Description: Two-way, stand-mounted loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1.06" by 1.31" High-Velocity Folded Ribbon (HVFR) tweeter, 6" polypropylene-cone woofer, two 6.5" side-mounted planar passive radiators. Measured crossover frequency: 3.5kHz. Frequency range: 42Hz–35kHz. Sensitivity: 89dB. Nominal impedance: compatible with 8 ohms. Recommended amplification: 10-200Wpc.
Dimensions: 8" (205mm) W by 12" (310mm) H by 10" (255mm) D. Weight: 12 lbs (5.5kg) net, 14 lbs (6.4kg) shipping.
Finishes: Wraparound black grillecloth and piano-gloss black endcap.
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Sidebar 1: Specifications
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: VPI TNT IV, Rega Planar 3 turntables; Immedia, Syrinx PU-3 tonearms; Koetsu Urushi, Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood cartridges.
Digital Sources: Lector CDP-7T, Creek Destiny CD players.
Preamplification: Vendetta Research SCP-2D, Creek Destiny phono stages; Audio Valve Eclipse line stage.
Power Amplifier: Audio Research Reference 75.
Integrated Amplifier: Creek Destiny.
Loudspeakers: Dynaudio Excite X12, Epos M5i, Monitor Silver RX6.
Cables: Interconnect (all MIT): Magnum M3, MI-350 CVTwin Terminator, MI-330SG Terminator.…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system (www.mlssa.com) and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the GoldenEar Aon 2's frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 for the nearfield responses. The Aon 2's voltage sensitivity is specified as an above-average 89dB; my estimate was significantly lower, at 86.2dB(B)/2.83V. The speaker's impedance dips below 6 ohms in the mid-treble and midrange, reaching a minimum value of 3.5 ohms at 190Hz (fig.1). There are also combinations of a lowish magnitude and highish electrical phase angle in two regions: 100–…
Register to win a Audioquest Dragonfly DAC and Grado SR80i Headphones (MSRP $298) from Needle Doctor we are giving away.
According to Needle Doctor:
Whether you are a budding audiophile or a serious enthusiast in need of a mobile solution, the following package is for you. The Audioquest Dragonfly and Grado SR80s are not only Needle Doctor staff favorites individually, but they work great as a pair.
The versatile Audioquest Dragonfly is first a high quality USB DAC capable of decoding up to 24bit/96kHz digital files of any format. It is also an adept headphone amplifier…
I would never have placed Marc Cary and Matthew Shipp in the same category of jazz pianists, but their superb new solo discs—Cary’s For the Love of Abbey (Motema) and Shipp’s Piano Sutras (Thirsty Ear)—find them converging toward close points from different angles.
They’ve risen out of different influences: Cary, 47, shaped by his stints with the singers Betty Carter and Abbey Lincoln; Shipp, 53, more in the school of Cecil Taylor and Ran Blake, racking up years with Roscoe Mitchell and David S. Ware.
On his latest, though, Cary clangs the piano’s lower registers and flits…
Sonus Faber is an iconic Italian high-end company whose loudspeakers have always evinced innovative technical design, superb construction, spectacular appearance, and great sound. I was intrigued with the design and performance of their stand-mounted Extrema (reviewed by Martin Colloms in the June 1992 Stereophile, Vol.15 No.6), which combined a proprietary soft-dome tweeter and a mineral-loaded polypropylene-cone woofer with an electrodynamically damped but passive KEF B139 driver that occupied the entire rear panel. I was fascinated by their Homage models, named for the Cremona violin…
Sound
Getting down to the nitty-gritty—not that there was anything gritty about these speakers—the 2.5s were superb in their rendering of voices and solo instruments. Renée Fleming singing Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," from her Dark Hope (CD, Decca 80014186-2), sounded as creamy-rich as I have heard her through speakers costing several times as much as these—and Marianne Beate Kielland's voice in her Come Away, Death (in a free 24-bit/192kHz PCM download; SACD/CD, 2L 2L-064-SACD) seemed to be suspended in the space above my center speaker—which, of course, was not even connected. Deeper…
Getting down to the nitty-gritty—not that there was anything gritty about these speakers—the 2.5s were superb in their rendering of voices and solo instruments. Renée Fleming singing Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," from her Dark Hope (CD, Decca 80014186-2), sounded as creamy-rich as I have heard her through speakers costing several times as much as these—and Marianne Beate Kielland's voice in her Come Away, Death (in a free 24-bit/192kHz PCM download; SACD/CD, 2L 2L-064-SACD) seemed to be suspended in the space above my center speaker—which, of course, was not even connected. Deeper…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Floorstanding, 2.5-way, reflex-loaded loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1.1" (29mm) fabric-dome tweeter, 7" (180mm) Curv-cone mid/woofer, 7" (180mm) Curv-cone woofer. Crossover frequencies: 250Hz, 2.5kHz. Frequency response on reference axis: 40Hz–25kHz, ±3dB. Sensitivity: 89dB/2.83V/m. Nominal impedance: 6 ohms. Recommended amplification: 40–250W into 8 ohms on unclipped program. Long-term maximum input voltage (IEC-268-5): 22V RMS.
Dimensions: 43.2" (1107mm) H by 13.3" (340mm) W by 17" (437mm) D. Weight: 42.8 lbs (19.45kg).
Finishes: Black or…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: Oppo BDP-103 universal BD player & modified DV-980 universal DVD player, Trinnov MC processor.
Preamplification: Marantz AV-8801 preamplifier-processor.
Power Amplifier: Bryston 9B-STT.
Loudspeakers: Paradigm Studio/60 v3, Paradigm Reference Servo-15 & Studio Sub 15 subwoofers.
Cables: HDMI: AudioQuest Vodka. Interconnect: Kubala-Sosna Fascination balanced. Speaker: Kubala-Sosna Fascination. AC: Kubala-Sosna Emotion.
Accessories: APC S-15 power conditioner.—Kalman Rubinson
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Sonus Faber Venere 2.5's frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 for the nearfield responses. The Sonus Faber's voltage sensitivity is specified as 89dB/2.83V/m; my estimate was a little lower than that, at 87.7dB(B)/2.83V/m. The impedance is specified as 6 ohms; the Venere 2.5's impedance magnitude and electrical phase, plotted against frequency, are shown in fig.1. There is quite a large variation of impedance with frequency, the magnitude remaining below 6…