"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…
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Larry Greenhill wrote about the Snell Type B in a February 1992 Follow-Up (Vol.15 No.2):
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…
Two months ago, at the audio expo in Tampa, I stumbled upon a pair of most intriguing French speakers. The $8000/pair Diptyque 107 is a medium-sized planar magnetic whose designers, Gilles Douziech and Eric Poix, make no secret of their love for Magnepan. All the same, the duo has sought to improve on that company's famed panel technology, mostly by addressing a perennial shortcoming of such dipoles: their lack of deep bass.
To my delight, the 107s indeed played low frequencies as if there was a subwoofer somewhere in the room. I didn't have the time for a proper show report then, but…
If you're like me and the topic turns to active speakers, you'll probably think of affordable products. Maybe the mighty $649 Vanatoo Transparent One Encore comes to mind, or the sub-$1000 powerhouse that is a pair of SVS Prime Pro wireless speakers. The KEF LS50W is a strong contender even at $2800, and if your budget allows, you might consider Buchardt A5s ($3900/pair).
Beyond that, my sense is that most red-meat audiophiles are going to spring for multiple separate components, despite there being something vaguely masochistic about that often prolonged ordeal of trial, error, and…
As I think I wrote somewhere, it's one thing to hear equipment at a show, another thing to hear it at home. I meant to imply that, of course, at home is the only way to truly hear a piece, in your reference system.
But at AXPONA, where George Counnas (center) and Carolyn Counnas (right) debuted their new Zesto Audio Eros 500 Select KT-150 equipped, class-A monoblocks, with Zesto Audio's Leto Ultra II preamp, which I reviewed in January 2021, I was flummoxed at the beauty of sound, extravagance of liquidity and detail, and nearly spiritual physicality the system endowed to a variety of…