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It may surprise some readers to learn that all of the contributors to Stereophile do not get the chance to hear, at our leisure and in familiar circumstances, everything that passes through the magazine's portals. Not that we wouldn't like to, but there just isn't time. Nor are the logistics always right. I was therefore probably as intrigued as the average reader by LA's glowing report on the $5000/pair Mirage M-1 in the June 1989 issue. The M-1s had been on the market long enough for me to have heard them on several occasions, of course, but generally at shows and not under the best of…
(By the way, you won't find much of this information in Mirage's owner's manual. LA criticized the M-1 manual for its lack of background information and excessive brevity; the M-3 manual is no improvement in this regard—it is, in fact, a generic M-series manual, apparently provided with both the M-1 and the M-3. It does provide useful setup instructions, but nothing of substance about details of the system's design.)
Set-up
Mirage makes a point in their retail sales guide (I managed to obtain a copy)—though not in their sales literature—of the desirability of side- and rear-wall…
While I didn't notice it immediately, it didn't take long to notice a rather laid-back perspective to the M-3s' sound. They never seem to reach out and take charge in a gutsy, palpable fashion, which can be a liability for some types of music. But neither do they ever seem to reach out and grab you by the throat. Recordings that seem to jump forward and glare at you (more common with CDs) on other reproducers retain their composure. I've commented before on what is, to my mind, an excess of vocal energy in the London original cast recording of Miss Saigon (Geffen 24271-2). While this…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way vented-box dynamic loudspeaker with 10" mineral-filled polypropylene woofer, two 4.5" mineral-filled polypropylene midranges, and two 0.75" fabric-dome tweeters. Impedance: 7 ohms nominal, 4 ohms minimum. Frequency response: 30Hz–20kHz ±2dB. Crossover frequencies: 400Hz and 2.2kHz. Sensitivity: 85.5dB (anechoic—distance and input power not specified).
Dimensions: 52.5" H by 18.1" W by 8.3" D. Weight: 130 lbs.
Price: $2500/pair (1990); no longer available (2006). Approximate number of dealers: 120.
Manufacturer: Mirage, 3641…
Sidebar 2: System Details
Associated equipment used during the review was similar to that used in other recent reviews: CD playback via the Esoteric D-2 processor driven by the digital outputs of an NAD 5000 CD player, and also via a California Audio Labs Aria III.
Vinyl playback this time out was via the Oracle Delphi Mk.IV turntable with the Oracle/SME 345 tonearm and a Dynavector XX-1L phono cartridge. The preamp was, in all cases, the Rowland Consonance. Power amps were the Rowland Model One, Classé DR-8, Threshold SA/12e monoblocks, and Levinson No.23.
Interconnects…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
While not as crisp in appearance as that from several recent loudspeakers reviewed in Stereophile, the MLSSA-derived impulse response in fig.1 shows good control, the soft-dome tweeter exhibiting none of the (ultrasonic) ringing evident from metal domes. The step response (fig.2) indicates that all the drive-units are connected in the same positive acoustic polarity, with each step handing over smoothly to the next lower in frequency, which implies a crossover that has been optimized in the frequency domain. However, the relatively low amplitude of the tweeter step…
Michael Fremer's review of the AudioPhysic Caldera III loudspeaker in this issue (p.81) reminded me of a subject I have written about many times in the past: what happens when a manufacturer submits a faulty sample for review. I formalized Stereophile's policy on this matter in late 1988, following both an unfortunate series of reviews in which the samples either arrived broken or broke during the auditioning, and my learning about how much went on behind closed doors at other audio magazines, where reviewers and editors too often appeared to collude with manufacturers.1 I wrote back then…
Long before the Swedes at Ikea did it, the singular Scotsman Ivor Tiefenbrun began giving his products funny-sounding names. For some reason positively phobic about the letter c, he banned its use in any of those names. Someone once told me his real last name is Tiefencrun, but since it wouldn't sound any different with a k, he settled for a b. "I could have been Ivor Tiefendrun, or Tiefenfrun, or Tiefengrun, for that matter," he's quoted as having said once while krunching a krakker.
I'll never forget the evening of gourmet dining and right-wing dogma I shared with Tiefendrun…
Linn's only concession to "flexibility" is to include an internal wire you can trim to reduce gain by 10dB to 54dB, should you use the Linto with a high-output cartridge that overloads the circuit. A red LED on the front panel will light up to let you know if you need to snip. The Linto's fixed input impedance is 150 ohms.
The Linto's small size and weight results from Linn's use of its Brilliant (their name) switch-mode power supply, which uses neither a large transformer nor soda-can-sized capacitors. Instead, it converts incoming AC to high-voltage DC, then "chops it up" (Linn's words…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Small, reflex-loaded monitor loudspeaker with separately enclosed, reflex-loaded woofer system. Drive-units: two 8" polymer-cone woofers, 7" treated-paper midrange unit, 1" inverted titanium-dome tweeter. Frequency response: 28Hz-21kHz, +0/-3dB. Nominal impedance: 4 ohms. Nominal Sensitivity: 93dB/W/m. Minimum power required: 10W.
Dimensions: 12" W by 39" H by 16.5" D. Weight: 324 lbs/pair.
Serial numbers of units reviewed: 3975/6 WATT, 3517/8 Puppy.
Price: $14,990/system in standard finish; color-matching available at extra charge.…