The Monks' tuning instructions are as follows: Raising the front Mpingo'd shelves upward lightens up the sound and brings more…
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At various points during the process we coaxed Kathleen into the listening chair, even though she typically prefers listening off-axis while otherwise engaged. She leaves all that sitting and squinting to me. When pressed, she felt that the single greatest effect she'd heard was due to the placement of the two additional Mpingo Discs on the speaker-top "control areas" (in addition to the single Disc already placed on the outside rear corners). I'd have to agree.
A proper speaker installation can take a full day and sometimes part of a second, even in a familiar room. But by the time the sun sets on Day One, the system should be almost there—wherever there is.
But imagine, at the end of Day One, the following scenario: Three exhausted, chain-smoking tech types dart frantically around the room. One moves a pair of subwoofers, one tweaks a half dozen or so unmarked potentiometers mounted in a small aluminum box; the third supervises these changes, then listens for what seems like the 150th time. Then, for what also seems the 150th time, collective…
Like any other sat-sub system, the Cabasse Thor-Baltic combo is ripe for abuse. Better too little bass than too much. While the system has the potential to drive audiophiles crazy—especially those who thrive only on certainty—I found that, once the system was dialed in correctly, I left it alone. In the end, I felt that, in order to avoid hearing "bass," as opposed to instruments creating bass, I had to run the system slightly leaner than what I thought sounded like neutral. But overall, I was happy with the blend and never found myself fiddling with it.
The only change came when Cabasse…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Artis Baltic II: Three-way, floorstanding loudspeaker with integral 80Hz high-pass filter. Drive-units: ca 1" Teonex-dome tweeter, ca 5" coaxial polypropylene-diaphragm midrange unit, ca 9" Duocell-diaphragm coaxial lower midrange unit. Crossover frequencies: 600Hz, 3.8kHz (all 12dB/octave). Frequency range: 80Hz–22kHz. Sensitivity: 93.5dB/2.83V/m). Nominal impedance: 8 ohms. Minimum impedance: 3.2 ohms. Power handling: 200W. Peak power handling: 1400W.
Dimensions: 48.5" (1245mm) H by 12.5" (320mm) W by 16.5" (425mm) D. Weight: 35.5 lbs (16kg).
Serial…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Simon Yorke S7, Nottingham Audio Deco turntables; Immedia RPM-2, Graham 2.2, Phantom, Nottingham Ace-Anna tonearms; Lyra Titan, Lyra Helikon, Lyra Dorian mono, London Jubilee cartridges.
Digital Sources: Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista SACD player; Alesis Masterlink CD-R/HD recorder.
Preamplification: Manley Steelhead, Aesthetix Rhea, Musical Fidelity kW phono preamplifiers; Musical Fidelity kWp, Aesthetix Calypso preamplifiers.
Power amplifiers: Musical Fidelity kW, Audio Valve Baldour.
Loudspeakers: Wilson Audio Specialties MAXX2.…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The Artis Baltic II "eyeball" had a high estimated voltage sensitivity of 90.5dB(B)/2.83V/m. Its impedance (fig.1) dropped to or below 4 ohms in the lower midrange and mid-treble but was otherwise quite high. The speaker should not, therefore, be difficult to drive, though its use of a series capacitor to roll off the lows below 80Hz results in a combination of 6.7 ohms magnitude and –45° electrical phase angle at 73Hz, which might tax underpowered amplifiers.
Fig.1 Cabasse Artis Baltic II, electrical impedance (solid) and phase (dashed). (2 ohms/…
If there is one thing I've learned in almost 28 years (ouch) of audio writing, it's that audience reaction is fickle. Sometimes readers will swallow the most contentious pronouncements without indigestion, only to choke on throwaway lines you've invested with little importance. It just goes to confirm that human communication involves senders and receivers, and they aren't always in synchrony.
I was pretty certain, though, when I'd dotted the last i and crossed the last t of a piece for Hi-Fi News last October (published in the February 2005 issue), that it would elicit howls of protest…
If the signal appears not to be random, then a good way to visualize its underlying structure is to plot a graph of the autocorrelation coefficient vs time lag, as illustrated in fig.3. The first graph (a) shows the autocorrelation vs lag graph for pseudo-random noise. As with any signal, the autocorrelation coefficient is 1 at lag zero because the signal is exactly aligned with itself. At lags of 1 sample and greater, the coefficient falls to within a narrow band around zero, confirming that the signal is unstructured; ie, random. Compare this with the second graph (b), which shows the…
In cases where microphones are placed close to instruments and exposed to high SPLs, the problem of mike self-noise is significantly reduced. But in situations where mikes are placed well back from the performers, a reduction of mike self-noise might elicit sound-quality dividends. This isn't a subject I've looked into in any depth, but an array of microphone capsules might, with suitable post-processing of their signals, provide a workable solution, in the same way that paralleled transistors can be used in the input stage of a moving-coil preamp to reduce its noise level. Ten paralleled…
When I first heard about "Records To Die For," I had to laugh. "Desert Island Discs," maybe, but Records To Die For? Laying down your life for a record? World-class hyperbole. Throw yourself on a sword for a glob of petrochemicals? Not me. If your house was burning down, would you a) grab your child, b) grab your photos and other irreplaceable items (cats, loved ones, etc.), or c) grab your records?
Gee, now that one made me think. In fact, the more I pondered, the closer these once-amusing examples came to my own life and its lamprey-like obsessions. When I moved to Santa Fe, for example…