The day-long conference began with heaps of coffee and…
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Last week, Paul Messenger and I represented Stereophile at a Marantz press conference announcing the New Reference Series: the SA-10 SACD player/DAC and the PM-10 amplifier. The conference was held at D+M's European Headquarters located in Eindhoven, The Netherlands (footnote 1). Josh Bizar of Music Direct, Andy Quint of The Absolute Sound, and I were the only Americans present at this session. (And naturally, the most severely jetlagged.) We were joined by nearly two-dozen international audio journalists from a handful of countries.
Photo: Jim Austin
Although I've never tried one, I think "lifestyle" audio systems are a bit of a joke. My in-laws' decade-old Bose Wave Radio sounds good for what it is, although its obvious flaws—boomy, undefined lower mids masquerading as bass, a frustrating lack of sonic and musical resolution, etc.—become grating fairly quickly. These days, there are far more accomplished and expensive lifestyle systems out there, but because I haven't tried them I won't comment on them, except to say that I'm not really interested.
Yet my aversion to lifestyle systems masks a serious…
Thursday December 8, 2016, 5pm–8:30pm, Hi Fi Sales (1732 Route 70 East, Cherry Hill, NJ 08003) invites Philadelphia-area audiophiles to meet Gary Dayton from Bryston, who will be demonstrating a wide variety of Bryston equipment, including the BDA-3 D/A converter (above) that got a rave review from Larry Greenhill in the December issue of Stereophile.
Saturday, December 10, from 12pm–6pm, and Sunday, December 11, from 1pm–4:pm, Gary Dayton from Bryston will be appearing at a two-day open house presented by Wolfsong Audio (220 Indian Cove Drive, Dawsonville, GA 30534). Wolfsong Audio will…
Now there's a Magneplanar speaker to fill the price gap between the $2000 MGIIIa and the $1225 MGIIc. The '2.5/R is priced almost exactly midway between them, which explains the unusual model number.
Like all the other single-panel Magneplanars, these are attractive enough in appearance to be surprisingly unobtrusive in the room, despite their imposing 6' height. Apart from the wooden endcheeks, they are covered with fabric grille all the way around, which could be a cosmetic liability as well as an asset: Domestic cats love to climb up fabric stretched tightly over wood (as at the bases…
Sidebar 1: JGH's Review System
Equipment used for my tests included the SOTA Star Sapphire turntable, Ortofon MC-2000 cartridge in a Well-Tempered Arm, a Sony CDP-705ESD CD player, a Sony PCM-F1 digital tape playback), and Threshold FET-10 preamp, line controller and SA-1 power amplifiers.
Audio interconnects were Monster M1000, speaker cables were MIT Music Hose, and the listening room is extensively treated with ASC Tube Traps. Program material was some of my own tapes, and CDs and analog discs from Sheffield, Opus 3, Telarc, and Reference Recordings.—J. Gordon Holt
John Atkinson also reviewed the Magnepan MG2.5/R in June 1988
The original plan was for me to review Magnepan's MG2.5/R ($1550/pair) as part of the group review elsewhere in this issue. After some preliminary listening chez Larry Archibald, however, J. Gordon Holt persuaded me that he would be a better choice as reviewer—as Founder and Chief Tester, he does have some powerful arguments—and his review appears elsewhere in this issue. Nevertheless, I believe I cover some ground neglected by Gordon.
To keep the description short, the 2.5 is a cut-down, two-way sibling of Magnepan's…
Sidebar 2: JA's Review System
The test procedure followed, with minor changes, that established for my previous loudspeaker reviews: each pair was used with a Mark Levinson No.26/No.20 combination—amplification unlikely to be used with any of these speakers but which would undoubtedly get the best from them—a Marantz CD94 CD player used via its optical digital output to feed a Marantz CDA94 outboard DAC unit, and a 1987 Linn Sondek/Ittok/Troika combination sitting on a Sound Organisation table. Interconnect was Madrigal HPC, speaker cable was also from Madrigal.
The loudspeakers…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The frequency response of each speaker was measured in the listening window—spatially averaged to minimize room standing-wave problems—using a 1/3-octave warble-tone generator, which is said to be a little more analytical than the filtered pink-noise signal I have used in the past; in addition, the nearfield low-frequency response of each speaker was measured with a sinewave sweep to get an idea of the true bass extension relative to the level at 100Hz. The change of impedance with frequency and the voltage sensitivity (using 1/3-octave pink noise centered on…
Sidebar 4: Specifications
Description: Two-way floor-standing planar loudspeaker. Drive-units: ribbon tweeter, "Magneplanar" midrange/woofer. Crossover frequency: 1kHz. Frequency response: 35Hz–40kHz ±4dB. Nominal impedance: 4 ohms. Sensitivity: 85dB/W/m.
Dimensions: 71" H by 22" W by 2" D. Weight: 48 lbs.
Price: $1550/pair (1988); no longer available (2016). Approximate number of dealers: 80.
Manufacturer: Magnepan Inc., 1645 Ninth Street, White Bear Lake, MN 55110. Tel: (800) 474-1646. Web: www.magnepan.com.
The English loudspeaker manufacturer Rogers [no connection with the contemporary US company Rogers High Fidelity] has had an illustrious history since being founded in 1947 by veteran designer Jim Rogers. Absorbed by the Swisstone company in 1976, it has since gone from strength to strength, the main creative work now being done by the respected English engineer Richard Ross. Noteworthy for keeping the miniature BBC LS3/5a design in continuous production for nearly 15 years, Rogers also makes a range of polypropylene-cone woofers and midrange units which are used in other models in its range…