Analog Sources: Linn LP12 (with Basik power supply), Thorens TD-124 Mk.II turntables; Naim Aro, EMT 997 tonearms; Miyabi 47, EMT OFD 25, Ortofon SPU Synergy A cartridges.
Digital Source: Sony SCD-777ES SACD/CD player.
Preamplifier: K&K Audio, EAR MC4 step-up transformers; Shindo Masseto preamplifier.
Power Amplifiers: Shindo Cortese.
Loudspeakers: Audio Note AN-E/SPe HE.
Cables: Interconnect: Audio Note AN-vx, Shindo silver. Speaker: Auditorium 23. AC: JPS Labs The Digital (Sony SCD-777ES).
Accessories: Mana Reference Table, 3 Mana…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The sample of the Sony PlayStation 1 I measured was the one John Marks had written about in the April 2008 issue (p.57). Unfortunately, this sample, serial number SCPH-1001 U7163475, was destroyed by UPS when I shipped it to Art Dudley. This was a first-generation machine, the only model to have the RCA output jacks and the AKM AK4309AVM 16-bit sigma-delta DAC chip. My son Harry has a third-generation PS1, an SCPH-7501, which has the multi-pin A/V output only and a different DAC chip; I measured that sample, but it was very much worse in most respects than the…
We all know it's impossible to reproduce live music. An obvious statement, no doubt, and one that holds every audiophile hostage to the never-ending search. As a musician, I find the situation especially frustrating. The constant reminder of live vs reproduced makes living with an audio system a serious compromise, regardless of price or quality. About three and a half years ago, however, I reviewed a product which I felt, and still feel, offers the first real glimpse of that impossible dream: the B&W 801 Matrix Monitor (footnote 1). Although it wasn't perfect, I found this speaker…
Before completing the first draft of this review, I bit the bullet, bought a ticket, flew to England, and paid a visit to B&W's research facility in Steyning, West Sussex. Although the past six months' auditioning had given me an opportunity to really get to know this product, I wanted to gain some insights into the design, technical background, and raison d'être of the Matrix 800. According to Robert Trunz, the Swiss President of B&W Loudspeakers Ltd., the 800 was the result of his desire to have a higher-sensitivity successor to the 808 monitor loudspeaker, incorporating the 801's…
The issue of whether or not to use a bass-alignment filter (either the one supplied with the speakers, or an after-market product) is a gray area, since individual room acoustics, wiring configurations, and your personal listening tastes are involved. Unlike the 801 and 802 speakers, the 800 does not require equalization to obtain excellent bass attack and slam. In fact, when I asked Dr. Dibb about this point, he felt that unless the particular listening space is very bass-shy, addition of an equalizing filter may not be desirable. I found it interesting that the people at B&W in…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way, reflex-loaded loudspeaker with line-level bass equalizer. Drive-units: two 12" polymer-cone bass, two 5" Kevlar-cone midrange, one 1.25" ferrofluid-cooled, metal-dome tweeter. Frequency response: 23Hz–20kHz, ±2dB free-field. Impedance: 4 ohms nominal (3 ohms minimum). Sensitivity: 93dB for 2.83V at 1m. Recommended power: 150W–800W.
Dimensions: 75.375" H by 19.25" W by 23.25" D. Weight: 240 lbs.
Prices: $18,000/pair (rosewood veneer), $15,000/pair (English walnut, black ash veneers, or painted "satin-black" finish) (1991); no longer…
Sidebar 2: Setup
The B&W speakers were initially bi-wired with Straight Wire Maestro speaker cables, as well as similar jumpers between woofer modules. There were also short Maestro cables between midrange and tweeter binding posts, which I replaced a few days later with the supplied solid jumpers. I also tried the Monster Powerline woofer jumpers, but found the Straight Wire configuration throughout to be superior. Electronics initially consisted of Esoteric and Krell digital drives, Theta Pro Generation II (balanced) D/A convertor, Mark Levinson No.26 preamp, and Krell KSA-250…
Sidebar 2: Measurements
Normally, I ask reviewers to ship the products to Santa Fe for measurement once their listening sessions are over. In the case of B&W's immense 800, however, the Mountain—in the shape of Robert Harley, Stereophile's computerized test gear, and myself—decided it would be more convenient to visit Muhammad in his Arlington, VA hideout.
As explained earlier, Lewis's listening room is a small basement, with a solid floor and solid walls apart from that behind the speakers. This wall is of drywall construction, with a central doorway leading to a similarly…
"Where do you want 'em?" Doug'n'David (of Stereophile's shipping and receiving, not your favorite morning drive-time talk radio co-hosts) had just wrestled over 500 lbs of cocooned Wilson WITT loudspeakers onto the floor of my garage. Like the Thiel CS7s I had parted with just a few weeks earlier, the WITTs came packed in solid, heavy wooden crates. The pained expressions on Doug'n'David's faces indicated that it was time for me to start reviewing minimonitors! The unpacking went more smoothly than I expected, but this is clearly a pair of loudspeakers that demand to be delivered, uncrated,…
Round One: The soundstage produced by the widely spaced WITTs was, as I noted above, huge. At first I thought the soundstage focus was a bit more vague than I'm accustomed to; this may well have been due to the spread of images within that soundstage in contrast to the usual left, center, and right. Still, I was able to sharpen up the stage noticeably by minor alterations in the acoustic treatment in the neighborhood of the loudspeakers (footnote 2). When I was finished, I found the soundstage surprisingly precise laterally, with good, though not exceptional, depth.
But the biggest…