I try not to be too cynical—about pricing, at least. It helps that very expensive products tend not to interest me as much as more affordable ones (…
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The observation has been made, often and well, that audio writers are out of touch when it comes to judging value for money. For one thing, we get to live with exotic gear for months at a time, without spending a penny. For another, when we do decide on a more permanent upgrade, we usually get the opportunity to buy at wholesale—at a so-called "industry accommodation price," extended to us because, after all, we are a part of the industry.
Michael Fremer wrote about the Akiva in November 2003 (Vol.26 No.11):
Linn's mum about the provenance of the $2995 Akiva cartridge, but I suspect Lyra (formerly known as Scan-Tech), who manufactured Linn's earlier Arkiv cartridge. The three-screw mounting system (now also used by Rega) makes installation and alignment of the Akiva's rigid alloy body foolproof. The Akiva has a ceramic-coated boron cantilever and a line-contact stylus. Its output is 0.4mV (1kHz at 3.54cm/s); Linn recommends loading with a minimum of 50 ohms and using a tracking force of 1.6-1.9gm. Mine was set for the 1.…
Sidebar: Specifications
Description: Low-output moving-coil phono cartridge with line-contact stylus. Tracking force: 1.6-1.9gm. Pin type: "flying wire." Recommended load: >50 ohms. Separation: better than 30dB at 1kHz. Channel balance: 0.5dB at 1kHz. Output: 0.4mV at 1kHz at 3.54cm/s.
Weight: 7.4gm.
Serial number of unit reviewed: Not noted.
Price:$2995.
Manufacturer: Linn Products Ltd., Floors Road, Waterfoot, Eaglesham, Glasgow G76 0EP, Scotland. Tel: (44) (0)141-307-7777. Fax: (44) (0)141-644-4262. Web: www.linn.co.uk. US distributor: Linn Products Inc., 8787 Perimeter…
I once got a fortune cookie that read, "Ask and ye shall receive. This includes trouble." A few years back, shopping for speakers, I inquired about reviewing the B&W Nautilus 802, but it was too soon after Wes Phillips had reviewed the Nautilus 801 for Stereophile. So, other auditioning and reviewing (and buying) other speakers, I asked again, and again was met with deferral. Recently, out of the blue, B&W offered the Nautilus 802—then, in the next breath, asked if I'd rather have the Signature 800s.
Boy, would I! Aside from the obvious attraction of auditioning B&W's top-of-…
Taste is personal, but I can't avoid commenting on the appearance the OTT Signature version, which adds drop-dead-gorgeousness to the already handsome Nautilus cosmetics. The beautifully finished tiger's-eye maple veneer embraces the S800's curved vertical surfaces, and the gleaming, metallic-flecked, charcoal-gray tweeter and midrange modules nestle comfortably into a bed of charcoal, English Connolly leather.
Set up approximately where the Revel Ultima Studios had been and with very little toe-in, the S800s were generally well-balanced from the get-go, except for a little tizziness in…
Despite this low-frequency excellence, the S800 didn't sound like a big loudspeaker. I attribute this to its complete lack of the midbass ripeness so common in big speakers and pretenders. In my relatively ordinary room, the S800 was fairly flat all the way down to near 25Hz, when the lift due to room gain and other room interactions could finally be seen in the ETF and TacT measurements. For all intents and purposes, unless the music had substantial low-frequency content, the S800 was no more full or "bassy" than a decent small speaker.
Consequently, the naturalness of the S800's…
Sometimes, on my way to work, the bus stops to let an elderly couple board. He heads immediately for the seat behind the driver, but she always pulls him to the other side, saying, "It's better for you, Morris." Sure enough, her choice of seat has more visibility and legroom, but for some reason Morris is more comfortable in his favorite spot.
I review and analyze audio equipment, so the Signature 800's surgically revealing transparency, huge dynamic range, and lack of tonal character throughout the audible range are probably "better" for me. The Revel Ultima Studio, however, is just…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way vented-box loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (25mm) metal-dome tweeter, 6" (160mm) woven-Kevlar FST midrange cone, two 10" (250mm) paper-Kevlar cone woofers. Crossover frequencies: 350Hz, 4kHz. Frequency response: 25Hz-50kHz, -6dB; 32Hz-42kHz, -3dB; 37Hz-23kHz, ±2dB on reference axis. Dispersion: within 2dB of on-axis response over 60 degrees horizontal or 10 degrees vertical. Sensitivity: 91dB SPL (2.83V/m). Harmonic distortion (second and third harmonics, 90dB/m): <1.0%, 45Hz-20kHz; <0.5%, 50Hz-20kHz. Impedance: 8 ohms nominal, 3 ohms…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: Heybrook TT2 turntable, SME III tonearm, Ortofon SME30H cartridge.
Digital sources: California Audio Labs CL-20 DVD player, Meridian 508.24 and Sony CDP-XA777ES CD and SACD players, Mark Levinson No.360 D/A converter.
Preamplification: Simaudio Moon P-5 and Sonic Frontiers Line-3 preamplifiers, Audiolab 8000PPA phono stage.
Power amplifiers: Bel Canto eVo 200.2 and Classé CAM-350 monoblocks, Sonic Frontiers Power-3, McCormack DNA-1 Rev.A, Theta Digital Intrepid, Rotel RB-1080.
Loudspeakers: Revel Ultima Studio.
Cables:…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
As with some other massive speakers I've measured of late, it was not possible to move the B&W Signature 800 off the dolly onto which I'd had it unpacked and onto my Outline speaker turntable, let alone lift it far off the floor for the acoustic measurements. As a result, there was an unavoidable "floor bounce" of the speaker's output that contributed some visible roughness to some of the frequency-response graphs.
The Signature 800 had a very high sensitivity, my estimate coming in at 92.5dB(B)/2.83V/m, slightly higher than the specified 91dB. I was…