Analog sources: Dr. Feickert Analogue Blackbird turntable with EMT 912-HI tonearm and EMT JSD 6 moving coil cartridge; Sorane SA-1.2 tonearm with Dynavector XX2A, Audio-Technica ART20, Denon DL-103, and Hana Umami Blue moving coil cartridges. SunValley EQ-1616D, MoFi MasterPhono, Prima Luna EVO 100, and Schiit Stjarna phono stages; EM/IA SUT 103.
Digital sources: dCS Lina with Master Clock, HoloAudio Spring 3 KTE, and Denafrips Terminator Plus DACs; TEAC VRDS-701T, Sparkler Audio S515t, and Shanling ET3 CD transports.
Preamplifier: HoloAudio Serene…
search
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way standmount loudspeaker. Drive units: waveguide-loaded custom AMT tweeter, 4" PURIFI Ushindi mid-woofer (PTT4.0X04-NLC-02). Two 4" PURIFI Ushindi passive radiators (PTT4.0PR-NF2-01). Crossover frequency: 2.3kHz. Frequency response: 40Hz–22kHz ±3dB. Nominal impedance: 4 ohms. Sensitivity: 78dB/2.83V/1m. Cabinet: 15mm MDF with 12mm aluminum front baffle. Recommended minimum amplifier power: 60W.
Dimensions: 6.46" (164mm) W × 10.24" (260mm) H × 7.64" D (194mm). Weight: 12.3lb (5.6kg).
Finish: Black or White Gloss (6-layers lacquer),…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: SME Model 35 turntable with Series Vi tonearm and Lyra Etna λ Lambda phono cartridge.
Digital Source: Innuos Statement NewGen & Innuos ZENith Next-Gen server/streamers, Wattson Emerson Digital streamer, CH Precision C1.2 D/A processor.
Preamplification: Line: Pass Laboratories XP-32. Phono: Pass Labs XP-27, Sutherland Big Loco.
Power amplifiers: Pass Laboratories XA60.8 monoblocks, CH Precision M1.1.
Loudspeakers: Wilson Audio Specialties Alexx V.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest Carbon, Cinnamon, & Coffee USB; CAD USB…
David Sokol
STEVIE WONDER: Songs in the Key of Life
Motown 374 630 340 2 (2 CDs). 1976. Stevie Wonder, prod.; John Fischbach, Gary Olazabal, engs. AAD. TT: 104:42 Staggering as it is, Stevie Wonder was barely 26 when he released this musical monolith, a 21-song exploration that bridged the pop and soul worlds with compassion and spirituality, was the rage in the mid-'70s, and continues to sound utterly fresh today. Although Wonder was already a major star (this was his 16th album, after all), the scope of Songs earned him a spot beside Dylan, Lennon, and McCartney as one of the…
STEVIE WONDER: Songs in the Key of Life
Motown 374 630 340 2 (2 CDs). 1976. Stevie Wonder, prod.; John Fischbach, Gary Olazabal, engs. AAD. TT: 104:42 Staggering as it is, Stevie Wonder was barely 26 when he released this musical monolith, a 21-song exploration that bridged the pop and soul worlds with compassion and spirituality, was the rage in the mid-'70s, and continues to sound utterly fresh today. Although Wonder was already a major star (this was his 16th album, after all), the scope of Songs earned him a spot beside Dylan, Lennon, and McCartney as one of the…
David Vernier
BENJAMIN BRITTEN: Britten the Performer
Fauré: La Bonne Chanson, Op.61. Purcell: Five Songs (realized by B. Britten). Schubert: Three Songs. Schumann: Liederkreis, Op.39.
Peter Pears, tenor; Benjamin Britten, piano
BBC Music BBCB 8006-2 (mono CD). 1958-59/1999. Ivor Walsworth, prod.; Derek Horsman, remastering eng. ADD. TT: 74:58 We are very fortunate to have such priceless musical treasures as this document, recorded live, of one of this century's most fruitful and mutually inspiring artistic partnerships. That something very special is going on in these…
BENJAMIN BRITTEN: Britten the Performer
Fauré: La Bonne Chanson, Op.61. Purcell: Five Songs (realized by B. Britten). Schubert: Three Songs. Schumann: Liederkreis, Op.39.
Peter Pears, tenor; Benjamin Britten, piano
BBC Music BBCB 8006-2 (mono CD). 1958-59/1999. Ivor Walsworth, prod.; Derek Horsman, remastering eng. ADD. TT: 74:58 We are very fortunate to have such priceless musical treasures as this document, recorded live, of one of this century's most fruitful and mutually inspiring artistic partnerships. That something very special is going on in these…
This series of articles is based on a paper presented at the 103rd Audio Engineering Society Convention, New York, September 1997. The preprint, "Loudspeakers: What Measurements Can Tell Us—And What They Can't Tell Us!," AES Preprint 4608, is available from the AES, 60 East 42nd Street, Room 2520, New York, NY 10165-0075. The AES internet site, www.aes.org, offers a secure transaction page for credit-card orders.
In the first two articles in this series, I examined the loudspeaker's electrical behavior and how it behaves in the time domain. But the on-axis amplitude response is the most…
Second is the microphone mounting arrangement. The MLS technique is very sensitive to reflections of the sound emitted by the loudspeaker. It is important, therefore, to mount the microphone so that any reflections from the stand and its associated hardware occur after or at the same time as the inevitable reflections from the room boundaries. The B&K microphone is held endwise by a female XLR plug that is flush-mounted into a 2m length of ½" plumbing pipe. This pipe is held in a conventional microphone stand, but with the upright and clamp 1.5m away from the microphone capsule. Fig.23…
A final matter should be discussed. It is a hidden assumption when measuring a loudspeaker's amplitude response that the microphone is in the far field; ie, is more than a couple of wavelengths away at the lowest frequency of interest. An alternate way of looking at the matter is that the microphone should be at least as far away as the largest dimension of the loudspeaker to be measured. With my standard microphone distance of 50", this assumption will no longer be true for large loudspeakers. With big speakers, such as the various kinds of panel speakers, there will be a proximity effect […
By contrast, Fig.25 shows a similar measurement for a loudspeaker that a Stereophile blind listening panel thought sounded quite colored, with a skewed presentation of instrumental timbres. The speaker is quite flat in the midrange and has reasonably good bass extension. However, there is a severe suckout in the mid-treble. In all but large rooms, this will produce a characteristic, hollow-sounding coloration. There's some peakiness in the mid-treble region above the suckout that will add a little bit of "zing" to the perceived balance. The designer presumably was trying to compensate for…
It's also apparent that a speaker with a basically smooth, flat response but a single area of unevenness—due perhaps to a strong woofer-cone breakup mode or a cabinet resonance—will be downgraded accordingly. The same holds true for crossover or drive-unit integration problems. Similarly, if a speaker has a flat response but limited high-frequency dispersion, its appeal will be limited due to the room reverberant field tending to sound too lifeless. And no matter how flat a speaker's midband, a somewhat loose, underdamped bass is an almost unforgivable fault for many listeners, except when…