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I auditioned the speakers in both my dedicated listening room and Stereophile's listening room. Power amplifiers used to drive these speakers were a pair of Mark Levinson No.20.6 monoblocks and a Krell KSA-250, and an Advent 300 receiver. The preamplifier in my room was the remote-controlled Mark Levinson No.38S, with a Mod Squad Phono Drive EPS used to amplify LP signals from a Linn Sondek/Cirkus/Trampolin/Lingo/Ekos/Arkiv setup sitting on an ArchiDee table. A McCormack TLC EPS was used in the Stereophile room.

Digital sources were a Mark Levinson No.30.5 HDCD…

Other than impedance, for which I used an Audio Precision System One, all the measurements were performed with a MLSSA system (v.8.5) from DRA Labs, in combination with an Outline computer-controlled loudspeaker turntable and a B&K 4006 microphone calibrated to be flat on-axis at the typical measuring distance I use. To minimize reflections from the test setup, the measuring microphone is flush-mounted inside the end of a long tube. Reflections of the speaker's sound from the mike stand and its hardware will thus be sufficiently delayed not to affect the…

I'm on Day 324 of my quest for Real World Hi-Fi, and things haven't turned out as well as I'd have liked. I could have sworn that all this affordable stuff sounded great before I became accustomed to the muy expensivo gear I've been covering in Stereophile for the past couple of years, but now I'm not so sure. Maybe it was the government cheese I was eating back then, but inexpensive hi-fi gear didn't seem to sound so...so cheap back when it was all I had to listen to.

Maybe I'm aiming too low. After all, "Real World" means different things to different people. When I…

The 1Bs needed a lot of break-in before they started sounding decent. Like, weeks. The only speakers in my experience to require such a long break-in period were the Spica Angeluses, which were surprisingly similar to the 1Bs in this respect. Both speakers sounded very closed-in in the highs, recessed in…

All…

Specifications: Two-way loudspeaker. Drivers: 8" "filled polycone" woofer, 1" aluminum-dome tweeter. Bass alignment: reflex, specified as "transmission line." Crossover: 2.8kHz, 6dB/octave slopes. Frequency response: 38Hz–22.5kHz, ±3dB. Recommended amplification: 20–100Wpc. Impedance: 6.8 ohms ±2 ohms. Sensitivity: 90dB/W/m.
Dimensions: 36" H by 12" W by 10" D. Weight: 44 lbs each.
Serial numbers of review pair: 36896 & 39687.
Price: $695/pair (1993); the "optional" but actually mandatory 1B Vanderstands cost $85/pair (1993). The 1C costs $785/pair…

Appropriately for an inexpensive loudspeaker, the Vandersteen 1B is an easy load for an amplifier to drive, as can be seen from fig.1 (its plot of impedance amplitude and phase against frequency). The former stays above 6 ohms across the band. The trace dropping to 6.15 ohms at 10kHz (the cursor position) is with the HF control set to its maximum "+1dB" position. With it set to "–3dB," the impedance stays above 8 ohms throughout the treble. The specified sensitivity is a high 90dB/W/m, again implying a speaker that is easy to drive. From my measurements, I…

I'm more concerned with what's inside, so I make my way past a Rid-X display to the front counter and ask where the AC outlets are. "I want the best you have," I tell the owner. She remembers me from when I moved to the area a few months ago and asked for the best picture hangers, lock washers,…

Art Dudley's review of the PS Audio Power Port AC outlets in the November 2003 Stereophile inspired me to share with you this tale of rewiring the listening room of my new house, including an upgrade of all AC outlets.

A few years ago, I bought a house on the outskirts of New York City that had a large den, added 10 years before. A 35' by 17' room with an 8' ceiling slanting up to 11' is unusual within the city limits. After a few minor room treatments (Echo Busters in the corners), the room was…