In fact, I think the "embracing" nature of the Odyssey sound may cause its less obvious accuracy and neutrality to…
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The best hug I received at CAF came from Gary Gill, when I arrived. The second best hug came from the towering and lovable Klaus Bunge of Odyssey Audio. Klaus has such an unpretentious demeanor and down-to-earth (but worldly) grin: with Klaus, I could hang and talk and listen to his gear all day. Every time I visit an Odyssey room, the amplifiers, DACs, and speakers let the music present itself in a highly detailed—but warm and human-centered—way, just like Klaus himself.
You will have to hunt far and wide for a finer-sounding recording of Mahler's final Tenth Symphony than this one of the Deryck Cooke completion from the Seattle Symphony under Principal Guest Conductor Thomas Dausgaard. Captured in 24/96 hi-rez by Dmitry Lipay and Alexander Lipay, and available as both a 5.1 surround sound and stereo 24/96 download as well as in 16/44.1 on CD, the recording stands apart for the richness of its lower midrange, the impact of its bass drum thwacks, and the supremely saturated colors.
The live recording, made in Seattle's Taper Auditorium in Benaroya Hall…
Once in a blue moon, I'm asked this question: How much should I spend on an audiophile rig? It's usually asked by someone with no real interest in buying an audiophile rig, but who's fishing, for giggles, for the exorbitant figure that is the presumed going rate for joining our hobby. Sometimes, when the mood strikes, I'll bang out a randomly absurd number—"$80,000!"—then lean back to observe the fallout. Nine times out of ten, that fallout consists of a head shake and a snicker, as if to say, "You guys are nuts!" But on those occasions when honesty seems the best policy, my short answer to…
A lot of performers have their moment in the sun, but in March 1986, when Steve Earle's debut Guitar Town came out, its impact altered the direction of country music forever. The so-called New Traditionalist movement was the return of the outlaw movement, only this time with more rock'n'roll injected, along with a focus on songwriting born of Earle's healthy respect for and friendship with far left-of-Music-Row songwriters/performers like Townes Van Zandt, Steve Young, and Guy Clark—all of whom are now sadly deceased.
While much of the material on Guitar Town remains among Earle's finest…
The DQ-12 is the latest loudspeaker from Dahlquist employing their "Phased Array" technology, first used in 1973. The company was formed that year by Jon Dahlquist and Saul Marantz to produce the DQ-10, a loudspeaker that enjoyed a long and successful life. When I sold hi-fi in a retail store in the late 1970s—we stocked Dahlquist speakers—the DQ-10 was among the more prominent audiophile speakers, prized for its imaging abilities.
In 1976, Carl Marchisotto joined the company, designing support products for the DQ-10 including a subwoofer, variable low-pass filter, and a passive crossover…
Sidebar 1: Review System
The DQ-12s were auditioned with Audio Research SP14 and Classé Audio DR-5 preamps, VTL 225W Deluxe monoblocks, an Adcom GFA-555 power amplifier, and a VPI HW-19 Jr. turntable with an AudioQuest PT-5 tonearm and Sumiko Boron cartridge. Digital playback was from a Wadia 2000 driven by a Marantz CD-94. Speaker cables were AudioQuest Clear Hyperlitz, and interconnects were Expressive Technologies IC-1s. The VTLs were also driven by the Wadia 2000 outputs through Electronic Visionary Systems' Ultimate Attenuators, a stepped volume control. The GFA-555 was used briefly…
Sidebar 2: Measurements
The DQ-12s did very well on the LEDR test from the Chesky Test CD. LEDR is short for "Listening Environment Diagnostic Recording" and is described in detail in Vol.12 No.12. In short, it reveals a speaker's (and the room's) ability to present images in their correct spatial location. (I highly recommend this recording for evaluating speakers and listening rooms.) After my favorable impression of the DQ-12s' imaging and soundstage presentation, I was not surprised that they performed well on the LEDR test, throwing a solid image between and above the speakers.
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Thomas J. Norton wrote about the Dahlquist DQ-12 in October 1990 (Vol.13 No.10):
Following Robert Harley's review of their DQ-12 in April (Vol.13 No.4), Dahlquist sent us another set of the loudspeakers for JA to try in his listening room. Other new equipment waiting in the review line caused a delay in his getting to the second pair. Since JA was embroiled in matters chez Avalon, and since the Stereophile listening room currently being used by DO and myself appeared to be in a rather effective stage of its acoustical transformation (footnote 1), I volunteered to give a serious listen to…
Sidebar 3: Measurements Redux
Since the new DQ-12s sounded clearly better balanced than the old, we decided to rerun a few of the measurements. It's quite clear from fig.1 that the high-frequency response of the newer samples is far better controlled than that of the old, though the current versions bear no "i" designation. Note the drooping response centered below 500Hz; this may relate to the reduction in body of instrumental timbres noted in the listening sessions.
Fig.1 Dahlquist DQ-12, response averaged across 30° horizontal window centered on HF axis of…
Sidebar 4: Specifications
Description: "Phased Array" three-way, sealed-box, floor-standing loudspeaker. Drive-units: 8" woofer, 5" laminate-cone midrange, and 1" low-mass dome tweeter. Crossover frequencies: 400Hz, 3500Hz. Impedance: 8 ohms nominal, 5 ohms minimum. Power requirements: 40W minimum, 125W maximum. Frequency range: 35–20kHz (no tolerance given). Sensitivity: 86dB (distance and input power not specified, but assumed to be 1W/1m). Connections: Four gold-plated five-way binding posts (biwirable). Fuses: one AGC 0.8A tweeter fuse, one AGC 3A woofer fuse. Accessories included: 1…