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DALI Zensor 1 loudspeaker Measurements

Sidebar 3: Measurements

I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the DALI Zensor 1's frequency response in the farfield; and an Earthworks QTC-40, with its small, ¼" capsule, for the nearfield responses. (The small capsule doesn't interfere with the airflow.)

My estimate of the Zensor 1's voltage sensitivity was 88dB(B)/2.83V/m, which is both surprisingly high for such a small speaker and 1.5dB higher than specified. The plot of the DALI's impedance magnitude and electrical phase (fig.1) suggests that the speaker is relatively easy to drive.…

Erick Lichte, August 2012

Erick Lichte wrote about the Clearaudio Concept in August 2012 (Vol.35 No.8):

It was high time I reviewed a turntable for Stereophile. One of the more intriguing and inexpensive ones I've seen lately is Clearaudio's Concept, and after reading Michael Fremer's review of the Concept in the June 2011 issue, I wanted to try one for myself. I also thought it might be nice for our readers to see what a raised-on-digital analog type (me) might think of Clearaudio's entry-level system.

The Concept ($1400 alone) is a turnkey analog rig that comes with platter, tonearm, and cartridge: a…

Capital Audiofest 2012 Starts Friday

Just nine days after Independence Day, the third annual Capital Audiofest unfurls its banner with the hope of life, liberty, and good sound for all. Scheduled for July 13–15 in the three-story Crowne Plaza Hotel in Rockville, MD, the show promises up to 40 exhibit rooms stocked with enough high-quality equipment to send Paul Revere galloping from port to post declaring, "The Audiophiles Are Coming!"

For a one-man effort that began with 14 or 15 rooms in a Rockville mansion, the Capital Audiofest has grown considerably in its short existence. An idea birthed at a party—a group of well-…

More Evidence

Fab.com is an e-commerce company devoted to all kinds of design-related items, from visual art to furniture to clothing. The company specializes in flash sales on trending themes, keeping its eager followers coming back daily. Ms. Little lets us know that Fab.com is now selling LPs and turntables&#151further evidence, as if we needed it, that vinyl’s increasing popularity has hit the mainstream.

Interestingly, the available LP titles (Prince’s Purple Rain, Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs, Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago, Beach House’s Bloom, and others) are the same as those sold by…

A Power in the Worldwide Cassette/Awesomeness Market

From time to time, I’ve written about my interest in cassettes. While I still haven’t purchased a Nakamichi cassette deck&#151the decks are out there, I’m just waiting for the right time and the right deck&#151I’ve nevertheless kept an eye on cassette trends. For a long while, I saw very specific, very underground labels releasing tapes; and, though new cassette-only labels seemed to pop up regularly, those, too, were extremely underground and extremely independent.

But, interestingly, over the last few months, I’ve seen more well-established labels, such as Sub Pop, Domino, and…

<I>Stereophile</I> Editor John Atkinson at ListenUp!

In May 2009, JA gave dems comparing hi-rez recordings against CD and MP3 versions at the three ListenUp! stores in Colorado. This was part of the Music Matters program, in which audio retailers invite manufacturers and the occasional member of the audio press to demonstrate just how great music can sound on a high-end audio system. Before the Denver event, JA sat down with Adrienne Alterman to share his views.

In the second part of the interview, JA tells Adrienne that music does indeed matter, because it is one of the "four renewable pleasures": "food, drink, sex, and music." In the…

Listening #115

In the early 1980s, not long after I moved to New York City, I went shopping for a new pair of speakers. I already had a Rega Planar 3 turntable, an NAD 1020 preamp, and an Amber Series 70 amplifier (the second-most-powerful amp I've ever owned); what I now had in mind was to replace my aging EPI 100s with something bigger. Like them though I did, the EPIs were too tight and light for my new apartment, and I was certain I could find something with more bass and better scale—and still stay within my less-than-lavish budget.

I was right. One Saturday morning I walked from my apartment,…

Listening #115 Page 2

And there were differences in bass extension. The vintage Snells were satisfying, even if notes below 55Hz or so weren't given full weight, and played bass lines with excellent clarity of tempo, pitch, and timbre. In the parlance of their day, the Snells played tunes—in utter defiance of the Flat-Earthers who told us that bass-reflex loudspeakers "lack merit" (footnote 3).

I could nitpick other aspects of the Snells' performance, I suppose, including a peculiarly narrow midrange suckout that might have been due to woofer surrounds in need of running-in, and a pervasive graininess in…

Listening #115 List of the Month

Sidebar: List of the Month

The 12 most questionable Grammy Awards of the past quarter-century, from the merely ponderous to the thunderously stupefying:

1) Alan Menken and Tim Rice, Song of the Year, 1993: "A Whole New World"
2) Amy Winehouse, Song of the Year, 2007: "Rehab"
3) Eric Clapton, Record of the Year, 1996: "Change the World"
4) Celine Dion, Record of the Year, 1998: "My Heart Will Go On"
5) Joe Jackson, Best Pop Instrumental Album, 2000: Symphony No.1
6) Alanis Morissette, Best Rock Album, 1995: Jagged Little Pill
7) Julie Gold, Song of the Year…

A Fine Art: The Mercury Living Presence Recordings

It is perhaps the most cherished tale from hi-fi's primordial past: In 1951—when music was first being recorded on magnetic tape, when the use of much-improved microphones became a mix of science and art, and when Stereophile's founder, J. Gordon Holt, was still a little nipper, years away from his first martini (though I wouldn't swear to that)—the team of Robert (Bob) and Wilma Cozart Fine began to build a legendary catalog of recordings of classical music. It eventually included the work of conductors Rafael Kubelik, Antal Doráti, and Frederick Fennell; the Chicago and Minneapolis…