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The main system with which the WATTs and Puppies were auditioned consisted of a Linn/Ekos/Troika setup sitting on an ArchiDee table to play LPs, a Revox PR99 to play 15ips master tapes, and the Stax DAC-X1t processor driven by Meridian 602 and Wadia WT-3200 transports to play CDs.

Preamplification first consisted of the Expressive Technologies transformer hooked into a Mod Squad Phono Drive EPS and a Threshold FET ten/e line stage, this combination then replaced by the French YBA 2 preamplifier.

The power amplifier used was almost exclusively the…

The majority of the measurements were performed with a DRA Labs MLSSA acoustic analysis system, with a B&K/DPA 4006 ½" microphone. Looking first at the Series 3 WATT's impedance with the Puppy, the tuning of the WATT's reflex port lies at 36Hz; without the Puppy, the WATT 3's impedance peaks at 21.6 ohms at 74Hz (not shown). With the Puppy, this peak disappears, to be replaced by the Puppy's two bass peaks, the minimum between them at 27Hz indicating the Puppy's port tuning frequency. The slight impedance peak centered on 17.5kHz, just above a typical adult's…

WATT 3: Two-way, stand-mounted loudspeaker with reflex bass loading (QB3, quasi third-order Butterworth alignment fitted with 1"-diameter, 1.75"-deep port suitable for amplifiers with damping factors (DF) of 100 to 400; alternative port supplied for amplifiers with DF between 20 and 80). Drive-units: 1" inverted-dome tweeter, 6.5" doped-pulp–cone midrange/woofer unit. Estimated crossover frequency: 3.7kHz. Frequency response: 58Hz–18kHz +1, –3dB. Nominal impedance: 4 ohms (measured minimum 1.7 ohms at 2.4kHz). Sensitivity: 91dBA/W/m. Amplifier requirements: 30W…

I can't help it: I like it.

While previous Nite Jewel releases have appeared on Mexican Summer, Italians Do It Better, and Gloriette Records, the band recently signed to the excellent Bloomington label, Secretly Canadian, home to Antony and the Johnsons, Damien Jurado, and The War On Drugs, among other fine acts. Nite Jewel’s…

Here’s a pertinent excerpt:

On the evening of Tuesday, September 27, KEF dealers, friends, and associates celebrated the British loudspeaker company’s 50th anniversary. The event was held in the impressive penthouse residence of British Consul-General, Danny Lopez, where guests were treated to tall glasses of Pimm’s, delicious hors d’oeuvres, and electric views of Midtown Manhattan and Long Island City.

Of course, there was also music&#151both live, thanks to Nate Buccieri on piano, and reproduced, thanks to a system comprising Parasound JC 1 monoblock…

Trumpeters use their horns to search for truth. At least that's the folk tale. Somehow, that pure, ringing tone that most strive for at some point in their career—think Louis Armstrong, Clifford Brown, Miles Davis—…

Are you goin' to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.
Remember me to one who lives there,
She once was a true love of mine.

That memory came back during the e-mail exchanges I had with John Atkinson and Stephen Mejias about the positives and negatives of the proliferation of regional audio shows. (JA's reflections on these shows were the subject of last month's "As We See It.")

Annual…

Suuns - Bambi b/w Red Song by DOJAGSC

The band explains: