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High-end audio is in some ways a dynastic beast, though without as many "begats." One of the world's most successful loudspeaker manufacturers in the years following World War II was the Wharfedale company, from Yorkshire in the North of England. Wharfedale was founded by Gilbert Briggs in 1932, who in the 1950s handed over the reins of Technical Director to fellow Yorkshireman Raymond Cooke. Cooke left Wharfedale in 1961 to found KEF Electronics Ltd., where he subsequently appointed Goodmans designer Laurie Fincham as Chief Engineer in 1968. Fincham led a team of young engineers, including…
As well as Blues Dream, December's "Recording of the Month," All We Are Saying (CD, Savoy Jazz SVY17836), Frisell's collection of John Lennon arrangements, was in heavy rotation while I had the TADs. This album is notable for Kenny Wollesen's natural-sounding drums, the depth of Tony Scherr's double bass, and the telepathic interplay between Frisell's guitar and Greg Leisz's pedal steel guitar. The sense of musical flow in "Revolution" was superb for a ported design, there not being the sense you get with underdamped designs that the bass is chasing the higher regions, trying to keep up. In…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way, reflex-loaded, stand-mounted loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1.375" (35mm) beryllium-dome tweeter concentrically mounted with 6.5" (160mm) beryllium-cone midrange driver, 8" (200mm) sandwich-cone woofer. Crossover frequencies: 250Hz, 2kHz. Frequency response: 40Hz–20kHz, ±3dB (frontal average response). Sensitivity: 86dB/2.83V/m. Nominal impedance: 4 ohms. Maximum input power: 200W.
Dimensions: 24.7" (628mm) H (46.7"/1186mm H with stands) by 13.4" (341mm) W by 17.5" (444mm) D. Weight: 101.4 lbs (46kg).
Finish: Piano-gloss wood veneer,…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP & DX-5 universal players; Apple G4 Mac mini running OS10.5.8, iTunes 10, Pure Music 1.8; Shuttle PC with Lynx AES16 soundcard & dual-core AMD Athlon processor running Windows 7, Foobar 2000, Adobe Audition 3.0; dCS Debussy, Logitech Transporter, Bricasti M1 D/A converters; Halide S/PDIF Bridge, Empirical Audio Off-Ramp4 USB-S/PDIF converters.
Preamplifier: Ayre Acoustics K-5xeMP.
Power Amplifiers: Classé CT-M600, MBL Reference 9007 (both monoblocks).
Loudspeakers: BBC LS3/5a, Sonus Faber Amati Futura…
Preamplifier: Ayre Acoustics K-5xeMP.
Power Amplifiers: Classé CT-M600, MBL Reference 9007 (both monoblocks).
Loudspeakers: BBC LS3/5a, Sonus Faber Amati Futura…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the TAD Compact Reference CR1's frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 for the nearfield and spatially averaged room responses. My estimate of the CR1's voltage sensitivity was 87.5dB(B)/2.83V/m, which is both about average and slightly above the specified 86dB. The CR1 is specified as being a 4 ohm load, but the speaker's impedance remains above 7.5 ohms throughout the upper midrange and treble, dropping to 4 ohms only between 40 and 225Hz (fig.1). Though there…
Gibson Guitar Corp., makers of some of the world’s most iconic electric guitars—the Flying V, SG, and, of course, the Les Paul come to mind—yesterday announced a strategic partnership with Onkyo Corporation, perhaps best known for their versatile multichannel A/V receivers and 2-channel power amplifiers. If approved, Gibson will purchase a stake in Onkyo Japan and acquire a majority interest in Onkyo USA, becoming the second largest shareholder in Onkyo Corporation. The agreements are subject to Japanese regulatory clearance, further negotiations, and financial considerations…
In theory, the pairing makes perfect sense. One imagines a young Nika Roza Danilova enchanted by the beautiful, haunting images of David Lynch’s films. And while music always played a major role in those films, Lynch has become increasingly active as a dedicated musician: His recent album, Crazy Clown Time has received enthusiastic, colorful reviews and his collaboration with Chrysta Bell [ay yai yai] sounds completely delicious.
The result is a lovely, gently moving piece with a decidedly dark, 1980s feel—some reverb on the guitars, a little chorus, a little flange, and a lot…
Saying that Sutherland Engineering builds a nice line of phono stages is like saying that the Porsche 911 Carrera is a nice line of sports car. The Sutherlands all share common design philosophies, features, and sonic attributes—but just as ramping up from Porsche's classic Carrera Coupe ($78,000) to the GT3 ($115,000) or the Turbo S Cabriolet ($172,000) increases the level of performance and distills the Porsche experience down to its essence, ascending the Sutherland line from the PH3D ($1000) to the 20/20 ($2200) to the Hubble ($3800) buys more of what Ron Sutherland is all about.
For…
It would be simple, and mostly accurate, to say that the Phono Blocks captured all of the strengths and eliminated all of the weaknesses of Sutherland's various earlier models, but that wouldn't do the Blocks justice. They were better than that—so good, in fact, that I found it almost impossible to get a bead on them in my system. About the only way I can think of describing them is in terms of the music they played.
First and foremost, the Phono Blocks replicated the uncanny ease and purity of Sutherland's battery-powered models: the PH3D, the Hubble, and the discontinued PhD. Michael…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-chassis, dual-mono phono preamplifier. Inputs: one each (RCA). Outputs: two paralleled each (RCA). Gain: 45, 50, 55, 60dB (user-selectable). Cartridge loading: 50, 100, 200, 475, 1k, 10k, 47.5k ohms (user-selectable). Blank loading card supplied to allow user to create additional, custom loading values. Power consumption: 20W (10Wpc each). Operating voltage: 110–120VAC or 220–240 VAC.
Dimensions: (each) 17" (432mm) W by 3" (76mm) H by 17" (432mm) D. Weight: 20.1 lbs (9.5kg) net, 26 lbs (11.8kg) shipping.
Serial Numbers Of Units Reviewed…