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When I got these new speakers for review, they were so new that, at the time I unpacked them, no official user manual was included or posted on the manufacturer's website, and the promised matching stands didn't exist. Yet, I have the abiding feeling that I am getting to the party long after it has started. The Mobile Fidelity SourcePoint 8 is the newer, smaller sibling of the SourcePoint 10 reviewed by John Atkinson in Stereophile's February 2023 issue, with a follow-up by Ken Micallef in June.
The SourcePoint 8 demonstrated remarkable bass for a small box with a bass driver of modest size. They did not reproduce much output below 50Hz, but above that frequency they proved capable of tight, powerful bass. I subjected them at high levels to my stress-test track: "Jazz Variants," from the O-Zone Percussion Group's La Bamba (Klavier KD 77017, CD rip). The result was thrilling in its dynamic range; the powerful bass pounded the room and my chest. The SourcePoint 8s (on their own, I emphasize—no subwoofers and no DSP) were satisfying because they did not break up or bottom out,…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way standmount loudspeaker. Drive units: 1.25" wide-roll soft-dome tweeter concentrically mounted in an 8" paper-cone mid/bass driver in dual-vented enclosure. Crossover frequency: 1.6kHz. Frequency range: 47Hz–30kHz. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms (6.4 ohms minimum). Sensitivity: 87dB (2.83V/1m). Recommended amplifier power: 30–150W.
Dimensions: 18" (456mm) H × 11.4" (290mm) W × 12.6" (320mm) D without grille. With grille, 13.2" (335mm) D. Weight: 27.9lb (12.7kg).
Finishes: Satin Walnut, Satin Black Ash (real wood veneers), painted Satin…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: Oppo Digital UDP-103 universal disc player; Custom Intel/Win11 music server running JRiver Media Center v31 and Roon; exaSound s88 Mark II, and Okto DAC8 Pro D/A processors; QNAP TVS-873 network-attached storage device.
Preamplifiers: Coleman Audio 7.1SW for balanced source switching.
Power amplifiers: Benchmark AHB2, NAD C 298.
Loudspeakers: KEF Blade 2 Meta, Revel Performa3 F206; Bowers & Wilkins 705 S3; SVS SB-3000 subwoofer.
Cables: Analog interconnects: Benchmark Studio&Stage XLR– XLR, Kubala-Sosna Anticipation…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system with a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the MoFi SourcePoint 8's behavior in the farfield and an Earthworks QTC-40 mike for the nearfield responses. I left the grille off for the acoustic measurements.
The SourcePoint 8's specified sensitivity is 87dB/2.83V/m; my B-weighted estimate was the same. The SourcePoint 8's nominal impedance is specified as 8 ohms, with a minimum value of 6.4 ohms. I measured the…
The first true high-end component I owned was an Audio Research SP-10. I reviewed this two-box, tubed preamplifier in the May 1984 issue of the English magazine Hi-Fi News & Record Review. "The SP-10 presented [recorded] information in a more coherent, less distorted manner than any preamp I've tried," I wrote in the review, concluding that "the SP-10 made me realize how many good records I owned." I purchased the SP-10 and brought the preamplifier with me when I moved to the US. Four decades later, I still have that SP-10. "Every now and again, when I want to be reminded of the magic it…
The midrange was now smooth- and natural-sounding. The imaging was precise on my late-1990s recordings of the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and the soundstage was reproduced with the appropriate depth. This was particularly the case with the KEFs, with which the Audio Research amplifier made a synergistic match. In "Decision Point" from Jerome Harris Quartet's Rendezvous (16/44.1 ALAC file, Stereophile STPH013-2, footnote 3), which I recorded in Chad Kassem's Blue Heaven Studio in Kansas, the pairing made palpable the delicate church acoustic around and behind Billy Drummond's drums…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Tubed integrated amplifier. Tubes: 2 pairs of matched 6550WE (output); 3 6922s (1 input, 2 driver). Inputs: 2 pairs single-ended line (RCA), 1 pair single-ended pass-through (RCA), 1 pair balanced (XLR). Optional input modules: MM Phono, DAC. Outputs: 4 ohm and 8 ohm transformer taps; ¼" headphone jack. Output power: 50Wpc (17dBW into 8 ohms, 14dBW into 4 ohms), continuous, 20Hz–20kHz. Total harmonic distortion at 1kHz: typically 1% per channel; <0.1% at 1W. Power bandwidth: 10Hz–22kHz, –3dB. Frequency response (at 1W): 7Hz–30kHz, –3dB. Input…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: Roon Nucleus+ file server with HDPlex linear power supply; iPad mini running Roon; HiFi Rose 250A streaming D/A preamplifier; MBL N31 CD player/DAC; Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP disc player; Ayre Acoustics QA-9 A/D converter; NetGear Nighthawk router.
Power amplifiers: Parasound Halo JC 1+ monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: GoldenEar BRX, KEF LS50.
Headphones: Audeze LCD-X with Nordost Heimdall cables.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest (Ethernet), DH Labs (AES3). Interconnect: Canare (unbalanced), Ayre/Cardas Signature (balanced). Speaker:…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I performed the measurements of the Audio Research I/50 with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system, concentrating on the behavior of the balanced inputs and the 4 ohm output transformer tap, as that is what I mostly used in my auditioning. The I/50's maximum voltage gain at 1kHz from the 8 ohm output transformer tap into 8 ohms was 19.6dB for the balanced input and 25.6dB for all three single-ended inputs. (The phono module, which is used with the SE1 input, was not installed.) The voltage gains from the 4 ohm tap were 3.2dB lower than from the 8 ohm tap, with both…