Retail price: U.S. $7.50, Can. $8.50 ISSUE NO.

29
Display until arrival
of Issue No. 30.

"Hip Boots,"
our classic column that
relentlessly waded through
the mire of misinformation
in the audio press, comes to
a reluctant but inevitable end.
Also in this issue:
A slew of unusually thorough loudspeaker reviews, by Don Keele,
Tom Nousaine, and Glenn Strauss.
Reviews of AV electronics, power amplifiers, and assorted other
electronic components and accessories.
Plus our standard features, columns, letters to the
Editor, CD/SACD/DVD reviews, etc.

pdf 1
 contents
Our Last Hip Boots Column
By Peter Aczel

Speakers:
Five Loudspeakers (One a Time-Honored Exotic)
and a Headphone
By Ivan Berger, D. B. Keele Jr., Tom Nousaine, and Glenn O. Strauss
2-Way Audio/Video Minimonitor Loudspeaker:
Definitive Technology StudioMonitor 450 7
Powered Monitor Speaker: Genelec HT210 13
Floor-Standing 2-Way Loudspeaker System: Thiel CS1.6 17
Floor-Standing 2-Way Speaker: Ohm Acoustics Walsh 200 Mk-2 21
2-Way Minimonitor: B&W Nautilus 805 30
Noise-Canceling Headphones: Bose QuietComfort 2 Headphones 32

AV Electronics:
High Efficiency Meets Hi-Fi, in Analog and Digital
Embodiments
By Peter Aczel and David A. Rich, Ph.D.
2- & 5-Channel Power Amplifiers: AudioControl Avalon & Pantages . . .33
DVD Audio/Video Player & 7-Channel AV Surround Receiver:
Denon DVD-9000 & AVR-5803 35
CD/SACD/DVD Digital Disc Player/Receiver: Sony AVD-S50ES 37

Peripherals:
Four Audio Side Dishes: Two Good Little Radios, the
World's Best CD Rack, and a Switcher for Recordists
By Ivan Berger
Two Good Little Radios: Boston Acoustics Recepter Radio
& Tivoli Audio PAL 45
CD Storage: Davidson-Whitehall STORAdisc LS-576 47
Recorder Switchbox: Esoteric Sound Superconnector 48

Audio's Top Urban Legend

By Tom Nousaine

Capsule CD Reviews
By Peter Aczel

Box 978: Letters to the Editor

ISSUE NO. 29 • SUMMER/FALL 2003 1

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 From the

Still in Transition.
Editor and Publisher
This is the first magazine I've ever edited completely, and Peter Aczel
Guest Editor
the first issue of The Audio Critic that Peter Aczel has not. Ivan Berger
He's neither gone nor going, just taking a step back and letting Technical Editor D a v i d A. Rich
Contributing Editor D. B. Keele Jr.
someone else—me—handle the daily work.
Contributing Editor T o m Nousaine
In the last issue, Peter introduced me as the former Techni- Contributing Editor G l e n n O. Strauss
cal Editor of Audio, but I feel some further introduction is in Technical Consultant ( R F ) Richard T. M o d a f f e r i
Art Director Michele Raes
order.
Design and Prepress T o m Aczel
I've been writing about audio since my beard was black, Layout Daniel MacBride
stereo was new, and everything was analog. I appreciate good Business M a n a g e r B o d i l Aczel

The Audio Critic® (ISSN 0146-4701) is published at

sound, maintain a healthy skepticism about the "scientific" somewhat irregular intervals (the eventual goal being four
claims of manufacturers and designers, and realize that audio times a year), for $ 2 4 per four issues, by Critic Publications,
Inc., 1380 Masi Road, Quakertown, PA 18951 -5221. Post-
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Box 978, Quakertown, PA 18951-0978.
make sense—and sound bad even when they do. Any conclusion, rating, recommendation, criticism, or
caveat published by The Audio Critic represents the
My writings have appeared in many magazines, several lan- personal findings and judgments of the Editor and the
Staff, based only on the equipment available to their scrutiny
guages (including Portuguese and Flemish), and under a few and on their knowledge of the subject, and is therefore not
offered to the reader as an infallible truth nor as an irre-
pen names. (At one time, I was writing for Audio, Stereo Re- versible opinion applying to all extant and forthcoming sam-
view, and High Fidelity, which the magazines didn't mind as ples of a particular product. Address all editorial corre-
spondence to The Editor, The Audio Critic, P.O. Box 978,
long as I used a separate name for each; an editor once called Quakertown, PA 18951-0978.

