Sidebar 1: Review System
The Monitor Audios were used with a pair of VTL 100W Compact monoblocks, connected with Monster M1 speaker cable, while the preamplifier was a combination of the Mod Squad Line Drive Deluxe AGT and Vendetta Research SCP2 phono preamp. Source components consisted of a Marantz CD-94 CD player used to drive a Sony DAS-R1 D/A converter, a 1975-vintage Revox A77 to play my own 15ips master tapes, and a Linn Linn Sondek/Ekos/Troika setup sitting on a Sound Organisation table to play LPs. Interconnect was Audioquest LiveWire Lapis.
The speakers sat on a pair of…
Sidebar 2: Measurements
Looking at fig.1, the way in which the R300's impedance changes with frequency, the speaker appears to be a kind load, never dropping below 8 ohms. In conjunction with its reasonably high sensitivity—I measured 89.5dB/W/m for the 1kHz 1/3-octave—the R300 should mate well with inexpensive, low-powered amplification.
Fig.1 Monitor Audio R300/MD, electrical impedance (2 ohms/vertical div.).
Measured in the nearfield, the microphone almost touching the dustcap, the bass extension was only moderate, at –6dB at 62Hz, though as can be seen from…
Sidebar 3: Specifications
Description: Two-way, sealed-box, stand-mounted loudspeaker. Drive-units: 0.75" metal-dome tweeter, 8" doped paper-cone woofer. Crossover frequency: 4.2kHz. Frequency response: 50Hz–20kHz ±3dB. Sensitivity: 90dB/W/m. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms. Amplifier requirements: 15–100W.
Dimensions: 18.5" H by 12.5" W by 10" D. Weight: 22 lbs each.
Price: $669/pair (1989); no longer available (2017). Approximate number of dealers: 50.
Manufacturer: Monitor Audio, Cambridge, UK (1989); Monitor Audio Ltd., 24 Brook Road, Rayleigh, Essex SS6 7XJ, England, UK. Tel…
Following my keynote speech at the ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday morning, my beat at the Los Angeles Audio Show was the Sheraton Gateway's 1st and 5th floors. Even with just the two floors, this was a daunting prospect—considering that this was the show's debut, it had a larger number of exhibitors than any of us had anticipated. So without further ado, here's the first of my three reports.
I photographed Vanatoo's Gary Gesellchen outside his room, because when I first visited, it was jam-packed. I had been impressed by Vanatoo's affordable, active, Transparent One bookshelf speakers at…
How to conduct a successful MQA demo when the person requesting same already has made up their mind? That question, or some variation thereof, must have run through the mind of Meridian's SW regional sales manager, Courtney Careccia, when the sole attendee (besides me) in her room on a slow Sunday asked for a non-MQA/MQA comparison on her all-Meridian system. After no more than 45 seconds—it could have been less, but certainly not more—the man asked to switch to the MQA version, listened for a much shorter time, stood up, declared the whole thing was a sham, and marched out the door. It was…
"Ampsandsound is a startup with big promise!"—a text message like this from Herb Reichert and I knew what I had to do.
Curtains were drawn, revealing just a small slab of pale blue sky at the front of the room, where the occasional airplane would pass by. The first system we listened to comprised an Oppo Sonica DAC ($800; Modwright tube output $2500) for volume control feeding, an ampsandsound Stereo 15 amplifier ($2800), and a pair of ampsandsound Hudson speakers ($30,000/pair in rosewood veneer). The source was a Mac mini running Sonic Studio's Amarra Luxe app ($99), which supports…
I tend to be skeptical of tweaks. Too often in the past, I have heard an astonishingly audible difference when the whatever is demonstrated by its promoter, only for any difference to stubbornly disappear when I try the same thingamabob in my own system. But listening to the difference when Isotek's Bjorn Hegelsted replaced the cheap power strip and stock AC cords in a MoFi Distribution system using the impressive but affordable Wharfedale Diamond 225 speakers ($449/pair) driven by a Quad Artera Play CD player ($2199) and Artera Stereo amplifier ($2299) with a star-wired, 6-outlet Isotek…
In the first of two floor rooms from Elite Audio Systems of San Francisco, Viola Audio Labs' Paul Jayson partnered with Elite's Michael Woods to pair the Viola Bravo 2 amplifier ($58,000) and Viola Sonata preamplifier ($35,000) with Kharma DB9 loudspeakers ($37,500/pair), Linn Klimax LP12 turntable ($25,000), Viola cabling (produced by ZenSati), and an Isotek Titan power purifier ($4999) with matching power strip ($1500). Paul's choice of the Speaker Corner reissue of Michelangeli's live 1979 performance of Beethoven Piano Concerto 1, with Giulini and the Vienna Symphony, enabled me to hear…
In the Austin Hifi room, I heard the following: a Linn Sondek LP12 turntable with Ittok LVII tonearm (vintage), a Reson Lexe MC phono cartridge ($2600), a Crimson CS 710 preamplifier with MM/MC phono ($7000), Crimson CS 640E-III mono amplifiers (two pairs; $6000/pair), and Tocaro Model 42 loudspeakers (natural finish, stands included; $14,000/pair)—all connected by Crimson cables. Also pictured but not played during my visit: Resolution Audio Cantata music center ($6495). The exhibitor, Austin Hifi Inc., is the North American distributor for Crimson and Tocaro.
"Natural" doesn't only…
MQA's Bob Stuart comparing PCM and MQA recordings in the Sunny Components room
Despite there now having been many opportunities for audiophiles to compare MQA-encoded recordings with the PCM originals—as well as comparisons at shows and dealer events, the Norwegian 2L record label has offered downloads of MQA/PCM files for quite a long time—there are still members of the press who insist that no-one, other than some reviewers, has been able to perform such comparisons. At the 2017 LAAS, not only were some exhibitors demonstrating MQA—Aurender, Meridian—Covina, CA retailer Sunny Components…
