According to Snell, the Type B is the first loudspeaker to incorporate the most recent research into optimizing the way a loudspeaker interacts with the listening room. In particular, the B…
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The Snell Type B is the culmination of three years' research and development effort by designer Kevin Voecks. Along the way, various iterations of the B have been shown at Consumer Electronics Shows. Like other Snell models, the facilities of Canada's National Research Council were used extensively during the B's development, both their anechoic chamber and their double-blind listening techniques.
Sidebar 1: Robert Harley's Reference System
The Type Bs were primarily driven by the reference VTL 225W tubed monoblocks, and briefly by a Jeff Rowland Model 1 solid-state unit. I have recently replaced the Audio Research SP11 Mk.II preamp with Audio Research's superb LS2 line stage and the latest version of the Vendetta Research phono preamp. The analog front end was a Well-Tempered Turntable and modified Well-Tempered Arm, fitted with an AudioQuest 7000 cartridge (see my "Follow-Up" in this issue). Digital sources included the Theta Data transport, Theta DS Pro Prime D/A, Audio Research…
Sidebar 2: Measurements
Though John Atkinson measured the Type Bs when they were delivered to Santa Fe, he refrained from giving me the data until after I'd finished the auditioning.
The B's impedance magnitude and phase angle with the rear tweeter on (which lowers the impedance above 8kHz) are shown in fig.1. The curve with the large peak at 1kHz is with the treble control at maximum, the flatter curve with it set at minimum. The minimum impedance was 2.7 ohms at 2.8kHz (tweeter level maximum) and 4.5 ohms at 250Hz (tweeter level at minimum). The impedance phase angle was fairly…
Larry Greenhill wrote about the Snell Type B in a February 1992 Follow-Up (Vol.15 No.2):
"It's difficult to make a loudspeaker that's room-proof," said Tom Norton, as we were discussing the Snell Acoustic Corporation's new Type B, four-way, 6-driver, full-range dynamic loudspeaker system introduced at the June 1991 Chicago Consumer Electronic Show. He and I were trying to make sense of conflicting listening reports about the Type B gathered from the magazine's writers over the preceding five months. What could have caused the wide variance in opinion? Might it be the result of the…
Sidebar 3: Larry Greenhill's Reference System
My associated equipment included such comparison loudspeakers as the Quad ESL-63/Gradient subwoofer system and Krell KSA-250, and the newest version of the Bryston 4B.
The Quads and the Snell A/III's midrange/tweeter section were driven by the No.27 via 15' runs of Monster Cable. The Quad/Gradient subwoofer and the A/III's woofer section were driven by the Krell KSA-250 and the Bryston 4B via HF10C Levinson speaker cables. The Quad system was used with its own Gradient crossover unit and balanced interconnects; the Type A/III…
Sidebar 4: Specifications
Description: Four-way, six-driver, floor-standing dynamic loudspeaker. Amplitude response: 20–20kHz ±1.5dB in anechoic half space with 1/5-octave averaging on the listening axis. Horizontal off-axis response: 100Hz–15kHz ±2dB, 0–45°. Total radiated power: 600Hz–18kHz ±1dB, 20Hz–18kHz ±3.5dB. Impedance magnitude: 8 ohms average, 4 ohms minimum. Impedance phase: +45° at 20Hz (maximum). Crossover frequencies and slopes: see technical description.
Dimensions: 25" W by 48" H by 19" D. Weight: 152lb each (shipping).
Finishes: black, light oak, dark oak, walnut…
Kevin Voecks Responds
Editor: Thank you for the opportunity to comment on Mr. Harley's review. I am pleased that he noted the Type B's ability to play at high volume levels "without any sense of strain or congestion," and that "It was especially rewarding to hear full-scale orchestral climaxes reproduced with effortlessness and ease." Mr. Harley also noted that "The B's tonal balance was quite smooth through most of the band. The treble was well balanced to the rest of the spectrum..." I would have to agree, with his system and setup as described, that the Bs had excessive bass and a…
RAAL-requisite's co-owner Danny McKinney
As audiophiles, we strive almost obsessively for a low noise floor and no distractions, only to be spectacularly thwarted when we evaluate equipment in a retail or show environment. Around us, people are entering and exiting, and often talking up a storm. The air conditioner is set to a low drone. Bass notes leak in from the next room over. AXPONA's cavernous Ear Gear space, where more than two dozen manufacturers of headphones and related equipment were demonstrating their wares, was awash with buzzing, excited people—the best kind of noise,…
I wasn't necessarily expecting to find Alon Wolf (right) striking dangling bars of aluminum with a small mallet. Had Magico's celebrated designer embarked on a second career as a percussionist? Nah. He was demonstrating to Stereophile Editor Jim Austin (left) and myself that aluminum, which Magico has long used as the ideal material for its enclosures, rings, but can also be very effectively dampened by sandwiching a proprietary elastomer between two layers of it. The first (untreated) bar rang like a bell. The second one had a padded adhesive backing that took away about 80% of the effect.…
Picture this: the Devialet Phantom, reviewed by Jim Austin here, is suddenly sphere-shaped rather than pill-shaped. Now imagine shrinking it down to the girth of a fat grapefruit (or the size of a Cabasse iO3 speaker)—so, a little under 7" in diameter. The Phantom's push-push configuration remains the same, so you'll see the opposing drivers subjected to violent-looking excursions, tortured by brutal bass notes.
That's the gist of the Mania, a pocket-sized, battery-operated Devialet speaker (well, pocket-sized if you don't mind wearing cargo pants). Yes, it's a Bluetooth device, though it…