Youngstown, Ohio–based loudspeaker manufacturer SVS made foundations its specialty, starting at the company's very beginning in 1998, when it started by designing subwoofers…
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How many times have you been told by parents and teachers that everything successful must be built on a strong foundation? It's true in music, where the low frequencies are the foundation the music rests on, like the basement framing a building. If you get that part wrong, where are you? Sitting in the mud, that's where. With no chance to address beauty in the midrange, texture and air above, or other tasty things.
I recall way back, when I first owned high-end audio gear, listening for realism in playback of piano recordings. The full range of dynamics and tone created by a fine piano is as good an acid test of hi-fi accuracy as anything. And boy did I come up with an awesome recording to put the sustain pedal to the metal! Browsing the Classical new releases category on Qobuz, I chanced on Fauré: Complete Music for Solo Piano (24/96 FLAC, Sony Classical/Qobuz). The pianist is Lucas Debargue, playing a new Opus 102 piano made by Stephen Paulello, which has 102 keys—14 more than a standard piano. I…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way, vented, bipolar, floorstanding speaker system. Drive units: Four 8" composite glass-fiber-cone woofers; two 5.25" composite glass-fiber-cone midrange drivers; one 1" diamond-coated aluminum-dome tweeter. Crossover frequencies: 140Hz, 1.8kHz. Frequency range: 24Hz–40kHz. Sensitivity: 88dB/2.83V/m. Nominal impedance: 6 ohms. Max. power handling: 300Wpc.
Dimensions: 50.2" (1275mm) H × 11.81" (300mm) W × 18.14" (575mm) D. Weight: 96.7lb (43.9kg).
Finishes: Piano Gloss White, Piano Gloss Black, and Oak Wood Veneer.
Serial numbers of…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: VPI HMW-40 turntable, VPI 12" Fatboy tonearm, Pro-Ject Classic EVO turntable, Lyra Etna λ Lambda cartridge, Ortofon Cadenza Bronze cartridge, Sumiko Amethyst cartridge.
Digital sources: MacBook Air running Tidal, Roon, Qobuz. Bricasti M1 Series II DAC, Musical Fidelity M1 CDT transport, Pro-Ject CD Box RS 2 T.
Preamplification: McIntosh C12000.
Power amplifiers: McIntosh MC462 Quad Balanced Stereo Amplifier.
Integrated Amplifier: McIntosh MA252.
Loudspeakers: Harbeth C7ES-3XD, Wilson Audio Specialties Sasha V.
Cables…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
Because of the SVS Ultra Evolution Pinnacle loudspeaker's size and bulk, I performed the measurements in Sasha Matson's listening room. I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system, a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone, and an Earthworks microphone preamplifier to measure the quasi-anechoic frequency- and time-domain behavior in the farfield. I used an Earthworks QTC-40 microphone for the nearfield responses and Dayton Audio's DATS V2 system to measure the impedance magnitude and phase. The SVS speaker's tweeter is just 32.5" from the floor. We lifted the speaker onto a small dolly…
Jerome Sabbagh: Heart
Sabbagh, tenor saxophone; Joe Martin, bass; Al Foster, drums
Analog Tone Factory ATF 001 (LP). 2024. Jerome Sabbagh, Pete Rende, prods.; James Farber, Pete Rende, Aki Nishimura, Ben Miller, Bernie Grundman, engs.
Performance ****
Sonics *****
Sabbagh, tenor saxophone; Joe Martin, bass; Al Foster, drums
Analog Tone Factory ATF 001 (LP). 2024. Jerome Sabbagh, Pete Rende, prods.; James Farber, Pete Rende, Aki Nishimura, Ben Miller, Bernie Grundman, engs.
Performance ****
Sonics *****
It's rare for an artist to win Recording of the Month honors for consecutive albums released within a few months of each other, and frankly, I don't feel great about it. But I cannot pass over Heart, the latest album from Jerome Sabbagh, which he recorded in a distinguished trio with Joe Martin on bass and the…
North Carolina hi-fi dealer Audio Advice has been busy lately. As I reported in last month's Industry Update, the company recently acquired The Audio Lab, a longtime dealership based in Wilmington. As this issue went to press, Audio Advice was getting ready for Audio Advice Live, the show they put on annually at the Sheraton Raleigh Hotel. Just before showtime, Stereophile spoke with Audio Advice CEO Scott Newnam and COO Gregg Chopper via Zoom. We asked about the expansion and their approach.
For years, the number of brick-and-mortar hi-fi dealerships has been shrinking. Audio Advice,…
While it's a distant memory now that he's making mediocre albums and using his US website to sell $50 T-shirts for gigs in Helsinki, there was a time when Bruce Springsteen had a hungry heart: Hungry to be perceived as a consequential artist. Focused on telling stories and making vivid albums. Alive with conflict and memorable characters. Back in those days, the early 1970s, he broke any number of rules and barriers. In the case of The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle, that meant defeating the dreaded sophomore slump.
It's a music-biz truism that debut albums, particularly…
The "Bowers" in the name of British manufacturer Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) refers to founder John Bowers, whom I got to know fairly well before he passed in 1987. In recent years, I've reviewed two Bowers & Wilkins loudspeakers: the 705 Signature two-way standmount in the December 2020 issue and the Diamond Series 804 D4 three-way floorstander in the January 2022 issue. More recently, Tom Fine reviewed the three-way, floor-standing Signature Series 801 D4 in March 2024.
Currently there are two models in the Signature Series, which was launched in 2023 to pay tribute to the…
Piano recordings are very revealing of midrange coloration. I followed Sasha's piece with a more naturally recorded piano, Mitsuko Uchida performing Mozart's Concerto No.5 in D with the English Chamber Orchestra conducted by Jeffrey Tate (16/44.1 FLAC, Philips/Qobuz). I have been a fan of Ms. Uchida's since Stereophile's then-publisher Larry Archibald and I saw her in concert the February 1986 night we agreed that I would replace J. Gordon Holt as the magazine's editor. The balance on this recording is rich and warm and was well-served by the B&Ws. I was intending to use just the…