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The Stereophile Test CD Letters part 3

The Test CD results

Editor: I had as much fun toying with your first Test CD as I could see that you had in producing it. Ralph, the dog, sounds almost startlingly real as he barks from my speakers. And somehow, I did not expect your resident "Cheapskate" to have such a rich voice. Has he ever worked as a radio announcer/personality?

As to the various microphones, not only was I astounded at the striking differences between them, I was equally surprised to discover how bad some were! Of course, I have not heard J. Gordon Holt in person; but I could tell that the Shure SM-57 and…

The Stereophile Test CD Letters part 4

Where's the jewel box?

Editor: I was extremely relieved to discover your little note packed with the Stereophile Test CD. You know, the one that says a free replacement will arrive within 8 weeks. The reason for my gratification? My CD arrived cracked in half (due to the misdirected efforts of the letter-carrier in attempting to make sure the parcel fit in my mailbox).

While I in no way intend this letter as a commentary on the postal system (when confronted by me, the letter-carrier said "he didn't hear it crack"), the simple fact is, the CD was enclosed in an ordinary, flimsy…

Aerial Acoustics 10T loudspeaker

KA-SLAM!!!!
thump thump thump

"Hee, hee, hee!" I cackled maniacally as I listened to Däfos at what I jokingly refer to as a "realistic" volume. The Aerial Acoustics Model 10Ts sounded great—dynamic and uncolored, and seemingly impervious to the most spectacular transients. And detailed? I was hearing stuff I'd never heard on the disc before.

thump thump thump

Like that muffled thumping. I'd listened to this track literally thousands of times and never noticed it before.

thump thump thump

Actually, it was kind of spastic—it didn't really go with anything…

Aerial Acoustics 10T loudspeaker Page 2

Living in the air
I reviewed the Aerials in my apartment, which has a smallish listening room. This forced me to listen in the nearfield—about 6' in front of the plane of the speakers themselves. The wall 24" behind my listening position was treated with RPG Abffusors. The speakers themselves were 7' apart and 30" from my record shelves, which meant the wall behind them was heavily damped. The two-part body of the 10T made tuning for the nearfield far, far easier than it normally would be for a speaker of this size, with such an extended frequency response. Being able to face the…

Aerial Acoustics 10T loudspeaker Page 3

I've heard that song 500 times in the last three years—so why was this the first time I realized that Rodney Crowell was singing backup? Dang! I checked the notes—Rodney co-wrote the song, even. Until I heard it through the Aerials, I was just hearing "generic male harmonies"—suddenly it was one specific voice and personality.

Hmmm. Let's pull out another old friend...ah-ha! Vivaldi recorder concertos by Il Giardino Armonico (Teldec 91852-2). This is early music as death-metal: Vivaldi played at breakneck speed with particular emphasis on dynamic contrast and farfetched modulation. The…

Aerial Acoustics 10T loudspeaker Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Description: Three-way, floorstanding, dynamic loudspeaker with reflex-loaded bass cabinet and separate tweeter/midrange module. Drive-units: 1" titanium-dome tweeter, 5.3" (136mm) dual Kevlar/epoxy-laminated-cone midrange unit, and 10.7" (271mm) bilaminate composite-cone woofer. Crossover frequencies: 360Hz, 2.7kHz. Crossover slopes: fourth-order, 24dB/octave, acoustic Linkwitz-Riley. Frequency response: 28Hz-20kHz, -2dB, -6dB at 23Hz. Sensitivity: 86dB/W/m (2.83V). Nominal impedance: 4 ohms, 3 ohms minimum. Amplifier requirements: 50W minimum, >100W…

Aerial Acoustics 10T loudspeaker Measurements

Suggestive of air

I measured the Aerial 10T using the DRA Labs MLSSA system (v.10.0A), an Italian Outline speaker turntable, and a B&K 4006 ½" microphone calibrated to be flat on-axis at my typical measuring distances. My estimate of the Aerial's B-weighted sensitivity was exactly to specification at 86dB/W/m. (My congratulations to the 10T's designers for not exaggerating this figure, a practice pandemic among the speaker industry, I've found.) This respectable figure implies that the speaker will play reasonably loud with an amplifier of around 100W.

Its plot of electrical…

Amazing Stuff: Klaus Heymann of Naxos

It's been three years since the February 1997 issue, when I last talked with Klaus Heymann, founder and chairman of HHN, the parent company of the Naxos and Marco Polo labels. When I heard that he'd be in New York for a visit, I jumped at the chance for another interview.

Meantime, I have a shopping basket full of Naxos recordings to recommend for this "Records To Die For" issue. Two recommendations? Nah. How about twenty-four! Do your "R2D4" shopping here and save money.

True, the price has gone up. Naxos CDs used to list for $5.99 and retail for $4.99. Now the "suggested" list…

Amazing Stuff: Klaus Heymann of Naxos Page 2

[Heymann then mentioned other activities, including a music-appreciation course for colleges and a classical-music training program for kids, aimed at elementary school teachers and parents of young schoolchildren.]

Tellig: The sound of many recent Naxos discs is of demonstration quality. What's behind the improvement?

Heymann: A number of things. We now have our own mastering and production studio in London: K&A Productions. We are co-owners, actually. K is for Klaus, and A is for Andrew Walton, my partner in the studio.

We are able to record in better venues. Venue…

Amazing Stuff: Klaus Heymann of Naxos Page 3

Heymann: The idiosyncratic interpretations of the old conductors wouldn't be acceptable today—the Mengelbergs, Furtwänglers, Weingartners. Critics would say, "He's distorting the music."

The greatest influence on music-making was Toscanini. He said, 'This is the way the composer wrote it and this is how it should be played.' Whether or not Toscanini played it as the composer wrote it is open to question.

Tellig: But there were some conductors whose recordings people collected.

Heymann: Yes; von Karajan sold, and still does. He had a sound. But he wasn't the greatest…