Description: Three-way, reflex-loaded, floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (25mm) soft-dome tweeter; 5" (130mm) sliced-paper-cone midrange; two 6.5" (165mm) aluminum-cone woofers. Crossover frequencies: 300Hz, 4kHz, with multiple slopes. Frequency range: 42Hz–60kHz. Sensitivity: 89dB/2.83V/m. Nominal impedance: 4 ohms. Power handling: 100W maximum.
Dimensions: 37.625" (980mm) H by 11.125" (280mm) W by 16.25" (410mm) D. Weight: 84 lbs (38kg) each.
Finish: Wood Grain Piano.
Serial Numbers of Units Reviewed: 0200109 & '110.
Price: $20,000…
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Sidebar 1: Specifications
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Linn Sondek LP12 turntable with Lingo power supply, Linn Ekos tonearm, Linn Arkiv B phono cartridge.
Digital Sources: Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP & DX-5 universal players; Apple 2.7GHz i7 Mac mini running OS10.7, iTunes 10, Pure Music 1.86; Shuttle PC with Lynx AES16 soundcard & dual-core AMD Athlon processor running Windows 7, Foobar 2000, Adobe Audition 3.0; Halide DAC HD, Musical Fidelity V-DAC II, AudioQuest DragonFly, CEntrance DACport LX, Logitech Transporter, dCS Debussy, Mark Levinson No.30.6 D/A converters; Ayre Acoustics QA…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Sony SS-AR2's frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 for the nearfield and spatially averaged room responses.
My estimate of the SS-AR2's voltage sensitivity was slightly higher than the specified 89dB, at 90.5dB(B)/2.83V/m. However, while the impedance is specified as 4 ohms, the magnitude drops below 4 ohms for most of the lower midrange (fig.1). The minimum magnitude is 2.6 ohms at 110Hz, and there are also current-hungry combinations of 4 ohms…
In late September 2012 from their headquarters in Bergen County’s own Mahwah, New Jersey, Denon Electronics announced the launch of their interactive visYOUalize Yourself website and mobile app as an accompaniment to their four headphone lines released in the summer of 2012. These four headphone divisions target offer clearly positioned models unified through product image and technological goals targeting four different sects of customers. Denon wants to know: which one are you?
With their Music Maniac line, Denon targets listeners completely obsessed with music and willing to put down…
Location, location, location. Although there are more factors that go into a successful audio/video show, unless the location and the venue are right, it's really an uphill battle. The organizers of the Toronto Audio Video Entertainment Show recognized that unless the show is in location that's convenient and has a venue that's attractive, only the most devoted audio/videophiles will attend.
They got it right by selecting the King Edward Hotel, a luxury hotel in downtown Toronto, with many restaurants nearby, and also close to theaters. All right, so parking is expensive, but the King…
Thomas J. Norton wrote about the Sennheiser HDC 451 NoiseGuard headphones In February 1996 (Vol.19 No.2):
On my recent trip to the UK (see "Industry Update" in this issue), I brought along the same set of Sennheiser noise-cancelling headphones reported on by Wes Phillips in the November 1995 issue (Vol.18 No.11. p.193).
Since I didn't want to carry along a portable CD player and a large enough collection of CDs to make the effort worthwhile, I used the Sennheiser 'phones either for straight noise canceling or in place of the airline's headset to listen to the in-flight…
Sam Tellig wrote about the Jadis SE300B in January 1996 (Vol.19 No.1):
You, being a normal person, may find this hard to believe, but hi-fi rags have been known to try to scoop one another with reviews of certain high-profile products. For example, I'd lusted the Jadis SE300B single-ended triode amps since first seeing them in the Juin-Juillet 1995 issue of Haute Fidelite, France's best hi-fi rag. "La magie des 300B," the cover line read. Inside, Messrs. Jean-Philippe Delandre and Alexandre Geoffoy went nuts over the amp—"Vous l'avez compris, mon enthousiasme est sans borne," said one of…
Sam Tellig returned to the Jadis SE300B in February 1996 (Vol.19 No.2):
Of course, I rushed into print last month with my initial write-up on the Jadis SE300B—I wanted Stereophile readers to get the scoop. Next month, in this very rag, Monsieur Scull will give you the full poop on this fabulous amplificateur francais. Meanwhile, I've had four more weeks to live with the pair.
"Any tube trouble?" Frank Garbie, the importer, wanted to know.
"Not yet," I answered, and yumped to call Yon-o-Ton (footnote 1).
"Yes, tube tsouris all right. One of the Esti 4300 BLX tubes…
The Audio Zone Eliminator speakers ($8900/pair) have a distinctly DIY look, aimed at providing maximum performance with no concession to decor. Bass and midrange are both horn-loaded, the bass using a reproduction of the Electro-Voice DX-15 driver, the midrange a Selenium D330 compression driver, and a Fostex supertweeter. Claimed sensitivity is an astonishing 102dB. The Audio Zone Eliminator is built to order. Audio Zone also offers a variety of amps and preamps (active and passive), at what seem like very reasonable prices (eg, 50W Op-Amp Integrated, $1595), all made in Canada.
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John Atkinson reviewed the Acapella High Violoncello II speaker—an esoteric item with a horn-loaded midrange and ion tweeter—two years ago. His conclusion: "This admittedly expensive German speaker really is one of the finest-sounding speakers I have had the pleasure of using."
How expensive? $80,000/pair. Is that too much for you? Well, TAVES 2012 had a demo of the Acapella Violin 1, which is a "mere" $45,000/pair. In a system with Audio Research Reference electronics, the Acapella Violin 1s sounded magnificent.
Described as "Audio Italian Style," the Casta Model C ($28…