I performed a full suite of measurements on one of the Vandersteen M5-HPA amplifiers (serial no.0138), using my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see www.ap.com and the January 2008 "As We See It"). I usually precondition a power amplifier by running it at one-third the specified power into 8 ohms for 60 minutes. However, the M5-HPA turned itself off after 30 minutes. At that time, the side panels next to the heatsinks were hot, at 118.2°F (48.2°C), while the top panel was only slightly cooler, at 110.9°F (43.9°C). I waited a few minutes then turned the…
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Sidebar 4: Amplifier Measurements
Photo of the Portland State Chamber Choir: John Atkinson
"The crying rain like a trumpet sang
And asked for no applause."—Bob Dylan, "Lay Down Your Weary Tune"
I remember as a toddler sitting in the kitchen on a highchair, watching my mother smoke a cigarette, apply red lipstick, and tune a turquoise table radio from one news station to another. Between the strange, nattering voices, the radio emitted a sharp hissing sound. That's my first memory of human voices coming from a little box.
I did not understand how the voices got into the box. But I saw a wire that went…
Austrian loudspeaker manufacturer Trenner & Friedl has a thing for coaxial drivers. They're used in at least three of the company's eight loudspeaker models, including the diminutive Sun bookshelf speaker and the large floorstanding Taliesin. In these models, T&F eschew more conventional stacked drivers for a putatively time-aligned, wide-frequency range coaxial design.
I first encountered T&F's approach when I reviewed the above-mentioned Sun, which proved to be the best small loudspeaker experience I've ever had. And I do mean small, as in 8.25" high by 6.25" wide by 5.5"…
Once they were situated in my main listening area, I pushed the Osirises backward and forward and in and out over a period of days, winding up with the speakers exactly where John DeVore put his O/93s some eight years ago. I measured 40" from the speakers' rear panels to the back wall and 72" from the front edge of the Osirises' cabinets to my listening seat. Toeing them in to fire directly at me, so that the sides of the cabinets were unseen, provided optimal imaging and frequency extension.
I set the speakers on "Anti-Vibration Isolation Pads" measuring 6" by 6" by 2" and weighing 12…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Coaxial-driver, vented, floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive units: 6.5" paper cone woofer, coated with oil lacquer. 1" horn-loaded coaxial compression tweeter driver with titanium diaphragm. Frequency range: 38Hz–30kHz. Sensitivity: 88.7dB/2.83V/1m. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms.
Dimensions: 33.50" (850mm) H by 14.25" (360mm) W by 14.56" (370mm) D. Weight: 55lb (25kg).
Finishes: Walnut natural, walnut amaranth, walnut blazed.
Serial numbers of units reviewed: 538A, 538B. "Handcrafted in Austria."
Price: $8500/pair. Approximate number of…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: Kuzma Stabi R turntable & Kuzma 4Point 11" tonearm; Hana ML phono cartridge.
Digital sources: BorderPatrol DAC SE, Tascam CD-200iL CD player.
Preamplification: Shindo Laboratory Allegro preamplifier, Tavish Design Adagio phono preamp.
Power amplifiers: Shindo Haut-Brion.
Integrated amplifiers: Heed Audio Elixir, Parasound Halo Hint 6, Schiit Audio Ragnarok, Cary SLI-80HS.
Loudspeakers: DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/93.
Cables: Digital: Mytek (USB). Interconnect: Shindo Laboratory, Triode Wire Labs Spirit II.…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Trenner & Friedl Osiris's frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 mike for the nearfield responses. As the speaker's front baffle is angled back by approximately 10°, I wasn't sure at first what would be the optimal axis on which to measure the Osiris's farfield behavior. I usually place the microphone level with the tweeter. However, with the speaker supported by its rectangular feet, the center of the Osiris's coaxial drive-unit is just 27" from the floor,…
As the 250th anniversary of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven approaches, artists worldwide have begun issuing complete recordings of his oeuvre. At the top of a fast-growing list, three stand out: Andris Nelsons' recording of Beethoven's nine symphonies with the Wiener Philarmoniker (Decca), Igor Levit's issue of Beethoven's Complete Piano Sonatas (Sony), and the subject of this review, the Miró Quartet's 8-CD set of Beethoven's Complete String Quartets (Pentatone PTC5186827). Amazon declares that the CDs won't be available in the U.S. until November 15, but you can already download them the…
There has never been a record producer like Manfred Eicher, founder and sole proprietor of ECM records, the German-based jazz (and sometimes classical) label that celebrates its 50th anniversary this month.
Eicher doesn't quite win the all-time prize for longevity. Edward Lewis started Decca (UK) in 1929 and owned it until 1980. David Sarnoff controlled RCA from 1919–1970. William Paley did the same at Columbia from 1938-1988. But unlike those other, financially heftier titans, who deferred to department heads and studio producers, Eicher has supervised every single one of ECM's albums—…
The label's breakthrough came in 1971, when Eicher produced Facing You, a solo piano album by Keith Jarrett. (It was recorded in Oslo, where Jarrett was touring with Miles Davis's band.) Soon after, Jarrett signed a contract with Columbia, but then, in 1973, in an astonishing move, since dubbed "The Great Purge" and "Bad Day at Black Rock," Columbia dropped Monk, Mingus, Evans, Ornette Coleman, and Jarrett all on the same day. Eicher wrote Jarrett again, offering to sign him to ECM. Jarrett agreed, on the condition that he could do whatever he wanted. Eicher, of course, assented.
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