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As noted in the March installment of "Music in the Round," there are so many new multichannel hardware goodies to talk about that we need this bonus appearance of the column just to keep up. Nor do I expect the rush of gear to stop—I've just returned from CES in Las Vegas, where there was lots of new multichannel hardware and software that I will report on in June, including a luscious all-tube analog multichannel preamp. This month I report on a universal disc player, a comparison of Sony's top-of-the-line SCD-XA9000ES multichannel SACD player with its respected predecessor, and a…
In neither machine can the bass-management facility be used in the two-channel direct or multichannel direct modes, but the XA9000ES's distance compensation does operate in these modes. This means that you can bypass the signal processing used for the crossover, bass redirection, and channel amplitude balance, but still adjust for a listening position at unequal distances from the speakers. In addition, the Tri-Powered D/A mode is available only in two-channel direct mode.
I connected both Sonys to the two multichannel inputs of the McIntosh C45 preamplifier via identical Harmonic…
The Sears guy came to our basement the other day to check out the water heater. Staring at the walls of LPs and tiptoeing through the piles of CDs strewn on the floor, he exclaimed, "What the heck are you? A disc jockey?" So I told him.
"Yeah, I finally broke down and bought a CD player a coupla weeks ago," he continued, completely forgetting about the water heater. "But I think something's wrong with it." "Why?" I asked. "Well, I'm a big Roy Orbison fan, and so the first thing I bought was a Roy CD and it don't sound like Roy. I know Roy's voice. I seen him a million times—and it don't…
Virgo
At just under $5000/pair, the Virgos will also make a healthy chunk of your bank account disappear. At first glance this German-made speaker doesn't look like it could be worth that kind of money. It's a skinny runt, narrow and tall—like a minimonitor with a pituitary problem. In fact, the Avanti ($7500/pair), the next speaker up in the Audio Physic line, is a minimonitor, inserted into a square hole in a tall skinny box—a box with two small, side-mounted, floor-level woofers built in.
At just under $5000/pair, the Virgos will also make a healthy chunk of your bank account disappear. At first glance this German-made speaker doesn't look like it could be worth that kind of money. It's a skinny runt, narrow and tall—like a minimonitor with a pituitary problem. In fact, the Avanti ($7500/pair), the next speaker up in the Audio Physic line, is a minimonitor, inserted into a square hole in a tall skinny box—a box with two small, side-mounted, floor-level woofers built in.
The Virgo is of one piece: while the two sets of binding posts on the Avantis are separated…
In addition, the midrange and tweeter are isolated in their own specially damped triangular chamber via a wooden member angled from right below the midrange unit to the rear upper corner of the cabinet.
If the massive, gleaming, black NHT 3.3 is a V8-equipped American muscle-car speaker, the Virgo is a Porsche 911, I thought to myself as I secured the chromed feet to the bottoms of the cabinets. As I wrote in my review of the 3.3 a year ago (footnote 1), for this kind of money the holes should be fitted with threaded inserts (NHT now includes them).
Cinerama setup
When was…
Those who suggest that the reflection off the rear wall will confuse imaging are incorrect, according to the Haas primacy effect, which demonstrates that the ear prefers the direct wave over the reflected and can only process the time delay between the direct and reflected sound when the distance is greater than the circumference of your head, which is about 2'.
If that seems like only watermelon heads are involved, get out your tape measure—we're all a bunch of fatheads. So as long as you sit closer than 2' from the back wall, the ear/brain will not process the reflection, giving…
How hard was it to get this setup to "gel"? Very. As with any high-performance product—I don't care if it's a camera, a car, or a loudspeaker—the greater the precision, the more of a pain in the butt it is to get it to work right. You notice tiny imperfections in what it's doing—or not doing. I found myself making ridiculously small placement adjustments as I listened, moving my head side to side, shifting my body front to back as I worked to get the center image correct from my seated "comfort zone." Using my usual reference recordings—I can't say I play them for pleasure—I had a great deal…
Even while I acknowledge hearing that sonic signature—the sound of the stand-up bass, electric bass, kickdrum, timpani, and all of the other instruments in that region sounded so musically right, so convincing—I still wasn't quite certain what was going on. Perhaps measurements will help explain.
Details, details...
Like every other speaker in the world, the Virgo has colorations—an audiophile stranger could come in to your house and hear them in your speakers in a second. You get used to them, overlook them, and enjoy them—or you move on.
The character we're willing to…
The Virgo, although less than 4' tall, generated a gigantic soundstage, with particularly impressive image height all the way across it. Rather than generating their own stage, into which a recording must be made to fit either by stretching or compression, the Virgos created a picture commensurate with the recording.
Music for Bang Baaroom and Harp (RCA LSP 1866), Belafonte at Carnegie Hall (RCA LSO 6006), and The Weavers Reunion at Carnegie Hall (Analogue Productions APF005)—all of which have really big stages (and none of which I ever play for musical enjoyment)—were reproduced as…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way, floorstanding, moving-coil loudspeaker: Drive-units: ¾" aluminum-dome tweeter, 4" treated paper-cone midrange unit, two 6" treated paper-cone, reflex-loaded woofers. Measured impedance: 4 ohms nominal. Measured sensitivity: 88.5dB/2.83V/m (B-weighted).
Dimensions: 6½" W by 16" D by 41" H.
Serial numbers of units reviewed: 800 A&B.
Price: $4995/pair. Approximate number of dealers: 13.
Manufacturer: Audio Physic, Gallbergweg 50, D-59929 Brilon, Germany. Tel: (49) 296-151-211. Fax: (49) 296-151-640. US distributor:…