Description: Two-way, sealed-box, stand-mounted dynamic loudspeaker with two 7" bass/midrange drivers and one 1" titanium-dome tweeter. Impedance: Nominal 4 ohms, 2.9 ohms minimum. Frequency response: 45–20kHz ±3dB anechoic (in-room, –3dB point will be lower). Crossover frequency: 2kHz. Sensitivity: 88dB (2V, 1m).
Dimensions: 11" W by 38" H by 16" D. Weight: 92 lbs net, 100 lbs shipping.
Finishes available: natural oak, natural walnut, stained walnut.
Prices: $3000/pair, $3100/pair in stained walnut (East Coast prices $50 higher); stands, $300/pair (…
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Sidebar 1: Specifications
Sidebar 2: Review System
The dedicated listening room has optimum dimensional ratios for room-mode distribution. Amplification was my standard reference, the VTL 225W Deluxe monoblocks, but a new version employing KT90 output tubes instead of EL34s (footnote 1). The collective experience of some Stereophile reviewers—JA, DO, and me—has been that tube amplification seems to work best with the MB tweeter found in the System Two and other loudspeakers. JA found both the VTL 500s and the Audio Research Classic 60 to be a synergistic combination with the Avalon Eclipse, and DO liked the Air…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The Listening Environment Diagnostic Recording (LEDR) on the Chesky Test CD produced an impressive feeling of the image moving above the loudspeaker. The "over" test was similarly good, with a continuous "rainbow"-shaped arc traced between the loudspeakers. Driving the System Two with a sinewave oscillator and feeling the cabinet for resonances revealed the enclosure's rigidity. Very minor resonances were felt and heard at 65Hz, 200Hz, with the strongest at 500Hz. The System Two was noticeably less inert than the Two Signature, but far more solid than most…
The Snell Type C/IV's design has been highly influenced by both the testing methods and philosophy of Canada's National Research Council in Ottawa. Other well-known loudspeakers to have benefited from the NRC's testing facilities include the Mirage M-1 and M-3, PSB Stratus Gold, the Waveform, and Camber 3.5. The NRC provides a variety of services to loudspeaker designers, notably use of their testing facilities which include a full-sized anechoic chamber. In addition, the NRC is heavily involved in carefully controlled blind listening comparisons between loudspeakers, used to aid the…
The C/IV's crossover was designed with a computer program after all the drivers had been measured in the enclosure in which they were intended to work. Crossover development programs are much more accurate at predicting real-world behavior when given the precise driver responses measured in a cabinet. The fourth-order slopes are achieved by a combination of crossover rolloff and the drivers' acoustic rolloffs. The woofer circuit uses non-polarized electrolytic capacitors and air-core inductors, while the midrange circuit uses electrolytics bypassed with Mylar caps. Tweeter filtering is…
My first impressions of the Type C/IVs were confirmed throughout the auditioning: a big, lively presentation with surprising tonal neutrality and excellent low-frequency extension. It was apparent that the Type C/IVs were quite flat; no surprise, considering their designer's priorities. I detected very little coloration that could be ascribed to amplitude irregularities. The critical midrange was free from anomalies that often cause loudspeakers to be called "nasal," "forward," "murky," "hooded," "recessed," "honky," or other such adjectives descriptive of midband colorations. Instead, the…
Despite the more viscerally satisfying bass reproduction, the Snells didn't convey the detail and nuance in low-frequency instruments I've grown accustomed to in months of listening through the Hales Signature and System Two. Fine textures, minute detail, and other aspects of low-frequency–rich instruments just weren't there through the Type C/IV. Because of this, there was less impression of palpability, of the instrument actually existing in the listening room. Consequently, some instruments sounded somewhat artificial and dead rather than believable and alive. This feeling was perhaps…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Four-driver dynamic loudspeaker. Driver complement: one 10" woofer, one 5" midrange, one 1" metal-dome tweeter, one ¾" dome rear-firing tweeter. Frequency responses: 65Hz–20kHz, ±1dB; 34Hz–22kHz, ±3dB (both responses specified on-axis or up to 25° off the horizontal axis); 37Hz–15kHz, ±3dB total radiated. Crossover frequencies: 275Hz and 2.7kHz, 24dB/octave slopes. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms. Sensitivity: 88.5dB at 1W (2.83V) at 1m, anechoic (sensitivity higher in a normal environment). Power requirements: suitable for use with amplifiers rated from…
Sidebar 2: Review System
The dedicated listening room has optimum dimensional ratios for room-mode distribution. The Snell loudspeakers were driven by VTL 225W Deluxe monoblocks or a Threshold S/550e through 10' runs of bi-wired AudioQuest Green Hyperlitz. Preamplification was provided by an Audio Research SP-11 Mk.II, which drove the amplifier(s) through AudioQuest Lapis.
The analog front end was a Well-Tempered Turntable and Tonearm fitted with a Signet O-9C moving-coil cartridge. The arm has been modified by LP Research and Development Lab. An Expressive Technologies SU-1 step…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The LEDR test on the Chesky Test CD produced a fairly good "up" impression, but with the image turning inward toward the top of its extension. The "over" and "lateral" tests were reproduced quite well, with solid images moving between the loudspeakers. Driving the Type C/IV with a sinewave oscillator revealed cabinet resonances at 65Hz, 200Hz, 500Hz, and 660Hz, the last being the strongest.
Even in the worst case, with the HF control at maximum and the rear tweeter on, the Type C/IV presents a fairly easy load to a power amplifier, evinced by the impedance…