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The drop-dead gorgeous Stradivari Homage is specified as having a very high 92dB voltage sensitivity; to Sonus Faber's credit, my estimated figure was even higher, at 93dB(B)/2.83V/m. However, the speaker asks the partnering amplifier for a lot of current capability, its impedance (fig.1) dropping to 3 ohms and below for much of the upper bass and midrange. And the combination of 4.4 ohms impedance magnitude and –48 capacitive phase angle at 55Hz will give lesser amplifiers conniptions.

Fig.1 Sonus Faber Stradivari Homage, electrical impedance (…

Description: Solid-state, 5-channel digital surround A/V receiver.
Inputs: 7.1-channel analog: 1 set for use with external processor. Line-level: 10 sets Analog Input (Phono, CD, DVD, VDP, TV/DBS, V-AUX, VCR-1, VCR-2, MD/Tape-1, Tape-2. Audio only: 4 sets, 2 with tape loops. Digital: 8 sets: 5 optical, 3 coaxial. Composite Video: 6 sets, all with S-video connectors: DVD, VDP, TV/DBS, V-AUX, VCR-1, VCR-2. Component Video (2 sets): DVD, TV/DBS.
Outputs: 1 optical digital audio. Audio line-level: 1 set 8-channel preamplifier (Front L/R, Center, Surround L/R,…

Analog source: Linn Sondek LP12/Lingo turntable and Ittok tonearm, Spectral moving-coil cartridge.
Digital source: Krell MD-1 CD transport, Theta Carmen DVD and Denon DVM-3700 DVD players, Lexicon MC-1 Controller.
FM tuners: Day-Sequerra FM Reference Classic, Rotel RH-10, Magnum Dynalab MD-102, Model 205 Sleuth RF amplifier.
Preamplification: Krell KBL, Mark Levinson ML-7A with L-2 phono section, Duntech MX-10 moving-coil preamplifiers.
Power amplifiers: Mark Levinson No.334, Denon POA-5200, Bryston 9B-ST.
Loudspeakers: Mirage HDT-FCH-1, HDT…

Measuring the Denon AVR-4800 took rather longer than I had anticipated, due to the sheer number of options it offers its owner. I ended up looking at the receiver's amplifier performance using either its CD inputs or its External discrete-surround inputs. But first, using a two-channel TosLink datastream, I examined the receiver internal D/A conversion. The power amplifiers clipped with the volume control set to "–07" with a full-scale digital signal, by the way.

The receiver locked on to an incoming datastream with a 96kHz sample rate. Fig.1 shows the…

It begins with Ray Brinker's bass drum, as ominous as an uncertain heartbeat, three dark chords from pianist Christian Jacob, and Tierney Sutton's haunted, wordless, floating voice, which finally breathes "Forget your troubles, c'mon get happy..." Harold…

Any book in which a chapter begins with words like the above gives a certain impression of where, and on what, it's going to focus. Yet once you get past the sensationalist aspects of oboist Blair Tindall's Mozart in the Jungle: Sex, Drugs, and Classical Music (Grove Press, 2006, ISBN 0802142532)—"Tindall sleeps her way to the bottom [where] we learn more than we probably need to about the sex lives of some more or less prominent American musicians," said the New Yorker—it is actually a…

This time, the choice is…

Description: 2½-way ported, magnetically shielded, floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (25mm) silk-dome, ferrofluid-cooled tweeter; two 5.25" (135mm) mineral-filled, polypropylene-cone woofers. Crossover slopes: 12dB/octave with 6dB/octave lower woofer low-pass rolloff. Frequency response: 70Hz–20kHz, ±3dB; 42Hz–22kHz, ±6dB. Impedance: 8 ohms nominal, 5–10 ohms above 100Hz. Sensitivity: 89dB/W/m. Recommended amplification: 20–200W.
Dimensions: 38.5" (985mm) H by 6.25" (160mm) W by 8" (205mm) D. Base: 9.25" (235mm) W by 10.75" (275mm) D. Weight: 38 lbs (…

Analog Sources: VPI TNT IV turntable, Immedia RPM tonearm, Koetsu Urushi cartridge; Rega Planar 3 turntable, Syrinx PU-3 tonearm, Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood & Aurum Beta S cartridges.
Digital Sources: Lector CDP-7T, California Audio Labs Icon Mk.II Power Boss, Creek Destiny & CD53 Mk.II CD players; Pioneer DV-333 DVD player.
Preamplification: Vendetta Research SCP-2D phono stage, Audio Valve Eklipse line stage.
Power Amplifier: Audio Research VT100 Mk.II.
Integrated Amplifiers: Creek Destiny & 5350SE.
Loudspeakers: Monitor Audio…

The Intimus 533-T was surprisingly sensitive, at an estimated 90dB(B)/2.83V/m on its tweeter axis, which is within experimental error of its specified 89dB. The 533-T's impedance was close to 6 ohms from 100Hz to 10kHz; it rose above that range, due to the tweeter's voice-coil inductance. Below 100Hz, the impedance curve (fig.1) shows the twin peaks typical of a reflex design, with the minimum value of 4.3 ohms at 44Hz indicating the port-tuning frequency.

Fig.1 Aperion Intimus 533-T, electrical impedance (solid) and phase (dashed). (2 ohms/…