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However, the introductory drumstrokes on the Jurassic Park soundtrack (MCA MCAD-10859) did cause the speaker to break up at realistic—though not unreasonable—levels. The drumstrokes didn't cause the woofer to bottom, but did result in a distorted, fluttery sound until I turned down the volume to a level that degraded the sheer visceral impact of the piece. I wouldn't expect this to be a problem in a smaller listening room (mine has a volume of about 5000 cubic feet. I have found this particular passage to be a problem for other loudspeakers—including the Infinity Epsilons when they're driven…
Greenhill: Do you think the store and its sales force has more of an influence than the magazines?
Low: It's so interrelated. Stores tailor what they carry to what's gotten good reviews. Along with the politics of distribution—I talked to a dealer in Albuquerque and he doesn't want to carry his favorite speaker because it's carried by a dealer in Santa Fe who has business practices, he believes, that result in the business in Albuquerque being stolen away. You do get these politics and that's unfortunate. And that has something to do with what kind of speakers are going to be sold in…
Mitchell: Indeed.
Atkinson: But you can't then leap from there and say, well, all differences must be inconsequential. Compare a Mazda 323 with a Ford Escort: very similar cars, similar wheel base, similar price, similar everything—therefore all cars are the same? Of course not. You've just got two large companies addressing the same market and trying to keep prices down as much as possible. And that's what happened with mass-market amplifiers. But I still think it illogical to start as a basis of truth that there are no differences unless they're proved otherwise. Because measurements…