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Listening to the Amati, I came to appreciate that "fast" doesn't mean "etched" any more than "slow" has to mean "soft." The Amati was lightning-fast. This translated not into crisp transients, or grandiose gestures designed to bowl you over, but subtle yet explosive microdynamic attacks—those tiny, long-hidden gradations of sound that live at the bottom of the decibel scale suddenly rose to the surface to make their presence so obvious that I wondered how I could have ever missed them. I've heard this feat accomplished by tweeters in some other speakers (like the Alon Circes), but never…
I knew what my friend was feeling. I'd been staying up until two and three in the morning every evening since the Amatis arrived, doing the same thing: pointing and making noises. Seated before them, even the most experienced listeners are confronted by an almost overwhelming sonic presentation—not of brute-force physicality (I've heard speakers with greater slam, impact, and visceral power, but not pure, overwhelming emotional communication.) This speaker sings—in the best sense of the word, as applied to an audio component.
You can have your turgid, "analytical" studio-monitor-type…
And what about the Audio Physic Virgo?
Despite my Amati ravings, my long-term reference, the Audio Physic Virgo, need not apologize for its performance. It is still a very special loudspeaker. The proof is that Audio Physic has had a difficult time selling the excellent $10k/pair Avanti, which is priced between the Virgo and the $19,000/pair Caldera. (From what I've heard of the Caldera, I find it inexplicable that this speaker is still placed in Class B in Stereophile's "Recommended Components" rather than Class A.) The Virgo is that good.
Despite my Amati ravings, my long-term reference, the Audio Physic Virgo, need not apologize for its performance. It is still a very special loudspeaker. The proof is that Audio Physic has had a difficult time selling the excellent $10k/pair Avanti, which is priced between the Virgo and the $19,000/pair Caldera. (From what I've heard of the Caldera, I find it inexplicable that this speaker is still placed in Class B in Stereophile's "Recommended Components" rather than Class A.) The Virgo is that good.
Compared to the Virgo, the Amati offers…
Specifications
Description: Three-way, floorstanding, dynamic loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1.2" (28mm) soft-dome tweeter, 7" (180mm) paper/carbon-fiber/titanium-cone midrange unit, two 8.3" (210mm) rigid paper/carbon-fiber-cone woofers. Crossover: first-order "attenuated," 200Hz and 2.5kHz. Frequency response: not specified. LF extension: 24Hz. Measured impedance: 4 ohms nominal. Measured sensitivity: 92dB/W/m. Power requirements: 30-300W.
Dimensions: 46" H by 101/2" W by 223/4" D. Weight: 154 lbs each.
Serial number of units reviewed: 024 "Anno 1998 Fecit."
Price: $20,000/pair.…
Description: Three-way, floorstanding, dynamic loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1.2" (28mm) soft-dome tweeter, 7" (180mm) paper/carbon-fiber/titanium-cone midrange unit, two 8.3" (210mm) rigid paper/carbon-fiber-cone woofers. Crossover: first-order "attenuated," 200Hz and 2.5kHz. Frequency response: not specified. LF extension: 24Hz. Measured impedance: 4 ohms nominal. Measured sensitivity: 92dB/W/m. Power requirements: 30-300W.
Dimensions: 46" H by 101/2" W by 223/4" D. Weight: 154 lbs each.
Serial number of units reviewed: 024 "Anno 1998 Fecit."
Price: $20,000/pair.…
Associated Equipment
Analog source: Simon Yorke, Kuzma Stabi S turntables; Graham 2.0, Immedia RPM2, Rega RB600 tonearms; Crown Jewel SE, EMT TU, Lyra Parnassus D.C.t, Grado Statement cartridges.
Digital source: Naim CDX CD player w/XPS power supply.
Preamplification: Ayre K-1 preamplifier; Conrad-Johnson Premier 15, Audio Research PH3SE phono stages.
Power amplifiers: Conrad-Johnson Premier 12 monoblocks, Ayre V-1, KR Enterprise VT 8000.
Cables: Yamamura Millennium 6000, Cardas Neutral Reference, Cardas Golden Reference, Electra-Glide interconnects; Yamamura Millennium 6000…
Analog source: Simon Yorke, Kuzma Stabi S turntables; Graham 2.0, Immedia RPM2, Rega RB600 tonearms; Crown Jewel SE, EMT TU, Lyra Parnassus D.C.t, Grado Statement cartridges.
