At one point, after the review was published, I invited my…
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In March 2006 I wrote a very favorable review of Monitor Audio's Silver RS6 loudspeaker. At the time, I felt this $999/pair, small-footprint floorstander produced the greatest sound quality per dollar of any speaker I'd heard. Despite the proliferation of affordable speakers of increasing quality I've heard since then, I remained particularly impressed by the Silver RS6's clarity and lack of coloration and the speed of its midbass, all of which continued to exceed the performance of any other affordable speaker I've heard.
The RX6's high-frequency purity nicely dovetailed with its perfect rendition of crisp, clean, fast transients on recordings with percussive content. The bell-like knocks and shimmies of Philipp Vandré's instrument on Cage's The Piano Works 2 (CD, Mode 50) were extended and detailed, with just the right amount of decay. Similarly, Egberto Gismonti's guitar playing is quite percussive in his duets with percussionist Nana Vasconcelos on their Duas Vozes (CD, ECM 1279); the Monitors created a lifelike sense of churning rhythm. With busy and angular jazz fusion, the speaker had a sense of…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-and-a-half-way, ported floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (25mm) C-CAM gold dome tweeter, 6" RST mid/woofer, 6" RST woofer. Crossover frequencies: 700Hz LF, 2.7kHz MF/HF. Frequency range: 38Hz–35kHz. Sensitivity: 90dB/W/m. Nominal impedance: 6 ohms. Maximum SPL: 114.8dBA. Power handling: 125W RMS. Recommended amplification: 40–125W RMS.
Dimensions: 35 5/8" (905mm) H by 1013/16" (275mm) W by 123/16" (310mm) D (includes plinth and feet). Weight: 36.13 lbs (16.4kg).
Finishes: Black Oak, Natural Oak, Walnut, Rosenut (all real wood);…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: VPI TNT IV, Rega Planar 3 turntables; Immedia, Syrinx PU-3 tonearms; Koetsu Urushi, Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood cartridges.
Digital Sources: Lector CDP-7T, Creek Destiny CD players.
Preamplification: Vendetta Research SCP-2D, Creek Destiny phono stages; Audio Valve Eclipse line stage.
Integrated Amplifier: Creek Destiny.
Power Amplifier: Audio Research Reference 110.
Loudspeakers: Epos M5i, Dynaudio Excite X12, Monitor Audio Silver RS6.
Cables: Interconnect (all MIT): Magnum M3, MI-350 CVTwin Terminator, MI-330SG…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Monitor Audio Silver RX6's frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 for the nearfield responses. The Silver RX6 is specified as having a voltage sensitivity of 90dB/W/m. My estimate was slightly lower, at 88dB(B)/2.83V/m, which will not be a problem. The RX6's impedance (fig.1) remained below 8 ohms over most of the audioband, with a minimum magnitude of 4.35 ohms at 160Hz; this speaker will work best with 4 ohm–rated amplifiers and receivers. Fig.1 was taken with…
If piles upon piles of LPs bring you joy, and you’re within striking distance of Pittsburgh, Pa. this weekend, you need to head for the Pittsburgh Irish Centre on Forward Avenue to check out the first annual Vinylpalooza sponsored by Jerry’s Records. Jerry will lay out over 50,000 records (LPs, 45s and 78s)from all genres, as well as a diggers paradise of dollar records, a mass of soul/funk 45’s, a bunch of sealed warehouse finds and intriguingly, over 5,000 punk/indie rock singles that he says he’s had in a warehouse for the past eight years.
It’s risky, to say the least, for John Coltrane’s son to take up the tenor and soprano saxophones as a profession, yet that’s what Ravi Coltrane has been doing for 25 years, 15 of them as a leader, and his latest album, Spirit Fiction (his first on the Blue Note label), is his triumph.
He’s plowing mainly in the modal fields of his father’s legacy, music untethered from chord changes, doubly dangerous territory, not just because he’s begging comparisons but because most horn players who go that route get stuck running up and down scales for lack of anything to say or any harmonic weather…
At Montreal's Salon Son et Image earlier this year, Peter McGrath of Wilson Audio (left in photo) found the pairing of the company's Sophia 3 loudspeaker ($18,000/pair) and VTL's MB-185 Series III, EL-34-based monoblocks ($15,000/pair) and VTL TL-5.5 preamp w/phono ($10,500) so felicitous that he proposed that he and VTL's Luke Manley (right in photo) revisit the coupling in the US. The opportunity arose at Music Lovers Audio in Berkeley, California, where a public afternoon demo on June 9, 2012 drew a large group of audiophiles who packed two large showrooms at the prestigious, well-…
Yes, yes, yes!
Sun, Cat Power’s first album of original material since 2006’s The Greatest, will be released by Matador Records on September 4th. September 4th is going to be an awesome day.
The album was performed and produced entirely by Chan Marshall; it was mixed by Philippe Zdar of Cassius.
Listen to the first single, “Ruin,” here. Anchored by a salsa-like piano vamp and bolstered by nasty guitars, deep pocket bass, thrilling percussion, and memorable hooks, “Ruin” is pure Cat Power: dark, sexy, and compelling.
Leaves you wanting and needing…
Twisted fire-starters atop Arcadia's Afterburner DJ booth. The Afterburner will make its North American debut at the Catalpa Festival in NYC.
With New York City temperatures rising into the high 90s this afternoon, there’s no doubt that summer has officially arrived. And summer means great live music. Ask Stereophile’s editorial assistant, Ariel Bitran, who returned to the office all bronze-skinned and bleary-eyed after attending the recent Bonnaroo festival in Manchester, Tennessee. (He’s been wearing sandals ever since.) And, while I can understand and appreciate the desire to get…