The humongous Churchill is one of the few high-sensitivity loudspeakers that actually meets its spec: my estimated B-weighted figure was exactly 95dB/2.83V/m. This speaker will go very loud with a single watt of power. Its impedance (fig.1) varied between 5 and 8 ohms over almost the entire audioband, with only a moderate electrical phase angle above 200Hz. The magnitude saddle in the bass at 26Hz indicates the tuning of the V-shaped reflex port, implying good LF extension. However, note the peak at 125Hz and the wrinkle in the curve around 180Hz. These indicate…
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The slight peakiness in the presence region ties in nicely with Barry's criticism of grain in the low treble. In the bass, the nearfield response is down 6dB at 24Hz and 10dB at 20Hz, which is good if not outstanding low-frequency extension.
Due to the Tannoy's mass, I was not able to position it on my turntable to examine its off-axis behavior. But by moving the microphone instead, I could get a handle on its dispersion, which should be similar in both planes due to its coaxial drive-unit design. Fig.5 shows the vertical dispersion, plotted at approximate 5 degrees intervals from 20…
Much as I like the prospect of being able to grunt a heartfelt Je ne regrette rien immediately before expiring, I know there will be too many what-ifs and wish-I-hadn'ts to make that even remotely possible. But here is one missed opportunity that won't flash before me, because John Atkinson has granted me a second chance.
A couple of years ago, when the issue of the "energy smear" caused by digital filters was red hot (it's still smoldering), I determined to address some of the controversies surrounding this issue through what I reckoned to be a rather neat experiment. It involved…
These and other factors have been instrumental in improving CD's standing in audiophile affections, but few who have experienced hi-rez audio from 24/96 DVD-V, from DVD-Audio, or from SACD would assert that even pristine 16/44.1 audio comes close to being transparent. Fewer people have had the chance to hear 16/96 audio, but, as Pioneer's double-speed DAT players demonstrated more than a decade ago, increasing the sampling rate alone has a significant effect on sound quality. Ken Ishiwata told me many years ago that Marantz had experimented with sampling rates up to 500kHz, and that with…
Sidebar 1: How The Filters Were Designed
Fully featured software dedicated to the design of digital filters is expensive and, even so, not best adapted to creating the type of filter required for this project. The method I used is cheaper and more flexible but demands some mathematical background and the ability to write executable computer code. It also requires Iowegian's ScopeDSP, an inexpensive ($60) FFT utility ideally adapted to this type of work. For those who would like to experiment along similar lines, here's a brief outline of the design process so you understand what you're…
Sidebar 2: Filter Listening Impressions
Although Keith Howard had sent me four copies of the listening-test DVD-A, the only writers in my team who had suitable players were Kalman Rubinson, Wes Phillips, and me. I gave discs to Wes and Kal, but Wes felt that the differences between the filters were too small, and his reactions to those differences too inconsistent, for him to be able to offer any meaningful comments. So the following discussion is of necessity restricted to Kal's and my reactions.
Neither Kal nor I knew what the filters were when we performed our listening…
In this issue's "Letters" column, you will find comments from readers who are bothered by what they perceive to be this magazine's emphasis on reviewing very expensive technology. Yes, we do cover a lot of cutting-edge technology, and it is, of necessity, expensive. But our experience has been that that technology invariably trickles down to products that real people can actually afford.
A case in point is the Aegis One, from Acoustic Energy. This British company made its name in the late 1980s with an impressive and expensive minimonitor, the AE1. For a long time, the AE1—with its wide…
Sound
The Acoustic Energys followed the astonishing little PSB Alpha AVs into my listening room. Priced at $249/pair, the PSB (reviewed in the April 2000 Stereophile) offered a bighearted, warmly musical balance. By comparison, the Aegis One sounded more refined. Its low frequencies were not as rich-sounding as the Canadian speaker's, but offered a better balance of extension and definition.
The Acoustic Energys followed the astonishing little PSB Alpha AVs into my listening room. Priced at $249/pair, the PSB (reviewed in the April 2000 Stereophile) offered a bighearted, warmly musical balance. By comparison, the Aegis One sounded more refined. Its low frequencies were not as rich-sounding as the Canadian speaker's, but offered a better balance of extension and definition.
It wouldn't be reasonable to expect thunderous lows from such a small speaker, but bass guitar in general came over with sufficient heft. Walter Becker's bass on "Janie Runaway," from Steely Dan…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way stand-mounted, reflex-loaded loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (25mm) silk-dome tweeter, 5" (130mm) metal-cone midrange/bass unit, both magnetically shielded. Crossover frequency: 2.8kHz. Crossover slopes: asymmetric second-/third-order. Frequency response: 50Hz-20kHz, ±3dB. Sensitivity: 90dB/2.83V/m. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms. Recommended power: 120W maximum.
Dimensions: 14.5" (362mm) H by 7.6" (192mm) W by 9.25" (235mm) D. Weight: 15.4 lbs (7kg) each.
Serial numbers of units reviewed: A027825 & 6.
Finishes: Black ash, beech, or…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Office System
Digital source: Meridian 500 CD transport, Panasonic A-120 CD/DVD player, Musical Fidelity X-24K 24/96 D/A processor.
Amplification: Yamaha @PET RP-U100 desktop receiver, Advent A300 receiver.
Cables: Canare interconnects, AudioQuest CV-4 speaker cables.
Accessories: Pentium MMX 166MHz with Digital Audio Labs CardDeluxe soundcard connected to D/A via 75 ohm S/PDIF link, running Windows 98, WinAmp 2.5, and CoolEdit 2000.
Home System
Digital sources: Mark Levinson No.31.5 CD transport and No.30.6 D/A processor, connected…