The Temptation's sweet spot enlarged considerably when it was used in a…
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However, I must add that the sweet spot—where the depth and width of the soundstage was almost palpable—was in the nearfield. If I sat in just the right place, Stevie Nicks singing "Rhiannon" (from The Dance) became a three-dimensional being. I could close my eyes and imagine just where she was standing and the space around her—as long as my head was in the right spot. I could be wrong, but I recall that the Evidence Masters' sweet spot was larger in the nearfield, but accessible in both the nearfield and farfield.
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Five-way, 8-driver, floorstanding reflex-loaded, loudspeaker. Drive-units: two 1.1" (28mm) soft-dome tweeters; two 6" (150mm) polypropylene-cone midrange units, each with 1.5" (38mm) voice-coil; four 8" polypropylene-cone bass drivers with 3" (75mm) voice-coils and hybrid magnet systems. Crossover frequencies: 300Hz, 500Hz, 2.3kHz, 8kHz. Crossover slopes: 6dB/octave. Resonant frequency: 28Hz. Frequency response: 29Hz-25kHz, ±3dB. Sensitivity: 90dB/2.83V/m. Nominal impedance: 4 ohms (3.1-6.1 ohms, -50 degrees to +26 degrees phase angle, 20Hz-20kHz).…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog source: Linn Sondek LP12 turntable with Lingo power supply, Linn Ittok tonearm, Spectral moving-coil cartridge.
Digital sources: Krell KRC-28 transport, Sony SCD-C555ES multichannel SACD player.
FM tuners: Day-Sequerra FM Reference Classic, Rotel RH-10, Magnum Dynalab MD-102 and 205 Sleuth RF amplifier, Fanfare FT-1A.
Preamplification: Krell KCT, Sony TA-P9000ES preamplifiers; Mark Levinson ML-7A with L-2 phono section, Margulis and Duntech MX-10 moving-coil preamplifiers.
Power amplifiers: Mark Levinson No.334, Krell FPB 600c, Bryston…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
All measurements were taken using DRA Labs' excellent MLSSA system. However, the bulk and weight of the Dynaudio Evidence Temptation made it impossible for me to raise it off the floor for the acoustic measurements. As a result, the anechoic time window was not as long as I usually enjoy, due to the presence of an early reflection from the ground, which will reduce the resolution of the measurement in the midrange. However, the amplitude of this reflection was not as great as I was expecting, due, I imagine, to the speaker's controlled vertical dispersion, with…
There is a slight positive plateau evident between 9kHz and 15kHz, which might be thought to add a slight brightness to the perceived balance. However, the Temptation's lateral dispersion plot (fig.5) shows that the speaker is quite directional in this region. In a typical room, the resulting lack of energy in the top two octaves of the reverberant field will work against the on-axis boost, giving a neutral character to the speaker's treble, though the 5-9kHz region might still stand out a bit in small, live rooms.
Fig.5 Dynaudio Temptation, lateral response family at 50", from…
101 years ago, the tinfoil cylinder started it all. Within 22 years, its heyday was done, and public support swung to favor the then-new wax-mastered disc. 1948 saw the switch to a slower speed and a finer groove, but the flat disc, traced by a stylus, has held sway for almost 80 years now. Even today, people with multi-speed turntables and a couple of arms (or plug-in cartridges) can reproduce from a single phono unit the earliest or the latest discs merely by the flip of two switches (for speed change and cartridge change). All that is about to come to an end.
When the disc supplanted…
We have, however, started to hear some reactions to the Magnavox system from people who have auditioned it, and the reactions have been very contradictory, in a manner which precisely fulfils a prediction we made about a year ago. At that time, we allowed as how a lot of audiophiles were going to be unhappy with digital audio in their home because it would upset that delicate balance whereby loudspeaker colorations were being offset by complementary colorations in the phono system. And that is exactly why many audiophiles are not altogether ecstatic about Magnavox's digital sound. If they…
Most of the people buying the Magnavox players are, of course, buying them for the video capability. But once the word gets around that their purchase has bestowed on them a state-of-the art audio source, increasing numbers of people are going to start demanding audio program material. As of now, there is practically none. There are no prerecorded cassettes for Sony's PCM-l, and only two musical recordings for the Magnavox system—ballet scores to accompany the video productions. That situation is not likely to last for long. If there is a demand for digital audio software it will be met—and…
But . . . There's a catch to it. We have observed, unhappily, for many years that a substantial proportion of self-proclaimed audio perfectionists, who profess to be seeking audio accuracy and consider themselves qualified to judge it, have rarely if ever heard live, unamplified music. These are the people who can Ooh and Aah over a system's incredible imaging, bass tautness, and transient response, while remaining oblivious to the fact that it makes a soprano sound like a contralto and an oboe like an English horn. To them, the greatest asset of a digital playback—its ability to render…
For many audiophiles, choosing a power amplifier is a vexing problem. Just how much must one spend to get true high-end sound and a solid build quality? How much power is really needed? And what amplifiers are suitable for driving low-impedance loudspeakers?
These common questions reflect a need in the marketplace for an amplifier with high-end sonics, good build quality, and beefy enough design to drive even the most difficult loads. The ideal amplifier would approach the musicality of the best amplifiers available, have more than enough power to drive virtually any load, and be priced…