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To perform the measurements on the B.M.C. Amplifier C1, I used Stereophile's loan sample of the top-of-the-line Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see www.ap.com and the January 2008 "As We See It"). Before testing the B.M.C., I ran both channels at 1/3 the rated power into 8 ohms for 60 minutes, which thermally is the worst case for an amplifier with a class-A/B output stage. At the end of that time the C1's chassis was too hot to touch, at 145°F (62.9°C), but the amplifier was otherwise operating correctly.

The volume control operated in 66 accurate 1dB…

It was the spring of 1982. John Crabbe, then editor of the British magazine Hi-Fi News & Record Review, and I had driven up to Quad's factory in Huntingdon, England. The ESL-63 electrostatic loudspeaker had been launched the previous summer, and we were to interview its designer, Peter J. Walker, for an article that would appear in the July 1982 issue of HFN/RR. Peter set up a pair of ESL-63s on wooden kitchen chairs, fed one of them a 300Hz…

Super Sonics
Setting up the Quad Reference ESL-2805s in my room was straightforward, with…

Description: Full-range, floorstanding, electrostatic loudspeaker. Membrane: ultra-low-mass (0.5gm), tensioned, split into 4 elements. Frequency response: 37Hz–21kHz, –6dB. Sensitivity: 86dB/2.83V/m. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms (4–15 ohms variation). Rated input level: 10V; program peak for undistorted output, 40V; permitted peak input, 55V. Distortion at 100dB at 1m: 1.0%, 50–100Hz; 0.5%, 100Hz–1kHz; 0.15%, >1kHz. Operating supply voltages: 110–120V AC; 220–240V AC.
Dimensions: 41" (1040mm) H (plus feet) by 27.4" (695mm) W by 15.2" (385mm) D. Weight: 76.6…

Digital Sources: Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP & DX-5 universal players; Apple G4 Mac mini running OS10.5.8, iTunes 10, Pure Music 1.83; Shuttle PC with Lynx AES16 soundcard & dual-core AMD Athlon processor running Windows 7, Foobar 2000, Adobe Audition 3.0; dCS Debussy, Logitech Transporter, Mark Levinson No.30.6 D/A converters; Empirical Audio Off-Ramp4 USB-S/PDIF converter.
Preamplifiers: Classé CP-800, Ayre Acoustics K-5xeMP.
Power Amplifiers: Classé CT-M600, Lamm M1.2 Reference, MBL Reference 9007 (all monoblocks).
Loudspeakers: BBC LS3/…

I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Quad Reference ESL-2805's frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 for the nearfield and spatially averaged room responses. The measuring microphone was placed pointing toward the center of the diaphragm, which, with the 3° tiltback, was on the listening axis in my room. Although I raised the speaker off the ground for the acoustic measurements, I couldn't get it high enough to avoid the early reflection from the floor. This limited the resolution of the…

Director Ted Says explains the video’s creepy look and feel: “We wanted to create an atmosphere that would sit well with the unpredictable music of The Thing and be playful yet creepy. I didn’t want to restrict Neneh too much either&#151she had to have a platform to do…

Eric Chenaux, at Casa del Popolo, Montreal, performing "Put In Music" from the beautiful album, Guitar & Voice.

The album is available now from the kind people at Constellation Records and Secretly Canadian Distribution.