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…
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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…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog source: Kuzma Stabi Reference turntable, Kuzma Air Line tonearm; VPI Scoutmaster turntable, JMW Memorial tonearm (9"); Graham Nightingale II, Lyra Titan, Lyra Helikon SL cartridges.
Digital source: Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista SACD player; Alesis Masterlink CD recorder.
Preamplification: Manley Steelhead phono preamplifier; Musical Fidelity kWP preamplifier.
Power amplifier: Musical Fidelity kW monoblocks.
Cables: Speaker: AudioQuest Cheetah & Sky, TARA Labs The One. AC: Richard Gray's High Tension Wire, Shunyata Research Anaconda.…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
MBL specifies the 101E Radialstrahler as having a low sensitivity of 81dB/2.83V/m. My estimate came in at 80.5dB(B)/2.83V/m, which is within the margin of error of the specified figure. However, because of its true omnidirectional radiation pattern (see later), the 101E will tend to sound louder in-room than this anechoic sensitivity rating implies. As revealed by its impedance plot (fig.1), however, the speaker is definitely a 4 ohm load, meaning that a good amplifier rated at 4 ohms will be needed to drive it. The actual minimum impedance is 3.4 ohms at 415Hz,…
Audiophiles sure don't have it easy. We put in a hard day sweating to hear those diminishing-return differences, and when we're finally ready to pontificate, no one at the party will obligingly ask us what we think. They've made that mistake before, you see, then spent the next 45 minutes frantically looking around the room for someone to rescue them.
The trick is to save the long version for the online audio forums or these pages, and prepare a brief but enticing sound bite just in case anyone is unwary enough to ask.
My upstairs neighbor, an audio engineer, usually does know…
Having said that, I discovered that the Penaudio Serenade does have its little ways. It isn't a speaker for folks who like to listen at stupid-loud volumes. Nor is it kind to borderline recordings. Crank up a less-than-stellar-sounding rock disc, such as the Heartless Bastards' Stairs and Elevators (CD, Fat Possum FP1019), and you'll get craptacular sound that's hard to ignore. Yes, Stairs and Elevators is not a great-sounding record, but a lot of my favorite music lives on not-great-sounding records that I want to listen to anyway. The Serenade didn't make that impossible, but it sure didn'…