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Home Theater <I>vs</I> High-End Audio Letters

Letters

Video vs the high-end dinosaurs

Editor: I have been following the ongoing debate among your staff over Home Theater and Stereophile's review policy regarding video equipment. Long a connoisseur of high-definition audio, I am also a movie aficionado. I found video a natural addition to my existing audio system.

While the outcome of your review-or-not-to-review debate will have no impact on me, I believe it may have an impact on the future economic viability of your publication. With the advent of digital HDTV, the future of audio will become inextricably tied to…

Eminent Technology LFT-III loudspeaker

There is something especially exciting about a new loudspeaker design, if only because speakers are the component where one constantly hopes for the sonic miracle that will suddenly make it all sound real. No other component has the same overall impact in coloring the system, presents more room problems, or inspires more frustration on the road to the perfect system.

The Eminent Technology LFT-III also clearly qualifies as a new design by any standard. Like the Apogee Ribbons, it is one of the few new speaker systems since the appearance of the Magneplanars and Quads to…

Eminent Technology LFT-III loudspeaker Specifications

Sidebar: Specifications

Description: Planar doublet loudspeaker system. HF level switchable with flat, –3, and –6dB positions. Diaphragm area: 580 sq.in. Foil thickness: 0.00033". Mylar thickness: 0.0005". Laminate adhesive thickness: 0.00015". Gap between conductors: 0.03". Peak-to-peak diaphragm displacement: 0.2". Frequency response: 35Hz–20kHz, ±4dB. Claimed phase response: ±20 degrees, 100Hz–31kHz. Sensitivity: 81dB/W/m. Diaphragm resonance: 34 & 38Hz. Power requirement: 50–200W. Impedance: 8–22 ohms. Maximum spl: 104dB at 1m.
Dimensions: 27" W by 54" H by 1" D (3" at base).…

The Fifth Element #52

I've been chipping away for some time at the task of trying to put together a music lover's stereo system for about half the money of my last such effort: $2500 to $3750 now, vs around $7500 back in 2005. My timing was good: CD and DVD receivers are a hot product category, with several attractive new entries at various prices.

A CD receiver is a single chassis comprising a CD or DVD player, a terrestrial radio tuner (often AM/FM, but usually only FM), a preamplifier, and a power amplifier, all operated by a single remote control. All you need to provide are speaker cables and speakers,…

The Fifth Element #52 Page 2

Since then, Primare has changed their US distributor to the Sound Organisation of Dallas, Texas, who also import Rega equipment, which must keep them hopping, and Wilson Benesch, which, sad to say, probably doesn't. The good news is that, in the switchover, the US retail price of the DVDI10 dropped from $3000 to $2500.

Even outside—or perhaps especially outside—the boundaries of my little project, the 75Wpc DVDI10 is an immensely attractive product that could be the ideal solution for apartment dwellers or empty-nesters who don't want separate audio and video systems. The DVDI10…

The Fifth Element #52 Page 3

The DVDI10 could play way loud and go plenty deep. Driven by the Primare, the LFT-16s were nostalgically punchy with The Best of Sade (CD, Epic EK 66686), and grandly opulent with organist James Busby's performance of Herbert Howells' Master Tallis's Testament, from Pipes Rhode Island (CD, Riago 101). Despite containing a digital amplifier, the Primare ran warmer than the Carat, though not hugely hot.

For much of the time I just listened to music, enjoying the Primare for what it offered. Only when I switched between them did the differences between the Primare and the Carat become…

The Fifth Element #52 Contacts

Sidebar: Contacts

Carat: InoVadis, 314 rue Milliez, 94506 Champigny cedex, France. Tel: (33) 1-55-09-18-30. Fax: (33) 1-55-09-15-31. Web: www.carat-audio.com. US distributor: VMAX Services Inc., PO Box 570, Chazy, NY 12921. Tel: (800) 771-8279, (514) 932-7786. Fax: (514) 931-8891. Web: www.vmax-services.com.
Primare Systems: Renvägen 1, SE-352 45 Växjö, Sweden. Fax: (46) (0)470-72-98-25. Web: www.primaresystems.com. US distributor: The Sound Organisation, 159 Leslie Street, Dallas, TX 75207. Tel: (972) 234-0182. Fax: (972) 234-0249. Web: www.soundorg.com.
PSB Speakers…

Acoustic Sciences Corp. Tube Traps

In my rather jaded report from the 1986 Winter CES (Vol.9 No.2), I remarked that there was nothing really new in the field of high-end audio. Well, I was wrong. I overlooked the Acoustic Sciences Corporation Tube Traps, a patented new acoustic device designed by Arthur Noxon (president of ASC). The Traps represent the first practical and effective solution to a perennial audiophile problem: standing waves in the listening room.

While most audiophiles today know that proper acoustical treatment of the listening room is essential for good sound reproduction, few are aware that the usual…

Acoustic Sciences Corp. Tube Traps Page 2

When sound strikes a flat-surface boundarv, the resulting pressure buildup may he dissipated in two ways: by molecular motion parallel to the boundary surface, and by reflection off the boundary surface. Where two boundaries meet, as in a room corner, one avenue of pressure relief is cut off and more energy must then be reradiated by reflection. Thus, pressure buildups are greater in a corner. Where three surfaces abut, as with floor and ceiling corners, pressure changes are even higher still. This is why loudspeakers placed in room corners will excite every standing wave the room is capable…

Acoustic Sciences Corp. Tube Traps Larry Archibald Comments

Larry Archibald Comments
I don't qualify as an evaluator of Tube Traps, more as a witness. The effect on JGH's room has been practically breathtaking. The only characteristic perhaps not emphasized enough hy JGH is "articulateness." You notice it as soon as you go into the room, even without music playing: speech is much easier to understand; you can speak more softly and still retain perfect intelligibility. This, of course, extends to the music; particularly low end, but midrange as well is much better-defined.

There aren't many products that I think make an astonishing difference…