Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Emotiva XRT-5.2's frequency response in the farfield; and an Earthworks QTC-40, with its small, ¼" capsule, for the nearfield responses. I left the grille off for the measurements.
My estimate of the XRT-5.2's voltage sensitivity was 87dB(B)/2.83V/m, which is typical of two-way designs. The Emotiva's plot of impedance magnitude and electrical phase angle against frequency (fig.1) indicates that its impedance stays above 6 ohms for much of the midrange and treble, and that the…
I spotted this familiar magazine in the lobby of the hospital where, just last Saturday, my sister gave birth to a healthy, handsome boy.
It was our March 2007 issue—someone needs to renew the hospital’s subscription. Flipping through its pages was like taking a walk back in time. I remembered falling in love with Rega’s Brio 3 integrated amp and Apollo CD player; I remembered carrying the Joseph Audio RM7XL loudspeaker into our conference room and photographing it for the review; I remembered helping JA measure the Pioneer S-1EX loudspeaker, carrying it up the stairs and falling…
In my August column, page 43, just before I have a blast with the $400/pair Definitive Technology StudioMonitor 45 loudspeakers, I discuss a few letters I’ve recently received from readers, asking if I’m satisfied with reviewing “lower-end” gear.
Am I satisfied?
I explain that I’m very satisfied reviewing affordable gear. In my mind, “low-end” is synonymous with “low-quality.” And that’s not what “The Entry Level” is about. “The Entry Level” is about high-quality gear, high-quality experiences, sharing the love of music and the love of life with family and friends.
…
Congrats to Josh Ray and Urban Fidelity for reaching their Kickstarter goal. With the funding necessary to get off and running, Urban Fidelity seems poised to make a big debut at this year’s Rocky Mountain Audiofest. In pictures, they're gorgeous, but I can’t wait to find out how these speakers really look and sound.
But at just $399/pair ($299/pair, if purchased before August 8), they seem like a bargain: floorstanding loudspeakers, made in the US, featuring several unique designs by independent artists.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. I would say that even if we…
Until the quiet comes, we can enjoy Flying Lotus’s new mixtape, Lovers Melt, Pt.III. Here in the Stereophile office, it’s been blowing our minds all week, helping us get through the beast that is “Recommended Components.” We hope you enjoy it, too.
This month I am writing about five vintage loudspeakers you should hear before you die.
Why vintage? Because the best vintage gear offers an abundance of musically agreeable qualities that are missing from even the best contemporary gear.
Those qualities may or may not be crucial to your enjoyment of recorded music (the liberated male of the 21st century is free to prioritize for himself those aspects of playback fidelity that matter most, some of which aren't at all well served by antique equipment), and the difficulty and expense of going retro can prove too much for those with…
My methodology was simple: I asked each of these people to name at least five must-hear vintage loudspeakers, thinking—correctly, as it turned out—that the most frequently named products would comprise the final top five. As I wrote in my letter to all correspondents:
Complete loudspeakers and raw drivers may both be considered for this list. For obvious reasons—I hope for this piece to be genuinely helpful to the person of limited experience in the field—I would prefer to emphasize the former. But we all know examples of the latter that define a certain sound, yet which are not…
Four versions in all were made: The LC-1a, LC-1b, and LC-1c are all distinguished from their progenitor by the addition to the bass cone of seven semi-ovoid "acoustic domes" that add a bit of desired mass to the cone, in addition to deflecting the output of the high-frequency driver—the latter effect enhanced by the addition of a stationary two-lobe deflector, referred to in vintage circles as the "butterfly."
According to Early Bender, "This brainchild of RCA's brilliant and eccentric Dr. Harry Olson may be the midrange champ among 15" titans." He added that the LC-1 was…
A recent (unpublished) letter to the editor argued that the reference for audio perfection is the sound of real instruments in a real space. The writer claimed that, since the art and/or science of audio is advancing, and because it is a "scientific truth" that the closer you get to perfection, the less divergence there is components, that therefore there should be less difference in sound among the components listed in Class A of Stereophile's "Recommended Components" than among those in Class B, much less Class C. This should be true of loudspeakers, he said, but even more true of top-…
So I wondered: Compared to the competition, how would the NHB-458s sound through the MAXX 3s in my home system? On the Soulution side of fast, tight, and detailed? Or would the darTZeels be "neatly threading the needle between the Soulution [710]'s cool speediness, the VTL [MB-450 Series III Signature]'s assertive top end, and the [Musical Fidelity Titan]'s warmer if less resolving sound," as I reported the big MBL Reference 9011 first sounding? More listening with the 9011 revealed bass response that, while "complete in terms of extension, texture, and finesse," was "less than fully…
