I even had expert guidance—in the form of visits from Bruce Brisson and Joe Abrams of MIT, and Art Noxon of Acoustic Sciences Corporation (ASC), who led me through a two-step process. First, we concentrated on getting smooth overall…
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One of the challenges I faced in optimizing the performance of the Thiel CS7.2 loudspeakers that I reviewed in February 2000 was controlling and tuning their interaction with my listening room. Intuition, experience, trial and error—all came into play, as did several of the procedures and calculations covered by Jonathan Scull in his "Fine Tunes" column.
The sonic effects were more subtle than the measurements would suggest, but still noticeable. The Thiels had had excellent focus and precision before; with the room treatment, they became truly extraordinary. The same was true of their pure, uncolored sound: outstanding before, truly exceptional in the treated room.
The second part of the process—expanding the soundstage's width and depth, and adding ambience by incorporating reflected information—was accomplished by a systematic process of rotating the Tube Traps to expose their reflective sides. This was done in stages—first the…
Joan Manes wrote about Tube Traps in January 1997 (Vol.20 No.1):
You have to draw the line somewhere. I drew mine at the front door.
I have spent many years as an audio spouse. I know that it's the sound that matters. I accept that our living room will be filled with all sorts of absolutely essential pieces of equipment, large and small, and that new pieces will appear out of nowhere. (Surely that black box squatting in the corner wasn't there when I looked 10 minutes ago?) Like hangers and paper clips, audio equipment reproduces spontaneously. The difference is that audio…
You can bet Infinity plans on selling a respectable number of $8000/pair Prelude MTS speakers (reviewed in the May 2000 Stereophile) over this ambitious, full-range design's anticipated lifespan. But will the company make enough money to recoup the megabucks spent on researching, designing, and developing the all-new CMMD (Ceramic Metal Matrix Diaphragm) drivers, BASH (Bridge Amplifier Switching Hybrid) powered subwoofer, and RABOS (Room Adaptive Bass Optimization System) bass-equalization system? NOWAY (Never Over-Estimate What Acronyms Yield).
Part of Infinity's grand…
Intermezzo Sound
Most small audiophile loudspeakers give up the bottom octaves in a tradeoff for better midbass and less coloration in the midband. Like the $3500/pair Red Rose Music R3, which I reviewed last month, Infinity's $2000/pair Intermezzo 2.6 offered outstanding bass response without mucking up or slowing down the midband. The R3 accomplished this passively and with a port, the Intermezzo actively, with 250W packed into each sealed-box enclosure. The Intermezzo's response was somewhat more robust below 40Hz, but in my room at least, subjectively, the two opposite methodologies…
Most small audiophile loudspeakers give up the bottom octaves in a tradeoff for better midbass and less coloration in the midband. Like the $3500/pair Red Rose Music R3, which I reviewed last month, Infinity's $2000/pair Intermezzo 2.6 offered outstanding bass response without mucking up or slowing down the midband. The R3 accomplished this passively and with a port, the Intermezzo actively, with 250W packed into each sealed-box enclosure. The Intermezzo's response was somewhat more robust below 40Hz, but in my room at least, subjectively, the two opposite methodologies…
The recording succeeds in creating the illusion of the piano playing in your space, not of you being transported to some live venue where it's off in the distance, bathed in a reverberant field. Reproducing such a dynamic, percussive, timbrally complex recording is difficult for any speaker, and the Intermezzo did an extremely credible job, providing impressive bottom weight without bloat or congestion, and that unique "chimey/woody" bell-like sound in the upper registers without ringing or glassiness.
This trio set demands a speaker that produces fast transients and an overall taut…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way, stand-mounted, moving-coil loudspeaker with powered woofer. Drive-units: 1" Ceramic Metal Matrix Diaphragm (CMMD) tweeter, 6½" CMMD powered woofer. Crossover frequency and order: 2.8kHz, 24dB/octave. Woofer amplifier rated power: 250W, ±0.1% THD at 100Hz. Frequency response: 50Hz-20kHz, ±1.5dB; 40Hz-22kHz, ±3dB. Impedance: 8 ohms. Sensitivity: 90dB/2.83V/m. Recommended amplifier power: 25-150W. Second- and third-order harmonic distortion, 20Hz-20kHz at 95dB SPL: ±1%.
Dimensions: 15" H by 9 3/4" W by 11 1/2" D. Weight: 27 lbs each.
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: Simon Yorke, Graham 2.0 turntables; Immedia RPM2, Triplanar VI tonearms; Lyra Helikon, Helikon mono, Clearaudio Insider, Accuphase AC-2 cartridges.
Digital source: Sony SCD-1 SACD player, Audio Alchemy DDS•Pro transport/EAD DSP-9000 Mk.3 HDCD DAC.
Preamplification: Hovland HP-100 preamplifier, Audio Research Reference phono section.
Power amplifiers: Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 300, Dynaco Stereo 70.
Loudspeakers: Red Rose Music R3, Sonus Faber Amati Homage.
Cables: DIN/RCA: Hovland Music Groove. Interconnect: Harmonic…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
With its powered woofer, the Infinity Intermezzo 2.6's impedance plot (fig.1) shows just the tweeter's electrical characteristics. It reaches a minimum value of 5.95 ohms at 18kHz, which is benign. However, the high-pass crossover gives rise to quite an extreme phase angle in the mid-treble, which will result in the speaker being a harder load to drive than otherwise would be the case. On the other hand, my estimate of its voltage sensitivity was 89.3dB(B)/2.83V/m, which is significantly higher than average.
Fig.1 Infinity Intermezzo 2.6,…
Only above 12kHz does the 2.6 start to beam, due to the tweeter's waveguide acoustic environment. As a result, in all but small, live rooms the Intermezzo might sound slightly softened in the extreme highs, as MF indeed found to be the case. A similar plot in the vertical plane (fig.6) reveals that the Infinity speaker is best auditioned on or slightly under the tweeter axis. Sit too high and a large suckout appears in the crossover region.
Fig.6 Infinity Intermezzo 2.6, vertical response family at 50", from back to front: differences in response 45 degrees-5 degrees above…