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Last year, when Epos importer Music Hall contacted me about reviewing the then-new M16 floorstanding loudspeaker, I hesitated. I had been very impressed with the M16's little bookshelf brother, the M5 (see my review in the April 2005 Stereophile, Vol.28 No.4), which I found uncolored, detailed, and a great value. Most of all, the M5 had an incredible balance of performance. But several times in the past, having been seduced by a wonderfully balanced bookshelf speaker, I've then been disappointed by one of its costlier, floorstanding brethren. The larger speaker might share the bookshelf's…
Every jazz recording I played through the Eposes was a rich experience. "Pannonica," from Thelonious Monk's Brilliant Corners (45rpm LP, Riverside/Analogue Productions RLP-226), highlighted Eric Henry's breathy, delicate, vibrant alto-sax work, which was never obscured even in the densest passages. The upper register of Monk's celeste was so extended, delicate, and lifelike through the Epos that these 45s took on the qualities of a master tape. In the opening passage of "Mansour's Gift," from Attention Screen's Live at Merkin Hall (CD, Stereophile STPH018-2), I was able to focus on drummer…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: 2½-way, reflex-loaded, magnetically shielded, triwirable, floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (25mm) aluminum-dome tweeter with high-temperature voice-coil, ferrofluid cooling, ferrite magnet system; 5.5" (140mm) bass/midrange with injection-molded polymer cone, high-temperature voice-coil, die-cast chassis, phase plug; 5.5" (140mm) woofer with injection-molded polymer cone, high-temperature voice-coil, die-cast chassis, dustcap. Crossover frequencies: 150Hz, 3kHz Power handling: 150W maximum, speech and music. Frequency range: 48Hz–20kHz.…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: VPI TNT IV turntable, Immedia RPM tonearm, Koetsu Urushi cartridge; Rega Planar 3 turntable, Syrinx PU-3 tonearm, Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood & Aurum Beta S cartridges.
Digital Sources: Lector CDP-7T, Creek Destiny CD players; Pioneer DV-333 DVD player.
Preamplification: Vendetta Research SCP-2D phono stage, Audio Valve Eklipse line stage.
Power Amplifier: Audio Research Reference 110 II.
Integrated Amplifiers: Creek Destiny & Creek 5350SE.
Loudspeakers: Amphion Helium2, Epos M5, Monitor Audio Silver RS6.
Cables:…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
At 88.3dB(B)/2.83V/m, my estimate of the Epos M16i's voltage sensitivity on its tweeter axis was within experimental error of the specified figure, which is slightly above average. Its electrical impedance remained above 6 ohms throughout the upper midrange and treble (fig.1), but the use of paralleled drivers to cover the bass frequencies results in a minimum impedance of 3 ohms between 35 and 45Hz. Fortunately—and as usual—the electrical phase angle is never at its highest when the magnitude is at its lowest, so the M16i should not be too difficult a load for…
In an unfortunate coincidence, a few nights before the Cabasse team arrived to install the company's unusual-looking La Sphère powered speaker system, VOOM HD Networks, Monster HD channel, which is exclusively devoted to B horror movies, broadcast The Crawling Eye (aka The Trollenberg Terror), a 1958 black-and-white howler starring Forrest Tucker. I watched.
Uncrated, and minus the cold fog, the large, accurately named Sphères bore more than a passing resemblance to that flick's crawling-eye monsters. Indeed, the Cabasses' unusual presence in my listening room creeped out more…
$140,000 gets you the two speakers, the outboard active crossover and DSP processor, and installation, including computer-coordinated custom room correction. While you have the option of using enough separate, non-Cabasse amplifiers to achieve the required eight channels of power, Cabasse strongly recommends its own Bel Canto–sourced power package, comprising eight fully balanced ICE-powered digital monoblock amplifiers: four 1kW bass/midbass amps and four 300-watters for the midrange drivers and tweeters. That's 5200W for $25,000, and a total package price of $165,000.
You'll also need…
With every familiar LP I played during the months the Sphères were in my room, the absence of time and phase artifacts, combined with amplitude correction that resulted in a subjectively near-flat frequency response in the critical midrange, was the sonic equivalent of finally getting in sharp focus a long, blurry, smeared panoramic photo.
From familiar recordings there were always surprises, and often new information, to be heard. More important, there was a continuous sense of "rightness" about the overall sound. Last night I put on the oft-reviled Mobile Fidelity edition of the…
Sidebar 2: Specifications
Description: Four-way, floorstanding, full-range active loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1.1" (28mm) dome polyether tweeter, 4" (100mm) annular midrange, 8" (210mm) Duocell annular low-midrange, 22" (550mm) woofer. Crossover frequencies: 150Hz, 800Hz, 4kHz. Frequency response: 20Hz–25kHz, ±3dB. Sensitivities: 93dB (tweeter, midrange), 94dB (low-midrange), 96dB (woofer). Nominal impedance: not specified. Power handling: 30W (tweeter), 80W (midrange), 170W (low-midrange), 1kW (woofer). Fully balanced, class-D ICE monoblock power amplifiers: four 300W (tweeters, midranges…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Continuum Audio Labs: Caliburn turntable, Cobra tonearm, Castellon stand; Graham Phantom tonearm; Ortofon Windfeld, Einstein TU3, Air Tight PC-1, Lyra Titan i cartridges.
Digital Sources: Musical Fidelity kW SACD player, BPT-modified Alesis Masterlink hard-disk recorder.
Preamplification: Manley Steelhead, Einstein Turntable's Choice, Nagra VPS phono preamplifiers; Musical Fidelity kWP, DartZeel NHB-18NS preamplifiers.
Loudspeakers: Wilson Audio Specialties MAXX 2.
Cables: Interconnect: Kimber Kable Select, TARA Labs Zero.…