KEITH JARRETT: Paris Concert
Keith Jarrett, piano
ECM 1401 (839 173-2, CD only). Peter Laenger, Andreas Newbronner, engs.; Manfred Eicher, prod. DDD. TT: 50:17
Keith Jarrett's recent emphasis on recording and performing the music of Bach (footnote 1) has left its inevitable traces on his solo improvisations. Never a contrapuntal slouch, Jarrett reaches new heights of grace, allusion, and determined develoment in his new Paris Concert, particularly in the first ten minutes.
This is Jarrett's most satisfying solo outing since 1982's Concerts (footnote 2). The 38 minutes of…
In the four years since our last readership survey, Stereophile's circulation has grown by one third, from 45,000 to over 60,000 (footnote 1). We thought it time, therefore, to commission new numbers, from specialists Mediamark Research Inc. (footnote 2). Table 1 shows the demographic breakdown of the magazine's readers. While the launch of CD did bring more women into the audiophile fold almost 10 years ago, the proportion of Stereophile's female readers has not changed since 1988, at just over 1% (footnote 3). At one of the panel sessions at the 1992 High End Hi-Fi Show in Los Angeles, a…
Before launching into Stereophile's first-ever report on a Mark Levinson product, an important point needs to be clarified. Although Mark Levinson products were originally made by Mark Levinson, they are no longer. Au contraire, Mark Levinson products are now being made by Madrigal, Ltd., which bought Mark Levinson Audio Systems' assets and trademark two years ago. Mark Levinson's products, as distinguished from Mark Levinson products, are now being manufactured by a company called Cello. But the subject of this report, the Mark Levinson ML-7A preamplifier, is a product of Madrigal, Ltd.,…
Also unusual are the M-L's balance adjustments. These are separate switches, each of which adjusts its channel in 1dB steps up to +5 and down to –4. Below the –4 dB point, each control completely shuts that channel off. Again, this is of value for trouble-shooting, but I don't understand the need for separate balance controls. Intrachannel tracking is not a problem with a balance control, and ganging a pair of the pots that MLAS now uses separately could not possibly impair the sound. Perhaps Madrigal can explain to us the reasoning behind this design decision.
Sonics
I had a brief…
Sidebar: Specifications
Description: Solid-state stereo preamplifier with remote power supply. Inputs: 1 phono, 2 aux, 1 tuner, 2 tape. Controls: Selector, Tape monitor, Tape 1 and 2, Mono/stereo, Balance 1 and 2, High-level gain, Ganged output level. Outputs: 2 tape, 2 main. Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz ±0.1dB. Distortion: 0.01% IM and THD.
Dimensions: Preamp: 19" W by 2.5" H by 9.5" D (Allow 2.5" for power supply plug). Power supply: 4" W by 4.5" H by 10.5" D. Weight: 21 lbs including power supply.
Price: $5125–$5750, depending on options (1986); no longer available (2009).
…
And now for something completely different.
The Monitor Audio 7s—"Baby Sevens"—are from my friend Mo Iqbal. The speakers are made in England and retail for $379/pair. Add $150/pair for excellent stands, which can be filled with lead shot, sand, or (preferably) a combination of both.
Finish is exquisite for the price. Black only, but very expensive, almost lacquered-looking. (The cabinets are 12mm Medite MDF.) The speakers are quite small—only 13½" high—and should have very high WAF.
"Aha!" I thought.
Mrs. Anarchist was out when the Monitor 7s arrived,…
John Atkinson reviewed the Monitor Audio 7 in March 1990 (Vol.13 No.3):
Sam Tellig, Stereophile's Audio Anarchist, didn't hold back in his praise of Monitor Audio's miniature Monitor 7 loudspeaker ($379/pair) in the January issue. "Very fine speakers for the price," he gushed. He was even going to give a pair to Mrs. Anarchist for Christmas—so much cheaper than something from Tiffany's!—but then fate intervened, both his samples emitting a "rattling sound," apparently due to the plastic port inserts coming loose. As his initial impressions were so positive, however, I decided that the 7…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Monitor Audio Monitor 7: two-way, stand-mounted, reflex-loaded loudspeaker. Drive-units: 19mm (0.75") aluminum-dome tweeter, 4.5" doped pulp-cone woofer with butyl surround. Crossover frequency: 2.9kHz. Crossover slopes: 6dB/octave (low-pass to woofer), 12dB/octave (high-pass to tweeter). Frequency response: 60Hz–20kHz ±3dB. Sensitivity: 88dB/W/m. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms. Amplifier requirements: 15–70W (100W amplifiers can be used with care).
Dimensions: 13.5" (343mm) H by 6.5" (165mm) W by 7" (175mm) D. Weight: 7.7 lbs (3.5kg) each.
…
Sidebar 2: Review System
The pair of speaker was positioned for the best sound (with only one pair of loudspeakers in the listening room at a time). Source components consisted of a Revox A77 to play my own and others' 15ips master tapes, a Linn Sondek/Ekos/Troika setup sitting on a Sound Organisation table to play LPs, and Kinergetics KCD-40 and Meridian 206 CD players. Amplification consisted of a Mark Levinson No.25/No.26 preamplifier combination driving a pair of Mark Levinson No.20.5 monoblocks via 15' lengths of AudioQuest LiveWire Lapis balanced interconnect. Speaker cable was 5'…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
Regarding measurements, I use a mixture of nearfield, in-room, and quasi-anechoic FFT techniques (using the MLSSA system from DRA Labs) to investigate objective factors that might explain the sound heard. (Stereophile's measuring microphone is a calibrated B&K 4006.) The speakers' impedance phase and magnitude were measured using Stereophile's Audio Precision System One.
Looking first at the Monitor 7's impedance (fig.1), the port tuning is indicated by the minimum in the solid trace at 65Hz, which implies that the speaker will not offer much bass below…
