Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the KEF LS50's frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 for the nearfield and spatially averaged room responses. My estimate of the KEF's voltage sensitivity was 84.5dB(B)/2.83V/m, which is within experimental error of the specified 85dB. This is a little lower than average but 2dB higher than the LS3/5A's.
Somewhat optimistically specified at 8 ohms, the LS50's impedance (fig.1, solid trace) drops to 4 ohms at 200Hz and to 5.4 ohms at the top of the audioband…
Loudspeakers have been commercially available for nearly a century, yet those whose drive-units are mounted to baffles of intentionally limited width didn't appear in significant numbers until the 1980s. That seems a bit strange, given that the technology to transform large boards into smaller boards has existed since the Neolithic era.
Because the audio industry never lacked the ability to make loudspeakers with narrow or chamfered fronts, one must assume that the missing ingredient was the interest in doing so—and that, I believe, came fairly late in the game, and originated in the…
That last recording, which sounds realistically direct through most good systems, provided a perfect example: The DeVores allowed the fiddle, acoustic guitar, mandolin, Dobro, and upright bass to sound tactile and well textured. And the speakers' overall tonal balance was superb: The bass had just the right amount of weight and timbral richness, while Grisman's mandolin—especially in the instrumental "Waiting on Vassar"—had a fine, woody timbre and percussive attack. I've heard all of the musicians on this record in live settings on countless occasions, and the DeVores honored their sounds…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way, stand-mounted loudspeaker with reflex port. Drive-units: 1" silk-dome tweeter, 10" paper-cone woofer. Frequency range: 25Hz–28kHz. Sensitivity: 96dB/W/m. Impedance: 10 ohms nominal, 8.75 ohms minimum (at 200Hz).
Dimensions: 28.25" (725mm) H by 18" (460mm) W by 12" (310mm) D. With stands, 35.5" (910mm) H. Weight: 55 lbs (25kg).
Finishes: Veneer-covered ply (front baffle), gloss black (enclosure).
Serial number of units reviewed: O9605033 (both).
Price: $12,000/pair, including stands. Approximate number of dealers: 8.
…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Garrard 301, Thorens TD 124 turntables; EMT 997, Ortofon TA-210 tonearms; Ortofon SPU, EMT TSD 15 70th Anniversary & OFD 25 & OFD 65 pickup heads; Denon DL-103 cartridges.
Digital Sources: Wavelength Proton, AudioQuest DragonFly USB D/A converters; Apple iMac G5 computer running Apple iTunes v.10.2.2, Decibel v.1.0.2 playback software.
Preamplification: Auditorium 23 Standard (SPU version), Silvercore One-to-Ten, Hommage T2 step-up transformers; Shindo Masseto preamplifier.
Power Amplifiers: Shindo Corton-Charlemagne…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/96's frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 for the nearfield and spatially averaged room responses.
The Orangutan O/96 has a very high specified voltage sensitivity of 96dB/w/m. This is both unusual and means that the speaker will play very loudly with very low-powered amplifiers. My estimate of the DeVore's sensitivity was somewhat lower, at 91dB(B)/2.83V/m, though this is still usefully high. Concerned that I had…
Editor: I would like to thank Art Dudley and John Atkinson for taking the time to get to know our Orangutan O/96 speakers. Art, you made me blush, calling my babies "classically beautiful" with a "lovely backside." I'm one proud papa.
These really were a clean-slate design for me, and it's heartening to know that this freshness came through in the listening. The goal was to bring a truly easy-to-drive, high-sensitivity speaker into a home without the tonal or aesthetic challenges that normally come with such a design. A nod to mid-century style with better-than-mid-century imaging. And I…
Dave Brubeck died today, just short of 92 years old. He was a plodding pianist and a less inventive composer than many obits are suggesting. (It was his alto saxophonist Paul Desmond who wrote the biggest hit "Take Five" in 5/4 time, and while Brubeck wrote many pieces in more exotic times still, they didn't swing or flow like Desmond's.) Still, Brubeck was a colossal figure of modern jazz in many ways.
First, he was the most tireless ambassador in the State Department's program to bring jazz to the rest of the world. The idea, dreamed up by Harlem Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.,…
With all the affordable loudspeakers I've written about in recent years, I couldn't remember the last time I reviewed one from the revered British firm Bowers & Wilkins. When I searched www.stereophile.com, I learned that the last time a B&W speaker had graced my listening room's carpet was more than seven years ago: the DM603 S3, reviewed in the August 2005 issue. I thought it was time to revisit the brand, and as the DM603 S3 was a floorstanding speaker, this time a bookshelf model seemed in order. But despite B&W's prowess in that most-affordable speaker size, I was in the mood…
At the opposite end of the spectrum, the late Donald "Duck" Dunn's thumping bass-guitar line in "Hip Hug-Her," from The Best of Booker T. & the MG's (LP, Atlantic SD 8202), had a clarity and solidity that reminded me of when I heard Dunn perform with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in New York, earlier in this century. The bassist's unique phrasing was very apparent through the CM5s.
However, I occasionally noticed a slight thickening in the upper bass that called attention to that range. This raised its head rarely, but when it did, it was a noticeable deviation from the speaker's…
