search

Recording of July 2005: <I>Area 31</I>

DAVID CHESKY: Area 31
The Girl from Guatemala, Flute Concerto, Violin Concerto
Wonjung Kim, soprano; Jeffrey Khaner, flute; Tom Chiu, violin; Anthony Aibel, Area 31
Chesky SACD288 (SACD/CD). 2004. David Chesky, David Eggar, prods.; Barry Wolfson, eng.; Rick Eckerle, second eng.; Nicholas Prout, mastering, editing. AAD? TT: 56:31
Performance ****½
Sonics *****

In an impassioned plea—which, if you know the man, is very much his way—the indefatigable David Chesky tried to convince me that with Area 31 he'd created a new music, a new fusion of classical music and jazz…

Paradigm Reference Studio/100 v.3 loudspeaker

Like the Reference Studio/60, which was enthusiastically reviewed in the December 2004 issue by Kalman Rubinson, Paradigm's floorstanding Reference Studio/100 is now available in a v.3 version. The '100 is the flagship model in the Canadian manufacturer's Reference line. Its earlier incarnations, the original Studio/100 and the Studio/100 v.2, were reviewed by Tom Norton and Robert Deutsch in the August 1997 and June 2000 issues of Stereophile, respectively, and both writers were well impressed at how much sound quality could be wrought from this competitively priced speaker design. Bob…

Paradigm Reference Studio/100 v.3 loudspeaker Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Description: Three-way, five-driver, floorstanding, reflex-loaded loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" aluminum-dome tweeter, 6.5" mica-polymer-dome midrange, three 7" filled polypropylene-cone woofers. Crossover frequencies (slopes): 300Hz (third-order), 2kHz (third-order). Frequency response: 44Hz-22kHz, ±2dB on-axis. Low-frequency extension (DIN): 28Hz. Sensitivity: 88dB/2.83V/m anechoic, 91dB in-room. Impedance: 8 ohms compatible. Recommended amplifier power: 15-350W. Maximum input power: 210W (typical program source, clipping no more than 10% of the time).
…

Paradigm Reference Studio/100 v.3 loudspeaker Measurements

Sidebar 2: Measurements

The Studio/100 v.3's voltage sensitivity is above average, at an estimated 88.5dB/2.83V/m, which is within the margin of error of the earlier v.2's measured sensitivity of 89.5dB. The speaker's impedance plot (fig.1) reveals it still to be quite a demanding load, however, with a magnitude that drops to 2.5 ohms at 104Hz. The enclosure was well-braced and damped. The only resonant mode I could find on its panels lay at quite a high frequency of 426Hz. This was well down in level except on the back panel (fig.2), where its effect on sound quality will be reduced.…

Proceed PAV audio/video preamplifier

Until just recently, only companies known primarily for their surround-sound processors were producing the most advanced—and most expensive—Home Theater products. No longer. It was inevitable that traditional high-end audio manufacturers would begin producing equipment for this fast-growing market.

In the May 1994 Stereophile (Vol.17 No.5, p.91) I evaluated one of two new models from McIntosh; Meridian has recently begun production of its DSP surround-sound processor; Kinergetics has jumped in; Esoteric Audio Design showed an elaborate unit at the SCES in Chicago; and Madrigal,…

Proceed PAV audio/video preamplifier Page 2

I don't have enough space here to discuss all the operational functions and features of the PAV, but there's one quite useful feature that's "buried" on p.47 of the manual under "Using the PAV/The Operate Menu/volume display." The volume can be displayed on an absolute scale ranging from 0 to 112, or on a relative scale, with a level of 0 indicating the calibration reference level—the level at which most soundtracks are mixed. (With proper calibration, this level, in THX mode, is also the level often referred to as "THX reference" level.) I preferred the relative scale.

Technology
…

Proceed PAV audio/video preamplifier Page 3

A surround-sound processor for films must get four primary things right: dialogue, music, sound effects, and directionality. First of all, the dialogue must be believable—free of tizz, spit, sizzle, boom, or boxiness. If it doesn't sound reasonably convincing—or worse, is actively irritating—it will quickly destroy the illusion. The whole carefully constructed house of cards collapses instantly.

The PAV doesn't have this problem. I listened to a wide variety of discs and broadcast material and never heard any consistently identifiable dialogue artifacts. Dialogue sound wasn't always…

Proceed PAV audio/video preamplifier Page 4

Over this long-term listening period, however, my cumulative feeling was that the Proceed was sonically more precise—even surgical—in its soundspace re-creation, but without the brightness that this might imply. The McIntosh, on the other hand, was a shade warmer—a bit more relaxed.

A closer, side-by-side comparison of recent samples of the two units reinforced these earlier impressions. It also indicated that the Proceed presented the more finely graded detail. On Patriot Games—another first-rate soundtrack—the PAV sounded more open, with a slightly less homogenized quality evident in…

Proceed PAV audio/video preamplifier Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Description: Full-function surround-sound audio/video preamplifier with Pro Logic, THX, and music modes. Frequency response and THD: not specified. S/N ratio (main outputs): >80dB at 0dB output. Gain: 14dB (nominal). Gain range: -60dB to +14dB. Gain resolution: 0.5dB except at lowest levels. Input overload: >2V RMS (0dB output). Input impedance: 100k ohms (single-ended). Output impedance: ±20 ohms. Maximum output: 10V RMS (balanced). Audio inputs: 2 balanced, 8 single-ended. Audio outputs: 1 set stereo main (L&R), balanced; 2 set stereo remote (…

Proceed PAV audio/video preamplifier Review System

Sidebar 2: Review System

I used the PAV with a variety of associated components. At the loudspeaker end were both the McIntosh and the B&W THX arrays, plus a combination of the two, consisting of McIntosh LCRs (left, center, right)—including their new HT-4 narrow-profile center channel—with B&W subwoofers and surrounds (footnote 1).

The Panasonic LD-1000 laserdisc player was at the front end, used either with its own internal D/A or connected to the Levinson No.35 D/A via a TosLink connector (the Panasonic, like all but a few laserdisc players, has only a TosLink digital…