Anybody left? Good. Now we can talk about a very special little speaker. In a way, I didn't even want to review the 1S. I mentioned to John Atkinson that I'd heard them at my buddy Ruben's house and enjoyed them immensely, but I'd been using a pair of $13,000…
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Here's the deal: If you're the kind of listener who must listen to your stereo at levels that change the barometric pressure of your listening room, or if you can't enjoy reggae concerts because they don't have enough bass, then the ProAc Response 1S (revised) is definitely not the speaker for you. Read no further. Move on. Scoot.
In building a speaker, just as in performing music, countless decisions must be made concerning balance. I have, for example, eight recordings of Ravel's Piano Concerto in G—there's an ineffable melancholy in the second movement that moves me powerfully—and they're all performed well. Yet, time and again I return to two of them (footnote 5): the choices made by the artists seem right to me—they affirm my understanding of the piece. The 1S affirmed my musical values in the same way. This does not mean that others will respond similarly, any more than my appreciation of Michelangeli means…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way dynamic design. Drivers: ¾" cloth-dome tweeter, 5" polypropylene-cone woofer. Crossover: not specified. Frequency response: 70Hz–20kHz, ±3dB. Impedance: 8 ohms nominal. Sensitivity: 85dB/W/m. Recommended power: 20–100W.
Dimensions: 12" H by 7" W by 9.25" D.
Finishes: teak, walnut, black ash (standard), others.
Serial numbers of samples tested: P02808 L/R, P02293.
Price: $1800/pair (1994); no longer available (2016). Approximate number of dealers: 35.
Manufacturer: ProAc, 130–132 Thirsk Road, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire WD6…
Sidebar 2: Measurements
The Response 1S's B-weighted sensitivity was to spec at 85dB/W/m. Its impedance plot (fig.1) suggests that it will be relatively easy to drive, with a minimum magnitude of 5 ohms between 200 and 300Hz.
Fig.1 ProAc Response 1S, electrical impedance (solid) and phase (dashed) (2 ohms/vertical div.).
Moving to the frequency domain, fig.2 shows the individual amplitude responses of the woofer, tweeter, and port. As suggested by the impedance plot, the port's bandpass peaks just above 70Hz, which coincides, as it should, with the minimum-…
One hit wonder is an ugly term. In the case of Velvet Crush, it’s really more like one album wonder. While I and other pop power indie fanboys always loved the rest of the band’s catalog, especially Free Expression (1999) and Soft Sounds (2002), the band’s sole highlight, the record that captured the moment in time, and still exudes that energy when you put it on is 1994’s Teenage Symphonies to God. Pre-Teen Symphonies, a new CD/MP3 by Los Angeles-based Omnivore Records, a reissue label that’s growing more interesting with each release, features demos for that original album and a killer live…
How the hell could I have missed Cecile McLorin Salvant? It's not as if she's been toiling in obscurity. She won the Thelonious Monk award in 2010, the Downbeat Critics' Prize for best jazz album (WomanChild) in 2014, and a Grammy for best jazz vocal album ( For One to Love) just this year. She's been singing with her trio at the Village Vanguard this past week, and every set has been sold out or nearly so. Again, how did I—someone who's supposed to follow this sort of thing—miss the boat?
For some reason, her publicist passed by my name in sending out review copies of her albums, though…
Ronald Levin "Ron" Carter is arguably the greatest upright jazz bassist to have ever walked four strings, and he's literally the most recorded bassist of all time. "With 2,221 individual recording credits, as verified on 15 September 2015," notes Carter's website.
Making his collective jazz debut on three important LPs: Howard McGhee's Dusty Blue (Bethlehem, 1960), Nat Wright's The Biggest Voice in Jazz (Warwick, 1961), and Charles Persip and the Jazz Statesmen (Bethlehem, 1960), Carter launched a career in music personified by an ability to master any style, the acuity to execute precise…
The October issue is here, with revised and updated capsule reviews of 500 audio products that have been reviewed in the magazine, rated in six categories, from "E" for "Entry Level" to "A+" for those few products that are beyond criticism. Stereophile's "Recommended Components"—often copied but never equaled.
And "Recommended Components" doesn't replace the October issue's regular content: we review 3 American amplifiers—Bel Canto, First Watt, SAE—2 European loudspeakers—Crystal, Dynaudio—a state-of-the-art phono cartridge from Audio Technica; Focal's new super 'phones; and a super-DAC…
The graphic above was created with data provided to me by the CTA (Consumer Technology Association). I understand that this data cannot possibly account for every single pair of Bluetooth-enabled speakers sold in any given year, but I believe that this is the most accurate account of data currently available to us.
According to the Bluetooth website, the first MP3 player with Bluetooth technology was created in 2003. Then in 2004, the first Bluetooth-enabled stereo headphones were available. In 2007, the iconic Jawbone headset made its debut at the Consumer Electronics Show (footnote 1).…
Synergistic's PHT ($199/set of two, footnote 1) is a very tiny, tweezer-ready HFT designed to placed atop a phono cartridge, and is marketed with a nod and wink: "grown in California, legal in all 50 states" (PHT is pronounced pot). Analog vets might remember Apature's line of moving-coil cartridges from the 1980s, which included the models Panama Red, Maui Blue, and Koce (which was white). Think I'm handing you a line? I've got a Koce here.
The PHTs "tune" the system directly at the source. Of course, a cartridge is probably the most "tuned" component of an analog audio system.…