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The $8000/pair ($10,000 as of 2002) (with powered subwoofer) Prelude system is designed to produce as flat a full-range frequency response as possible on-axis, and uniform, controlled dispersion off-axis. This is important: the research shows that we are incredibly sensitive to resonant peaks, and that these peaks create the "colorations" that, for the most part, help us decide if a speaker sounds "good" or "bad." Generally speaking, the higher the Q of the resonance (the narrower the peak in the frequency domain), the greater the amplitude must be of that peak for us to hear it. Toole's…
While Toole's associates set up and configured the speakers, we considered where to situate them in my new room. I'd already run RPG's excellent speaker-placement program when positioning the Amati Homages in the room. After plugging my room's dimensions (ca 19' by 15' by 8') into Toole's computer and running a different program—it essentially concurred with RPG's—we placed the Preludes in the same locations as the Homages: about 3' from the back wall, 2*' from the side walls, 9' apart, and 8' from the listening position. I began with the speakers toed-in, but they sounded best to me firing…
Once I'd replaced the damaged woofer and re-run R.A.B.O.S., I headed directly to my bass-test LPs, among them "Baby You're a Rich Man," from the German pressing of the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour; the title track of Davy Spillane's Atlantic Bridge; "Lazy Sunday Afternoon" from Small Faces' Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake; "Django" from the Modern Jazz Quartet's European Concert; Saint-Saëns' "Organ" Symphony (Fremaux/City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Klavier Records); and Classic Records' 45rpm edition of the Reiner/CSO recording of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.
The Prelude's…
The "perfect" speaker? I'm not saying that. Not everyone will cotton to hearing the inner workings of recordings so ruthlessly exposed. Not everyone will want a loudspeaker that isn't inherently "warm," that doesn't slap a happy face on a music library. And I'm not convinced that the Prelude MTS can match the airiness, transparency, and "palpability" of some other speakers—though all of those attributes may well be colorations.
The Prelude MTS had balls and a mind, but I had a hard time finding its soul—which could be precisely what Allan Devantier and Floyd Toole intended. After all,…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Modular four-way moving-coil loudspeaker (three-way tower with powered subwoofer).
Prelude MTS tower: Drive-units (all ceramic-aluminum matrix): 1" dome tweeter, 3*"-cone midrange, four 5*"-cone midbass. Crossovers: 300Hz, 2kHz, 24dB/octave. Frequency response: 80Hz-22kHz, ±3dB; 100Hz-20kHz, ±1.5dB. Nominal impedance: 4 ohms, ±1dB. Sensitivity: 90dB/2.83V/1m. Power requirements: 25-500W.
Dimensions: 37" H by 6*" W by 7*" D. Weight: 32 lbs.
Prelude MTS powered subwoofer: Drive-unit: 12"-cone ceramic-aluminum matrix. Maximum amplifier…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog source: Simon Yorke, SME 10 turntables; Graham 2.0, Immedia RPM2, SME IV.Vi tonearms; EMT TU-3 Geyger, Lyra Parnassus D.C.t, Lyra Evolve 99, Transfiguration Temper Supreme, Spirit cartridges.
Digital source: Audio Alchemy DDS•Pro transport, EAD DSP 9000 Mk.3 D/A processor.
Preamplification: Ayre K-1 preamplifier, Audio Research Reference phono stage.
Power amplifiers: Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 300, KR Enterprise VT8000 MK, Dyna Stereo 70.
Cables: Interconnects: Yamamura Millennium 6000, Electra Glide, Silver Audio, Wireworld Gold Eclipse…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The first Infinity Prelude speaker Stereophile reviewed, the slightly larger P-FR was astonishingly sensitive, at an estimated 95.5dB(B)/2.83V/m. The MTS clocked in at 90dB(B)/2.83V/m sensitivity as specified, which is still significantly higher than average—the speaker will produce high levels with only a few amplifier watts.
The impedance, however, averages 4 ohms, as can be seen from fig.1, though the electrical phase angle is usefully low. The curve remaining below 6 ohms in the bass was taken with the speaker set to Full-Range operation. With the…
As expected from its very narrow front baffle, the Prelude's horizontal dispersion (fig.4) is wide and well-controlled. With the small radiating diameter of the midrange unit, there is no hint of the usual "flare" at the bottom of the tweeter's passband, which usually gives rise to accusations of brightness. The response to the sides of the tweeter axis drops a little more than usual above 7kHz or so, due to the flared waveguide around the tweeter affecting its directivity. This might make the speaker sound slightly mellow in very large rooms.
Fig.4 Infinity Prelude MTS, lateral…
I'll never forget my first encounter with the Krell LAT-1 loudspeaker. Late one Friday night last fall, on City Island in the Bronx, it was time for the monthly meeting of the Westchester Audiophile Society and I was late. I rushed through the door past a group of audiophiles and headed straight for the two new black loudspeakers already set up and ready to play. Music writer and society member Sid Marks made a sound. I turned to him and he pointed across the room: "Go tap on that enclosure." I walked over to one of the black speakers and did so. There was no sound—no give, no nothing. It…
Setup
I placed the LAT-1s where the Revel Ultima Salons had sounded best: 63" from the rear wall and 36" from the side walls, sitting on a circular area rug and facing the long axis of my narrow listening room. The room is 26' long, 13' wide, and 12' high, with a semi-cathedral ceiling, with one long wall covered with bookshelves, the other a bay window. The far wall opens into a 25' by 15' kitchen through an 8' by 4' doorway.
I placed the LAT-1s where the Revel Ultima Salons had sounded best: 63" from the rear wall and 36" from the side walls, sitting on a circular area rug and facing the long axis of my narrow listening room. The room is 26' long, 13' wide, and 12' high, with a semi-cathedral ceiling, with one long wall covered with bookshelves, the other a bay window. The far wall opens into a 25' by 15' kitchen through an 8' by 4' doorway.
My audition of the LAT-1 was the first with my new Krell front-end. I'd had the Krell KBL preamplifier I've used for the past eight years upgraded to a Krell…