Contents of this issue copyright © 2003 by Critic Publi-

me "three of the best-known hi-fi writers in America.") I've cations, Inc. All rights reserved under international and
Pan-American copyright conventions. Reproduction in
also been an editor at Popular Mechanics, Popular Electronics, whole or in part is prohibited without the prior written per-
and Video, as well as Audio. It's my editing that counts, here, mission of the Editor. Paraphrasing of product reviews for
advertising or commercial purposes is also prohibited with-
and you can judge that for yourselves. out prior written permission. The Audio Critic will use all
available means to prevent or prosecute any such unau-
Of the other transitions Peter Aczel mentioned in the last thorized use of its material or its name.
Subscription Information and Rates
issue, the partnership with The CM Group stopped progress-
You do not need a special form. Simply write your name
ing, and is gone. Progress has been made in getting us caught and address as legibly as possible on any piece of paper.
Preferably print or type. Enclose with payment. That's all.
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You may start your subscription with any issue, although
we feel that new subscribers should have a few back is-
sues to gain a better understanding of what The Audio
Critic is all about. We still have Issues No. 11,13, and 16
through 28 in stock. Issues earlier than No. 11 are now out
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issues you want (at $ 2 4 per four). Please note that we don't
After Ivan Berger had written the above, further unforeseen sell single issues by mail. You'll find those at somewhat
higher cost at selected newsdealers, bookstores, and au-
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Printed in Canada

2 THE AUDIO CRITIC

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 to the Editor

Some of our readers still don't understand what kind of letter is likely to be
published in this column. Zen hint to the intuitive: not the kind that begins with
"I have a Schmigehgie QX-200 amplifier-in your opinion is it. . ." Please
address all editorial correspondence to the Editor, The Audio Critic, P.O.
Box 978, Quakertown, PA 18951 0978.

The Audio Critic: loudspeaker sound that is immediately Hewlett-Packard scientist before he
I hope Issue No. 28 was not the last recognized in comparison to live, un- started designing loudspeaker systems for
issue of The Audio Critic, since it shines amplified sounds. Audio Artistry and Linkwitz Lab, all of
by an absence of the typical technical Loudspeakers end up in rooms. The which are based on the dipole principle.
nonsense that I find in all the other au- off-axis radiation therefore matters, as Thus the above letter is motivated by a de-
dio magazines. On top of that the tone Toole's findings clearly point out, but signer's agenda, but that doesn't make it
of presentation makes it so much more 10 dB variation in power response is too less valid. The arguments in favor of the
readable than often in the past. much and limits this design approach. dipole approach are powerful and not to
In the introduction to "Speakers" The improvement beyond it is via om- be ignored. We wish we could test one of
(page 15), you point out that good nidirectional box speakers or full-range, the Linkwitz-designed loudspeakers—
speaker design is the sum of many, open-baffle dipole speakers. Some pla- how about it, Siegfried? We listed you as
many aspects that were properly dealt nar electrostatic or magnetic designs one of the White Hats (good guys of au-
with. I agree wholeheartedly, and also show the potential of this approach, dio) in Issue No. 24, but that was based
with your example of the Waveform but ultimately they are limited by be- mainly on your engineering papers and
Mach 17 speaker system. Yet this ing acoustically too large at higher fre- spoken commentary, not specific products.
speaker, and all the ones that Floyd quencies, yet having insufficient vol- It's time for some hands-on. As for your
Toole referred to in the feature article, ume displacement for low-frequency favorable comments on our publication,
suffer from being caught in the box par- reproduction at near realistic levels. they couldn't come from a more authori-
adigm. The ultimate performance and These problems can be overcome with tative source and are therefore especially
accuracy of reproduction that can be conventional dynamic drivers on open welcome.
achieved within this paradigm are lim- baffles. As it turns out, such speakers are —Ed.
ited, and the best of Toole's examples significantly less sensitive to the room
have reached that plateau. both below and above 500 Hz. The Audio Critic:
There are two fundamental prob- The "preservation of the art" prob- In response to Issue No. 28, "Sci-
lems with box speakers: (1) selective re- lem, or the "circle of confusion," can ence in the Service of Art"—is Floyd E.
radiation of the sound energy inside only be resolved by using unamplified Toole colorblind? First picture: a por-
the box through the cone and walls and sound as a reference and not other loud- trait painted under a light with 3 dB too
(2) a power response, or directivity in- speakers. This will also point out the much red versus when viewed under
dex, that changes at least 10 dB be- need to reduce nonlinear distortion and natural, neutral light. I've been paint-
tween low and high frequencies. The stored energy, which are at least equal ing for over 40 years and I never knew
reradiation problem has been addressed in importance to the different steady- light could be measured in dB.
to varying degrees of success by differ- state frequency responses. As for the rest of your magazine,
ent designers. Constant power response, Siegfried Linkwitz you've done better. As far as your plan
though, requires drivers and box fea- Linkwitz Lab to retire to a primarily supervisory po-
tures that decrease in size as frequency Corte Madera, CA sition is concerned, just retire and let
increases, to maintain wide and uni- Ivan Berger take over.
form polar response beyond what the Siegfried Linkwitz is one of the most Your "Hip Boots" column is sorely
speakers in Toole's article achieve. The distinguished practitioners in audio— missed because it keeps the crazy audio
result of failing to deal with these two what audiophile hasn't heard of the drivel in check. Don't give that up! Tom
problems is the typical, generic box- Linkwitz-Riley crossover? He was a Nousaine's "Urban Audio Legends"

