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Harmonic distortion was very low, even into the punishing 600 ohm test load (fig.7), where the highest-level harmonic was the second, at -94dB (0.002%). However, I was a little bothered by the appearance of higher-order harmonics in the spectrum, so I repeated the test using a higher frequency and an analyzer with a higher dynamic range than the Audio Precision System One. Fig.8 shows that the MSB does indeed produce some odd-order harmonics. While these are still at a very low level, they will, all things being equal, be more audible than the more usual second and third harmonics, due to…
MSB Platinum DAC: Manufacturer's Comment
Editor: We at MSB Technology have been producing DACs for over 15 years, and frankly were disappointed at the lack of attention paid to the totally unique character of this DAC. This is the first DAC produced by MSB that is an original discrete design. This means that it does not use any commercial DAC chip internally. We designed and produced a novel DAC design with discrete parts, whose performance is unlike any DAC ever measured or listened to by Stereophile.
Many years ago, all DACs were ladder DACs. Then came a new design: the single-…
What's in a name? One of my favorite Rodrigues cartoons (footnote 1) shows a meeting of a loudspeaker manufacturer's marketing people, trying to come up with a name for the company's latest product:
"Why don't we call it 'XTL-3340'?"
"How about 'GA-75V'?"
"I've got it! The TXT-9'!"
Another approach to naming a speaker is to use a term that suggests something positive about its performance. "Revelation" implies that listening to the speaker will reveal previously hidden or obscure truths. There's also a religious association—Hales Design Group may be…
While the Revelation Three does not make a major industrial design statement, there's a certain elegance in its simplicity and the quality of its fit'n'finish. One distinctive decorative touch is the sculpted diagonal highlight in the grillecloth; this styling feature was introduced in the Hales Design Group's more expensive Concept series, and is implemented here in an easier-to-manufacture manner. The elasticized grille cloth fits into a groove running behind the baffle. While it's possible to remove the grillecloths, doing so without damaging the fabric is a tricky matter, and replacing…
For me, the first criterion in judging an audio component's performance is reproduction of the human voice. I listen to a lot of vocal music; if voices don't sound quite right (ie, like what I remember from live performances), I really don't care if bass extends to 7Hz or if the speaker will play loud enough for a rock concert. The Revelation Three was simply superb in the vocal department, neutral in tonality and free of artificial "hi-fi" overlay. I found this to be true with my usual vocal test pieces, like Sylvia McNair's Jerome Kern CD (Sure Thing: The Jerome Kern Songbook, Philips 442…
Getting real
Many HI-FI '97 showgoers admired the sound of the Revelation Threes, but some raised eyebrows at the choice of associated equipment: Convergent Audio Technology SL-1 Signature Mk.II preamp and JL-1 power amps, Resolution Audio transport and D/A processor, Cardas Golden Cross cables. How reasonable is it to combine a $2195 pair of speakers with cables and electronics costing about $40k? While expensive electronics allow us to explore the speakers' optimal performance, the fact remains that most people buying speakers in this price range use much more modestly priced…
Many HI-FI '97 showgoers admired the sound of the Revelation Threes, but some raised eyebrows at the choice of associated equipment: Convergent Audio Technology SL-1 Signature Mk.II preamp and JL-1 power amps, Resolution Audio transport and D/A processor, Cardas Golden Cross cables. How reasonable is it to combine a $2195 pair of speakers with cables and electronics costing about $40k? While expensive electronics allow us to explore the speakers' optimal performance, the fact remains that most people buying speakers in this price range use much more modestly priced…
Specifications
Description: Three-way, sealed-box, dynamic loudspeaker tuned to 29Hz. Drive-units: 1" aluminum-dome tweeter, 4.5" polypropylene-cone midrange driver, 10" polypropylene-cone woofer. Crossover: 24dB/octave. Frequency response: 33Hz-26kHz (-3dB). In-room bandwidth: 23Hz-26kHz. Linearity: ±0.75dB. Sensitivity: 86.5dB (2.83V/1m). Nominal impedance: 4 ohms.
Description: Three-way, sealed-box, dynamic loudspeaker tuned to 29Hz. Drive-units: 1" aluminum-dome tweeter, 4.5" polypropylene-cone midrange driver, 10" polypropylene-cone woofer. Crossover: 24dB/octave. Frequency response: 33Hz-26kHz (-3dB). In-room bandwidth: 23Hz-26kHz. Linearity: ±0.75dB. Sensitivity: 86.5dB (2.83V/1m). Nominal impedance: 4 ohms.
Dimensions: 40" H by 11" W by 14" D. Weight: 96 lbs.
Finishes: sapele, light oak, black.
Serial numbers of units reviewed: R30YB281033A/B.
Price: $2195/pair. Approximate number of dealers: 27.…
Measurements
The Hales Revelation Three was measured with a DRA Labs MLSSA system in the Stereophile listening room, mounted on an Italian Outline speaker turntable.1 Its B-weighted sensitivity was calculated to be a hair under 87dB/2.83V/m, while its impedance (fig.1) dropped below 4 ohms between 50Hz and 600Hz. Couple this with a high phase angle in the bass and a good amplifier is called for. Tube amplifiers should definitely be used from their 4 ohm taps. The single peak in the bass, at 28Hz, indicates the sealed-box tuning, and in turn implies respectable low-frequency extension.…
The Hales Revelation Three was measured with a DRA Labs MLSSA system in the Stereophile listening room, mounted on an Italian Outline speaker turntable.1 Its B-weighted sensitivity was calculated to be a hair under 87dB/2.83V/m, while its impedance (fig.1) dropped below 4 ohms between 50Hz and 600Hz. Couple this with a high phase angle in the bass and a good amplifier is called for. Tube amplifiers should definitely be used from their 4 ohm taps. The single peak in the bass, at 28Hz, indicates the sealed-box tuning, and in turn implies respectable low-frequency extension.…
The tweeter axis is 35" from the floor, which is typical for a seated listener. Fig.3 shows how the response changes as the listener moves above and below that axis. A standing listener will perceive a suckout at the upper crossover frequency of 3kHz, but as long as the person sits with his or her ears between the top of the enclosure and the midrange unit the speaker will sound neutrally balanced.
Fig.3 Hales Revelation Three, vertical response family at 50", normalized to response on tweeter axis, from back to front: differences in response 15 degrees-5 degrees above-axis;…
In the time domain, the Revelation Three's step response (fig.5) indicates that all three drive-units are connected with the same positive acoustic polarity, but as expected from the use of high-order filters and a flat baffle, the speaker is not time-coherent. As RD noted, this does not appear to have had any negative effect on the speaker's soundstaging. The associated cumulative spectral-decay plot (fig.6) reveals a superbly clean decay, marred only by a residual mode at the cursor position in this plot at 3250Hz. This is low enough in level that it probably doesn't have any serious…