Description: Three-and-a-half-way, reflex-loaded, floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive-units (all aluminum): D26 1" (26mm) dome tweeter, D50 2" (50mm) dome midrange driver, two C125 6.25" (158mm) cone woofers. Crossover frequencies: 100Hz, 900Hz, 4kHz. Frequency response: 39Hz–41kHz, ±2dB, 35Hz–44kHz, ±6dB. Sensitivity: 89dB/2.83V/m. Nominal impedance: 4 ohms. Distortion: second- and third-order harmonics <0.5% over the operating range. Maximum input power: 300W.
Dimensions: 43" (1095mm) H by 10.4" (265mm) W by 14.75" (375mm) D. Internal volume: 44 liters.…
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Sidebar 1: Specifications
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP & DX-5 universal players; Apple G4 Mac mini running OS10.5.8, iTunes 10, Pure Music 1.80; Shuttle PC with Lynx AES16 soundcard & dual-core AMD Athlon processor running Windows 7, Foobar 2000, Adobe Audition 3.0; Logitech Transporter, Metric Halo ULN-2 D/A converters; Halide S/PDIF Bridge, Musical Fidelity V-Link USB-S/PDIF converters.
Preamplifiers: Simaudio Moon Evolution P-8, Ayre Acoustics K-5xeMP.
Power Amplifiers: Classé CT-M600, MBL Reference 9007 monoblocks; Musical Fidelity AMS100, Simaudio…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
My estimate of the Vivid B1's voltage sensitivity was a little lower than specified, at 87dB(B)/2.83V/m, which is about average. The speaker is specified as being a 4 ohm load, presumably because, as can be seen in fig.1, the impedance drops to a minimum of 3 ohms in the low midrange and remains below 6 ohms for most of the region below 700Hz. However, the high impedance in the treble compared with the midrange will shelve the speaker's high frequencies up if it is used with a tube amplifier possessing a high source impedance, as most of them do.
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I’ve mentioned my excitement for Oneohtrix Point Never’s upcoming album, Replica. Scheduled for release by Mexican Summer on November 8, it’s sure to be one of my favorite albums of 2012.
A month ago, we listened to “Sleep Dealer,” and now we can listen to the title track, a steady and introspective 4:36 of piano, synth, and tape drones.
Oneohtrix Point Never - Replica by Mexican Summer
For today's rabid collector who just can’t wait until the official release, Replica is available for pre-order, bundled with several other odds and ends, including a t-shirt,…
AudioStream.com is a new website edited by Michael Lavorgna dedicated to making sense of the evolving world of computer audio and getting the best sound from your computer-based audio system.
The site's motto is "Computer Audio For Everyone" and will focus on the world of computer audio hardware, software and music resources. Topics will include hardware reviews from the mass-market right up to the bleeding-edge of what’s possible as well as in-depth analysis of music management software and an exploration of our newest music resources including HD download sites, streaming media and…
Valle del Elqui, Chile. Photo: Alberto Bitran.
For the past few months, my system has been in a serious playback rut. The disc tray on my Oppo DV-980H does not pop out, and my Rega P1 is in unmistakably poor shape: the tonearm cable to connect the tonearm to the cartridge ripped off from the tonearm, one of the tonearm pins ripped off the tonearm cable and is firmly pinned onto the cartridge I never installed (an Audio Technica AT95E), and the needle on my old Ortofon cartridge is bent backwards, which is the reason why I needed to change my cartridge to begin with. I promise, I have…
In our December issue, I review Emotiva’s ERC-2 CD player and use Mark Hollis’s eponymous solo album as a reference. It’s a gorgeous disc, both sonically and musically—full of emotion, power, urgency, and lifelike detail. It was only earlier this year that I discovered Mark Hollis and his band, Talk Talk, through the kindness of Steve Cohen, salesman at In Living Stereo and friend of Other Music.
I had just met Steve. We sat across from one another at a table full of hi-fi enthusiasts, salesmen, writers, and family, where we enjoyed fine wine, pizza, and conversation. Steve…
Trends in turntable design shift back and forth over time, each "advance" turning out to be a mostly sideways move. Over its long history, VPI's founder and designer, Harry Weisfeld, has moved the analog goalposts back and forth as he's refined his thinking. His early turntables were mostly standard spring-suspension designs of normal size. By the time Weisfeld produced his fully tricked-out TNT model, which was originally designed to stably hold the heavy moving mass of Eminent Technology's ET2 air-bearing arm, he'd moved to a massive, oversized, sandwiched plinth with isolating feet at the…
So up first was Paul Simon's newest album, So Beautiful or So What (LP, Hear Music HRM-32814). If Simon's flair for melody isn't what it once was, his poetry more than makes up for it. The musical landscape is dominated by instrumental and rhythmic references to world music, but the vibe is more Bookends than Graceland—except that now Simon is living it.
So many years have passed since I had a TNT, and so much equipment has come in and out of my listening room, that you'd be more than justified in being skeptical about what I found with So Beautiful or So What—but the first play of this…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Belt-driven turntable with tonearm. No specifications given.
Dimensions: 22" (559mm) W by 10" (254mm, including wire loop) H by16" (407mm) D. Weight: 81 lbs (36.8kg) with ring and record weight.
Finishes: Piano black base with wrinkle graphite color top.
Serial Number Of Unit Reviewed: 3265.
Price: $6000. Approximate number of dealers: 69. Warranty: 5 years.
Manufacturer: VPI Industries, 77 Cliffwood Ave. #3B, Cliffwood, NJ 07721. Tel: (732) 583-6895. Fax: (732) 946-8578. Web: www.vpiindustries.com.