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Clearly though, this speaker was not immune to placement/boundary issues. More effort in positioning them was the only remaining option, so I moved them around. They ended up not far from where they started but somewhat closer to me (10.5' rather than 12') and closer together (7.5' rather than 8'). The Super Bass Traps I keep on the sidewalls were moved from just in front of the speakers to a position behind them. Given the wide horizontal dispersion of the S7t, it seems likely, in retrospect, that the traps were absorbing a significant amount of the medium- and high-frequency early…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Four-way loudspeaker in bass-reflex (or sealed) enclosure. Drive-units: 28mm beryllium-dome and two 28mm thin-ply carbon-diaphragm tweeters in a "DPC" waveguide; four 180mm thin-ply carbon-diaphragm woofers. Crossover frequencies: 500Hz, 1.1kHz, 4.4kHz. Frequency response: 80Hz–20kHz (±1.5dB), 22Hz–37kHz (–10dB). Typical in-room bass extension: 16Hz. Impedance: 4 ohms (3.2 ohms minimum). Sensitivity: 92dB/2.83V/m. Recommended amplifier power: 100–600W RMS. SPL capability (100Hz–20kHz): 117dB peak at <2% 2nd and 3rd harmonics.
Dimensions: 51.…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: Oppo Digital UDP-105 universal disc player, custom Baetis Prodigy-X4i music server running JRiver Media Center v28 and Roon 1.8, exaSound s88 streaming DAC and Okto DAC8 Pro D/A processor. QNAP TVS-873 NAS for file storage.
Preamplifiers: 3 Topping Pre90 for gain/buffer. Coleman Audio 7.1SW for source switching.
Power amplifiers: Benchmark AHB2, NAD C 298.
Loudspeakers: Revel Ultima2 Studio with IsoAcoustics Gaia I isolation feet. Revel Performa3 F206 for surrounds. Two SVS SB-3000 & one SB-2000Pro subwoofers.
Cables:…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The center of the Perlisten S7t's DPC high-frequency driver array is just 32" from the floor. While the distributor had placed the loudspeaker on a 3"-high dolly when he delivered it, I wasn't able to lift the speaker any higher for the measurements. (It weighs 122.5lb.) I therefore performed my farfield frequency response measurements at 1m rather than my usual 50" in order to push the reflections from the floor as far back in time as possible.
(I allowed for the slight tiltback of the loudspeaker's front baffle, to ensure that the microphone was on the…
John Coltrane: A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle
Impulse!/UMe (CD B0034290-02, LP B0034291-01, download). 2021. Ravi Coltrane, prod.; Kevin Reeves, eng.
Performance *****
Sonics ***½
Impulse!/UMe (CD B0034290-02, LP B0034291-01, download). 2021. Ravi Coltrane, prod.; Kevin Reeves, eng.
Performance *****
Sonics ***½
John Coltrane's career as a bandleader can be divided, with haphazard tidiness, into three periods. His so-called classic quartet with pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison, and drummer Elvin Jones, which deserves every bit of its legendary status, dominates the 1962–1965 middle section and encompasses Coltrane's greatest achievements. Before that was the ramp-up and after lay the free jazz…
In the summer of 2021, MoFi Distribution's Jonathan Derda emailed me about the South Korean HiFi Rose brand. "This brand strikes me as being the spiritual successor to the original SlimDevices Transporter and Squeezebox Touch," he wrote. "We're all really excited about it."
I bought a Wi-Fi–connected Slim Devices Squeezebox at the beginning of 2006, to experiment with streaming. When Slim Devices released the high-performance Transporter, I was sufficiently impressed that I purchased the review sample after measuring it for Wes Phillips's review in the February 2007 issue. I used the…
The last setup step I performed was to select the blue "Micintosh style" [sic] illumination for the front-panel VU meters. Three things I didn't try: the RoseFM tuner function and playing back and ripping CDs. (Both of these require an external CD-ROM drive to be attached.) I also didn't try connecting the RS250's HDMI output to an external monitor, as there was no room on my equipment rack.
Listening
For my first listening session, I selected the HiFi Rose RS250's network connection as Roon's active Audio Zone and played files from the internal hard drive I had fitted to my…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Roon Ready music streamer/digital processor, with ES9038Q2M DAC, dual-core Cortex-A72 processor up to 1.8GHz, and quad-core Cortex-A53 up to 1.4GHz, running Android 7.1 and compatible with Airplay, DLNA, Roon, Spotify Connect, Tidal, Qobuz, Bugs, Internet Radio, RoseTube (YouTube), and RosePodcast. Display: 8.8" TFT LCD & capacitive touchscreen (MIPI-DSI). Digital audio inputs: one each coaxial S/ PDIF, TosLink S/PDIF, USB, Ethernet network port; USB ports. Analog inputs: 1 pair single-ended on RCA jacks. Digital audio outputs: USB, S/PDIF…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: Roon Nucleus+ music server; MBL N31 CD player/DAC; Ayre Acoustics QB-9 Twenty D/A processor.
Power amplifiers: Parasound Halo JC 1+ monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: GoldenEar BRX, PSB Synchrony T600.
Headphones: Audeze LCD-X, Sennheiser HD-650, AudioQuest NightHawk.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest Vodka (Ethernet), AudioQuest OptiLink 5 (TosLink). Interconnect: AudioQuest Wild Blue (balanced) & Fire (single-ended). Speaker: AudioQuest Robin Hood. Headphone: Nordost Heimdall with Audeze LCD-X. AC: AudioQuest Dragon Source &…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured the HiFi Rose RS250 with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 As We See It), repeating some tests with the magazine's more recent Audio Precision APx500 analyzer.
I first looked at the RS250's performance as a D/A processor. Apple's USB Prober utility identified the HiFi Rose as "RS250-DAC" from "HiFi ROSE." The USB port operated in the optimal isochronous asynchronous mode, and Apple's AudioMIDI utility revealed that the RS250 accepted 16-, 24-, and 32-bit integer data via USB sampled at all rates from 44.1kHz to 768kHz. The…