search

Vimberg Mino loudspeaker Measurements

Sidebar 3: Measurements

I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Vimberg Mino's frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 mike for the nearfield and in-room responses. The 159lb loudspeaker was too bulky for me to move it outside for the testing. I therefore had to do the quasi-anechoic measurements in my listening room, where the proximity of room boundaries necessarily led to aggressive windowing of the time-domain data, which reduced the graphs' resolution in the midrange.

Vimberg specifies the Mino's sensitivity as…

Dutch & Dutch 8c active loudspeaker system John Atkinson April 2020

John Atkinson wrote about the Dutch & Dutch 8C in April 2020 (Vol.43 No.4):

Kalman Rubinson very favorably reviewed the three-way, active Dutch & Dutch 8c ($12,500/pair) in the August 2019 issue of Stereophile. "The D&D 8c demonstrates that active, DSP-empowered speakers are the future," he concluded, adding, "the Dutch & Dutch 8c might be the sweet spot in the new category of active speakers. It's a truly full-range system with enough dynamic range and power for almost any domestic situation."

I was impressed by what I found when measuring the Dutch & Dutch 8c…

How to Help Musicians--Updated

You probably heard the news: record claims for unemployment benefits, indeed, five times the previous record from 1982. Our economy has never been shut down quite so completely and suddenly. Those most affected are service workers: cooks, waiters, retail clerks—and the people who make the music we love.

Every performance venue in New York City is shut down—and also in the rest of the state. There are no live gigs here for musicians--and that's true many other places in the US and across the world.

Studios, too, are shut down: "I really don't know of any [recording sessions] that…

From 78 to 24/384

When I was 11, my father brought home the voice of tenor Enrico Caruso (1873–1921) in a three-LP box set whose faux leather cover and sepia-tinted photos I admired over and over. When he put on the Sextet from Lucia di Lammermoor, I exclaimed, "Daddy, I've heard that before!"

"Yeah, you broke it when you were 2," he replied.

I was weaned on opera. With all that Italianate passion bubbling in my blood, reconnecting with the voices of Caruso and Galli-Curci felt like coming home. While Elvis, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Little Richard, and then Donovan soon joined them—I used…

ProAc Response D2R loudspeaker

Between the mid-1980s and late 2000s, Stereophile published 14 reviews of loudspeakers from England's ProAc Limited. First came Dick Olsher's review of the ProAc Tablette in 1984. The latest—until now—was in 2010, when John Marks wrote about the ProAc Response D Two.

Then, in 2016, came the passing of US ProAc distributor Richard Gerberg, of Modern Audio Consultants, and for some time the company's products weren't available stateside.

"We lost our importer in the USA a few years ago, and it took a little while to find a replacement," wrote ProAc's founder, CEO, and head designer…

ProAc Response D2R loudspeaker Page 2

At the urging of various audiophiles, I recently purchased a pair of 24" Sanus NF24B Natural Foundations wooden speaker stands as an alternative to my 24" nonfilled Atacama metal stands, which I lugged home from England in the mid-1990s. I used both stands with the ProAcs. The Sanus stands created better tone and more generous low-end warmth yet lacked the extreme image specificity and occasionally forward treble brought by the Atacama stands.

Listening
After two weeks of break-in, during which I streamed music from Tidal at a low level on my Asus laptop, the D2R impressed me…

ProAc Response D2R loudspeaker Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Description: Two-way, stand-mounted, reflex-loaded loudspeaker. Drive-units: 2.75" (70mm) ProAc ribbon tweeter, 6.5" (165mm) SEAS/ProAc midrange/woofer. Sensitivity: "88.5dB." Recommended amplifier power: 30–150Wpc.
Dimensions: 17"(430mm) H × 8" (203mm) W × 9.75" (248mm) D. Weight: 24.2lb (11kg).
Finishes: Black Ash, Mahogany, Cherry, Walnut, Natural Oak, and Silk White. Also available at extra cost in Rosewood and Ebony.
Serial numbers of units reviewed: D2/002890 (both).
Price: $4500/pair for standard finishes. Approximate number of dealers: 51…

ProAc Response D2R loudspeaker Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Analog sources: Kuzma Stabi R turntable with Kuzma 4Point 11" tonearm and Hana ML MC phono cartridge; Thorens TD 124 turntable with Jelco 350S tonearm and Hana EL MC phono cartridge.
Digital sources: Asus PC streaming Tidal; BorderPatrol DAC SE.
Preamplification: Tavish Audio Design Adagio phono stage.
Integrated amplifiers: Cary SLI-80HS, Schiit Ragnarok 2.
Loudspeakers: DeVore Orangutan O/93.
Cables: Interconnect: Shindo Laboratory. Speaker: Auditorium 23. AC: manufacturers' own.
Accessories: IsoTek EVO3 Aquarius line conditioner…

ProAc Response D2R loudspeaker Measurements

Sidebar 3: Measurements

I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system to measure the ProAc Response D2R, using a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone for the farfield behavior and an Earthworks QTC-40 mike for the nearfield responses. Though ProAc specifies the Response D2R's sensitivity as 88.5dB, presumably for 1W at 1m, my estimate was somewhat lower, at 85dB(B)/2.83V/m.

The ProAc's specified impedance is 8 ohms; the solid trace in fig.1 reveals that, other than two regions in the midbass and lower midrange, the impedance remains above 8 ohms for the entire audioband. The minimum value is 6.22 ohms…

Listening #208: Rogers LS3/5a

In my January 2020 Listening column, I wrote about a place where three things overlap: the joys (and benefits) of being a record collector, the natural tendency to grow and challenge ourselves as listeners, and the need to forgive ourselves for the shortcomings of our youth. The hook was the story of how I started out disliking the music of guitarist John Fahey (1939–2001) and ended up loving it. But it could just as easily have been about cooking or hiking or Jethro Tull or any of a number of other things.

At the end of that bit, I invited readers to send in their own such stories, and…