Setup
After making sure the M2s' tension rods were correctly torqued, Wolf and…
search
"You do not want to put the speaker directly on softer-material dampers because they will allow it to move. So how do you couple it below a certain frequency, yet let it float above a certain frequency? That's how we came up with the MPods. We use constrained-layer damping to very effectively dissipate high-frequency vibration as heat. Below 300Hz, the speaker sees just a direct contact, there's no dissipation of any energy. But above that frequency, the constrained-layer damping dissipates the noise."
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way, sealed-box, floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1.1" (28mm) diamond-coated beryllium-dome tweeter, 6" (153mm) XG Nanographene–cone midrange unit, two 7" (178mm) XG Nanographene–cone woofers. Crossover frequencies: not specified. Frequency range: 26Hz–50kHz. Nominal impedance: 4 ohms. Sensitivity: 88dB/W/m. Minimum recommended power: 50W.
Dimensions: 45" (1143mm) H × 18" (457mm) W × 17.5" (445mm) D (all with MPod three-point stand). Weight: 165lb (75kg) each (with MPod stand).
Finish: Matte black aluminum baffle, top, and base…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog source: Linn Sondek LP12 turntable with Lingo power supply, Linn Ekos tonearm, Linn Arkiv B cartridge, Channel D Seta L phono preamplifier.
Digital sources: Roon Nucleus+ file server; Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP universal player; PS Audio PerfectWave DirectStream and Chord Electronics DAVE D/A processors, Chord Hugo M Scaler upsampler, Ayre QA-9 A/D converter.
Power amplifiers: Lamm Industries M1.2 Reference (monoblocks).
Integrated amplifier: NAD M10.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest Vodka (Ethernet), AudioQuest Coffee (USB), DH Labs (1m, AES…
Accessory of 1997
HeadRoom Max headphone amplifier ($1335; reviewed by Wes Phillips, Vol.20 No.2, February 1997 Review)
Finalists (in alphabetical order):
AudioPrism CD Blacklight ($39.95; reviewed by Sam Tellig, Vol.19 No.11, November 1996)
AudioQuest Binding-Post Wrench ($7.95; reviewed by Wes Phillips, Vol.20 No.9, September 1997)
Bright Star Air Mass 3 ($99; reviewed as the Air Mass 1 by Michael Fremer, Vol.20 No.2, February 1997)
Bright Star Ultimate TNT Suspension System ($893; reviewed by Wes Phillips, Vol.20 No.7, July 1997)
Grado Reference Series RS1…
Budget Component of 1997
Epos ES12 loudspeaker ($1095/pair; reviewed by John Atkinson, Vol.20 No.4, April 1997 Review)
Finalists (in alphabetical order):
Acarian Alón Petite loudspeaker ($995/pair; reviewed by Wes Phillips & Robert J. Reina, Vol.19 No.1, January 1996; & Vol.20 No.2, February 1997 Review)
B&W DM302 loudspeaker ($250/pair; reviewed by Wes Phillips, Vol.20 No.10, October 1997 Review)
Mission 731i loudspeaker ($249/pair; reviewed by Robert J. Reina, Vol.19 No.11, November 1997)
NAD 515 CD changer ($499; reviewed by Robert Harley, Vol.20 No.…
1997 Component of the Year
dCS Elgar D/A processor
Finalists (in alphabetical order):
Audio Physic Caldera loudspeaker
Audio Research VT100 power amplifier
California Audio Labs CL-10 multidisc CD changer
Conrad-Johnson Premier Fourteen preamplifier
EgglestonWorks Andra loudspeaker
Immedia RPM2 tonearm/turntable system
Krell Full Power Balanced 600 power amplifier
Pass Labs Aleph 3 power amplifier
VPI TNT Mk.3 turntable
What a choice to have to make! Still, the dCS won, running away from the tightly grouped pack. The Elgar is an…
Editors' Choice
B&W DM302 loudspeaker ($250/pair; reviewed by Wes Phillips, Vol.20 No.10, October 1997 Review)
When we speak of all that technology can accomplish, we frequently find ourselves talking about chasing the ever-disappearing cutting edge. What a pleasure, instead, to simply redefine what is possible at an affordable price—and when the price is as low as $250 for a pair of B&W DM302 loudspeakers, then we're no longer speaking of pleasure, we're talking sheerest ecstasy.
The DM302 is what the High End is all about: It sounds superb, measures almost…
Mother, mother
There's too many of you crying
Brother, brother, brother
There's far too many of you dying
There's too many of you crying
Brother, brother, brother
There's far too many of you dying
I watched the TV with horror. George Floyd, an African-American man in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was being killed in front of the camera. I retreated to the listening room. In what couldn't have been a coincidence, the Roon app's "Discover" function had recommended I play What's Going On, Marvin Gaye's groundbreaking album, released in 1971 by Motown subsidiary Tamla.
I first heard this album when, at the start of my professional career as a bass guitarist, I was…
At the 2017 Hong Kong High End Audio/Video Show, I found myself sitting next to a turntable manufacturer who shall remain anonymous. A Reed Muse 3C turntable ($20,000) with 3P tonearm ($5500 for the 9.5" version, footnote 1) sat on a display table across from us. I'd favorably reviewed both of those products, in the Vol.39 No.4 and Vol.40 No.11 Analog Corners, and thought highly of them, but I was surprised when the manufacturer beside me mentioned that he thought they were exceptional: ingenious, well-engineered, fine-sounding, and visually appealing. It's hard to say otherwise about these…
Thereafter, the 5T operates like a standard tonearm, only better, arguably—and certainly with less hassle than your typical high-horizontal-moving-mass tangential tracker.
The 5T's horizontally positioned pivot points, which control vertical movement, can each be adjusted to set azimuth to ±8°. And the entire arm mechanism rides up and down on a threaded post, allowing precise ±0.2mm vertical tracking angle and stylus rake angle adjustment. In addition, the wooden arm tube is user-replaceable, which allows you to change the tonearm's effective mass or swap out cartridges premounted on…