Stand Loudspeaker Reviews

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Stand Loudspeaker ReviewsBudget Component Reviews
Rogers Studio 3 loudspeaker
John Atkinson  |  Jul 09, 2006  |  First Published: Dec 09, 1993  | 
Back in the early 1970s, the BBC needed a physically unobtrusive, nearfield monitor loudspeaker for use in outside-broadcast trucks. Accordingly, they instructed their design department, which at that time featured such luminaries as Dudley Harwood (the "father" of the polypropylene cone, who went on to found Harbeth) and the late Spencer Hughes (the "father" of the Bextrene cone, who went on to found Spendor), to produce such a model. Thus, not only was what was then probably the finest collection of British speaker-design talent involved in its development, there were no commercial constraints placed on the design. The only limitations were intended to be those arising from the necessarily small enclosure and the absence of the need for a wide dynamic range under close monitoring conditions.
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Stand Loudspeaker Reviews
Ruark Equinox loudspeaker
Kalman Rubinson  |  Jul 09, 2006  |  First Published: Feb 09, 1997  | 
Ever since the 1960s, when I built a pair of Altec A7 clones, I've had a preference for relatively big speakers. Yes, I was seduced by the Stax F-81 electrostatics because of their incredibly low coloration, but inevitably I felt the need to return to something that would move more air. Regardless of the type of music (I do like the big stuff) or the sound levels, unless the sound has solidity and size, I can't easily suspend disbelief.
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Stand Loudspeaker ReviewsJ. Gordon HoltBudget Component Reviews
Siefert Maxim III loudspeaker
J. Gordon Holt, Thomas J. Norton  |  Sep 18, 2012  |  First Published: Jul 01, 1985  | 
While it is not quite accurate to say that $500/pair loudspeakers are a dime a dozen, they are by no means unusual. And since this is a price area where major design compromises are mandatory (footnote 1), the sound of such loudspeakers tends to vary all over the map, from pretty good to godawful—depending on what performance areas the designer chose to compromise and by how much.

I approached this latest half-grander with little enthusiasm, despite Siefert's persuasive literature, I have, after all, been reading such self-congratulatory hype abiout new products for longer than most Stereophile readers have been counting birthdays. This, I must admit, was ho-humsville.

