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As a result, the RM22si excelled at reproducing complex dynamics while articulating the smallest details with pinpoint resolution. In the Allegro molto of Beethoven's A-flat Piano Sonata, Op.110 (MusicMasters 67183-2), despite the crushing fury with which pianist Charles Rosen essays the composer's dynamic extremes, I never lost the distinctions between each note within a chord. Fundamentals and overtones remained distinct, yet I could discern their organic connection—I heard the totality of complex new harmonics and overtones, not the blurred products of cone break-ups, resonances,…
Well, for more complex dynamics, I never got the feeling that this speaker was plodding along behind the beat—its rhythm and pacing were always dead on. And, in the absence of midrange colorations, the bass sometimes felt deeper than it actually sounded. Again, it's a tried and truism that it's not how deep you make a speaker that counts—it's the manner in which you convey depth while maintaining tonal balance.
The RM22si's bass was always taut, timely, and focused, without any overhang or blurring—I could invariably pick the bassist out of a crowd—while cymbals clearly delineated tempo…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (25mm) silk-dome tweeter and 6.5" aluminum-cone woofer with phase plug in computer-optimized vented enclosure. Crossover: Patented Infinite Slope® (>120dB/octave) at 2kHz. Frequency response: 38Hz-20kHz, ±2dB. Sensitivity: 86dB/1W/1m. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms (7 ohms minimum).
Dimensions: 38" H by 8.5" W by 10.5" D. Weight: 47 lbs. each (sand-fillable Silent Box enclosure).
Finishes available: rosewood, oak, black, cherry, maple.
Serial numbers of units reviewed: 22-0030, 22-0031.
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Sidebar 2: Setup & System
My sources for evaluating the Joseph were a Dual CN5000 belt-drive turntable with an Ortofon XM5 high-output moving-coil cartridge, and a California Audio Labs CL-15 CD player (which offers more slam, resolution, transparency, sonic depth, and detail than the comparably priced Icon Mk.II that it replaced in my system), in tandem with Synergistic Research's Resolution Reference II interconnects and Designer's Reference Power Cord. These were constants throughout.
I upgraded the power supply of my entire system by replacing my geeky hardware-store…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The neat floorstanding Joseph is not very sensitive, my B-weighted figure of 84.5dB/2.83V/m being below average. However, its impedance curve (fig.1) reveals it to be a generally kind amplifier load, its lowest value being a still reasonable 6.6 ohms in the lower mids. And though the electrical phase angle was quite capacitive in the upper bass, the magnitude was highish in the same region, which will ameliorate the current demands on the amplifier. The saddle between the twin bass peaks indicates that the port is tuned to a low 35Hz, implying good extension for a…
Whether or not this on-axis behavior results in coloration will also depend on the speaker's off-axis behavior. Fig.5 shows the changes in the RM22si's response as the measuring microphone moves in 5 degree steps to the speaker's side. You can see that, in the frequency region where the on-axis response is a little peaky, there is actually a lack of off-axis energy. In a typical room, this will compensate to some extent, meaning that the perceived tonal balance may well be neutral. The lateral dispersion is otherwise well controlled, though the tweeter does get quite directional above 10kHz…
Chip Stern wrote about the RM22si Signature Mk.2 in October 2002 (Vol.25 No.10):
I waxed poetic about Joseph Audio's floorstanding RM22si Signature loudspeaker ($2499/pair-$2899/pair) back in November 1998. Jeff Joseph has revisited the RM22si, claiming that the injection-molded metal basket of the new aluminum-cone woofer provides better alignment of critical components and reduces sound reflections, air-flow noises, and cavity resonances. Joseph also says that the application of the Asymmetrical Infinite Slope crossover technology, first explored in Joseph Audio's top-of-the-line Pearl…
Back in the late 1980s, when I was writing for The Abso!ute Sound and couldn't afford any of the audio gear I was reviewing, my system consisted of an Oracle turntable with Magnepan unipivot arm, a pair of Spica TC-50 loudspeakers, and a heavily modified Hafler DH-200 power amp and DH-101 preamp. It was a fun system that imaged like hell, but my fondest audio memories of that time were of visiting fellow TAS reviewer Dr. Michael Gindi, who lived on Manhattan's West End Avenue, and listening to his mbl speakers. (With his shrink's paycheck, he could afford them.)
Because Gindi also owned a…
The 101Es had an effortlessness, openness, transient clarity, and crystallinity that set them apart from all others I've heard—including electrostats. On a congested recording such as the Rolling Stones' Exile On Main St. (LP, German EMI Electrola pressing), the mbls separated out the instrumental strands with unusual ease, and portrayed the strummed acoustic guitars with a visceral believability I'd never before experienced. Lesser speakers bury Ian Stewart's piano throughout the album's four sides, and while that hasn't happened with any of the gear reviewed here over the past five years…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Four-way, omnidirectional, floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive-units: 12"-cone, bandpass-loaded woofer in separate enclosure, plus three omnidirectional bending-mode drive-units: 24-segment carbon-fiber tweeter, 12-segment carbon-fiber upper midrange, 12-segment aluminum lower midrange. Crossover frequencies: 105Hz, 600Hz, 3.5kHz (Linkwitz-Riley, fourth-order). Acoustic center: 45" (1140mm) from floor. Frequency range: 20Hz-40kHz. Sensitivity: 81dB/2.83V/m. Nominal impedance: 4 ohms. Power handling: 320-500W continuous, 2.2kW peak.
Dimensions: 67" H…