Light Harmonic, LLC, 3050 Fite Circle, Suite 112, Sacramento, CA 95827. Tel: (888) 842-5988. Web: www.lightharmonic.com.
Urban Fidelity, Los Angeles, CA. Web: www.urbanfidelity.com.
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I've loved the neutral, detailed, involving sound of Sonus Faber loudspeakers for as long as they've been available in the US. Most of my listening to them, however, has been at audio shows, and during a visit to Audio Research Corporation in 2012. (Since 2008, both ARC and Sonus Faber have been owned by the Italian firm Fine Sounds SpA, and since then ARC has used speakers made by SF, as well as by Wilson Audio and Magnepan, in the design of their electronics. Fine Sounds also owns 100% of Wadia, McIntosh, and Sumiko.)
But I'd never had a pair of Sonus Faber speakers in my house. I…
All of the tracks on Miles Davis's In Concert (LP, Columbia/Legacy KG 32092) reproduced the brassy bite and the golden glow of Davis's horn with startlingly three-dimensional realism. In the title track of the Byrds' Turn! Turn! Turn! (LP, Columbia/Sundazed LP 5058), Roger McGuinn's Rickenbacker 12-string electric guitar was appropriately jangly and metallic. In fact, it even seemed a bit forward through the Sonus Faber. Orphée, from John Zorn's Mysterium (CD, Tzadik TZ8018) spotlights Tara Helen O'Connor's flute; its upper register was pure and clean through the 1.5, with all upper…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way, front-vented bookshelf loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1.25" (29mm) high-definition, silk-dome tweeter; 6" (150mm) Curv-cone mid/woofer. Crossover frequency: 2.0kHz. Frequency range: 50Hz–25kHz. Sensitivity: 85dB/2.83V/m. Nominal impedance: 6 ohms.
Dimensions: 15.4" (394mm) H by 8" (206mm) W by 11.7" (300mm) D. Weight: 13.2 lbs (6kg). Stands: 27.2" (698mm) H by 10.8" (276mm) W by 12.7" (326mm) D. Speakers on stands: 42" (1076mm) H by 10.8" (276mm) W by 14.9" (382mm) D.
Finishes: Black or White High Gloss Lacquer; Walnut, add $300/pair.…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: VPI TNT IV, Rega Planar 3 turntables; Immedia, Syrinx PU-3 tonearms; Koetsu Urushi, Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood cartridges.
Digital Sources: Lector CDP-7T, Creek Destiny CD players.
Preamplification: Vendetta Research SCP-2D, Creek Destiny phono stages; Audio Valve Eclipse line stage.
Power Amplifier: Audio Research Reference 75.
Integrated Amplifier: Creek Destiny.
Loudspeakers: Dynaudio Excite X12, Epos M5i, Monitor Silver RX6.
Cables: Interconnect (all MIT): Magnum M3, MI-350 CVTwin Terminator, MI-330SG Terminator.…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Sonus Faber Venere 1.5's frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 for the nearfield responses. The Venere 1.5's voltage sensitivity is specified as 85dB/2.83V/m; my estimate was significantly lower, at 82.5dB(B)/2.83V/m, the same as the BBC LS3/5A. The nominal impedance is specified as 6 ohms; my measurement (fig.1) reveals that the minimum magnitude is 6 ohms and that the impedance remains above 8 ohms for almost the entire audioband. Despite its low sensitivity…
A highlight of my reviewing life in the 1990s was the time I spent driving my then-reference B&W John Bowers Silver Signature loudspeakers with the Pass Labs Aleph 3 amplifier. As I wrote in an April 1997 Follow-Up, this little single-ended MOSFET amplifier offered "wide, deep, detailed soundstages; a delicious presentation of recorded detail without the sound getting in-your-face; a purity of tone that became addictive; and an ability to go sufficiently loud (in my room with my speakers) that belied the 30Wpc specification. And when the Aleph 3 did clip, it did so relatively gracefully…
I began playing guitar in my teens, but switched to bass guitar when asked to join a band that already had two guitarists. I've played bass ever since, and had similar experiences with other kinds of music and ensembles I've joined over the years. With an early-music ensemble, I envisaged myself playing krummhorns and treble viols; instead I found myself playing the viola da gamba and the rackett or Wurstfagott (sausage bassoon), a double-reed ancestor of the bassoon. Playing the recorder with a baroque ensemble, I almost always played the big bass instruments. When I asked my then-recorder…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid-state monoblock power amplifier. Inputs: 1 single-ended (RCA), 1 balanced (XLR). Outputs: 2 pairs binding posts. Rated power output (1kHz at 1% THD+N): 60W into 8 ohms (17.8dBW), 120W into 4 ohms (17.8dBW). Voltage gain: 26dB. Frequency range: 1.5Hz–100kHz. Output noise: 200µV. Input common-mode rejection ratio: 60dB. Input impedance: 30k ohms (balanced), 20k ohms (unbalanced). Input sensitivity: 1.1V for full output. Damping factor: 150, equivalent to output impedance of 0.05 ohm. Operating temperature: 127°F (53°C). Power consumption at idle…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Linn Sondek LP12 turntable with Lingo power supply, Linn Ekos tonearm, Linn Arkiv B cartridge.
Digital Sources: Marantz NA-11S1 media server; Parasound Halo CD 1 CD player; Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP universal player; dCS Vivaldi SACD player–D/A system; Apple 2.7GHz i7 Mac mini running OS10.7, iTunes 10, Pure Music 1.89; MSB Diamond DAC IV with Diamond Power Base, Electrocompaniet ECD2, NAD M51, Auralic Vega D/A converters; Ayre Acoustics QA-9 USB A/D converter.
Preamplification: Channel D Seta L phono preamplifier, Pass Labs XP-30 line…