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Budget Component ReviewsStand Loudspeaker Reviews
Signet SL280 loudspeaker
Thomas J. Norton  |  Apr 13, 2016  |  First Published: Oct 01, 1990  | 
Audio journalists tend to wander the corridors of a CES in a minor state of shell-shock. There are no carnival-barkers outside the rooms enticing one to enter (not yet, at any rate), but the sounds and reputations oozing from the open doorways yield little to the "hurry, hurry, hurry" crowd. The Signet room has always, it seems, been one of the quieter oases, often eschewing sound altogether while contentedly displaying their phono cartridges, cables, and various accessories. On a recent CES hunt, I was therefore intrigued to find them demonstrating two new loudspeakers, of all things, to the milling throngs.
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Stand Loudspeaker ReviewsBudget Component Reviews
Silverline Audio Minuet loudspeaker
Robert J. Reina  |  Apr 23, 2008  | 
I always look forward to Stereophile's Home Entertainment Shows, where I scout out interesting new models of affordable loudspeakers. At HE2007 in New York City, I was struck by the Silverline Audio room—not only by the sound I heard there, but by the way Showgoers reacted to that sound.
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Budget Component ReviewsStand Loudspeaker Reviews
Sjöfn HiFi (the clue) loudspeaker
Herb Reichert  |  Dec 30, 2014  | 
I was sitting in my high chair, eating strained peas. My father was walking around the kitchen with a wooden box in one hand and a cord with a plug in the other. The box and the cord were attached to each other. I was inspired to utter my first actual sentence: "Plug it in over there!" Moments later, a man with a disturbing voice began squawking from inside the wooden box. It was a radio. Schnapps, our dachshund, barked angrily. I started to cry. Ever since, I've been charmed, fascinated, and mostly annoyed by wooden boxes that talk to me.
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Stand Loudspeaker Reviews
Snell Acoustics LCR7 XL loudspeaker
John Atkinson  |  Jun 16, 2006  | 
When someone is described as having "written the book" on a subject, it is generally taken as a figure of speech. But veteran speaker designer Joseph D'Appolito, PhD, quite literally "wrote the book." His Testing Loudspeakers (Audio Amateur Press, 1998) is an invaluable resource for those of us who, lacking any talent for designing speakers ourselves, nevertheless find the subject of speaker performance endlessly fascinating. So when Snell's PR consultant, Bryan Stanton, contacted me a while back about reviewing the LCR7, the first design D'Appolito had seen through from start to finish for the Massachusetts-based company since he had replaced David Smith as Snell's chief engineer, I suffered from more than a little anxiety.
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Stand Loudspeaker ReviewsBudget Component Reviews
Snell Type K/II loudspeaker
Robert Harley  |  Apr 01, 2007  |  First Published: Jan 01, 1991  | 
In some ways, building an inexpensive yet musical two-way loudspeaker is a greater design challenge than creating a cost-no-object reference product. Although the latter is a much more complex endeavor, the venerable two-way box seems to bring out the creativity and resources of the designer. Rather than throw money at the product in the form of more expensive drivers, enclosures, or components, the designer of a low-cost two-way is forced to go back to the basics, rethink closely-held tenets, and rely on ingenuity and sheer talent to squeeze the most music from a given cost. Consequently, the inexpensive two-way is the perfect vehicle for designers to develop their skills. If one has mastered this art form, one is much more likely to achieve success when more ambitious designs are attempted.
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Stand Loudspeaker Reviews
Sonics Anima loudspeaker
Wes Phillips  |  Jul 22, 2007  | 
"I have a really special loudspeaker I want you to hear," said Immedia's Allen Perkins at Home Entertainment 2006.
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Stand Loudspeaker Reviews
Sonus Faber Electa Amator loudspeaker
Jack English  |  Oct 06, 1995  |  First Published: Oct 06, 1992  | 
Solamente una faccia bella?
At first glance, the Sonus Faber (pronounced Fah-bear) Electa Amator appears to be a typical minimonitor: a small vented box with two drivers. The speaker is significantly better-looking than Franco Serblin's first speaker system, the Snail, a subwoofer with two satellites attached via arms (see photograph in Vol.11 No.3, p.34). And, like the Oracle Delphi turntable or Goldmund Apologue speakers (the latter also an Italian design), the Amator's appearance has received at least as much attention as its performance. But is it just another pretty face?
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Stand Loudspeaker Reviews
Sonus Faber Extrema loudspeaker
Martin Colloms  |  Jun 07, 1995  |  First Published: Jun 07, 1992  | 
Sonus Faber was founded in 1981 by Franco Serblin. Real wood has always featured strongly in the construction of this company's evolving range of costly, compact loudspeaker systems (footnote 1). The first was called the Parva, now in its FM4 form. This was followed by the Minima, a Tablette-sized model. The upmarket Electa came through in the last few years, followed by the Amator-Electa. This series increases in size and weight with each new introduction—for example, the Minima weighed 6kg, the Electa 12kg, the latest Extrema a massive 40kg or 88 lbs.
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Stand Loudspeaker ReviewsAudacious Audio
Sonus Faber Guarneri Evolution loudspeaker
Art Dudley  |  Jan 05, 2012  | 
At present, my writing chores are divided between two fields: domestic audio and lutherie. Having invested considerable time in both, and having by now met a number of builders who are distinguished in one or the other, I can say with all confidence that the best share a simple, single point of view: Everything makes a difference.
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Stand Loudspeaker Reviews
Sonus Faber Guarneri Homage loudspeaker
Martin Colloms  |  Jul 05, 1995  |  First Published: Jul 05, 1994  | 
Sonus Faber provides a fascinating and challenging insight into the art of high-quality sound reproduction. This Italian company makes two costly two-way stand-mounted speakers that couldn't be more different from each other.
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Stand Loudspeaker Reviews
Sonus Faber Guarneri memento loudspeaker
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 11, 2007  | 
Audiophile eyes usually roll when a manufacturer describes a loudspeaker as a "genuine musical instrument." Musical instruments have specific characteristics of pitch and timbre. Ideally, a loudspeaker should be a portal to the music; the speaker itself should be neutral in pitch and timbre—in other words, the opposite of a musical instrument. That the sound produced should be "musical" is a different argument.
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Stand Loudspeaker Reviews
Sonus Faber Guarneri Tradition loudspeaker
John Atkinson  |  Mar 01, 2018  | 
Stereophile writers have reviewed three versions of Sonus Faber's stand-mounted, two-way loudspeaker, the Guarneri: Martin Colloms on the original Guarneri Homage, in 1994; Michael Fremer on the Memento edition, in 2007; and Art Dudley on the Evolution, in 2012. The Guarneri has always been an expensive speaker—$9400/pair with matching stands in 1995, $15,000 with stands in 2007, $20,000/pair plus $2000 for the stands in 2012—but its prices have been related to its build quality and appearance, both of which have always been superb. Now we have the Guarneri Tradition, for $15,900/pair, including stands.
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