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Looking at the manner in which the fig.6 impulse response decays gives the "waterfall" plot in fig.9. With the exception of some nonsense between 1 and 2kHz, the decay is exceptionally clean in the treble, which undoubtedly contributes to the speaker's transparency and impressive sense of image space. Repeating the measurement for the woofer alone with 15Hz resolution, however, shows that the woofer does contribute some resonant hash in the midrange (fig.10), perhaps due to the cabinet, which might contribute to the feeling of hardness I felt the speaker's sound to acquire at high levels.…
Arnis Balgalvis wrote about the Eclipse in August 1992 (Vol.15 No.8):
In the Altis room at the 1991 Summer CES, an impromptu press conference was called to demonstrate Jadis's brand-new Digital Processor, flown in from France the night before. Jean-Paul Caffi, Mr. Jadis himself, was present, as was US Jadis importer Victor Goldstein and, of course, Altis's Howie Mandel. As good as their intentions were to demonstrate the masterful abilities of the Altis Bitstream processor when mated to a tube analog stage, what ended up impressing me most was the loudspeaker they'd chosen—the Avalon…
I'm sure the Eclipses also benefited from the exalted ancillary gear. First a Theta Data, then a Micromega/Versa Dynamics Duo transport fed a Wadia 2000 processor. Jeff Rowland's wonderful Consummate preamp fed a pair of Krell MDA-300 power amps. The analog front end consisted of the Ikeda 9R and the Lyra Clavis cartridges, the Airtangent and Graham 1.5S tonearms, the Basis Gold Standard Debut turntable, and the balanced Rowland phono stage. A Tice Power Block was used with all low-power equipment. I found that the Eclipses had a special synergy with Purist Audio balanced Maximus…
Sidebar 3: Specifications
Description: Two-way, sealed-box, floor-standing loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" titanium-dome tweeter, 8.5" Kevlar/Nomex honeycomb-cone midrange/woofer. System resonance: Q=0.5 at 42Hz. Crossover frequency: not specified. Crossover slopes: not specified. Frequency response: 45Hz-24kHz ±1.5dB (typical -3dB point in-room is said to be below 35Hz). Sensitivity: 86dB/W/m (2.83V). Nominal impedance: 6 ohms (minimum 5.5 ohms). Amplifier requirements: 30-200W.
Dimensions: 39" (991mm) H by 11" (280mm) W by 15" (381mm) D. Weight: 105 lbs (47.75kg) each.
Serial…
A tradition is anything we do, think, or believe for no better reason than that we have always done it, thought it, or believed it. Most traditions are followed in this mindless and automatic way, and, if questioned, are defended with the argument of, well, that it seems to work. It's time-tested, true-blue and, because so familiar, as comfy as an old slipper. So why rock the boat, throw a wrench in the works, or fix it if it ain't broke.
Although we like to think of audio as high-tech and up-to-the-minute, it, like virtually everything else, is hidebound by rituals, mental sets, and…
The paragon for lower-middle-range reproduction is the large horn-loaded system of the type used in recording studios and movie theaters, which more often than not sounds exaggerated through this range. But audiophile systems sound deficient here, even though designers' measurements show otherwise. And this region has a most profound effect on the ability of loudspeakers to reproduce the real timbres of real musical instruments. I have complained bitterly about this in countless speaker reports, yet my own response measurements have consistently failed to turn up any pattern of objective…
An article in response, written by Anthony H. Cordesman, appeared in the following issue, Vol.8 No.5:
Down With Flat? With Flat What?
Readers who regard reviewers as sources of revealed truth should read no further than as the point of this article is to take issue with J. Gordon Holt's editorial in the last Stereophile ("Down With Flat"), thereby revealing that differences of opinion exist even within such a highly structured cultural monolith as Stereophile. Worse, the gist of my remarks deals with differences literally at the "high end." The following material is strictly for…
These problems also interact in terms of perception. The listener cannot separate "flat" response in the treble, midrange, and bass. A speaker must. have coherent balance, which is extraordinarily difficult to measure using frequency response tests. For example, most small monitors with flat extended highs and an early rolloff in the bass sound very bright, even though they measure flat within their frequency bandwidth. A classic case is the ProAc Tablette, which I, at least (footnote 2), regard as an excruciatingly bad speaker because the high frequencies dominate over a complete lack of…
Letters in response to both these essays appeared in Vol.8 Nos.7 & 8 and Vol.9 Nos.1 & 2:
Balanced Loudspeakers
Editor: Since you are interested in comments from loudspeaker designers, I thought I would make some brief comments and control my usual compulsion to develop a doctoral dissertation.
In the ages-old literature, you can find the answer to why a small monitor loudspeaker with flat extended highs sounds much too bright. If you were to study the work done in the 1920s and 1930s, it might be disturbing to you to realize that so much has been forgotten and…
Blowing Our Horn
Editor: I enjoy your magazine very much, but your comments and articles sometimes tantalize me. For instance, your subtle allusions to horn loudspeakers.
Editor: I enjoy your magazine very much, but your comments and articles sometimes tantalize me. For instance, your subtle allusions to horn loudspeakers.
I happen to be one of the very rare audiophiles who takes horns seriously. What has happened to horns in the underground (non-Stereo Review) world? When you reviewed the Lensic movie theater system, there seemed to be magic happening despite the lousy frequency response. In the most recent issue, you suggest that frequency response isn't everything, and that perhaps it ought to be dropped as a major significator of…