"It is my sincerest hope that our successors regard today's pronouncements of digital audio sound quality with the same combination of humor and incredulity with which we view Anna Case's assessment of Mr. Edison's machine."—Robert Harley, audio writer, 1990
When I wrote that conclusion to an editorial in the December 1990 issue of Stereophile, I expected that it would be years or even…
My self-imposed goals, which remain the same, are ambitious: I not only want to find a system or systems that a music lover can derive musical pleasure from, I also want to find a system that I can heartily recommend on the basis of "buy it once and buy it…
All of the listening for this issue's column was done using PSB's Imagine B two-way bookshelf speakers ($1000/pair), which I profiled in my February column. The Imagine B offers exceptional value for money; I continue to be very impressed with it overall, even as I remain somewhat frustrated with its lack of deep bass extension—you can't have everything, I guess. In that respect, the Imagine B is the "poor relation" to Harbeth's HL-3P-ES2. The comparison is by no means absurd—at half the price, the PSB has many of the…
Description: 2-way reflex-loaded, stand-mounted loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" titanium-dome, ferrofluid-cooled tweeter; 5.25" polypropylene-cone woofer. Crossover frequency: 1.8kHz. Frequency response: 53Hz–23kHz, ±3dB (on axis); 55Hz–20kHz, ±1.5dB (on axis); 55Hz–10kHz, ±1.5dB (30° off axis). Low-frequency extension: –10dB at 35Hz. Nominal impedance: 4 ohms. Sensitivity: 87dB/2.8V/m anechoic, 88dB/2.8V/m in room.
Dimensions: 13" (330mm) H by 7.5" (191mm) W by 12" (305mm) D. Weight: 17.2 lbs (7.8kg) net, 38 lbs (17.3kg) shipping.
Serial Numbers Of Units…
The Imagine B is very similar to PSB's Imagine T tower model, which Kalman Rubinson reviews elsewhere in this issue. The B uses just one of the T's reflex-loaded 5.25" woofers instead of two, but appears to have the same titanium-dome tweeter, so it should be very similar to the larger speaker in most respects. The B's voltage sensitivity was to specification, at 87dB(B)/2.83V/m, or 1dB below that of the Imagine T. The B's impedance with its port open (fig.1) dipped to 3.3 ohms in the lower midrange, with a combination of 5.1 ohms…
Our Lamm experience began auspiciously enough. The door buzzed. I…
Both the power and the load selector switches employ a special mechanism which locks them securely into the chosen position. One pulls the actuator back to unlock the switch before moving it to the desired setting—just another…
Description: Hybrid vacuum-tube/solid-state monoblock power amplifier with one 6922 tube and 12 output MOSFETs; switch-selectable bias/voltage settings for 1–6 or 6–8 ohm operation. Continuous output power: 100W into 8 ohms (20dBW); 100W into 4 ohms (17dBW); 200W into 2 ohms (17dBW); 300W into 1 ohm (15.7dBW). Frequency range: 4Hz–150kHz. Slew rate: 32V/µs. Damping factor: 40 into 8 ohms (constant from 20Hz–20kHz), equivalent to an output impedance of 0.2 ohms.
Dimensions: 20" D by 17" W by 8¼" H. Shipping weight: 91 lbs.
Serial numbers of units reviewed:…
The CAT SL-1 Signature was our system's supremely musical and neutral centerpiece. The big Avalon Ascent loudspeakers and their separate crossovers now sit regally upon two ¾" MDF panels measuring 10½' by 4'. These panels are glued, much-screwed, and bolted to the plywood floor beneath—and as often as possible into passing structural beams. With everything up on Audiopoints, the bennies were as expected: tighter, deeper and more controlled bass (especially with the Lamms), an airier and considerably more open soundstage, better focus, and important gains in the…
A full set of measurements of the Lamm M1.1 was made in the unbalanced mode. I also checked the input impedance, gain, signal/noise, frequency response, and THD vs frequency in the balanced mode. All of the 8 ohm measurements were made with the impedance switch in the 6–8 ohm setting; the 2 and 4 ohm readings were made in the 1–6 ohm position, except as noted otherwise. Following the 1/3-power, one-hour preconditioning test, the M1.1's heatsinks were very warm, but I could touch them comfortably for an extended period without experiencing discomfort.
The…