Mrs. Kevin Conklin, who operates professionally under her own name of Linda Tasker, is obviously not a devotee. In fact, when KC is in a particularly disparaging mood, he has been known to mutter, "What do you expect from her---she listens to Country-Western music!"
When Stereophile confronted her with this information, Mrs. KC confessed, "Yes, that's true, but only in my car---and that is my designated listening room."
As you might gather…
The physical design of the listening room is also important. Remember to consider floor loading; in a custom home, you will want to specify structural reinforcing in the areas where heavy album storage may be anticipated. A concrete floor with plush carpet is ideal; closer joist spacing will reduce vibrations in wood floors.
The contractors may be able to…
When opera singers start making noises about wanting to sing popular songs, it's best in most cases to plug your ears, shut your wallet, and run for the hills. The funny part is that pop records should be a slam-dunk for opera singers. Despite its many charms, pop…
Is the fact that Tracks was one of the past year's most powerful collections mean that rock'n'roll has fallen on hard times, or does it simply attest to the depth and power of this Jersey Boy's enduring gifts?
Several listens to this 66-track boxed…
The X-719's most noticeable weakness became evident with busy recordings that have considerable program material in all frequency…
Description: Two-way, reflex-loaded stand-mounted loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" silk-dome tweeter, 7" carbon-fiber-impregnated paper-cone woofer. Crossover frequency: 2kHz. Frequency range: 38Hz-20kHz (no limits given). Sensitivity: 88dB/W/m. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms. Power handling: 80W.
Dimensions: 15.6" H by 10.5" W by 16" D. Weight: 37 lbs.
Finishes: Black Lacquer, White, Grey Silver, Matte Black, Light Silver.
Serial numbers of units reviewed: B012830, B21227C.
Price: $1000/pair. Matching RSW708 stands cost $400/pair. Approximate number of…
Analog sources: VPI TNT Mk.IV turntable, Immedia RPM tonearm, Koetsu Urushi MC phono cartridge; Rega Planar 3 turntable, Syrinx PU-3 tonearm, Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood, Aurum Beta S cartridges.
Digital sources: California Audio Labs Icon Mk.II Power Boss, Creek CD53 Mk.II CD players; Pioneer DV-333 DVD player.
Preamplification: Vendetta Research SCP-2D phono stage, Audio Valve Eklipse line stage.
Power amplifier: Audio Research VT100 Mk.II.
Integrated amplifier: Creek 5350SE.
Cables: Interconnect: MIT MI-350 CVTwin Terminator, MI-330SG,…
The Ushers arrived at my home rather the worse for wear, their single packing box and internal Styrofoam inserts not being up to the task of protecting the speakers from the ravages of UPS. A speaker this hefty needs to be individually packed, in my experience. Fortunately, most of the damage was cosmetic, and while the crossover's large air-cored inductor was hanging by its connecting leads in the less damaged of the pair (S/N B012830), the speaker did function correctly. All the measurements were therefore performed on this sample, with its grille off (the…
I felt that the measurements of the Usher's treble correlated with Bob Reina's subjective findings. However, concerned about the fact that our review samples of the Usher X-719 had arrived at my place with shipping damage, and that that might have affected my measurements, Joe D'Appolito sent me his own measurements of the X-719, with the following comments:
"Fig.1 shows the full-range frequency response of a production X-719 selected at random for testing. No special trimming was applied. Response below 200Hz was obtained outdoors using the ground-plane technique and…