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…
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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…
WAGNER: Tristan und Isolde
Plácido Domingo, Tristan; Nina Stemme, Isolde; Mihoko Fujimura, Brangäne; René Pape, Marke; Olaf Bär, Kurwenal; Jared Holt, Melot; Ian Bostridge, Shepherd; Matthew Rose, Steersman; Rolando Villazón, A Young Sailor; Orchestra & Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Antonio Pappano
EMI 5 58006 2 (3 CDs, 1 DVD). 2005. David Groves, prod.; Jonathan Allen, John Dunkerly, Roland Heap, engs. DDD. TT: 3:46:29
Performance *****
Sonics ****½
Plácido Domingo, Tristan; Nina Stemme, Isolde; Mihoko Fujimura, Brangäne; René Pape, Marke; Olaf Bär, Kurwenal; Jared Holt, Melot; Ian Bostridge, Shepherd; Matthew Rose, Steersman; Rolando Villazón, A Young Sailor; Orchestra & Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Antonio Pappano
EMI 5 58006 2 (3 CDs, 1 DVD). 2005. David Groves, prod.; Jonathan Allen, John Dunkerly, Roland Heap, engs. DDD. TT: 3:46:29
Performance *****
Sonics ****½
Richard Wagner long planned but never composed Die Sieger (The Victors), an opera based on the life…
Each time I attend Stereophile's annual Home Entertainment Show, I look forward to two things. The first is the opportunity to perform classic and original jazz music with John Atkinson and Immedia's Allen Perkins. The second is to seek out the most exciting new, affordable speakers to review over the following year. Both buttons were pressed for me quite admirably during HE2005 at the New York Hilton, but this time it was not an affordable speaker that most impressed me.
I entered the DK Designs room, where a very rugged and sexy-looking amplifier was making remarkable sound…
The VS.1's high-frequency performance revealed its most noticeable shortcoming, but it was a minor one. Although the high frequencies overall were detailed and uncolored, the extreme top end seemed to lack air and was a touch opaque. Not that this detracted from musical enjoyment on any recording. On all closely miked female vocals, sibilants were clear, crisp, and distinct. Keith Jarrett's piano on Radiance (CD, ECM 1960/1961) was revealed to have uncolored, delicate, and shimmering harmonics, with superb transient articulation. Tom Chiu's violin on David Chesky's Violin Concerto, from the…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-channel solid-state integrated amplifier with tubes in low-level circuitry. Tube complement: two 6922. Maximum output power: 150Wpc into 8 ohms (21.8dBW), 300Wpc into 4 ohms (18.8dBW), both channels driven. Total harmonic distortion: 0.1% (1kHz) (level not specified). Frequency response: 20Hz–32kHz, ±1dB. Signal/noise: >90dB (reference level not specified). Channel separation: >60dB (1kHz). Input impedance: 47k ohms. Input sensitivity (for 1W into 8 ohms): line input, >200mV. Phono input: >4mV. Overload signal level: >2V.
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