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I kept returning to the Esoteric speaker's resolution and transparency. As I explained in my news article about Cantus, the latest CD I've engineered for the Minnesotan choir of that name (CD, Cantus Recordings CTS-1207), the mix of Peter Hamelin's semi-theatrical setting of Ernest Lawrence Thayer's "Casey at the Bat" was extremely complicated, involving 24 tracks of material: the full choir, a barbershop trio, crowd noises, dialog between the umpire and Casey, various baseball-related sound effects—even birds (if not a kitchen sink). Some of these sounds—the tolling bell in the coda, for…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way, reflex-loaded, floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (25mm) magnesium-dome tweeter, two 6.5" (165mm) magnesium-cone woofers. Crossover frequency: 1.9kHz. Crossover slopes: second-order low-pass, third-order high-pass. Frequency response: 38Hz–48kHz, –6dB. Sensitivity: 89dB/2.83V/m. Nominal impedance: 6 ohms. Minimum impedance: 3.7 ohms. Power handling: 20–170W.
Dimensions: Speaker: 41.75" (1061mm) H by 8.5" (216mm) W by 10.7" (272mm) D. Internal volume: 21.5 liters. Weight: 33 lbs (15kg). STD-MG-20 stand: 10.2" (260mm) W by 1.4" (…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: Ayre C-5xe, Oppo DV-970HD universal players; Cary CD 306 Pro SACD player; Prima Luna 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 for media storage.
Preamplifiers: Parasound Halo JC 2, Mark Levinson No.380S.
Power Amplifiers: Parasound Halo JC 1, Mark Levinson No.33H (both monoblocks).
Loudspeakers: PSB Synchrony One.
Cables: Digital: Kimber Illuminations Orchid AES/EBU, AudioQuest OptiLink-5 S/PDIF. Interconnect (…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The Esoteric MG-20's voltage sensitivity is specified as 89dB/2.83V/m. My B-weighted estimate on its tweeter axis agreed with this figure, which is a useful 2dB higher than average. The Esoteric's impedance (fig.1) remained above 4 ohms at all frequencies, and while the electrical phase angle covered a wide (±45°) range, as usual, the most extreme angles occurred when the impedance magnitude was fairly high. The MG-20 should therefore be a fairly easy speaker for the partnering amplifier to drive. The speaker will work well with relatively low-powered tubed…
Snobbery is a disease of the imagination.—Peter Straub, "Little Red's Tango"
When my wife was in college, years before I met her, she and a girlfriend spent a holiday together in Greece, whiling away their hours on the bone-white beaches of Ios. One afternoon she saw among the revelers a man with a pale complexion and a black Saville Row suit: obviously an Englishman. She wondered why anyone would forsake a tan on the world's most beautiful beach, and he wondered why an attractive American twentysomething would care. Thus began Janet's—and, ultimately, my—lifelong friendship with Phil…
And let's not overlook what may be the man's greatest talent: his singing—which has evolved over the years from the self-conscious hiccup of the late 1970s to one of the most limber, expressive baritones in all of modern pop.
But the problem is that most of Elvis Costello's albums are unlistenable by the time the ink has dried on the liner notes. They just don't hold up. Three possible reasons for that sad situation come to mind:
Fatty brain deposits: If Bruce Springsteen's problem is that he tries too hard, Costello's is that he thinks way too much—mostly, or so it appears,…
With the popularity of home-theater systems, subwoofers have proliferated. Because multichannel AV receivers are designed to provide a properly filtered, line-level subwoofer, or low-frequency effects (LFE) signal, many subs no longer come with built-in high- and low-pass filters for insertion into two-channel audio systems. However, the PB13-Ultra subwoofer from SV Sound does include these, which is what piqued my interest in it. After Ed Mullen, SV Sound's director of sales, assured me that the PB13-Ultra was capable of reproducing solid 20Hz organ-pedal notes in my listening room, I asked…
Listening
Once correctly level-matched and equalized, the SV Sound PB13-Ultra and Quad ESL-989s generated full-range audio output with great deep-bass extension. When I played orchestral recordings, the sub rendered a clean, fast response for bass drum and timpani. The deepest notes had a tight, rhythmic quality. The PB13-Ultra's Hi Pass filter protected the Quads from the deep bass notes, allowing them to deliver greater dynamic range before their clipping protection circuits could shut them down. For example, the intense synthesizer opening of "Deeper Wells," from Emmylou Harris's…
Once correctly level-matched and equalized, the SV Sound PB13-Ultra and Quad ESL-989s generated full-range audio output with great deep-bass extension. When I played orchestral recordings, the sub rendered a clean, fast response for bass drum and timpani. The deepest notes had a tight, rhythmic quality. The PB13-Ultra's Hi Pass filter protected the Quads from the deep bass notes, allowing them to deliver greater dynamic range before their clipping protection circuits could shut them down. For example, the intense synthesizer opening of "Deeper Wells," from Emmylou Harris's…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Front-firing, vented, powered subwoofer with selectable port configurations (Sealed, 10Hz, 15Hz, 20Hz). Drive-unit: long-excursion, 13.5", 55-lb, high-output cone with 3" voice-coil, a free-air resonant frequency of 30Hz, and 2" excursion peak–peak. Line-level high-pass filter: 12dB/octave at 80Hz. Low-pass filter: 12dB/octave, continuously variable 40–120Hz. Inputs: single balanced (XLR), paired unbalanced (RCA). Outputs: 2 balanced (XLR) jacks to additional subwoofer. Accessories: power cord, foam port plugs, grille.Controls: Auto On; continuously…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Linn Sondek LP12 turntable with Lingo power supply, Linn Ittok tonearm, Spectral MC cartridge; Day-Sequerra Classic FM tuner.
Digital Sources: Bryston BCD-1 CD player, Sony SCD-C555ES SACD/CD player.
Preamplifier: Mark Levinson ML-7.
Power Amplifiers: Mark Levinson No.334 & ML-2.
Loudspeakers: Quad ESL-989; Velodyne DD-18, JL Audio Fathom f113, REL Studio III subwoofers.
Cables: Digital: Wireworld Starlight Coaxial. Interconnect: Mark Levinson Silver, Red Rose Silver One, Totem Acoustic Sinew single-ended, Pure Silver…