Larry Greenhill

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Larry Greenhill | Dec 12, 2004 | First Published: Nov 12, 2004 | 0 comments

It didn't seem like such a big deal. After all, when designer Kevin Voecks added a passive radiator to the bottom of Revel Loudspeakers' powerful Ultima Sub 15 subwoofer, no one expected that the resulting 6dB increase in bass output below 35Hz would be so audible. However, Revel's sophisticated double-blind listening tests (described in my review of their flagship Ultima Salon full-range loudspeaker in the March 1999 Stereophile, revealed that a big change had occurred. With now twice the radiating surface, the modified Sub 15 produced significantly deeper, more powerful bass.

Revel's Kevin Voecks

Interviews

Larry Greenhill | Jul 02, 2008 | First Published: Jun 02, 2008 | 0 comments

Determined to find out more about Revel's Ultima Salon2, I tracked down designer Kevin Voecks late on the second day of the 2008 Consumer Electronic Show. I persuaded him to step outside the demonstration suite of Harman International Industries, Revel's owner, high atop the Las Vegas Hilton. We spent an hour chatting about Voecks's design goals for Revel's new flagship. I asked Kevin what had led his team at Revel to develop a new Ultima Salon loudspeaker after 10 years?

Revel's Ultima Salon

CES 2007

Larry Greenhill | Jan 14, 2007 | 5 comments

After 10 years of selling the $15,000/pair Ultima Salon as its flagship speaker system, Revel introduced a redesign, the $22,000/pair Ultima2 Salon, at CES 2007. When I reviewed the original Salon, I was very pleased by its bass extension and dynamics. What's new in the Mk.2 Salon? It has a more conventional look, and employs all-new drivers that performed better in double-blind tests conducted by the manufacturer. While retaining the basic configuration—a four-way design with one tweeter, one midrange, one mid-woofer and 3 woofers—the Salon 2 no longer has side panels, a rear-firing port, or a rear-firing tweeter. Revel had a pair of the Ultima2 Salons playing in a demo room at the Hilton, driven by a 200Wpc Mark Levinson No.433 amplifier via Transparent speaker cable, a Levinson No.32 Reference preamplifier, and a Levinson No.390S CD processor. The loudspeaker played with all the dynamics and excellent LF response of the original Salon, reproducing the powerful deep bass of the organ accompaniment to John Rutter's Requiem. There was also a richness and smoothness that I found very pleasing.

Revel’s new Rhythm 2

CES 2013

Larry Greenhill | Jan 13, 2013 | 1 comments

Revel’s new Rhythm 2 subwoofer ($10,000) contains a pair of 2000W class-D amplifiers (said to offer 4kW on peaks); an 18" driver with a 4” voice-coil; over 114dB maximum acoustic output; high-resolution DSP room equalization; fully configurable electronic crossover; and PC or Mac setup via USB. Kevin Voecks, its designer, described how the subwoofer's highly sophisticated DSP engine can equalize both the subwoofer and the satellite speakers. The DSP-driven room equalization generates adjustments from one set of room measurements, correcting for as many as 10 modes in the frequency range of 20–400Hz.

Rogers EHF-200 MK2 Tube Amplifier

CES 2017

Larry Greenhill | Jan 13, 2017 | 1 comments

Sometimes it's love at first sight. I know appearances can be deceiving, but I couldn't stop looking at Rogers High Fidelity's 114Wpc EHF-200 MK 2 amplifier ($15,900). The beautiful KT150 tubes, the glossy red front panel, and the thick plexiglass tube cover were eye candy.

Roku SoundBridge M1001 network music player

Budget Component Reviews Media Server Reviews

Larry Greenhill | May 13, 2007 | 0 comments

My interest in wireless network music players began during David Hyman's keynote speech at Home Entertainment 2003. Then CEO of Gracenote, Inc. (footnote 1), Hyman stunned me with his opinion that CDs and DVDs were already obsolete. Rather than pursue discs with greater storage capacity, Hyman urged industry designers to design music-server units with large hard drives to allow instantaneous access to any digital music track. With all of your music stored on a central hard drive, you could, within seconds, locate a specific track among thousands just by knowing the name of the artist, song, group, composer, year of recording, or even recording venue. Music mixes could be instantly grouped into playlists by the owner.

SAE's 2HP Amplifier Creates Amp Display Envy

CES 2016

Larry Greenhill | Jan 15, 2016 | 0 comments

Scientific Audio Electronics (SAE), founded in 1967, has been out of business for decades. Recently, Morris Kessler of ATI, manufacturers of the ATI and Theta brands,helped restore the company. At CES, Bill Skaer, National Director of Sales, presented the firm's latest amplifier, the 125 lb, SAE 2 HP-D Display version ($19,995).

Snell Acoustics Type A Reference loudspeaker

Floor Loudspeaker Reviews Audacious Audio

Larry Greenhill | Jun 08, 2009 | First Published: Mar 08, 1996 | 3 comments

The Type A has served as Snell Acoustics' flagship loudspeaker since 1974. The Type A Reference System reviewed here is the sixth update of the late Peter Snell's original three-way floorstanding design, and is the most radical departure from Snell's original. Gone is the pair of "upright bricks of polished wood and stretched cloth" (footnote 1) that delighted decorators because they functioned best against a wall. Today's Type A Reference $18,999 price tag (footnote 2) purchases two tall midrange-tweeter towers, two huge subwoofers, two short but heavy enclosures housing the outboard passive crossover networks, and a small electronic crossover.

Snell Acoustics XA Reference Tower loudspeaker

Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Larry Greenhill | Apr 14, 2002 | 0 comments

Say "Type A" to a group of psychologists and they immediately think "hard-driving, workaholic executive." Speak the same phrase among audiophiles, and the late Peter Snell's (1946-1984) flagship loudspeaker comes to mind. The model reviewed here is the seventh iteration of Snell Acoustics' Type A, and this is the 12th published review of the product in American audio magazines. (The last one published in Stereophile was in March 1996, Vol.19 No.3, of the Type A Reference.)

Snell B minor loudspeaker

Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Larry Greenhill | Nov 10, 2023 | First Published: Apr 01, 1994 | 0 comments

Few products elicited as much excitement, disappointment, and debate among the Stereophile staff as did the Snell Type B dynamic loudspeaker (footnote 1). Both Peter Mitchell and I praised the Type B for its low-frequency extension, smooth treble, high power handling, and excellent dynamics. Corey Greenberg and Robert Harley faulted the speaker's sluggish and fat bass response, which they felt precluded a recommendation in Stereophile's "Recommended Components." Kickdrum recordings in pop and rock excited the Type B's bass character, a characteristic which was not so noticeable if one only listens to classical music. This bass peak was so prominent in RH's listening room that it colored the rest of the loudspeaker's range. As a result, he found that this otherwise fine loudspeaker was not as transparent as other high-quality dynamic systems in the same price range.

Help was on the way. Within six months of RH's review, Snell Acoustics introduced a smaller version, the B minor, at the 1992 Summer CES.

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Larry Greenhill

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