Digital Source: Ayre C-5xe universal player; McIntosh MS750 music server; Bel Canto e.One CD2 CD player & e.One DAC3 D/A converter.
Preamplifiers: Ayre K-1xe, Conrad-Johnson ACT2.
Power Amplifiers: Ayre V5, Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 300.
Integrated Amplifiers: Ayre AX-7e, Portal Panache.
Loudspeakers: A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/508ush">Usher Be-718.
Cables: Digital: Stereovox XV2. Interconnect: Shunyata Research Aries & Antares, Stereovox Colibri. Speaker: Shunyata Research Lyra, Stereovox Firebird.
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The KEF Reference 201/2 is a little below average in sensitivity. My estimate of the speaker's voltage sensitivity on its tweeter axis was 85.5dB(B)/2.83V/m, slightly but inconsequentially less than the specified 86dB. Although its minimum impedance is a moderate 4.2 ohms, as specified, the electrical phase angle is occasionally high, which will make the speaker harder to drive than might be thought from a first glance at its impedance plot (fig.1). The combination of 5.5 ohms and –42° capacitive phase angle at 107Hz, a frequency where music can have high energy,…
After a year spent exploring the best that can be obtained from minimonitor loudspeakers, I embarked on what will be an equally long examination of what floorstanding towers have to offer. I began with the Sonus Faber Cremona Elipsa ($20,800/pair) in December 2007, followed in 2008 by: in February, the KEF Reference 207/2 ($20,000/pair); in April, the PSB Synchrony One ($4500/pair); and in May, the Magico V3 ($25,000/pair). For this review, I've been listening to a speaker aimed at those with shallower pockets than are required even for the PSB: the Avalon NP Evolution 2.0, which costs just…
As I had the speakers toed-in to the listening position, I tried reducing the toe-in angle, so that I could see the Avalons' inner edges. This reduced that touch of upper-midrange character, but with male voices, some notes still tended to clump at the speaker positions, while with female voices, some notes still suffered from a slight hoot when I turned up the volume. It was only when Avalon's Gary Mulder stopped by (he was in town to set up a pair of Indra speakers in my neighbor Wes Phillips' listening room for a future Stereophile review) that a better solution was reached.
"Yes,…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way, reflex-loaded, floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (25mm) ceramic composite-dome tweeter with neodymium magnet, two 6.5" (165mm) Kevlar-cone woofers. Measured crossover frequency: 2kHz. Frequency range: 36Hz–22kHz. Sensitivity: 90dB/2.83V/m. Nominal impedance: 4 ohms.
Dimensions: 35" (890mm) H by 7.5" (190mm) W by 12" (310mm) D. Weight: 48 lbs (22kg).
Finish: Cherry veneer.
Serial Numbers Of Units Reviewed: 40360, 40361.
Price: $1995/pair. Approximate number of dealers: 25.
Manufacturer: Avalon Acoustics, 2800 Wilderness…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: Ayre C-5xe, Oppo DV-970HD universal players; PrimaLuna ProLogue Eight CD player; Mark Levinson No.30.6, Benchmark DAC 1 USB D/A converters; Logitech (Slim Devices) Transporter WiFi music player with Apple Mac mini running OSX for media storage.
Preamplifiers: Parasound Halo JC 2, Mark Levinson No.380S.
Power Amplifiers: Parasound Halo JC 1, Musical Fidelity 550k Supercharger, Mark Levinson No.33H (all monoblocks).
Loudspeakers: PSB Synchrony One, Epos M16i.
Cables: Digital: Kimber Illuminations Orchid AES/EBU, AudioQuest…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
My estimate of the Avalon NP Evolution 2.0's voltage sensitivity on its tweeter axis was 91dB(B)/2.83V/m, which is both significantly higher than average and a little higher than the specified 90dB. This is a speaker that will play loudly with very few amplifier watts. Specified as having a 4 ohm impedance, the NP 2.0's impedance does drop to just below 4 ohms in the lower midrange (fig.1). There is also a combination of 5 ohms and –45² electrical phase angle at 95Hz, a frequency where music can have a lot of energy. So even if a powerful amplifier isn't necessary…
I can't help wondering: how did the mainstream audio press, cheered Dynaco and Marantz and McIntosh and Quad for switching to transistors a couple of generations ago, greet the first tube-revival products from Audio Research and the like? What was the reaction when moving-coil cartridge technology, considered all but dead by the early 1970s, became the perfectionist hi-fi norm just a few years later? And what would the same people make of the fact that a high-mass, transcription-length pickup arm—with interchangeable pickup heads, no less—is one of the most recommendable phono products of…
My review sample of the EMT 997 was built with an international connector, allowing me to use it with a variety of pickup heads. Some of those were marginally familiar to me—such as the Ortofon SPU Classic (which I'd tried with a Thorens turntable and Ortofon tonearm) and the EMT TSD 15 (a variation on the common EMT MC motor we all know and love, built more or less permanently into a basic EMT headshell). Others were completely new in my experience, such as EMT's astounding OFD 25 mono pickup head: a high-output, high-impedance, very-low-compliance device with a cantilever shaped like a…
The antiskating force is applied by a surprisingly hefty (2.7gm) falling weight, which works against a thin metal lever fastened to the 997's rotating bearing housing. The lever is notched for three different thread positions, these corresponding with downforces of 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0gm—which would seem to exclude the Grace F9E cartridge at one end of the spectrum and EMT's own OFD 65 at the other. But no matter: During its first two weeks in my home, I tried the EMT 997 with three different pickup heads and one cartridge-headshell combination, and concluded that, in every instance, I…