The Alumine Three (footnote 1) is a slender, floorstanding speaker measuring 41.3" high, 9.8" wide, and just 13" deep. Because it contains four sturdy drivers bolted to a…
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The made-in-Switzerland Stenheim Alumine Three floorstanding loudspeaker sells for $32,900/pair. It is not only the most expensive component I've reviewed for Stereophile; it costs more than 10 times (!) as much as my $3000/pair reference Falcon Acoustics Gold Badge LS3/5a speaker. So naturally I wondered: Will it sound 10 times better? And if it does sound 10 times better, what might the nature of the improvements be?
According to Panchard, "the listener should form an equilateral triangle with the speakers, or an isosceles triangle where the speakers are closer together than they are to the listener. This will likely result in the most faithful stereo image." He added, "The distance from the back wall should be between 18 and 60 inches."
In my room, the Stenheim Alumine Threes appeared to take up less cubic space and felt smaller and less bulky than the Harbeth M30.2s (on stands) or my floorstanding DeVore Fidelity O/93s. My partner, "bb," said, "They make your room look bigger ... and nicer." I…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: 3-way floorstanding speaker with two 8" coated paper-cone woofers, a 5.25" paper-cone midrange driver and a silk-dome tweeter with neodymium magnets, enclosed in an aluminum cabinet with two chambers, one with laminar-flow front port. Frequency range: 32Hz–35kHz. Sensitivity: 93dB/2.83V/m, half space. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms (minimum 3 ohms). Power handling: 150W RMS, 300W peak. Minimum recommended amplifier power: 10W.
Dimensions: 41.3" (1050mm) H × 9.8" (250mm) W × 13" (330mm) D including adjustable feet. Weight: 154lb (70kg).
Finish:…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: Dr. Feickert Analogue Blackbird turntable with Schick 10.5" tonearm, Koetsu Rosewood Signature Platinum, My Sonic Lab Ultra Eminent Ex, Hana Umami moving coil cartridges; DS Audio DS003 optical phono cartridge (with equalizer/energizer).
Digital sources: Roon Nucleus+ music server; HoloAudio May (Level 3) D/A processor; dCS Bartók DAC/Streamer with Mosaic control app.
Preamplification: Lundahl LL1931Ag step-up transformer, Kitsuné KTE LCR-1 MK4 and EAR Phono Classic phono stages; Rogue Audio RP-7 linestage.
Power amplifiers:…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Stenheim Alumine Three's frequency response in the farfield and an Earthworks QTC-40 mike for the nearfield responses. (I measured serial number 20030028.) Owing to the Alumine Three's weight—approximately 154lb—I wasn't able to lift the loudspeaker as high off the ground as I like to do for the farfield measurements. As this meant that the reflections of the speaker's output from the floor were closer in time to the direct sound, I had to window the impulse response data more…
Register to win one of two Rhino Déjà vu 50th Anniversary Deluxe D2C Vinyl Editions (value $250.00 each), or a limited edition 16"x20" Henry Diltz photo signed by all four members of CSNY (value: $1,500/priceless) we are giving away.
According to Rhino:
This version is only available for purchase on the official CSNY store and Rhino Store, and features the remastered original album and four additional LPs of demos, outtakes, early versions, and alternate versions of songs recorded during the Déjà vu sessions.
Presented as a 5 LP set in a beautiful box with a 12 x 12…
New York City is a dream you can't have—glitz, glamor, grime, too much to take in from within, too much to understand from afar. It's a metropolitan manifestation of the Heisenberg principle, its nature changing with how you look at it. No matter how you try, you can't see the forest for the skyscrapers.
Seen from the distance of my Illinois adolescence, New York was Woody Allen movies and Barney Miller reruns, intellectuals and petty criminals, the intoxicating and the incomprehensible. It was a rock'n'roll city, the rock'n'roll city, home of Kiss (my first love), then the Ramones, then…
Today is Monday. Since Saturday, I have changed the amplifier driving my Falcon Gold Badge LS3/5a speakers three times—from the Parasound Halo A21+ (250Wpc into 8 ohms) to the Pass Labs XA25 (>25Wpc into 8 ohms) to the Elekit TU-8600S (9Wpc into 8 ohms). Now I am listening to the Falcons via the just-arrived RAAL-requisite HSA-1b headphone and speaker amplifier. This unusual, made-in-Serbia amp is priced at $4500. It's specified to produce 10Wpc into 8 ohms, 20Wpc into 4 ohms, 40Wpc into 2 ohms, and 55Wpc into 1 ohm, these values from the loudspeaker output
Just before I installed the…
Throughout Origins, the scale and air-moving power of these not– Carnegie Hall instruments was presented less transparently but with more earthy color and fleshy body than with the Pass Labs XA25. Overall, with the SR1a, the RAAL HSA-1b delivered a richer, meatier, more colorful sound.
Vs Jotunheim R
Schiit Audio's Jotunheim R amplifier was designed and built for just one purpose: to deliver up to 13 amps directly into RAAL's low-impedance SR1a ribbon headphones. If you buy the Jot-R from Schiit, it costs $799, or $999 with Schiit's True Multibit DAC card installed. The Jot-R may…
The members of Big Thief, clockwise from front: Adrianne Lenker (guitar, vocals), James Krivchenia (drums), Max Oleartchik (bass), and Buck Meek (guitar, backing vocals). Photo: Michael Buishas.
As the title of a fan blog puts it, indie is not a genre. It is potentially every genre. It's an attitude, an approach, a commitment to self-expression without regard to, or in spite of, mainstream demands. It's the blend that nobody can label, the outré, the ahead-of-its-time, the defiantly retro.
As emotionally satisfying as that wide-ranging definition is, the recording of indie music…