Because the Pass Aleph 1.2s weigh so much, I didn't try to herd them into my video room; instead installing them in my main large room (see Vol.19 No.8, p.117 for photographs). They were saddled with the Dunlavy Signature SC-VI loudspeakers. I tried a passel of power cables—Aural Symphonics Missing Link Cubed Gen.III and Synergistic Research RC/Master coupler (serial numbers 555 and 556, I kid you not). I heard no difference between the two (like Betty and Sue in Pat Sky's version of "Cocaine"), so I settled on the Aural Symphonic AC cables because they were…
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Sidebar 3: Measurements
A full set of measurements were run on the Pass Aleph 1.2 in unbalanced mode, with selected measurements repeated in balanced mode. Unless otherwise noted, the following measurements reflect unbalanced operation.
The 60-minute, 1/3-power preconditioning test left the Aleph 1.2's heatsinks very warm for several seconds, but not uncomfortable to touch. The amplifier's input impedance measured 10.3k ohms unbalanced, 20.5k ohms balanced. Its voltage gain into 8 ohms is 23.1dB (23.3dB balanced), a little lower than most amplifiers. I wouldn't recommend the…
ENRICO RAVA/STEFANO BOLLANI: The Third Man
Enrico Rava, trumpet; Stefano Bollani, piano
ECM 2020 (CD). 2007. Manfred Eicher, prod.; Stefano Amerio, Gabriele Kamm, engs. DDD. TT: 72:06
Performance ****1/2
Sonics ****
Enrico Rava, trumpet; Stefano Bollani, piano
ECM 2020 (CD). 2007. Manfred Eicher, prod.; Stefano Amerio, Gabriele Kamm, engs. DDD. TT: 72:06
Performance ****1/2
Sonics ****
Enrico Rava and Stefano Bollani represent two categories—two eras—of Italian jazz musician. Rava is 67, mostly self-taught, and was famous when almost no Italian jazz musicians were known outside Italy. He has long been acknowledged as one of the greatest jazz trumpet players, but because, before the new millennium, no other Italian approached him in stature…
No matter how well you think you know the specialized world of high-end audio, there are always new companies, new technologies, and new products you just haven't gotten around to knowing yet.
At the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show, one company scored a perfect triple on that score. I wandered into Hansen Audio's room, where I met Lars Hansen, heard the Emperor loudspeaker, and was impressed by Hansen's proprietary drivers. The Emperors sure sounded like the real thing, and Hansen himself was a very impressive man, but geeze louise, how likely was it that a company would come out of…
The Princes did a superb job of balancing Copland's Steinway and Abercrombie's electric squonk (the guitarist is old-school when it comes to effects— between soundcheck and gig, he'd spent a solid hour resurrecting an ancient Mike Matthews chorus stomp box). The Princes balanced that electric crunch and the piano's crisp, round transient attack. Add Hart's fundamental clatter and roar, and I was right back at that October night in Santa Fe.
But while the Princes were superb at rendering the sound of instruments in space, they were even better at getting to the music's white-hot emotional…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way, floorstanding, ported loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (25mm) soft-dome tweeter mounted on dispersion-optimized 6mm aluminum plate, 7.1" (182mm) laminated-cone midrange unit, 10.6" (269mm) laminated-cone woofer. Crossover: first-order. Crossover frequencies: ca 100Hz, 2.5kHz. Frequency response: 23Hz–23kHz, ±2dB. Nominal impedance: 6 ohms. Sensitivity: 87dB/W/m.
Dimensions: 42" (1066.8mm) H by 14" (355.6mm) W by 20" (508mm) D. Weight: 205 lbs (92.98kg) each, 540 lbs (245.5kg) system shipping weight in crates.
Finishes: Various.
…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: Ayre C5-xe universal player, McIntosh MS750 music server, Linn Klimax DS networked D/A processor, Bel Canto e.One DAC3 D/A converter.
Preamplifiers: Conrad-Johnson ACT2.2, Krell Evolution 202, Linn Kontrol.
Power Amplifiers: Krell Evolution 600 monoblocks, Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 300.
Loudspeakers: Wilson Audio Specialties WATT/Puppy 8.
Cables: Interconnect: AudioQuest William E. Lowe Reference, Stealth Indra & Nanofiber. Speaker: AudioQuest William E. Lowe Reference, Stealth Dream.
Accessories: Composite Products CF-…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
With a speaker as large and heavy as the Prince V2, there is no question of lifting it onto a tall stand for the acoustic measurements, to move back in time the inevitable reflection from the floor between the speaker and the microphone. As a result, my measurements don't have as much detail in the lower midrange as usual, but I don't believe that fact invalidates my findings. (My thanks to Wes Bender, Stephen Mejias, and Danny Gonzalez for their help in moving these speakers around for the measurements.)
My estimate of the Prince's voltage sensitivity on…
Michael Fremer wrote about the Hansen Prince V2 in March 2009 (Vol.32 No.3):
Sitting down to listen to music for 80 minutes at a stretch is not unusual in my home, and it probably isn't in yours. But at the annual Consumer Electronics Show, it's very unusual indeed. Because you can't possibly take in everything at a CES, even in those rare instances where the sound is great, you tend to catch only a taste before moving on to the next room. So when Hansen Audio's Prince V2 kept me transfixed in an unfamiliar hotel room for an entire CD-R's worth of familiar tunes, I figured it was a…
"Modern recordings, for all their glory . . . have conditioned audiences to expect an inhuman degree of performance accuracy, comparable to what a recording studio's editing team can produce by patching together the best moments from multiple takes."—James F. Penrose, Wall Street Journal, January 25, 2008
Well, color me conditioned for perfection.
The January 25 edition of the Wall Street Journal featured James F. Penrose's review of Kenneth Hamilton's book After the Golden Age: Romantic Pianism and Modern Performance (Oxford University Press, 2007; hardcover, $29.95). Through…