I listened to music using my Rega P3-24 turntable, NAD C 515BEE CD player, Parasound ZphonoUSB phono preamplifier, NAD C 316BEE integrated amplifier, and Kimber Kable 8VS speaker cables and PBJ interconnects—a pretty rad system, if I do say so myself. The DefTech StudioMonitor 45s were secured with small globs of Blu-Tack to 24"-tall Target stands, while the components rested on my Polycrystal equipment rack. Source components and amplifiers were plugged into a Furutech e-TP60 power conditioner, itself plugged into a Furutech GTX wall receptacle via an AudioQuest NRG-…
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Sidebar 2: Measurements
I examined the performance of one of the DefTech speakers with DRA Labs' MLSSA system. I used a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the speaker's frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 mike for the nearfield responses. I estimated the SM 45's voltage sensitivity at 86dB(B)/2.83V/m, which is typical for a small speaker like this but well below the specified 90dB. The nominal impedance is specified at 8 ohms; while the plot of impedance magnitude against frequency (fig.1, solid trace) remains above 8 ohms in the upper midrange and treble…
Sidebar 3: Specifications
Description: Two-way, port-loaded, stand-mounted loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" aluminum-dome tweeter, 5.25" woofer. Frequency range: 35Hz–30kHz. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms. Sensitivity: 90dB/W/m.
Dimensions: 11 11/16" (297mm) H by 6¾" (172mm) W by 11 11/16" (297mm) D. Weight: 12 lbs.
Serial number of review samples:MCDA0112-TA01281.
Price: $398/pair.
Manufacturer: Definitive Technology: 11433 Cronridge Drive, Suite K, Owings Mills, MD 21117-2294. Tel: (410) 363-7148. Fax: (410) 363-9998. Web: www.definitivetech.com
It was an audio demo quite unlike most others. Less than two weeks after the debut, at CEDIA 2012 in Indianapolis, of Steinway Lyngdorf's Model LS Concert two-way floor-standing dipole line-source loudspeaker/sound system, the LS Concert joined two other complete Steinway Lyngdorf systems for a "very first" quasi-public unveiling in San Francisco. Jointly staged on two floors of a Pacific Heights mansion, the event was hosted by several entities—Steinway Lyngdorf, a collaboration between piano maker Steinway & Sons and legendary audio innovator Peter Lyngdorf; Sherman Clay, the largest…
The Toronto Audio Video Entertainment Show (TAVES) launches its second annual three-day show on September 28 in downtown Toronto's historic King Edward Hotel. Produced by Canada HiFi's publisher/editor-in-chief, Suave Kajko, and his partner, Simon Au, and "presented by Porsche," TAVES promises multiple exhibit rooms in which between 65 and 70 exhibitors, over 80% of whom are manufacturers, will display approximately 274 component brands and media from 26 recording labels (CD, LP, and Blu-ray).
"I'm pretty excited about the preponderance of manufacturers, because they tend to have more…
Patricia Barber: Nightclub & Modern Cool
Nightclub
Premonition 90763-1 (2 LPs). Patricia Barber, prod.; Michael Friedman, exec. prod.; Jim Anderson, eng.; Bob Ludwig, mastering; Doug Sax, mastering (LP). AAA? TT: 51:20
Performance ****
Sonics *****
Nightclub
Premonition 90763-1 (2 LPs). Patricia Barber, prod.; Michael Friedman, exec. prod.; Jim Anderson, eng.; Bob Ludwig, mastering; Doug Sax, mastering (LP). AAA? TT: 51:20
Performance ****
Sonics *****
Modern Cool
Premonition 90761-4 (BD-A). Patricia Barber, prod.; Michael Friedman, exec. & surround prod.; Jim Anderson, eng. & surround eng. Robert Gatley, asst. surround eng. ADD? TT: 67:49
Performance ****
Sonics *****
Much as the music world at large supremely values so-called original…
Before 1982, when the Compact Disc arrived, I didn't love LPs. Analog was already very old tech, and while every trick in the book had been applied to turntables and LPs, they still wowed & fluttered at 33 1/3 revolutions per minute. Vinyl's deficiencies were legion: warped LPs were more common than truly flat ones; surface noise, clicks, and pops sang along with the tune; LPs rarely had perfectly centered spindle holes; inner-groove distortions popped up at inopportune moments; and each time an LP is played, its sound quality degrades, if only ever so slightly. The LP format? Imperfect…
Somewhere in Budapest, something very scary is happening. Somewhere in Budapest, something very beautiful is blooming. Stereophile forum user vencel has reposted images of his rebuild of a Koetsu Rosewood cartridge starting at its grim and crud-crusted beginnings leading to its careful reconstruction and finishing with a gorgeously refurbished cartridge glowing in the light. The gruesome details of death and deconstruction are told through haunting images, and then hope is reborn through the hard work of vencel and his team’s delicate re-coiling and cleanup. The story can be seen here in our…
"This product is an industry disrupter."
Thus spoke AudioQuest's Steve Silberman, VP of development, of their brand-new USB D/A converter, the DragonFly. "There are a lot of very good DACs out there," he continued. "There are even a lot of very good affordable DACs. But the problem is, people outside of audio don't want them: They don't want old-style components like that.
"I know a lot of people who have started and sold companies, who could have anything they want. People who love music. And they don't want what our industry makes. For so long, our industry has dictated to the…
As indicated by its chameleonic emblem, the DragonFly did, in fact, adapt to various incoming sampling rates, and I managed to see it display all four of its colors during the review period. But prospective owners should keep in mind: To see and to hear the DragonFly perform at different frequencies, a Mac owner must either select a music player that can adapt on the fly (sorry) to different sampling rates—such as the aforementioned Decibel—or remember to exit iTunes, manually change frequencies in the Apple MIDI setup utility, then relaunch iTunes before switching from one rate to another…