Digital source: Naim CDX CD player w/XPS power supply.
Preamplification: Ayre K-1 preamplifier; Conrad-Johnson Premier 15, Audio Research PH3SE phono stages.
Power amplifiers: Conrad-Johnson Premier 12 monoblocks, Ayre V-1, KR Enterprise VT 8000.
Cables: Yamamura Millennium 6000, Cardas Neutral Reference, Cardas Golden Reference, Electra-Glide interconnects; Yamamura Millennium 6000…
Measurements
Only occasionally do I find a high-sensitivity loudspeaker whose manufacturer's specifications agree with my own measurements. "92dB/W/m," says Sonus Faber of the stunning-looking Amati Homage; my estimated B-weighted sensitivity came in at 92.5dB(B)/2.83V/m. The speaker is a moderately demanding load, however, as can be seen from its plots of impedance magnitude and electrical phase angle against frequency (figs.1 and 2). With a maximum of 7.8 ohms, but a value below 6 ohms in the midrange and below 4 ohms in the bass and high treble, a good 4 ohm-rated amplifier will be…
Only occasionally do I find a high-sensitivity loudspeaker whose manufacturer's specifications agree with my own measurements. "92dB/W/m," says Sonus Faber of the stunning-looking Amati Homage; my estimated B-weighted sensitivity came in at 92.5dB(B)/2.83V/m. The speaker is a moderately demanding load, however, as can be seen from its plots of impedance magnitude and electrical phase angle against frequency (figs.1 and 2). With a maximum of 7.8 ohms, but a value below 6 ohms in the midrange and below 4 ohms in the bass and high treble, a good 4 ohm-rated amplifier will be…
With two woofers loaded by two ports, and a midrange unit in its own subenclosure loaded by a third port, the Amati Homage's behavior in the midrange and bass is complex. Fig.4 shows the responses, measured in the nearfield, of all of these radiating elements. The top trace to the right in fig.4 is the midrange unit. This can be seen to slope up through the mids, but with a slight peak in its output at 70Hz. The trace just above the midrange unit at this frequency is the output of the twin woofers, this covering the 30-180Hz bandpass, with the reflex notch at a low 20Hz. The top trace to the…
Above the bass, the Amati's overall balance is flat, though with three broad depressions and three areas of excess energy apparent. The lack of energy in the lower midrange and low treble might be thought to make the speaker sound laid-back, yet I note that MF did not find the speaker lacking in dynamics—quite the opposite, in fact. The slight plateau in the upper midrange might be thought to add to the perceived recorded detail, while the narrower peak in the presence region might add a bit of sparkle. Yet, again, MF noted no problems at all in these areas. Again, an enigma.
The Amati's…
The Sonus Faber's impulse response (fig.9) is conventional, though some early reflections can be seen. The step response (fig.10) reveals that the tweeter and woofers are connected in positive acoustic polarity, the midrange in inverted polarity. The speaker's cumulative spectral-decay plot (fig.11) is basically clean, but with some very slight modes evident at the top of the midrange unit's passband.
Fig.9 Sonus Faber Amati Homage, impulse response on tweeter axis at 50" (5ms time window, 30kHz bandwidth).
Fig.10 Sonus Faber Amati Homage, step response on tweeter…
MEDESKI MARTIN & WOOD: Friday Afternoon in the Universe
John Medeski, organs, piano, wurlitzer, clavinet; Billy Martin, drums, percussion; Chris Wood, acoustic bass, harmonica, wood flute
Gramavision GCD 79503 (CD only). MMW, David Baker, Jim Payne, prods.; David Baker, eng.; Dr. Toby Mountain, mastering. DDD? TT: 57:06
John Medeski, organs, piano, wurlitzer, clavinet; Billy Martin, drums, percussion; Chris Wood, acoustic bass, harmonica, wood flute
Gramavision GCD 79503 (CD only). MMW, David Baker, Jim Payne, prods.; David Baker, eng.; Dr. Toby Mountain, mastering. DDD? TT: 57:06
"People in this country," John Medeski told Down Beat in 1994, "are dying for groove music that has an expansive quality, that gets into harmonics that you can't necessarily sing while you're washing the dishes." Based on Friday Afternoon in the Universe, I'd…