It wasn't the first time the Metaphor 2s had totally transfixed a visitor with their accurate portrayal of a musical event. This time, however, they'd done it to one of the participants of that specific…
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"Wow!" Jerome Harris—jazz guitarist, bassist, and composer—stopped talking and listened intently to the rough-mixdown dub of his latest album, Hidden in Plain View: The Music of Eric Dolphy (New World 80472-2 CD) (footnote 1). He'd brought it by my house in order to hear it on another system before pronouncing judgment. "That sounds like us! And I ought to know because I was there..."
Sidebar 1: Ancillary Components
Analog sources were my Linn/Ittok/Sumiko SHO (or the ELAC ESG 896 H) and the Well Tempered Reference Turntable and Arm, with the same cartridges. Digital sources included McCormack's Digital Drive SST/DAC-1, the Assemblage DAC-1, Audio Alchemy DDE v1.1, and Audio Research CD-1.
Preamplifiers employed included Conrad-Johnson's EV20SE, Audio Research's SP-9 Mk.III, Audio Alchemy's DLC, and McCormack's Micro Line Drive, with Creek's OBH-8 or McCormack's Micro Phono Drive phono preamps where needed. Conrad-Johnson Premier Eleven A, VAC PA-80/80, Audio…
WP returned to the Metaphor 2 in April 1996 (Vol.19 No.4):
Around September, I began to hear rumblings out of Chantilly, VA that changes were in the cards for the Metaphor 2 loudspeakers I reviewed last July. Accordingly, I had a new pair shipped to Santa Fe so we could find out what Metaphor had wrought. They'd been busy—totally revamping the design. Bill Peugh regaled me with a list of over ten changes/refinements, encompassing everything from the cabinet to the shipping cartons. Only the price, it seems, is unchanged at $5950/pair.
First off, while the enclosure is still…
Sidebar 2: Measurements
The Metaphor 2 will go loud with only a few watts of input power, my B-weighted measurement confirming the specified 91dB/2.83V/m. It is a moderately demanding load for the partnering amplifier, however, as can be seen from its plot of electrical impedance magnitude and phase against frequency (fig.1). The impedance drops below 6 ohms through the midrange and reaches 3 ohms in the mid-treble. Tube amplifiers are best used from their 4 ohm output transformer taps. The reflex port tuning for the twin woofers is revealed by the impedance saddle at 39Hz. A couple of…
Sidebar 3: Wes Phillips chats with Metaphor's Bill Peugh
Wes Phillips: How did Metaphor come about?
Bill Peugh: I made a conscious decision, while I was in college, that this was the industry I wanted to work in. That's how I made my living for the next 17 years: first selling hi-fi for Peter McGrath, and later as Director of Marketing for IAT, which distributed Goldmund in this country.
Karl Shuster worked with me at IAT. When it ceased to exist, we were practically forced to start our own business. Being pragmatic, I looked at high-end audio and saw that there were three…
Sidebar 4: Specifications
Description: Three-way ported dynamic loudspeaker. Driver complement: one 1" hemispherical-profile, titanium-dioxide–coated titanium-cone tweeter; one 6.5" multilayered composite-cone midrange unit with cast-alloy frame; two 7" semi-exponential profile, multilayered, composite-cone woofers. Crossover: three-way with varying slopes, using low-inductance parallelled metal-film or metal-oxide resistors, polypropylene-film or film-and-foil capacitors, OFC air-core inductors, one Feron;r–core inductor. Cabinet construction: layered MDF of differing shapes and…
What's your favorite record? It's a simple enough question, but one that dedicated music consumers never tire of asking each other. And so, every year, we ask the distinguished writing staff of this magazine to choose a pair of favorites and tell us a little of what seems so compelling about them. Oddly enough, most writers never choose the same record twice—though one did choose the soundtrack album for Casper three years running! Music in any recorded format is fair game, the only restriction being that it must still be available, if only in the deep, dark recesses of the Internet. Of…
David R. Adler
Julian Lage: World's Fair
Julian Lage, acoustic guitar
Modern Lore 99767 (CD). 2015. Julian Lage, Matt Munisteri, prods.; Armand Hirsch, eng. DDD. TT: 37:56
At 26, Julian Lage sat down with his 1939 Martin 000-18 and mostly original compositions and delivered one of the great albums in the chronicles of solo guitar. From the speedy intricacy of "Peru," "Gardens," and "Missouri" to the contemplative beauty of "40's" and "Day and Age," Lage set the bar high for personal expression and unforced assimilation of influences. Echoes of folk,…
Brian Damkroger
Pachelbel & Fasch: Orchestral Works
Pachelbel: Canon in D, Suites for Strings in B-flat and G. Fasch: Trumpet Concerto in D, Symphonies for Strings in G and A.
Maurice André, trumpet; Pierre Pierlot, Jacques Chambon, oboes; Jean-Franáois Paillard Chamber Orchestra, Jean-Franáois Paillard
Musical Heritage Society MHS 1060 (LP), Erato 98475 (CD). 1968/1995. Michel Garcin, prod.; Guy Laporte, eng.; Ysabelle Van Wersch-Cot, mastering. AAA/ADD. TT: 53:15
Like everyone else, I got this album for something like a dollar by joining the…
Jon Iverson
Cracker: The Golden Age
Virgin 8 41498 2 (CD). 1996. Dennis Herring, David Lowery prods.; Joe Chiccarelli, Wayne Cook, others, engs. ADD? TT: 48:17
This one was supposed to be the major-label breakthrough for Cracker, but alas, it whistled right past the target. Nonetheless, it has stood the test of time, for being both a demo-worthy recording (in spots) and full of great songs. "Big Dipper" and "Dixie Babylon" stand out as great-sounding, crunchy, hippie country blues numbers, nestled between more aggressive outings that cash in on the 1990s'…