Fig.7 Superimposed impedance…
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Whoever wrote that must live in a fantasy world. Many of the headphones currently available in the hi-fi market have a medium nominal impedance of 30–60 ohms and typically display a quite wide variation of impedance with frequency. Fig.7 shows overlaid graphs of modulus of impedance vs frequency for the four aforementioned headphones, and fig.8 a simulation of the effect of using them with a source impedance of 120 ohms. The model with the largest impedance variation, the AKG K530 (orange trace), would suffer a total response error of almost 5dB.
RICHARD THOMPSON: Rumor and Sigh
Capitol CDP 95713-2 (CD only). Dave Leonard, Lance Phillips, Tchad Blake, engs.; Mitchell Froom, prod. ADD. TT: 61:25
Capitol CDP 95713-2 (CD only). Dave Leonard, Lance Phillips, Tchad Blake, engs.; Mitchell Froom, prod. ADD. TT: 61:25
Imagine the consternation at Watsamatta U. if Bill Shakespeare's ghost sauntered into a dissertation defense and told the assembled eggheads in no uncertain terms that Hamlet is not: a) an existential hero; b) a Marxist; c) a mama's boy; d) all of the above. That's how I feel sitting here trying to write this review after Richard Thompson politely dismissed most of my pet theories about his latest album as the residue of coincidence or…
Among British turntables, there is the Rega Planar 3, which sells here for $550 (approximately double the UK price). I've owned a Rega for three years and know it well.
The Rega is a good-sounding turntable and a good value—at the UK price. Someone once said that the Rega, which has no suspension, is a triumph of engineering over the laws of physics. There is little isolation from acoustical feedback—some Rega owners have gone to the extreme of mounting their turntables on flimsy shelves, the flimse serving as isolation of sorts.
That's not all that's wrong with the Rega…
Michael Fremer wrote about the Rega in December 1996 (Vol.19 No.12):
The last thing I did before sitting down to write this column was run an $1895 Lyra Clavis DC phono cartridge on a $650 Rega Planar 3 turntable. I played a British Polydor pressing of Roxy Music's song "Avalon," then played it again on the $9000 TNT Mk.3/Immedia RPM combo using a $3800 Transfiguration Temper cartridge. That's $2545 vs about $13,000.
The last thing I did before sitting down to write this column was run an $1895 Lyra Clavis DC phono cartridge on a $650 Rega Planar 3 turntable. I played a British Polydor pressing of Roxy Music's song "Avalon," then played it again on the $9000 TNT Mk.3/Immedia RPM combo using a $3800 Transfiguration Temper cartridge. That's $2545 vs about $13,000.
Were there differences? Of course. Were they big differences? Not nearly as immense as I thought they'd be. When I started my comparison of four reasonably priced arm/'…
Sidebar: Specifications
Description: Two-speed belt-drive turntable with AC synchronous motor and glass platter. Wow & flutter: unspecified. Speed accuracy: unspecified. Rumble: unspecified. Spring-actuated downforce, sliding-magnet antiskating system.
Dimensions: 17.5" (450mm) W by 4.5" (115mm) H by 14" (360mm) D (height includes dustcover, feet).
Finish: Black.
Price (with tonearm): $550, 1984; $450, 1985; $895, 1996; no longer available, 2008 (replaced by P3-24). Approximate number of dealers: 125.
Manufacturer: Rega Research Limited, 6 Coopers Way, Temple Farm…
Despite displaying its products at nearly every CES since 1985, Merlin remains essentially unknown in the US. Problems have plagued the company in this country: key suppliers have gone under, marketing efforts have lacked focus, and the principals of the company seemed to have gotten caught up in audio politics.
Overseas, however, it's been a different story. Merlin has apparently achieved success in Germany, Japan, Korea, Austria, Norway, and Indonesia. More than 85% of Merlin's products leave the US—the company sells in more foreign countries than it has US dealers. Merlin products…
Bass definition could have been better, especially from positions other than the primary listening spot. The only reason I heard this effect was because I spent a reasonable amount of time listening off-axis. The speaker was otherwise a fine performer from multiple listening positions. The Excalibur II is not a head-in-a-vise design. I was unsure of the source of the bass shortcomings off-axis because I could not rule out the amps I was using (Jadis Defy-7s), or my room (which remains problematic below 65Hz despite all my efforts to improve things).
During the break-in period, I listened…
This caused me to put together a few more pieces of a possible puzzle. The Merlins sounded best when aimed straight ahead, which keeps the listener off the direct axis of the tweeter. Merlin recommends using the speakers in a live (as opposed to dead) room. In a live room, the treble level is more prominent without resorting to increasing the tweeters' output. Has Merlin pushed the Elac aluminum-dome tweeter to its upper operational limit? Have they purposely designed the speaker to restrict the attention that the tweeter draws to itself? While all of this is purely speculative, the…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way, five-driver, ported, dynamic loudspeaker. Drive-units: two 8" Peerless woofers, two 4.5" Vifa midranges, one 1" Elac aluminum-dome tweeter. Crossover points: 500Hz & 3kHz. Frequency response: 30Hz–20kHz ±3dB. Impedance: 8 ohms (4 ohms minimum). Sensitivity: 90dB/W/m.
Dimensions: 64.5" H by 14" W by 17" D. Weight: 210 lbs each.
Price: $8400/pair (light oak finish); $9100/pair (black lacquer finish), 1993; no longer available, 2008. Approximate number of dealers: 10. Warranty: 5 years parts and labor.
Manufacturer: Merlin Music…
Sidebar 2: Measurements
With its tone controls set to maximum, the Excalibur's impedance magnitude (fig.1) stays above 4 ohms apart from the low treble, where it briefly dips to 3.3 ohms. It is actually a moderately demanding load for the amplifier driving it, the 8 ohm specification being a little optimistic. The sensitivity, assessed with B-weighted noise, is high, however, at a calculated 91dB/2.83V/m, which will reduce the demand on the partnering amplifier.
Fig.1 Merlin Excalibur, electrical impedance (solid) and phase (dashed) with tone controls set to maximum and…