Although my praise…
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The utter devastation and hopelessness conveyed by Teodor Currentzis' recent Sony Classics recording of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No.6, "Pathétique," was so shattering that I could not wait to hear what he and his MusicAererna orchestra of Perm, Russia would do with Mahler's Symphony No.6 in a, "Tragic." In fact, I was so eager to experience Currentzis' first recording of Mahler's music that I listened to the 24/96 download even before the physical CD becomes available on December 7. (The recording is currently streamable in 16/44.1 on Tidal, Idagio, and other services.)
Wednesday November 28, 5–9pm, Suncoast Audio (7353 International Place, Unit 309, Sarasota, FL 34240) will be hosting an event featuring products from Magico, Audio Research, and Chord. Thursday, November 29, at 6:00pm, Blink High End (129 Franklin Street, Cambridge, MA 02139) will be demonstrating and discussing Technics' flagship introduction for 2018: the Reference Class SL-1000R/SP-10R turntables.
The Suncoast Audio event on Wednesday features Peter MacKay from Magico, Aldo Filippelli from Audio Research and Jay Rein, the North American distributor of Chord, will be demonstrating…
I promise not to tell you that the 40th Anniversary Edition Harbeth P3ESR loudspeaker sounds like a bigger speaker than it actually is. It does not. Likewise, I won't suggest that it offers a large portion of what Harbeth's bigger, more expensive models do—I'll leave that to the happy owners on the Harbeth User Group. But can I tell you it's good value for the money? The current, non-anniversary version of the P3ESR costs $2195/pair (footnote 1), while the souped-up, tarted-up 40th Anniversary Edition goes for $2890/pair—prices I think are chickenfeed, considering all the timeless virtues…
Sidebar: Specifications
Description: Two-way, sealed-cabinet, stand-mounted loudspeaker. Drive-units: 0.75" (19mm) dome tweeter; 5" (110mm) magnetically shielded, Radial2-cone woofer. Frequency response: 75Hz–20kHz, ±3dB. Nominal impedance: 6 ohms. Sensitivity: 83.5dB/2.83V/m. Recommended amplification: >15W. Power handling: 50W program.
Dimensions: 12" (306mm) H by 7.5" (189mm) W by 8" (202mm) D, including grille and terminals. Weight: 14 lbs (6.3kg).
Finish: Bright Olive Wood.
Price: $2890/pair. Approximate number of dealers: 30. Warranty: 3 years.
Manufacturer:…
German manufacturer Elac had a significant North American presence in the 1960s and '70s, primarily with its Miracord automatic turntables. While it eventually disappeared from the US market, Elac never ceased to be a player in Europe, where it eventually shifted its primary focus from turntables to loudspeakers.
When Elac decided to reenter the US market a few years ago, its success was hardly assured. Faced with hundreds of brand names and thousands of models fighting for attention, it hired veteran speaker guru Andrew Jones to improve the odds. In his previous work, first for KEF and…
I tried a variety of solutions to increase the Elac's bottom end, some more effective than others. Using a 4dB boost on my Marantz pre-pro's bass control helped a little, but also produced additional warmth in the upper bass. This wasn't unpleasant, and would likely appeal to some listeners, but it did reduce the openness of the soundstage. In any case, few audiophile preamps and integrated amps offer bass and treble controls.
I finally settled on two other solutions. After some experimenting with the help of the OmniMic system, I found that moving the AF-61s about 6" closer to the wall…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way, ported, floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" tweeter, 5.25" midrange, three 6.5" woofers, three 8" passive radiators. Crossover frequencies: 200Hz, 2kHz. Bass function: Interport Coupled-Cavity (bandpass). Frequency range: 39Hz–35kHz. Sensitivity: 87dB/2.83V/m. Nominal impedance: 6 ohms. Power handling: 160W peak (50–160W recommended).
Dimensions: 52.34" (1329.4mm) H with outrigger plate & spikes by 9.6" (243.7mm) W by 15.67" (397.9mm) D with grille. Weight: 101 lb (45.8kg).
Finishes: Gloss Black, Gloss White, Rosewood.…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Source: Marantz UD7007 universal disc player.
Preamplification: Marantz AV8802A preamplifier-processor.
Power Amplifier: Proceed AMP5.
Loudspeakers: Energy Veritas v2.8, Monitor Audio Silver 10, Elac SUB3070 subwoofer.
Cables: Digital: Kimber Kable AGDL (coaxial, source to AV8802A), Cardas Hexlink (preamps to power amp). Speaker: AudioQuest Rocket 88. AC: Manufacturers' own.—Thomas J. Norton
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Elac Adante AF-61's frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 for the nearfield responses. (I didn't use the grilles.) My estimate of the Adante AF-61's voltage sensitivity was 86.1dB/2.83V/m, slightly below the specified 87dB/2.83V/m. The specified nominal impedance is 6 ohms. Fig.1 shows that the impedance magnitude remains above 6 ohms for much of the audioband, with minimum values of 4.75 ohms at 92Hz, 5.25 ohms at 240Hz, and 5.1 ohms at 9.1k ohms. However,…
Friday, November 30, 4–7pm, Music Lovers San Francisco (2295 Bush Street, San Francisco, CA 9411) and Saturday, December 1, 2–6pm, Music Lovers Berkeley (2116 Blake Street, Berkeley, CA 94704) will hold events to celebrate the debut of Wilson Audio Specialties' Sasha DAW loudspeaker. Featured guests will include Peter McGrath of Wilson Audio, Bob McConnell of Transparent Audio, and Jeff Sigmund of Luxman. Attendees will have two listening opportunities to choose from: one each at Music Lovers' San Francisco and Berkeley locations.
The demonstrations will showcase Wilson Audio's Sasha DAW…