the facilities of Widescreen Review. Editor Gary Reber had two pairs of them in his main audio/video setup, one pair for the fronts, another for the surrounds. No center-channel loudspeaker was in use when I heard the system, nor were there any subwoofers. The latter was a temporary omission—a new pair of subs from Mirage was expected any day…

Description: Three-way, reflex-loaded, bipolar loudspeaker system. Drive-units: two 1" (25.5mm) titanium hybrid-dome tweeters, two 5" (127mm) injection-molded polypropylene-cone midranges, two 8" (203mm) Polyflex treated, carbon-filled polypropylene-cone woofers with 1.5" (38mm) voice-coils. Crossover frequencies: 400Hz, 2kHz. Frequency response: 25Hz–33kHz ±2dB (on-axis), 25Hz–20kHz ±2dB (30° off-axis). Usable bass response: –10dB at 17Hz. Sensitivity: 82dB at 2.83V (1m), anechoic, 86dB in-room. Nominal impedance: 6 ohms, 4 ohms minimum. Amplifier requirements…

You have to spend a lot of money only to discover that you didn't have to spend a lot of money.

Needless to say, given the inherent snobbery of old-time tweaks and the fundamentalist fervor of recent converts, thousands of acres of old-growth forest have been pulped in the expression of all the conflicting opinions as to what constitutes the outer limits of true high-end performance, and at what price…

"And…

Description: Solid-state integrated amplifier. Power output (both channels driven): 50Wpc into 8 ohms (17dBW), 90Wpc into 4 ohms (16.5dBW). Frequency response: 10Hz–40kHz, ±3dB. Total Harmonic Distortion: 20Hz–20kHz, ±0.02%. S/N ratio: !w95dB (A-weighted). Power consumption: 260W (full power).
Dimensions: 4.25" (105mm) H by 17.5" (442mm) W by 12.75" (320mm) D. Weight: 19 lbs. (8kg).
Serial number of unit reviewed: I 000108.
Price: $995; remote control adds $50. Approximate number of dealers: 35.
Manufacturer: Audio Refinement. Distributor: Audio…

I went into a good bit of detail about my system in the November 1998 Stereophile (Vol.21 No.11, p.105), when I reviewed the Joseph Audio RM22si loudspeaker. While there's no need to reprise everything here, my system has since undergone some fundamental changes in core components and tweaks that are worth mentioning.

I'm still using a pair of 20' JPS Labs Superconductor speaker cables to biwire the Joseph RM22si's. They have a really nice tonal balance, a smooth top end, and excellent bass focus. The replacement of my Dual CN5000/Ortofon XM5 combo…

All measurements of the Audio Refinement Integrated, except as noted, were made at a level-control setting that resulted in a 1W output into an 8 ohm load with an input of 100mV. The physical position of the level control for this condition was approximately 3:00, the voltage gain into 8 ohms 29.2dB at this setting.

The amplifier was very warm, but not hot, following its 1-hour, 1/3-power preconditioning test (conducted at 8 ohms). Its line input impedance measured 54.4k ohms. This decreased to 18k ohms at the level control's maximum position, and…

In late October, I managed to squeeze a lightning trip East into my schedule. One purpose of my trip was to attend a press reception in Manhattan's refurbished, cathedral-like Grand Central…