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Leben Hi-Fi Stereo Company is a very small company in Amagasaki City, Japan, that hand-builds an exquisite line of vacuum-tube audio electronics. I find it intriguing that Taku Hyodo, founder and main man of Leben, once worked for the comparatively huge Luxman firm. Years back, Luxman went through various corporate owners and spent some time wandering in the desert, before returning to its high-end audio heritage. Whether, as I suspect, Leben was founded during Luxman's years of ownership by car-stereo maker Alpine, or if Hyodo simply wanted to be the captain of his own destiny, I don't know…
So one of the first things I did after receiving both the Leben amp and ProAc loudspeakers was to play that Brian Cheney CD-R. I came to the conclusion that the CdF person had perhaps been overcautious—although at the time I felt that the intervention had probably been warranted. So, what gives?
I can think of a few possibilities. The hotel room, though small, could have been much less lively than my listening room. The CS600 used at FSI was apparently set up to use EL34 tubes, while my review sample has 6L6GC tubes—but that difference is only the 4W between 28 and 32Wpc. I also think…
It starts quietly enough, with a simple falling-fifth motif, but the first movement of Sergei Rachmaninoff's neglected Piano Sonata 1 develops into a work of epic proportions nearly 40 minutes in length, with haunting melodies, massive dynamic contrasts, and lush, sensual harmonies.
Back in 1990, when Stereophile first recorded Canadian pianist Robert Silverman, the repertoire was Brahms. But during the sessions I told Robert that someday I'd like to record him performing the two Rachmaninoff sonatas. "I've already recorded the first sonata," he said. "It was released as a Marquis LP in…
In June 2007, I again recorded Minnesotan male choir Cantus live on location, this time in the glorious acoustic of Sauder Concert Hall at Goshen College, in Goshen, Indiana. The resultant CD, While You Are Alive (Cantus CTS-1208), is the eighth I have engineered of the group; it is a collection of 20th- and 21st-century works that explores, illuminates, and celebrates all stages of life, from birth to death.
While You Are Alive (Cantus CTS1208) features works by such luminaries as Eric Whitacre, Peteris Vasks, and Veljo Tormis, as well as four world-premiere recordings of works…
It's a Vinyl World, After All: Michael Fremer's Guide to Record Cleaning, Storage, Handling, Collecting, & Manufacturing in the 21st Century
MF Productions mxangle3 (DVD). 2008. Michael Fremer, prod.; Joe Shelesky, Andre Kruger, Jeff Wilerth, dirs.; Joe Shelesky, editor. $30; available from Stereophile's secure e-commerce page.
MF Productions mxangle3 (DVD). 2008. Michael Fremer, prod.; Joe Shelesky, Andre Kruger, Jeff Wilerth, dirs.; Joe Shelesky, editor. $30; available from Stereophile's secure e-commerce page.
Michael Fremer comes walking down the long, vinyl-lined hall that leads to his cluttered listening room, a tall stack of compact discs balanced awkwardly in his arms. He looks up to find that we are there, too, waiting for him. Caught by surprise, he…
Released in July, Live at Otto's Shrunken Head (STPH020-2) is the latest Stereophile CD from reviewer Bob Reina's jazz quartet, Attention Screen. Unlike the group's first CD, Live at Merkin Hall (STPH018-2, released in 2007), which was recorded with multiple microphones, I captured the eight improvisations on Live at Otto's using a single pair of mikes.
Otto's Shrunken Head, of course, is nothing like Merkin Hall. Near Lincoln Center, Merkin is a proper concert hall with plush seating for about 450 people. It features a stage large enough for an entire orchestra, and is known…
"My vision for the future is one where all manufacturers sell their products directly to the end user. In this way, even the audiophiles in Dead Horse, Alaska can have access to all the audio manufacturing community has to offer." Thus wrote loudspeaker designer David Fokos in a letter introducing his new company Icon Acoustics to the press at Stereophile's High End Hi-Fi show in San Mateo, CA last April (footnote 1). Mr. Fokos, a Cornell graduate who for some years worked for Conrad-Johnson Design and designed that company's well-regarded Synthesis and Sonographe loudspeaker models, feels…
All things considered, the standard of construction and quality of parts are outstanding for what still must be regarded as an affordable loudspeaker. Without a dealer's margin to be allowed for in the price, Dave Fokos has apparently passed on all the saving to his customers. Cool, Dave! (Are we babyboomers still allowed to say "cool" in the '90s?)
Sound
The Parsec Owner's Manual advises that the speakers sound best after 50–100 hours of use to break in the drive-unit suspensions. Accordingly, I ran them in with pink noise at a high level for two days. (The speakers were wired in…
Having satisfied myself that the speaker's low bass was excellent, in absolute terms, I felt the Parsec to have too much mid- and upper-bass energy. While this added a quite exciting degree of impact to typical rock recordings—the Stygian synth just purred in Simple Minds' "Let it all come down," from the band's The Amsterdam EP (Virgin SMXCD 6)—it was a little too good to be true. Not that I'm complaining, mind. But I should point it out, particularly as this midbass balance will make finding the optimum placement in rooms smaller than mine more difficult than usual.
It was only when I…
Sidebar 1: Review context
Description: Three-way, reflex-loaded, floor-standing loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" metal-dome tweeter, 6.5" polypropylene-cone midrange, 10" graphite-impregnated cone woofer. Crossover frequencies: 350Hz, 1500Hz. Crossover slopes: first-order, 6dB/octave, high-pass, second-order, 12dB/octave, bandpass and low-pass. Frequency response: 25Hz–22kHz, no limits given. Sensitivity: 87dB/W/m (2.83V). Nominal impedance: 8 ohms. Amplifier requirements: 50–300W (120W continuous).
Dimensions: 47" (1194mm) H by 12" (305mm) W by 16" (406mm) D. Weight: 92 lbs (42kg) each.…