"The uniqueness of this show is that even though it's smaller than many, it's in a hotel with a very comfortable, luxurious ambience," show organizer Constantine Soo tells Stereophile. "Attendees will be able to revisit their favorite rooms, linger, and really gain a strong impression of the sound of…
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The 5th annual California Audio Show takes place August 15–17 in the four-star Westin SFO hotel in Millbrae, CA. Easily accessible via the freeway or BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit), this smaller-scaled show showcases rarely encountered big speakers from Dynaudio, Genesis, JBL, and Sound Labs.
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.5 "The Emperor"
Rudolph Serkin, piano; Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa, cond.
Telarc CD-80065 (CD). Robert Woods, prod., Jack Renner, eng.
Rudolph Serkin, piano; Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa, cond.
Telarc CD-80065 (CD). Robert Woods, prod., Jack Renner, eng.
Vivaldi: "The Four Seasons"
Joseph Silverstein, violin; Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa, cond.
Telarc CD-80070 (CD). Robert Woods, prod., Jack Renner, eng.
I have never been a fan of Seiji Ozawa, feeling that his interpretive approach is too often cold and attached. That's not true of this performance of the "Emperor" Concerto. In fact, my only criticism is that the performance seems at…
The Gale loudspeaker dates back to the early 1970s. As I understand it, the basic design resulted from a collaboration of Ira Gale (footnote 1) and Sao Win, who were college classmates at the time. Their speaker proved very popular in England and was subsequently imported to the USA during the mid-1970s by Audio Technica. Recently, Techport (the folks who import the Perreaux line) has taken over US distribution.
While the Gales have undergone same changes through the years, their distinctive appearance and, according to some, their equally distinctive sonic "flavor," have continued to…
JGH weighs in
I took a prolonged listen to the same pair of Gales auditioned by DO. While I did not fall madly in love with them, try as I might I could not get them to sound the way DO described them.
I took a prolonged listen to the same pair of Gales auditioned by DO. While I did not fall madly in love with them, try as I might I could not get them to sound the way DO described them.
That's disturbing. While I am perfectly content to see our contributors disagree from time to time about their reaction to a product—whether they like it or don't—I do not like disagreements about empirical observations, which, for a subjective review magazine; perform the same function that laboratory measurements do for a "test-bench" magazine. Either a product sounds a certain way…
Sidebar: Specifications
Description: Three-way loudspeaker system in sealed enclosure. Crossover frequencies: 750Hz, 5kHz. Frequency response: 55HZ–20kHz, ±5dB. Sensitivity: 88dB/2.83V/m. Recommended power: 40W minimum. Dimensions: 23.875" H by 13" W by 10.875" D. Weight: 50 lbs each. Price: $1250/pair (1985); no longer available (2014). Manufacturer: Gale Loudspeakers, England. US distributor: Techport, Westbury, NY 11590 (1985). Manufacturer and distributor no longer in existence (2014). Web: www.galeaudio.com.
When I reviewed VTL's 25W Tiny Triodes in April 1991, I found them to be incredibly fun little suckers to play with, but got frustrated with their inability to drive my Spica Angeluses to reasonable levels with most of my recordings. I loved what I was hearing, but there wasn't nearly enough of it! As it turns out, John Atkinson was listening; not just to my plea, but also to the new VTL Compact 160 monoblocks in preparation for a full review. However, while all this was going on, David Manley decided that the power-supply voltages in the 160 weren't beefy enough to exploit his new KT90…
The more I listened to the Compact 160s, though, the more I liked them. Rather than grab me by the cojones like the Tiny Triodes, they just blew me kisses from across the room. Extended listening proved the new VTLs to be more neutral than their forebears, with a softer but still detailed high end. If a cymbal crash was there, the VTLs reproduced it in all its doped-brass glory. Jug Ammons's tenor (Groovin' With Jug, Capitol/Pacific Jazz CDP 7 92930 2) came through with all of its squeals and overtones happily intact. But bright I wouldn't call the VTLs.
The midrange, long an area in…
Sidebar 1: Alright—you: up against the wall
No, I'm not Daryl Gates. I was just telling the Muse Model 18 active subwoofer that its services weren't going to be needed for this review; I can't very well judge an amp from 75Hz up only, can I?
The playback system included the Well-Tempered Record Player fitted with either an AudioQuest 404i or the Sumiko Blue Point, this taken to an Audio Research SP-14 and "hotrodded" via its rec-out jacks to Aunt Corey's Homemade Buffered Passive Preamp. CDs were played on my modified Philips CD-50.
Interconnects were Straight Wire…
Sidebar 2: Measurements
Unlike the EL34-equipped Compact 100s that I favorably reviewed a couple of years back (Vol.11 No.11), the Compact 160s have this front-panel switch to switch between pentode and triode modes. Nice for the listener; awkward for the reviewer who therefore has to measure every aspect of performance twice. I'll try to concentrate on the differences between the two modes, but bear with me if the words "pentode mode" and "triode mode" pop up rather frequently.
Looking first at output impedance, the 160 is a typical classic tube design in that it doesn't much…
Sidebar 3: Specifications
Description: Tubed monoblock amplifier. No specifications given.
Dimensions: 13.5" W by 8.5" D by 7.5" H each.
Serial numbers of review samples: AMC 1605305 and 1605306.
Price: $3000/pair (1991); no longer available (2014). Approximate number of dealers: 25.
Manufacturer: VTL Amplifiers Inc., 4774 Murrieta Street, Suite 10, Chino, CA 91710. Tel: (909) 627-5944. Fax: (909) 627-6988. Web: www.vtl.com.