search

Plateau Camber is a Canadian loudspeaker manufacturer which concentrates on building small, moderately priced systems. The company started as Edon Acoustcis and was the Canadian distributor of Rega products. It began by making loudspeakers under the Rega name but changed to Camber when Rega set up its own North American distribution. Edon then sold the company to stand manufacturer Plateau.

Their products range from the $300 model .7t to the $1000, floor-standing 5.0ti. The second-from-the-top-of-the-line 3.…

The reference system used to audition the four loudspeakers reviewed here includes the VTL 225W Deluxe monoblock and Krell KSA 200 amplifiers, driven by a Theta DSPro Basic digital processor through the passive Electronic Visionary Systems Stepped Attenuator. The analog front end was a Well-Tempered Turntable and tonearm fitted with a Sumiko Boron vdH cartridge. Phono preamplification was provided by the Precision Audio outboard phono module, connected to the passive attenuator. The phono preamp has enough gain for the moving-coil Sumiko and is able to drive…

Playing the LEDR recording from the Chesky jazz sampler and test CD, I thought the 3.5ti did moderately well in the "Up" test. The image moved slightly above the loudspeaker and stopped without achieving the height sometimes heard. The "Over" was a little better, with the image leaving the left loudspeaker and traveling toward the right. The "Lateral" test, the easiest for a loudspeaker to reproduce, was good, the test signal producing a continuous image between the loudspeakers. I next drove the 3.5ti with a sinewave oscillator while feeling and listening to…

Description: two-way, reflex-loaded loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" plastic-dome tweeter (Camber 3.5A) or 1" metal-dome tweeter (3.5ti), 8" polypropylene-cone woofer. Crossover frequency: 3kHz. Frequency response: 48Hz–20kHz ±2dB (3.5A); 45Hz–23kHz ±3dB, 80Hz–2kHz ±1dB (3.5ti). Sensitivity: 90dB/W/m. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms. Amplifier requirements: 15–175W.
Dimensions: 23.5" H by 12.5" W by 10.25" D (3.5A); 24" H by 10.5" W by 11.5" D (3.5ti). Weight: 35 lbs each.
Finish: black ash.
Price: $669/pair (3.5A); $699/pair (3.5ti); no longer available (2010).…

…

Description: Solid-state remote-controlled preamplifier. Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz ±0.02dB; 0.2Hz–400kHz +0.0, –3dB. Distortion: <0.01% THD at and 20kHz. S/N ratio: >95dB, unweighted. Input impedance: 47k ohms. Output impedance: 5 ohms. Maximum output voltage: 14V rms.
Dimensions: 19" W by 2.75" H by 14.5" D. Weight: 29 lbs (shipping).
Serial numbers of samples tested: 23-85487 & 23-85435.
Price: $6300 (line only; phono stage optional at $500 additional). Approximate number of dealers: 55. Warranty: 5 years, limited, transferable.
…

My reference system was initially based on the Wilson WATTs/Puppies, the Rowland Consummate and Krell KSA-300S and KSA-250 power amplifiers, the C.E.C. TL 1 transport, and the Levinson No.35 D/A processor. I later used Apogee Stage loudspeakers, a Krell Reference 64 D/A processor and DT-10 transport.

In addition, Kimber AGDL digital cable linked transport and processor, TARA Labs Master RSC (unbalanced) linked processor and preamp, Cardas Hexlink (balanced) connected preamp and power amp, and TARA Labs RSC loudspeaker cable ran between amp and speakers…

The KRC's balanced output impedance at its line outputs measured just over 3 ohms (just over 2 ohms unbalanced). Its (line) input impedance measured just over 104k ohms (L) and just under 100k ohms (R), balanced, and just under 47k ohms unbalanced. The output impedance at the tape output was just under 45 ohms, regardless of the source impedance, indicating a buffered tape output.

The DC offset at the KRC's outputs measured under 0.3mV either channel, balanced or unbalanced. The preamp is noninverting from its inputs to its main outputs, and in the…

Those early oversampling players were the first to replace the analog output filter with one that operated in the digital domain, thereby avoiding the problems of steep analog filters. In fact, those analog filters were a significant source of unmusical sound in first-generation CD players, introducing severe phase shift, ringing, passband ripple, and often upper-treble attenuation. They were necessary, however, to remove the spurious images that appeared at…