Description: Three-way, floorstanding reflex loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (25mm) fabric-dome tweeter, 4.5" (120mm) treated-paper midrange cone with phase plug, 8.5" (215mm) aluminum woofer with phase plug. Frequency response: 30Hz–30kHz, ±3dB. Crossover frequencies: 180Hz, 4.5kHz. Crossover slopes: acoustic fourth-order. Nominal impedance: 4 ohms (3.8 ohms minimum, 15 ohms maximum). Sensitivity: 87dB/2.83V/m. Recommended power: 30W minimum.
Dimensions: 44.5" (1130mm) H by 6" (150mm) W by 11" (285mm) D. Weight: 66 lbs (30kg).
Finishes: Laminated birch face…
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Sidebar 1: Specifications
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Source: Ayre C5-xe universal player.
Preamplifiers: Conrad-Johnson ACT2, Viola Labs Cadenza.
Power Amplifiers: Ayre V-5xe, Moscode 401HR, Viola Labs Symphony.
Loudspeakers: Thiel CS2.4.
Cables: Interconnect: Cardas Audio Golden Reference, Shunyata Research Aries & Antares, Viola Labs Silver Balanced. Speaker: Cardas Audio Golden Reference, Shunyata Research Lyra. AC: Cardas Audio Golden Reference, Shunyata Research Anaconda & Orion.
Accessories: Audience adeptResponse, Shunyata Research Hydra power distribution &…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The Penaudio Serenade is of slightly below-average voltage sensitivity, at an estimated 86dB(B)/2.83V/m. In general, it is an easy load for an amplifier to drive, but its impedance plot (fig.1) reveals both a minimum magnitude of 3.3 ohms at 85Hz and an awkward combination of 5.9 ohms and –40° electrical phase angle at 55Hz. As music can have considerable energy in this region, a good amplifier rated at 4 ohms should be used. Note the overall disparity between the impedance in the lower midrange and below and in the upper midrange and above. This will boost the…
Bob Reina has been doing more than his share of reviewing inexpensive speakers in the past couple of years. I thought it only fair to shoulder some of the load, therefore, by reviewing a small design that had sounded interesting when I heard it at a press preview, the Klipsch RB-15.
Klipsch is one of the longest-surviving names in American audio. The company was founded by Paul W. Klipsch in Hope, Arkansas, in 1946 to manufacture the corner-loaded horn speaker that was to become known as the "Klipschorn." Paul passed away at the age of 98 on May 5, 2002, after an illustrious…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way, reflex-loaded, magnetically shielded, stand-mounted loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (25mm), titanium-dome compression-drive tweeter with 5"-square, 90 degrees by 60 degrees Tractrix horn; 5.25" (133mm), hard-anodized aluminum-cone woofer. Crossover frequency: 2.84kHz. Frequency response: 70Hz-20kHz, ±3dB. Sensitivity: 93dB/2.83V/m. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms. Power handling: 75W (300W peak).
Dimensions: 11.2" (285mm) H by 6.5" (165mm) W by 7.75" (197mm) D. Weight: 9 lbs (4.1kg) each.
Finishes: Black Ash or Light Cherry woodgrain vinyl.
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Sidebar 2: System
Digital sources: Mark Levinson No.31.5 CD transport & No.30.6 D/A processor; dCS 972 upsampler; Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista SACD player; Technics DVD-A10 DVD-Audio player; Mark Levinson No.390S"> CD player.
Preamplification: Mark Levinson No.380S.
Power amplifiers: Mark Levinson No.33H and Musical Fidelity kW monoblocks (the latter using dual power supplies)
Cables: Datalinks: Kimber Illuminations Orchid AES/EBU, AudioQuest SVD-4 S/PDIF. Interconnect: Madrigal CZ Gel-1 (No.390S, balanced), Ayre Signature Series (Levinson, balanced), DiMarzio (Musical…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
Despite its diminutive dimensions, the RB-15 offered above-average sensitivity, at an estimated 90dB(B)/2.83V/m. Though this is slightly below the specified figure of 93dB, it is still very respectable, particularly when you take into consideration the fact that the Klipsch's impedance stays above 6 ohms for most of the audioband (fig.1). It drops to around 4 ohms in just two regions—around 80Hz, the port tuning frequency; and in the lower midrange—and though the electrical phase angle is quite high at times, this is always when the impedance magnitude is high,…
Symphony orchestras once had definable national characters. When high-end audio came along, those characters became the national sounds of the gear. While most audio manufacturers, like most symphony orchestras, have tended in recent decades to homogenize into an "international" sound, most French audio gear has remained distinct.
Audio Aero, Jadis, and Metronome have all contributed to the reputation of French components on the world high-end scene, but no company has done more to vigorously fly the audio tricolor as has Focal-JMlab. Since 1993, Focal's Utopia series of speakers has…
Given the amount of time and money spent on its development and the hoopla surrounding its introduction, it seems appropriate to begin with the beryllium tweeter. And what a tweeter it is. When he first saw young Jack Nicklaus play, golfing legend Bobby Jones commented that "He plays a game with which I am not familiar." So does the new Be tweeter. After the break-in period, it quickly became evident that the beryllium dome represents a quantum advance in tweeter technology. I'd wondered if I could hear the effect of the driver's breakup point being so far beyond the audible spectrum. Not…
Sidebar 1: The French Touch
Back in February 2003, I accompanied AudioPlus Services' Daniel Jacques and some of his US sales representatives on a trip to the Focal factory in St. Etienne, a medium-sized city outside of Lyon, in southeastern France.
Focal is no boutique operation. In its 20 years it has risen to become what I was told is the second-largest manufacturer of speaker drivers and complete speaker systems in all of Europe. While CEO and founder Jacques Mahul (the "JM" in JMlab) has recently chosen to de-emphasize OEM manufacturing in favor of complete speaker systems,…