The Cabasse La Sphère is bulky enough (footnote 1), heavy enough, and, with its need for quad-amplification, complicated enough that I felt that, rather than have the loudspeaker shipped to my lab for measurement, I would travel to it. So I paid a visit to Mikey's listening room to take the measurements, which also allowed me to give it a listen. I was very impressed by the speaker when I auditioned it at the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show, thinking it had a delicacy that belied its bulk, and I heard much of what Mikey described in his auditioning comments.
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Manufacturers' Comment
Editor: First, I'd like to thank Michael Fremer for the exciting time we had together, sharing our passion for music and engaging sound through numerous tests and comparisons of different components, as well as digital and analog sources. It was a rich experience, although I missed the pleasure of meeting with John Atkinson at MF's place and comparing the measurement process and human perceptions with him as well.
Regarding the measurements, I was surprised to see that my mine were much smoother that the ones John gathered, and in many ways mine were more…
The subject comes up every now and then: Audio reviewers don't write nearly enough negative reviews. One old attention-seeker on Audio Asylum went so far as to characterize Stereophile and our would-be competitors as "happy face" magazines—a joke in which he seemed to take tremendous pride—simply because we hand out a lot of As and Bs. By that logic, assuming that a certain percentage of underachievers is inevitable in any population, our schools aren't handing out nearly enough Fs. (I have a suggestion for where they can begin.)
The fact remains that most of the audio reviewers…
Aesthetically speaking, no one would confuse a Mana table with the work of Gustav Stickley or Harvey Ellis; viewed out of context, I doubt if many people would mistake a Mana table for any kind of indoor furniture at all—and I can't say I blame them. Perhaps I'll have the black paint stripped off of mine some day, after which I'll finish it with a sort of faux-verdigris patina: Then my Mana might at least resemble good-quality outdoor furniture. Until then, I can just tolerate the way it looks.
Give my regards to the Earth's core
Mana Acoustics may be gone, but the demand for…
Three years ago, the idea of a solid-state integrated amplifier that sold for only $1250 yet combined some of the best performance aspects of a Naim Nait and a Dynaco Stereo 70 seemed likely to resonate with consumers and critics alike. And it did: Introduced in early 2005, the British-built Exposure 2010S was an unequivocal hit on both sides of the Atlantic, and remains in Class A of Stereophile's "Recommended Components." Deservedly.
Three years later, the landscape has changed. The US dollar is doing poorly as I write this—the price of the 2010S has crept up to $1395—and…
Usually, when I hear something like that, I try reversing the amp's absolute polarity by swapping the loudspeaker connections at both channels. More often that not, the source of the problem is that the design just happens to reverse polarity—no big deal. But when I did that with the Exposure 3010S, I couldn't hear much of a difference: Leading-edge transients were a bit blunted, no matter what.
Several days after those initial impressions, the Exposure did sound slightly better with its speaker leads reversed: Loudon Wainwright III's voice on the live "Mr. Guilty," from Unrequited (CD,…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid-state integrated amplifier with remote control. Line inputs: 6 (one adaptable for phono use with optional phono stage) plus tape output. Line input impedance: 17k ohms. Optional phono input impedance: 47k ohms (moving-magnet board; moving-coil board is adjustable from 100 ohms to 1500 ohms). Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz, ±0.5dB. Total harmonic distortion: <0.03 % at rated output, 1kHz. Channel separation: >60dB, 20Hz–20kHz. Output power: 110Wpc into 8 ohms, 1kHz.
Dimensions: 17.2" (440mm) W by 4.5" (115mm) H by 11.7" (300mm) D.…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Linn LP12 (with Linn Basik power supply), Thorens TD 124 Mk.II turntables; Naim Aro, EMT 997 tonearms; Miyabi 47, EMT OFD 25, Ortofon SPU Synergy A cartridges.
Digital Source: Sony SCD-777ES SACD/CD player.
Preamplification: Auditorium 23 Standard, K&K Audio, EAR MC4 step-up transformers; Shindo Masseto preamplifier.
Power Amplifiers: Shindo Cortese, Quad II.
Loudspeakers: Audio Note AN-E/SPe HE, Quad ESL.
Cables: Interconnect: Audio Note AN-Vx, Shindo silver. Speaker: Auditorium 23, DNM. AC: JPS Labs The Digital AC (SACD…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured the Exposure 3010S using Audio Precision's top-model SYS2722 system (see www.ap.com) for most of the tests, with some use made of the older AP System One. As usual, I preconditioned the amplifier by running both channels at one-third power into 8 ohms, which maximally stresses an amplifier with a class-B or -AB output stage. The normal preconditioning period is one hour, but the Exposure turned itself off after just 20 minutes. While the chassis was warm, the area of the top cover above the internal heatsink was almost too hot to keep my hand on.…
After using Bel Canto's e.One DAC3 with the McIntosh Laboratory MS750 music server, I was so impressed that I wanted to hear Bel Canto's CD transports as well. But willing as Bel Canto president and CEO John Stronczer was to supply me with a CD-2, he suggested I audition the S300iu ($2195, footnote 1).
"The S300i is a 150Wpc integrated amplifier, and the 'u' suffix means it's been outfitted with a USB-input-only DAC (a $200 option)," Stronczer explained. "We're pretty excited about it, and we think it's a logical first step for someone who has never seen the point of high-end…