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-…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
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…
"Something's wrong. It sounds confused."
Cantus producer Erick Lichte and I were working on the preliminary mixes for the choir's forthcoming album of works by contemporary American composers, which we had recorded last June at Goshen College, Indiana. I was sitting at the computer, Erick in my listening chair, and we were using PSB's Synchrony One towers as monitors.
"Ah." I tried not to look sheepish. "I forgot to time-align the outputs from the three pairs of microphones I used."
Now, it's fair to note that the improvement made by time-aligning microphones is…
I've been listening a lot of late to Smetana's tone poem Má Vlast, with Sir Colin Davis conducting the London Symphony Orchestra (SACD, LSO Live LSO0516). Recorded in concert in London's Barbican—one of my least favorite halls—the sound is a little on the dry side. However, from the resonant harp intro of the first movement through each string entry, each instrumental choir was delicately delineated in space, and every instrumental tone color was presented without coloration or undue emphasis. This speaker was also a natural for showing off that masterpiece of orchestration, Benjamin Britten…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way, reflex-loaded, magnetically shielded, floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (25mm) ferrofluid-cooled, titanium-dome tweeter; 4" (102mm) fiberglass/natural-fiber–cone midrange unit; three 6.5" (165mm) fiberglass/natural-fiber–cone woofers. Crossover frequencies: 500Hz, 2.2kHz (Linkwitz-Reilly topology). Frequency response: 33Hz–20kHz, ±1.5dB on axis; 30Hz–23kHz, ±3dB on axis. LF cutoff: –10dB at 24Hz. Sensitivity: 88dB/2.83V/m. Nominal impedance: 4 ohms. Minimum impedance: 4 ohms. Recommended power: 20–300Wpc. Supplied accessories:…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: Ayre C-5xe, Pioneer DV-578A universal players; Mark Levinson No.30.6, Benchmark DAC 1 USB, Bel Canto e.one DAC 3 D/A converters; Prima Luna Prologue Eight CD player; Logitech (Slim Devices) Transporter WiFi music player with Apple Mac mini running OSX for media storage.
Preamplifiers: Parasound Halo JC 2, Ayre K-5xe, Mark Levinson No.380S.
Power Amplifiers: Parasound Halo JC 1, Musical Fidelity 550k Supercharger, Mark Levinson No.33H monoblocks; Boulder 860.
Loudspeakers: Sonus Faber Cremona Elipsa, KEF Reference 207/2, Magico V3…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
My estimate of the PSB Synchrony One's voltage sensitivity was 88.3dB(B)/2.83V/m, which is within experimental error of the specified 88dB. The speaker's impedance magnitude remained below 4 ohms throughout the midrange (fig.1, solid trace), with minimum values of 2.6 ohms at 1160Hz and 2.65 ohms at 73Hz. Though the electrical phase angle is generally low within the audioband (fig.1, dashed trace), the combination of 4.1 ohms and –45° phase angle at 29Hz suggests that the PSB be used with a good amplifier rated at 4 ohms.
The traces in fig.1 are free from…
Ralph died last week (September 11, 1991), his great and faithful heart stopped in the aftermath of an affliction not too uncommon for older, larger dogs—a gastric torsion. He was approximately 12 years old.
I'm finding it very hard to get used to the post-Ralph era. My history with Stereophile was only four months old when my daughter Rachel and I happened across Ralph at the Santa Fe Animal Shelter in June 1982. I was still operating my repair shop for needy Mercedes-Benzes, Porsches, and BMWs, and can well remember the fateful message from the Animal Shelter that "Ralph" (as Rachel and…