Stand Loudspeaker Reviews

Two years ago, I embarked on a series of reviews of mostly state-of-the-art, mostly full-range floorstanding speakers: the Sonus">http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/1207sonus">Sonus Faber Cremona Elipsa (December 2007), KEF">http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/208kef">KEF Reference 207/2 (February 2008), PSB">http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/408psb">PSB Synchrony One (April 2008), Magico">http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/508mag">Magico V3 (May 2008), Avalon">http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/708ava">Avalon NP Evolution 2.0 and Epos">http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/708ava/index1.html">Epos M16i (July 2008), Esoteric">http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/808eso">Esoteric MG-20 (August 2008), Dynaudio">http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/dynaudio_sapphire_loudspea… Sapphire (January 2009), and Revel">http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/608revel/index6.html">Revel Ultima Salon2 (March 2009). I had intended to intersperse those reports with coverage of some high-performance minispeakers, but for various reasons that never happened, so in the next few issues I'll be making up that lost ground, beginning with a promising contender from the UK, the Spendor SA1.

In October 2005's "The">http://www.stereophile.com/thefifthelement/1005fifth">The Fifth Element." I said of the Harbeth HL-3P-ES2, a descendant of the BBC">http://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/361">BBC LS3/5A, "Gloriosky, these little speakers are just great to listen to!" Later, in April">http://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/1293harbeth/index5.html">A… 2007, John Atkinson endorsed that remark.

Back when there were bricks-and-mortar retail record stores to speak of in tenses other than past, I used to participate in new-release conferences. Retail-store buyers—the people who decided whether consumers would see your CDs as they browsed in the stores—would gather at a nice destination, such as Lake George, New York. The various labels would then make presentations about their upcoming new releases.

Audiophile societies are frequently sources of interesting new equipment to review. Recently, trolling New York's Audiophile Society, I discovered a tremendous buzz about the Onix Reference 1 Mk.II, an affordable bookshelf speaker from AV123. Founded by Audio Alchemy cofounder Mark Schifter, AV123 is a Colorado-based manufacturer and retailer that specializes in affordable audio gear, mostly speakers and electronics, which it sells exclusively over the Internet with a 30-day money-back guarantee. AV123's factories in China and Colombia design, manufacture, and distribute speakers under the brand names Onix, X-Series, and Rocket, and, I am told, also make speakers for a number of other companies. If the name Onix rings a bell, this former UK brand has long been known for its dedication to making affordable audio gear. AV123 bought Onix from the Rogers speaker company more than 10 years ago.

In the March 2008 Stereophile (Vol.31 No.3), I wrote">http://www.stereophile.com/integratedamps/308cay">wrote favorably about the A-50T integrated amplifier from the Chinese company Cayin Audio. I was very impressed with its sound, appearance, and construction quality for the price: $1295. This positive experience led me to look into what other products Cayin's importer, VAS Industries, distributes here. More often than not, when a keen ear imports an interesting product into the US, that ear has also heard the good sounds of other products, as attested by the diverse product lines of distributors such as Music Hall and Sumiko. It turns out that VAS distributes Chinese loudspeakers made by Aurum Cantus, including seven two-channel models. I chose the entry-level design, the two-way V2M bookshelf speaker ($1890/pair), which combines a ribbon tweeter with a dynamic mid-woofer cone.

I've been chipping away for some time at the task of trying to put together a music lover's stereo system for about half the money of my last such effort: $2500 to $3750 now, vs around $7500 back in 2005. My timing was good: CD and DVD receivers are a hot product category, with several attractive new entries at various prices.

The Gini Systems "LS3/5a" is an unlicensed and inexact replica of the celebrated LS3/5a outside (remote location) broadcast monitoring loudspeaker originally developed by the BBC in the early 1970s. (For a précis of the LS3/5a's history, click herehttp://www.stereophile.com/thefifthelement/690">here;.)