search
Currently on the turntable is Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman's Duets for Two Violins (LP, EMI ASD 3430), from 1978—admittedly after EMI's golden age, but the recording, produced in London's Temple Church, built in the late 12th century, demonstrated the Q5's exceptional tonal and textural purity, and its ability to reveal without overanalyzing. The Temple Church's warm, reverberant acoustic was allowed to bloom behind and around the violins, which don't sound particularly closely miked. Played at realistically moderate levels, the bodies of the instruments didn't get lost in the…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Four-way, sealed-box, floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (25mm) beryllium-dome tweeter, 6" (152mm) Nano-Tec–cone midrange unit, 9" (228mm) Nano-Tec-cone midbass unit, two 9" Nano-Tec–cone woofers. Frequency response (in-room): 22Hz–50kHz, ±2dB. Sensitivity: 87dB/2.83V/m. Nominal impedance: 4 ohms. Recommended power: 50–1200Wpc.
Dimensions: 47" (1194mm) H by 11.75" (298mm) W by 21" (533mm) D. Weight: 387 lbs (176kg) each.
Finish: Black-anodized aluminum.
Serial Numbers Of Units Reviewed: 00009 & 00010.
Price: $59,950/pair.…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Continuum Audio Labs Caliburn, Cobra, Castellon turntable, tonearm, stand; Graham Engineering Phantom II tonearm; Audiostone Pythagoras turntable, HiFiction Thales AV tonearm; Ortofon A90, Lyra Titan i, Miyajima Premium BE (mono) cartridge.
Digital Sources: Playback Designs MPS-5 SACD/CD player–DAC, Camelot Roundtable Anagram Technologies DAC, Benchmark ADC1 A/D converter, BPT-modified Alesis Masterlink hard-disk recorder, Meridian-Sooloos music server.
Preamplification: Einstein The Tube Mk.II, darTZeel NHB-18NS preamplifiers;…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Magico's impedance and farfield frequency response, and an Earthworks QTC-40 for the nearfield and spatially averaged room responses. The sheer bulk of the Q5—it weighs almost 400 lbs—precluded my being able to place it on my Outline turntable for the acoustic measurements. I therefore performed the quasi-anechoic measurements with the speaker sitting on a dolly in Michael Fremer's driveway (scroll down the page). The inevitable reflection of the speaker's output from the ground…
"Is it live or is it recorded?"
I'm sure that each of us has experienced one of those moments. What, precisely, distinguishes live from recorded sound? It's a complex issue, but I'm pretty sure it has little to do with any of the measurable, quantifiable parameters objectivists obsess over. Fidelity must be a factor, but a lack of fidelity has never stopped any of my audio pals from hearing the difference between live and recorded music over the phone.
I remember one such incident from when I worked at Master Sound Astoria, a recording studio in Queens, New York. I was talking on…
Beethoven: Piano Concertos 1–5
Paul Lewis, piano; Jirí Belohlávek, BBC Symphony Orchestra
Harmonia Mundi 902053.55 (3 CDs). 2010. Martin Sauer, prod.; Philip Knop, eng. DDD. TT: 2:55:42
Performance *****
Sonics *****
Paul Lewis, piano; Jirí Belohlávek, BBC Symphony Orchestra
Harmonia Mundi 902053.55 (3 CDs). 2010. Martin Sauer, prod.; Philip Knop, eng. DDD. TT: 2:55:42
Performance *****
Sonics *****
British pianist Paul Lewis, 38 years old, has already made quite a name for himself in the music of Beethoven: he has recorded all of the sonatas in four sets of discs, and each set has garnered fine reviews and won awards. Here he undertakes the concertos and does himself proud; indeed, these performances are remarkable for clean, insightful playing, a…
Does spending more money on audio equipment get you better sound? Some audiophiles assume that anything that costs more must be better—and that if it's relatively inexpensive, then it can't be any good. Others hold the opposite view: expensive components can't possibly be worth their prices, and those who manufacture them—and audio journalists who report on them—must be charlatans.
My view, which I believe to be held by the majority, is that there is a sizable positive correlation between price and sound quality—by and large, more expensive equipment tends to sound better—but…
Audio Plus's Ian McArthur came by to help set up the Focals, and to make sure they were working properly. He said that in most listening environments the optimal toe-in is where you can just see the inner wall of each speaker, and this turned out to be true for these speakers in my room. The rest of the system was exactly the same as was used with the Monitor Audio PL200, Simaudio graciously allowing me to hold on to their Moon Evolution P-7 preamplifier and Evolution W-7 power amp, so that I didn't have to deal with a change in associated components. I don't use bi- or triwiring unless the…
The Chorus 826W's tonal balance brought to mind something my high school music teacher, Mr. Scott, wrote in my yearbook: "Don't B-sharp. Don't B-flat. Just B-natural." I don't think Mr. Scott meant this admonition to apply to speakers, but if he had, then I think he'd have been pleased with the Chorus 826W. The bass, midrange, and treble were present in subjectively near-perfect balance. Of course, a couple of 6.5" drivers will not give you bass in the subwoofer range; a quick check with the warble tones of Stereophile's Test CD 3 (Stereophile STPH006-2) showed that the bass held out to…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (25mm) aluminum-magnesium inverted-dome tweeter, 6.5" (165mm) W sandwich-cone midrange driver, two 6.5" (165mm) W sandwich-cone woofers. Crossover frequencies: 300Hz, 3kHz. Frequency response: 45Hz–28kHz, ±3dB. Sensitivity: 91.5dB. Impedance: 8 ohms nominal, 2.9 ohms minimum (at 118Hz). Maximum power handling: 220W.
Dimensions: 40 1/8" H (1038mm) by 11 1/8" (282mm) W by 14¼" (375mm) D. Weight: 56.8 lbs (25.8kg).
Finishes: Black glossy acrylic, with black, white, or red sides.
Serial…