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Where the HR-X tore the TNT envelope was just where its designer had intended: in the areas of dynamics, temporal precision, and tonal balance. The HR-X was more explosive, much faster, and considerably leaner-sounding than any TNT. Its dynamic transients were huge, from the lowest bass up through the lower treble, and from the softest passages to the loudest. Across the midrange, the resulting combination of dynamic power, speed, and precision was the best I've ever heard, and a big factor in Lakmé's sounding so realistic. The voices had more of that lifelike "jump" that tells you it's a…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Integrated manual, belt-driven turntable with JMW 12.6 tonearm and SDS motor/speed controller. Tonearm length: 12.5" from headshell to pivot point. No other specifications given.
Dimensions: 25" W by 8.5" H by 19" D (turntable). Weight: 115 lbs.
Serial Number Of Unit Reviewed: 0063 (turntable); 717 (tonearm).
Price: $10,500 (with tonearm and motor controller). Approximate number of dealers: 95. Warranty: 5 years.
Manufacturer: VPI Industries, 77 Cliffwood Avenue #3B, Cliffwood, NJ 07721-1087. Tel: (732) 583-6895. Fax: (732) 946-8578. Web…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Lyra Titan & Titan-I, Grado Statement Reference cartridges.
Digital Sources: EMM CDSD & DCC2 SACD system, Simaudio Andromeda CD player.
Preamplification: VTL TL-7.5, Placette Active, Sutherland Director line stages; Sutherland PhD, Ensemble Fonobrio phono stages; Halcro dm10 preamplifier.
Power Amplifiers: Halcro dm58 & dm88 monoblocks, Mark Levinson No.20.6 monoblocks, Simaudio Moon Rock monoblocks, VTL Ichiban & S-400.
Loudspeakers: Wilson Audio Sophia, Thiel CS6.
Cables: Interconnect: Stereovox, Nordost…
Since the introduction of the original B&W 801 monitor loudspeaker in 1980, it has been adopted as a reference by several recording studios around the world, Over the past five years, I have seen 801s present in just about every recording session with which I have been artistically involved. While the original 801 monitor had its strong points, I was never satisfied with the detached and muddy-sounding bass, discontinuous driver balance, and low sensitivity. Unless this speaker was driven by an enormous solid-state power amplifier, with an elevated high-frequency response, the tubby and…
Realizing this problem, Bowers uses panels of musicians who have performed in specific recordings to ascertain musical integrity between originals and facsimiles. If they and the recording engineers involved are satisfied that what they hear through the speakers accurately reproduces what occurred in the sessions, he feels that some of the subjectivity connected with loudspeaker design has been eliminated.
Which brings us back to the Matrix 801. This is not a speaker for those with preconceived notions of what should be, but for those who wish to hear what is. I have yet to hear another…
This all happened before the optional out board bass-alignment filter (aka equalizer) arrived, or the speakers had been bi-wired. Again, B&W's "option" is a necessity. While I liked the speakers before, the addition of this little black box between preamp and power amp made an enormous difference...for the better. This is the first such device I've heard that doesn't adversely affect the midrange and high frequencies.
B&W has wisely not included hard-wired interconnects, so the audiophile can still use his favorite brand of wiring. What amazed me was how this gizmo improved the…
When it comes to audio, musicians are hard to please. Perhaps that's why so many of them have such poor audio systems; if you can't have it all, why even try? The new 801 is a musician's reference; it simply reproduces music with more immediacy and honesty than anything I (or any of my colleagues) have previously heard. It is quite unlike any other speaker, inasmuch as it goes far beyond any previous design in drawing the listener into the performance, almost as if the listener's ears and microphones were one and the same. My first impression of the sound was one of unrestrained openness,…
Transient attack of the Matrix 801, throughout the entire frequency spectrum, is the most musically accurate and coherent of any speaker I have heard (except for full-range electrostatics). Deep-bass transients are remarkably clear (but not artificially dry), an attribute made evident through the reproduction of the bass drum in the third movement of Frederick Fennell's First Hoist Suite (same as above). While many other full-range speakers have provided me with lots of window-rattling bass response, the Matrix 801 was the first to delineate the type of beater the bass-drum player was using…
And speaking of pitch definition, this is where most speakers fail miserably. Instruments and voices have (or should have) tonal centers that are clearly heard in live performance. But so many speakers scramble this, representing tonal pitch centers on either the high or low side of the sound, producing overly bright or dull sonic distortions (overly sharp pitch appears to the ear as brighter; low pitch as duller). And with most speakers, this pitch distortion is not consistent: characteristics change with each separate driver, causing frequency-related colorations (this is one advantage of…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way, reflex-loaded, floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (26mm) metal-dome tweeter, 5" (126mm) Kevlar-cone midrange unit, 12" (300mm) high-power polymer-cone woofer. Crossover frequencies: 380Hz and 3kHz. Frequency response: 20Hz-20kHz ±2dB free-field. Sensitivity: 87dB/W/m. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms (not falling below 4 ohms). Amplifier requirements: 50-600W.
Dimensions: 39 11/16" H by 17" W by 22" D. Weight: 110 lbs.
Price: $4500/pair in black ash or walnut, $5200/pair in rosewood. External bass-alignment filter, and pair of 11"…