ISSUE NO. 29 • SUMMER/FALL 2003 3

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 comes close but does not have the "bite" retirement, simply relaxing with my mu- The Audio Critic:
of "Hip Boots." sic and other hobbies. These are gar- Hello Peter, I have come to praise
Maron Horonzak dening, astronomy, and mineral collect- you, not to bury you!
Stoutsville, MO ing. Still, I think about audio matters Item One: I received the latest issue
very often and still do a bit of consult- of The Audio Critic (No. 28) and im-
Marrone, Maron! You never knew
ing in room acoustics and audio systems. mediately went to die "From the Editor"
that light could be measured in dB? Well,
I have taken the liberty of sending column. Your explanation as to the rea-
it seems there are lots of things you never
you a couple of photos of my listening son for the disintegration of your rela-
knew, and this is one of them. A dB num-
room as it is now and has been for 22 tionship with The CM Group caught
ber can be just an expression of a ratio,
years. I am still pleased with it and find my attention. Wanting to hear the other
e.g., 20 dB is a ratio of 10 to 1, 10 dB is
no reason to change anything. It is now side of the story, I placed a call to The
a ratio of 3.16 to 1,3 dB is a ratio of l.41
the music that counts for me. CM Group publisher, Greg Keilty . . .
to 1. Thus 3 dB too much red means 1.41
Very best regards and best wishes for . . . Greg had not read your explanation
times as much red as there should be—
future success. as to what happened between you and
41 % too much. Your assumption that it's
Sincerely, The CM Group, so I read your expla-
Floyd Toole, Ph.D., who doesn't know
Dick Greiner nation to him (verbatim). Was I sur-
what he is talking about, rather than you,
Madison, WI prised at his response! He agreed with
reveals a lot about you.
you completely! To be completely hon-
Now, about Issue No. 28 not being as
Dr. R. A. Greiner is Emeritus Profes- est (which is a much better form of hon-
good as some others, you may be right.
sor of Electrical and Computer Engi- esty than partially honest!), I was ex-
When there are three or more of anything,
neering, University of Wisconsin, and one pecting at least a minor disagreement
one will be the best, one will be the least
of my heroes, as our regular readers know. from Greg regarding your explanation.
good, and the other(s) will be in between.
For quite a few decades before his retire- There wasn't. Not only did he agree with
That doesn't mean, however, that they
ment he embodied the academic com- your explanation but spoke very highly
aren't all good. As for my total retirement
munity's most authoritative, and at the of you! Son of a gun! You get an A+ for
and letting Ivan Berger take over, it's a
same time most genial, voice on the sub- editorial integrity and my apology for
staggeringly simplistic suggestion innocent
ject of audio. Talk about "battling the doubting your word. It's somewhat
of all business/financial/professional/per-
fakes and frauds"—he was at all times in humbling to admit I was wrong, but it
sonal considerations. Didn't it occur to
the font lines, patiently refuting charla- would be a mortal sin not to admit so
you that it just might be more complicated
tanry with irrefutable science. My admi- and apologize.
than that? lastly, "Hip Boots" is back in
ration for him is unlimited, hence his fre- Item Two: I received the latest issue
this issue but, as explained there, not as a
quent presence in this column. We may of Invention & Technology magazine
continuing feature. Thanks for all your
not have anything near the circulation of (Fall 2002). Within this issue of the
concerns.
Stereophile, but could they ever, in a magazine was an article (the cover story)
—Ed.
million years, have elicited a letter like the titled "The Tube Is Dead, Long Live the
The Audio Critic: above from Dick Greiner? Tube," written by Mark Wolverton. No
I was truly delighted to find Issue As for your music system and listen- need to tell you that I couldn't wait to
No. 28 in my mailbox yesterday. It is so ing room, Dick, should I be surprised read Mr. Wolverton's article. I was ex-
good to see that someone is still out that you are not looking for a change? pecting more of the idiotic subjective
there battling the fakes and frauds. Pe- What, only eight monstrous woofers? Only audio-cult gibberish printed as fact by
ter, you are my hero. [Mutual admira- 24 visible smaller drivers? Only a dozen mainstream publications {Wall Street
tion society! See below.—Ed.] electronic units? I have never seen a 1980 Journal, Business Week, Fortune, to name
It is most pleasing to see the excel- setup like yours, and very, very few 21st a few). Fortunately, this time, the
lent authors you have corralled and the century rigs like it. It really amuses me cultists were shown as believing (?) and
fine articles that you have published. In when you say that only the music matters; propagating myths based only on their
your editorial you claim to be getting it's like a Rolls Royce owner saying that, emotional or financial involvement
old and tired. But cheer up. What you well, it's basic transportation. May you lis- with tube equipment—something you
are doing with The Audio Critic is such ten to that music in good health and spir- have been preaching for quite a while.
excellent work that it must go on. its for many years to come—and thank Much to my pleasant surprise, you and
I have retired from the audio field af- you for your compliments. David Rich were quoted regarding the
ter many years and am now, 10 years into —Ed. (continued on page 44)

