It's true that the TAD bears…
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Two of the five loudspeakers reviewed in our July issue were designed by Andrew Jones: the $29,800/pair TAD Evolution One and the $129.99/pair Pioneer SP-BS22-LR (footnote 1). I did the math. You can buy 229 pairs of the Pioneer for the price of a single pair of the TAD. Which is the better deal? Which would result in more happiness? Imagine keeping one pair of the Pioneers, and delivering the other 228 pairs to friends and family. Or donating them to schools. The possibilities are great. How much fun can you have with just a single pair of speakers, anyway?
Pioneer's biggest dealer is Best Buy. There's probably one in your neighborhood. "With such a large retailer," Andrew Jones explained, "we had a very clear idea of potential sales quantities with month-by-month projections. This allowed for very strong negotiations on price."
When Jones began work on the prototype for the SP-BS22-LR's predecessor, the blah-blah-blah-21-LR, he ignored general cost considerations and simply built the speaker he wanted to build. Imagine that. For a talented and ambitious engineer or artist, such freedom must be fantastic—until it becomes overwhelming. Yet…
Recently, my wife and I made a trip to Europe, where we heard some great music in some great halls. Those concerts reinforced my already strongly held opinion that the acoustic of the venue is a major determinant of the sound of music heard in that venue, and that each space has its own sound. One evening in Amsterdam, we heard Iván Fischer conduct the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in their own hall, the Concertgebouw, in a concert that underscored this interaction of performance and place.
The concert seemed to me to be badly programmed, and I predicted that the three Beethoven…
Third, the Optimizer will compute a digital filter set to correct for the frequency response, distance, and level of each speaker. This is, on the face of it, comparable to what's done by other room-equalization systems, such as Audyssey, Anthem's ARC, Pioneer's MCACC, Yamaha's YPAO, etc. Unlike those automatic procedures, Trinnov's Optimizer permits the user to design target EQ curves for each and every speaker, and to store multiple target corrections for different applications; eg, two-channel music, multichannel music, and home-theater surround. In addition, it can store corrections…
In our September issue, I wrote about Pioneer’s excellent SP-BS22-LR loudspeaker. At just $129.99/pair (and often discounted), the SP-BS22-LR represents extraordinary value and may very well attract a wider and younger audience to true high-fidelity sound. The only thing I don’t really like about the speaker is its tongue-twister of a name. (But that’s easy to forgive. Most people can’t pronounce my name, either.)
While preparing the review, I took the opportunity to ask Andrew Jones, Pioneer’s chief engineer, a few questions about hi-fi, music, and loudspeaker design. As always, Jones…
Muse Kastanovich reviewed the Thiel CS1.5 in November 1995 (Vol.18 No.11):
Sam Tellig has already written about the $1990/pair Thiel CS1.5 at some length in Stereophile, so you may want to look and see what he had to say about them (Vol.17 No.8, p.39). JA gave me the go signal to write up a full review with technical descriptions and everything, so don't blame me for redundancy. Just think of Sam's words as a Lead-Up instead of my words as a Follow-Up, and it all makes sense.
The CS1.5, Thiel's second smallest speaker, is a two-way system with a passive radiator mounted below the…
All was not bliss in ThieLand, though. A dark cloud hung over the bucolic scene, casting an ominous shadow that warned of things to come. Using a metal-coned woofer is great in terms of transient speed, but that resonance at 7kHz could be a bit nasty. Throughout my listening I was aware of a small amount of unmusical hash in the upper treble. It was worse if they were pointed toward me at all, so I mostly listened with no toe-in. This roughness was very minimal and did not bother me unless I was intent upon being critical. It was there, however; I wonder if these speakers might sound even…
Sidebar 1: MK’s System
The CD player used for my debut Stereophile review was a Kinergetics KCD-20B that I've modified somewhat. (I promise not to modify anything while I'm reviewing it!) Recently, I've been using the best preamp in the world: no preamp at all. What? I don't listen to vinyl? I must not be a real audiophile. The power amplifiers currently in my system are Nelson Pass–designed 15W single-ended "Zen" monoblocks (footnote 1). They have just one large MOSFET in the signal path, and I have to tell you they sound wonderful because I built them. I pick flowers to give to them,…
Sidebar 2: Measurements
Other than impedance, all acoustic measurements were made with the DRA Labs MLSSA system and a calibrated B&K 4006 microphone. To minimize reflections from the test setup, the measuring microphone is flush-mounted inside the end of a long tube. Reflections of the speaker's sound from the mike-stand hardware will be sufficiently delayed not to affect the measurement.
Fig.1 Thiel CS1.5, electrical impedance (solid) and phase (dashed) (2 ohms/vertical div.).
The Thiel is moderately sensitive at a calculated 86.5dB/W/m (B-weighted). Its…
Sidebar 3: Specifications
Description: Two-way, floorstanding loudspeaker with passive radiator. Drive-units: one 6.5" metal-cone woofer, one 1" metal-dome tweeter. Frequency response: 42Hz–22kHz, ±3dB. Phase response: minimum ±10°. Sensitivity: 86dB/2.8V/m. Impedance: 4 ohms nominal, 3 ohms minimum. Maximum power handling: 150W.
Dimensions: 8.5" W by 11" D by 33" H. Weight: 42 lbs.
Finishes available: a variety of real-wood veneers with black fronts and black grillecloths.
Serial numbers of units reviewed: Not noted (ST); 0663 & 0664 (MK).
Price: $1990/pair (1995); no…