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My 1990 Focal Aria 5 review made my feelings about Focal's T90K tweeter a matter of public record. The main thrust of my objections to the sound of this tweeter had to do with what it did wrong in the lower treble and upper mids, where I felt that its sound had the textural equivalent of sandpaper. That Focal was determined to do something about the situation became evident from discussions I'd had with both Joe D'Appolito and Kimon Bellas of Focal America. I was told of forthcoming factory improvements to the T90K, which was to be recycled with at least a couple of internal modifications.…
Finally, the Lesley Test (track 13) was reproduced with very good focus and timbral accuracy. Lesley's upper registers sounded a bit dry, but that's exactly how the CD compares to the master tape. Although the recording was made in a fairly dry acoustic (Stereophile's listening room, with additional Sonex panels around the mike position), the master tape possesses a much greater sense of immediacy and warmth by comparison with the CD.
The Micron was able to punch through the soundstage veiling that I find endemic to inexpensive loudspeakers, making the resolution of hall sound quite easy…
Sidebar: 1991 Measurements
Figs.1 & 2, made with the Audio Precision System One, show the impedance amplitude and phase of the first and second samples of the JM Micron, respectively. Both drop to just below 4 ohms in the upper bass, the overall impedance being nearer to a 6 ohm specification. The tuning of the ports is revealed by the minimum at 60Hz in both graphs, suggesting a relatively restricted bass response. As might be expected from the different tweeters, the manner in which the impedances vary with frequency are very different in the treble. The sensitivity, assessed with…
John Atkinson wrote about the Micron Carat in June 1996 (Vol.19 No.6):
While large, floorstanding speakers appear to offer the most material for the buck, I feel that small stand-mounted speakers both offer the best value in sound quality, as well as standing the best chance of sounding good in moderate-sized listening rooms. In recent months Stereophile has reviewed a varied group of such speakers. In order of descending price, these include the Acoustic Energy AE2 Signature ($5495/pair, November '95); Dzurko Acoustics Jaguar ($4500/pair, reviewed elsewhere in this issue); Totem Mani-2…
Sidebar 1: 1996 Review Context
My relatively small room measures around 19' by 16.5' with a 9' ceiling. Each of the loudspeakers was positioned for the best sound (with only one pair of loudspeakers in the listening room at a time), generally some 3' from the rear wall (which is faced with books and LPs) and approximately 5' from the side walls (which also have bookshelves covering some of their surfaces). Each pair of speakers sat on 24" Celestion Si stands, these filled with lead shot and spiked to the concrete floor beneath the rug/pad. Although none of the speakers had major cabinet…
Sidebar 2: Measurements
I estimated the Micron Carat's B-weighted sensitivity to be around 87dB/2.83V/m, which is pretty good for such a small speaker. Its impedance traces (fig.1) show a drop to just below 4 ohms in the lower midrange, coupled with a moderately high phase angle in the region below. A good 4 ohm-rated amplifier will be called for, as there is quite a lot of musical energy in this region. But as I found, the single-ended Cary amplifier proved to be well-matched to the JMlab. The saddle in the amplitude trace at 60Hz reveals the port tuning: relatively high in frequency,…
Sidebar 3: Jacques Mahul on Home Theater and the Music of Language
Jonathan Scull: Where is high-end audio going, Jacques? How will it coexist with Home Theater?
Jacques Mahul: In my opinion, Home Theater was very successful in America because it represents a typical American trend. The Europeans are following, but not all of them. Mostly the French. And although the French are cinema-mad, I still don't see any big growth for Home Theater, no more than where it is today. It may seem a little bit strange to say that, but...Home Theater products are cheap products. They are in…
Sidebar 4: Specifications
Description: two-way, reflex-loaded, stand-mounted loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (25mm) inverted Kevlar-dome tweeter (first Micron sample), 1" (25mm) inverted titanium-dome tweeter (second Micron sample). 1" (25mm) inverted Tioxid-dome tweeter (Micron Carat), 5" (136mm) Neoflex-cone woofer with a dual voice-coil (all samples). Crossover frequency: 3kHz. Crossover slopes: 18dB/octave. Frequency response: 60Hz-23kHz ±3dB. Sensitivity: 88.5dB/W/m (2.83V). Nominal impedance: 4 ohms. Amplifier requirements: 65W maximum (program). Maximum spl: 103.7dB.
Dimensions:…
There has always been something uniquely satisfying about holding a paper magazine in your hand and riffling through its pages. Images and textures are of higher resolution than any video screen, and the ease of use of the paper-page bundle can not easily be replaced. People are developing electronic substitutes for paper, but the interesting thing is that these researchers are endeavoring to imitate the look, feel, and functionality of paper—but with digital inks and charged surfaces. For now, plain old paper and ink are just too perfect a medium to toss when it comes to packing information…
"When I find something that works," John Candy leered, "I stick with it!" I have no idea if the folks at Stax Industries are fans of Splash or not, but they've certainly taken Candy's philosophy as their own. Despite manufacturing superb—if demanding—loudspeakers and electronics for the last 15 years or so, Stax has been best known for producing one thing: electrostatic ear-speakers, aka headphones.
Stax headsets aren't quite like any others. The Lambda series sports large rectangular drivers that are held away from the ear at an angle—they're deeper at the front than at the rear. They…