I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system, a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone, and an Earthworks microphone preamplifier to measure the KEF Blade Two Meta's frequency response in the farfield. I used an Earthworks QTC-40 mike for the nearfield measurements. Because I perform the quasi-anechoic response measurements in-room, I usually place a loudspeaker's tweeter midway between the floor and ceiling, which equalizes the timing of the reflections from those boundaries. But because of the speaker's bulk, I wasn't able to lift it as high as I prefer. The presence of an early…
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The AXIOM tonearm from acoustical systems (footnote 1)—the company prefers lowercase—has been on my To-Review list since I spotted it at Munich High End more than a few years ago, but for one reason or another, that never happened. Until now.
The understated, "lab-grade" AXIOM holds its own visually even when paired with designer D.D. Brakemeier's enormous and equally lab-looking APOLYT turntable. You can take the turntable tour on AnalogPlanet or on Brakemeier's website. That turntable's scale makes even the TechDAS Air Force Zero appear diminutive.
Brakemeier, who describes…
The AXIOM's signal interface is a straight DIN jack within a sturdy metal tube set parallel to the platter. There's no need to dress wires through a mounting hole. I used a Stealth Helios miniDin to RCA cable (footnote 3) after first trying an older, budget cable I had on hand. You can read about Helios cable on the Stealth Cables website; a full description of the technology would take up too much of this column.
Even hard-core "cable deniers" must admit that an ultralow voltage connected to a transformer or phono preamplifier requires careful handling. And yes, along with Helios…
Although Danish company Audiovector was founded in 1979, I had very little experience of its loudspeakers, other than at audio shows (footnote 1), until I measured the Audiovector R 8 Arreté that Jim Austin reviewed in May 2021. Jim nominated the R 8 as his "Editor's Choice" for 2021, writing that "The gorgeous-looking Audiovector took me by surprise, doing things with imaging that I've never heard another loudspeaker do (like hearing a bass note directly behind another bass note)." Jim concluded that the R 8 "is a complicated speaker that sounds simple, sweet, and coherent."
At $75,000…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way, reflex-loaded, floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive units: two 8" (203mm) "Pure Piston" aluminum-sandwich woofers; one 6" (152mm) "Pure Piston" aluminum-sandwich midrange; 1.3" (33mm) × 2.4" (61mm) Air Motion Transformer (AMT) tweeter. Crossover frequencies: 425Hz, 3kHz. Frequency range: 28Hz–52kHz. Nominal impedance: 6 ohms. Sensitivity: 90.5dB/W/m. Power handling: 300W. Supplied accessories: carpet-piercing spikes.
Dimensions: 44.9" (1140mm) H × 9.85" (250mm) W × 15.75" (400mm) D. Weight: 79.65lb (36.2kg) each.
Finish: Dark Walnut,…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog source: Linn Sondek LP12 turntable with Lingo power supply, Linn Ekos tonearm, Linn Arkiv B cartridge, Channel D Seta L phono preamplifier.
Digital sources: Roon Nucleus+ file server; Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP universal player; MBL N31 CD player/DAC; Ayre Acoustics QA-9 A/D converter; NetGear Nighthawk router.
Power amplifiers: Parasound Halo JC 1+ monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Q Acoustics Concept 50.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest Vodka (Ethernet), AudioQuest Coffee (USB), DH Labs (1m, AES3). Interconnect: AudioQuest Wild Blue (balanced).…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone with an Earthworks microphone preamplifier to measure the Audiovector QR 7's farfield frequency response and dispersion. I used an Earthworks QTC-40 mike for the nearfield and in-room responses and Dayton Audio's DATS V2 system to measure the impedance magnitude and electrical phase angle.
Audiovector specifies the QR 7's anechoic sensitivity as 90.5dB/W/m. My estimate was slightly lower, at 88.7dB/2.83V/m, though this is still higher than average. The QR 7's impedance is specified as 6…
It's not every day that someone opens a new brick-and-mortar hi-fi store. A variety of factors make the prospects of such a venture uncertain at best. Hi-fi industry veteran Michael Klein, though, has the guts and seasoned-salesman charm to make a go of it.
I was curious to check out Stereo Stereo, Klein's new dealership in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (footnote 1). I wanted to find out how a brick-and-mortar shop like his can compete and coexist with other retailers, especially online retailers.
Stereo Stereo isn't Klein's first stereo rodeo; in fact, it's his third. He opened his…
When I was a young man, blind dates were always laced with anxiety. (Proms were even worse. Once, when I arrived in a rented tux and my father's prized dress gloves, my date's father ordered me to take out the trash.)
More than half a century later, blind dates—now with review equipment—remain fraught. Sure, expectations and the frisson of unknowns heighten the experience, but if it isn't a good match, I'm stuck for the duration of our time together. If a component sounds so mediocre that I can't be sure what's on a recording, the review and my joy are compromised. When music's emotion…
"You can use our amplifiers with horns and high-efficiency loudspeakers and not hear any noise. When we introduced our 300B amplifiers, people were surprised that they didn't need a mute because there was no noise. People can't believe that it's possible to get rid of the old limitations."
Moderately biased impressions
At 145.5lb and close to 28" high and 19" deep and costing $80,000/pair, Octave's Jubilee Mono SE is the largest, most expensive amplifier I've ever reviewed—$32,500/pair more than my reference D'Agostino Progression M550 monoblocks ($47,500/pair).
With eight…