Four years with MAXX 2
I owned a pair of MAXX 2s for more than four years and thoroughly enjoyed every listening minute, while never deluding myself that it was the perfect loudspeaker. There's no such thing. Had I had such delusions, my reviewing of other…
search
While the MAXX 3's cabinet resembles the 2's, closer inspection reveals it to be completely new and far more refined-looking, particularly when viewed from the side. But if you didn't like the MAXX 2's looks, or speakers finished in automotive paints, you probably won't like the looks of the taller, even more imposing MAXX 3.
One of the MAXX 2's great strengths was its ability to produce clean, tight, nearly flat bass performance down to 20Hz in my room. However, even discounting room-boundary effects, which slightly boosted the region around 100Hz, the lower-midbass was a bit too punchy, giving it more of a "hi-fi" than a natural feel. No speaker manufacturer has ever lost money giving customers too much bass, so long as it's cleanly presented; and everyone, including me, always loved the MAXX 2's entire bottom-end presentation in my room.
But the MAXX 3's bottom octaves, while not as pronounced above the…
Wilson Audio has made heroic improvements to the motor and structure that drive the Focal-made tweeter, but it's still not going to be everyone's favorite (though anyone over 50 who claims to hear ultrasonic resonances is blowing smoke). Wouldn't it be nice to hear what Wilson could do with Focal's beryllium model, the resonant frequency of which is way beyond the audioband?
That said, the improvements made to the tweeter and its integration with the outputs of the MAXX 3's other drive-units are significant: reductions of edge and grain commensurate with the speaker's overall greater…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way, floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" inverted titanium-dome tweeter, two 7" cellulose-fiber/paper-cone midrange units, 11" carbon-fiber/paper-cone woofer, 13" carbon-fiber/paper-cone woofer. Crossover frequencies: not disclosed. Frequency response: 19.5Hz–22.5kHz, ±3dB (average in-room response). Sensitivity: 90dB/2.83V/m. Impedance: 4 ohms nominal, 3 ohms minimum. Minimum amplifier power: 15Wpc.
Dimensions: 67.2" (1722mm) H by 16" (410mm) W by 24" (616mm) D. Weight: 425 lbs (193kg).
Finishes: Multiple automotive paint…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Continuum Audio Labs Caliburn, Cobra, Castellon turntable, tonearm, stand; Graham Engineering Phantom II tonearm; Lyra Titan i, Miyajima Shilabe, Shun Mook Signature, Shelter 7000 cartridges.
Digital Sources: dCS Scarlatti, Playback Designs MPS-5 Reference SACD/CD players; BPT-modified Alesis Masterlink hard-disk recorder; Sooloos music server.
Preamplification: Manley Steelhead, Ypsilon VPS 100 phono preamplifiers; darTZeel NHB-18NS, Musical Fidelity Primo preamplifiers.
Power Amplifier: Musical Fidelity Titan, Musical Fidelity kW…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
As with the MAXX Series 2, the MAXX 3's bulk made transporting one of them to my place for measurement impractical. I therefore measured the MAXX 3 in Michael Fremer's driveway, where I could get the speaker well away from boundaries other than the ground. I did three complete sets of acoustic measurements: at my usual distance of 50" on an axis corresponding to the line of sight from Michael's ears to the speaker, with the upper-frequency array as set up in his listening room; on the same axis at 100", close to the distance from his ears to the speaker in his…
It seems as if I came of audiophile age in the George Kaye era. The first truly high-end system I ever heard contained a pair of Julius Futterman OTL monoblocks that Kaye had "finished" after Futterman's death in 1979 (footnote 1). In the mid-1980s, I owned both an New York Audio Labs (NYAL) Superit phono section and a Moscode 300 amplifier—two lovely examples of high-value high-end. Both components were far from perfect, but they were fun—and, unlike most of the other components that were then highly regarded by magazines and listeners, I could afford them.
To Kaye—and his…
The 402Au does require some warmup and run-in. Like many tube components, its sound opened up as the tubes warmed and the caps saturated. After about 20 minutes, the amp sounded noticeably more relaxed and open. The 402Au also took a few hundred hours of run-in to fully open up. Unlike some components I've auditioned, it never sounded "broken-in," it just kept sounding better over the first week or so.
Ain't we got fun?
One area where the 402Au really opened up in that first week was in the bass. The Moscode was no wimp; in fact, it was superb at throwing its weight around. "Little…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-channel, solid-state power amplifier with tubed input stage and MOSFET output stage. Tube complement: choice of 6H30Pi, 6GU7, 6DJ8, 6922, 6FQ7, 5814, 7730, or 12AU7 (2 each required). Tubes supplied: two 6H30Pi, two 6GU7. Maximum output power: 200Wpc into 8 ohms (23dBW), +300Wpc into 4 ohms (21.8dBW), both channels operating. Frequency response: 5Hz–100kHz ±0.25dB, –3dB at 230kHz. Voltage gain (tube dependent): ca 30–33dB. THD at full output (tube dependent; value with 6H30Pi tube for V101 & 201 position in the circuit): <0.15% at full…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Source: Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP universal player.
Preamplifier: Aesthetix Calypso.
Power Amplifiers: Moscode 401HR, Parasound Halo JC 1.
Loudspeakers: Klipsch Palladium P-39F, Thiel CS3.7.
Cables: Interconnect: Shunyata Research, Stealth Metacarbon. Speaker: Shunyata Research, Stealth Dream. AC: Shunyata Research Hydra, King Cobra, Anaconda.
Accessories: Ayre Acoustics Myrtle Blocks, Furutech RDP panels, RealTraps Mini & Mondo Traps.—Wes Phillips