Description: Two-channel FM receiver. Tube complement: seven 12AX7 (phono, tone control, phase inverter stages); four 7591 (output stage), 6HA5, 6HR6, two 6CW4, three 6AU6/EF94 (tuner stages). Output power 30Wpc at 0.7% harmonic distortion (14.8dBW) into 8 ohms from 8 ohm tap, 75Wpc "total music power." Frequency response: 25Hz–25kHz, ±1.5dB. IM distortion (60Hz/7kHz, 4/1) 0.7%. Tuner: IHF FM usable sensitivity: 1.8µV. Signal/Noise Ratio: 70dB. Selectivity: 60dB. FM channel separation: 35dB. Power requirements: 105–120V, 50/60Hz. Total power consumed at full…
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GILBERT & SULLIVAN: H.M.S. Pinafore
Richard Suart, The Rt. Hon. Sir Joseph Porter, K.C.B.; Thomas Allen, Captain Corcoran; Michael Schade, Ralph Rackstraw; Rebecca Evans, Josephine; Felicity Palmer, Little Buttercup; Donald Adams, Dick Deadeye; Richard Van Allan, Bill Bobstay; Welsh National Opera Orchestra & Chorus, Sir Charles Mackerras
Telarc CD-80374 (CD only). James Mallinson, prod.; Jack Renner, eng. DDD. TT: 73:42
Richard Suart, The Rt. Hon. Sir Joseph Porter, K.C.B.; Thomas Allen, Captain Corcoran; Michael Schade, Ralph Rackstraw; Rebecca Evans, Josephine; Felicity Palmer, Little Buttercup; Donald Adams, Dick Deadeye; Richard Van Allan, Bill Bobstay; Welsh National Opera Orchestra & Chorus, Sir Charles Mackerras
Telarc CD-80374 (CD only). James Mallinson, prod.; Jack Renner, eng. DDD. TT: 73:42
Though the fourth collaboration of W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, H.M.S. Pinafore was the first to be an international hit, and was unquestionably the…
John Atkinson recently forwarded me an e-mail from reader Daniel Sandmeier. Eight full months after moving into a new home, Mr. Sandmeier had finally experimented with speaker placement. He was flabbergasted by the result.
"I think I just got 2000 bucks' worth of difference. Moved the [Paradigm 7se Mk.III] speakers two more feet from the back wall, toed 'em in a little, and Radiohead exploded from my humble setup."
So what compelled Daniel to e-mail Editor Atkinson? "Everybody knows about speaker placement. What I want is more info. I want to know basics, I want to know advanced…
And amusingly, perhaps due to the uniquely human nature of musical taste, high-end neophytes begin talking the talk almost by instinct. Take Robin Hirschberg—please—who delivered this gem when last seated in the Ribbon Chair chez 10: "Well," she said, "these speakers are certainly more involving than the last ones I heard. They're more, I don't know...emotional."
Exactly.
Diagram of optimal speaker setup from the Cardas web site.
Toeing the speakers in toward the listening position also gives you a greater ratio of direct to reflected sound bouncing off sidewalls…
Although you're reading this in October, I had to write it in the middle of summer's dog days—what Washington journalists used to call "the silly season," not so much because there's anything inherently funny about August, but because, in pre-AC DC, all the legislators went home then to escape the heat and humidity, leaving the press corps with little to write about other than "man bites dog" stories.
This summer we've raised a bumper crop of legislative inanities, judicial decisions, international treaties, and business scandals. I'm starting to believe the old adage: Just because you'…
RICHARD THOMPSON: Mirror Blue
Capitol CDP 7 81492 2 (CD). Tchad Blake, eng.; Mitchell Froom, prod. AAD. TT: 55:13
Capitol CDP 7 81492 2 (CD). Tchad Blake, eng.; Mitchell Froom, prod. AAD. TT: 55:13
According to the Capitol flacks, Mirror Blue is Richard Thompson's "most accessible release yet." But don't believe everything you read, especially in a press kit.
It's true that the production, again by Mitchell Froom, is smooth and inviting. And it's true that Thompson has quietly become one of pop's most expressive singers. But from a man who's made a career of being rock's most famous cult figure (or was that its most obscure major artist?), accessible is, at…
Jacques Mahul is an interesting, thoughtful man. He's entirely Parisian: international, urbane, and sophisticated. During "HeeFee" '96 in Paris, Kathleen and I sat down with him and spoke about his early years as an audiophile. To accompany my review of the JMlab Utopia, We tried to find out what drives him—to make the drivers he makes today! I asked him when had it all started:
Jacques Mahul: In 1980, I founded both Focal and JMlab. And before that, I was the chief engineer at Audax.
Jonathan Scull: I had no idea.
Mahul: Yes, and before that I was Rédacteur en chef of L'…
Scull: JMlab was not always as well known outside of France as it is today.
Mahul: Yes, as my business grew over the years, Focal sold products all over the world, but JMlab was mainly for France and Europe. Then, around 1988, we decided to open it to the world. So although JMlab was a latecomer in comparison with Focal, today it represents 70% of our turnover!
Scull: I see. And the other 30% of your business, if I may ask...?
Mahul: Twenty percent of that is the car hi-fi business, which we launched around 1989. And Focal represents the final 10%—supplying various…
Scull: So we can perhaps say that is what defines your company philosophy?
Mahul: Yes, I would say so. That's why our products work well with both valve and solid-state amplifiers. It's a very important element that we worked on from the beginning—to be independent of the amplifier.
Scull: Jacques, tell me: Do you prefer solid-state or tubes yourself?
Mahul: Well, the advantage of tubes lies in the midrange and treble, we all know that.
Scull: Mais oui...
Mahul: Yes, the wonderful imaging and the possibility of reproducing very high dynamics at a high but…
Scull: And how many at JMlab vineyards?
Mahul: [laughs] Actually, Jonathan, we do produce, each year, a JMlab wine.
Scull: You see, I can be very intuitive.
Mahul: [laughs] Yes. In fact, here is a bottle of JMlab Sauternes for you and Kathleen.
Scull: Jacques, thank you very much.
Mahul: Last year it was a cognac!
Scull: Well, Jacques, I see I'm going to love this assignment!
Mahul: [laughing] My pleasure, Jon-a-ten.
Jonathan Scull: Jacques, I'd like to learn more about that inverted-dome tweeter...
Jacques Mahul: Yes, it's…