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Croft Acoustics Phono Integrated integrated amplifier Sam Tellig May 2014

Sam Tellig wrote about the Croft Phono in May 2014 (Vol.37 No.5):

Art Dudley was the first at Stereophile to discover this little gem, which he reviewed in the October 2013 issue. I was intrigued because: a) Artie loves it, and b) John Atkinson does not. After measuring it, JA snorted: "To me, it seems, at best, inadequately engineered, and at its worst . . . just plain inadequate."

You have been warned: If you listen to test tones, you can probably hear distortion. JA: "[T]he phono stage suffers from a severe rolloff in the treble. . . ."

JA measured the output impedance…

KEF LS50 Anniversary Model loudspeaker Sam Tellig May 2014

Sam Tellig wrote about the LS50 in May 2014 (Vol.37 No.5):

The Croft Phono Integrated amplifier and KEF LS50 loudspeaker made a spectacular combination in my listening room. I welcomed the Croft's warmth, immediacy, and tonality. Once again, Sam's maxim is proved: You can have excellent hi-fi for very little money; you just can't have a lot of it.

The KEF LS50 retails for $1500/pair. You'll need to sit them on stands 20–22" high. I think they're best suited to rooms of small to medium size. I found them very flexible in terms of room placement. Their Uni-Q concentric drive-units—a…

Meridian's Spectacular Speaker Unveiling

Meridian Audio's co-founder Bob Stuart (above) journeyed to Audio High in Mountain View, CA on April 8 for the US unveiling of Meridian's new Special Edition DSP Digital Active Loudspeaker. The tantalizing time I spent listening to the top-of-the-line DSP8000SE ($80,000/pair) convinced me that Meridian's slogan, "Redefine the Possible," is anything but hype.

This was my first opportunity to begin to assess to what the Meridian total system approach can achieve. That approach, which has moved closer to audiophile perfection in the completely new architecture of DSP8000SE and its siblings,…

Roger Waters in 5.1

On Saturday, April 12, John Atkinson and I fought our way through toll plazas, endless New Jersey traffic (is there any other kind?) and one really annoying traffic jam (but hey, it was only one!) to go to a listening session in McAlpin Hall in the Woolworth Building on the campus of Princeton University, that was part of an interdisciplinary conference, Pink Floyd: Sight, Sound, and Structure.

There we heard longtime Floyd engineer James Guthrie play the 5.1 surround mix of the 1982 Roger Waters solo album, Amused To Death followed by the playing, on the same custom surround setup using…

Roger Waters in 5.1

There we heard longtime Floyd engineer James Guthrie (above, right) play the 5.1 surround mix of Roger Waters' Amused To Death followed by the playing, on the same custom surround setup…

Counterpoint Clearfield Metropolitan loudspeaker

While Clearfield Audio may be a new name to many of you, it represents the marriage of two well-established members of the high-end community: Counterpoint and designer Albert Von Schweikert. Counterpoint had been working to add speakers to its product lineup for some time. The partnership with Von Schweikert, whom Stereophile readers will remember as the designer of the Vortex Screen favorably reviewed by Robert Harley in July 1989, fills out Counterpoint's high-end product line from source—the company showed a CD transport at the June 1993 CES—to speaker.

The Metropolitan
The…

Counterpoint Clearfield Metropolitan loudspeaker Page 2

The sonic changes included different damping in both midrange compartments and both woofer compartments. One of the rear-firing ports on each speaker was eliminated. The length of the other port, 3" in diameter, was significantly shortened, and the crossover was redesigned. The cabinets and drivers themselves were otherwise unchanged. The intent of these changes was to extend the deep-bass response, attenuate the midbass, and smooth out the overall frequency balance. The base plinth was refinished in gloss black, as was the front baffle. The cabinets themselves now have more oil and…

Counterpoint Clearfield Metropolitan loudspeaker Page 3

I've saved the best for last. The Mets were both very sensitive and easy to drive. Almost any good amp worked well. Since they could be bi-wired or bi-amped, the sound of the speaker could be tailored in various ways to suit my needs. In virtually any of these configurations, the Mets were very dynamic. They could play softly or loudly, and handled any intermediate gain level without difficulty. Dynamic shadings were effectively conveyed, although I've used other speakers that were better at resolving the subtlest changes in level. Nonetheless, the Mets were equally at home with a string…

Counterpoint Clearfield Metropolitan loudspeaker Measurements

Sidebar 1: Measurements

All of my measurements were performed on the final, up-to-spec Metropolitan samples. Where there are differences with our earlier samples, I have indicated this in the text. I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone. The B-weighted sensitivity with the treble control flat appeared to be a little lower than specification at around a calculated 86dB/2.83V/m. (Because of the altitude at Santa Fe, I can't take absolute sensitivity measurements; instead, I compare the B-weighted value against that of a reference speaker which has been measured…

Counterpoint Clearfield Metropolitan loudspeaker Specifications

Sidebar 2: Specifications

Description: Three-way, floorstanding loudspeaker system. Drivers: 1" aluminum-dome tweeter, two dual–voice-coil, Kevlar-cone, 6" midrange units, two long-throw, polypropylene-cone, 8" woofers. Frequency response: 25Hz–25kHz, –3dB. Crossover points: 125Hz, 2kHz. Crossover type: 3rd-order, 18dB/octave. Bass loading: "critically damped, 4th-order tuned air column with modified Thiele/Small alignment." Impedance: 4 ohms nominal. Sensitivity: 90dB/W/m. Cabinet: "Stressed Monocoque Structure" using 1"-thick MDF panels and compression-loaded shelf braces.
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