4 THE AUDIO CRITIC

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By PETER ACZEL, Editor

Our Last

Column
How come? Because "wading through the mire of misinfor-
mation in the audio press" (our former subtitle) is no longer
meaningful when nearly the entire audio press is dedicated to
misinformation.

B
efore we stopped running our m a t i o n is unquestioned mainstream. quency response, level, noise, and to a
"Hip Boots" column three issues So—what's the point of singling out in- lesser extent d i s t o r t i o n . T h a t ' s all.
ago, its subject was almost in- dividual examples of this sad state of af- Since all m o d e r n audio c o m p o n e n t s ,
variably the ignorant and/or irresponsible fairs? W h a t e v e r nonsense reviewer X from a $ 1 5 , 0 0 0 rip-off amplifier to a
subjectivity of certain audio reviewers, writes is echoed just as unthinkingly and $69 portable CD player, have flat fre-
more often than not Bob Harley (igno- self-assuredly by reviewer Y and reviewer quency response, negligible noise, a n d
rant) or John Atkinson (irresponsible) or Z. W h y "hip boot" X but not Y or Z? negligible distortion, their s o u n d has
Harry Pearson (ignorant and irresponsi- Do you t h i n k I'm overreacting or no signature, no personality. A n y two
ble). Occasionally we addressed purely exaggerating? T h e n tell m e w h i c h o f t h e m — t w o amplifiers, t w o p r e -
technical errors in various publications, e q u i p m e n t reviewer refrains from as- a m p s , t w o C D players, etc.—will
sometimes even the mass media, that a cribing a personality to amplifiers, pre- sound exactly the same, as long as their
good fact checker could have corrected, amplifiers, and CD players. T h e y all do levels are m a t c h e d w i t h i n ±0.15 d B . I
but most of the time our target was the it, except David Ranada, technical ed- solemnly guarantee it. T h e r e has n o t
absence of accountability in one or the itor of Sound&Vision, the one maga- been a single properly c o n d u c t e d lis-
other of the same three or four audio zine that is at least a partial exception tening test—double blind, at m a t c h e d
magazines. That's where the mire lay that to the r u l e — b u t their other reviewers levels—to contradict that statement.
only hip boots could wade through. are n o t as careful and tend to fall into T h i s will surprise o n l y s o m e of the
Lately the ground has shifted—or, the trap of characterizing the s o u n d of a f o r e m e n t i o n e d newer readers a n d
rather, it has expanded, spread out, in a electronic e q u i p m e n t . elicit a chorus of denial from the more
totally engulfing mode. We have reached For our newer readers I should per- obstinate of the h i g h - e n d reviewers,
the point where virtually the entire au- haps p o i n t out all over again the pa- but it is an ironclad truth. T h i n k about
dio press is in tacit denial of the realities t h e t i c fallacy of talking a b o u t t h e it. T h e r e is no such t h i n g as an effect
of electrical engineering and electro- soundstaging, or front-to-back d e p t h , w i t h o u t a cause, a n d w h a t could cause
acoustics. All debate on the subject has or open/closed quality, or graininess, a sonic difference except a skewed fre-
ceased. T h e false assumptions we used to or a n y o t h e r sonic characteristic of quency response, a high noise floor, or
attack have become the self-evident purely electronic signal paths that are unusually high distortion? W h a t you
givens of the audio journalists. Fiction is less than, say, 20 years old. W h a t the are told in Stereophile, The Absolute
now accepted fact, mindless misinfor- h u m a n ear can differentiate are fre- Sound, a n d other such publications is

ISSUE NO. 29 • SUMMER/FALL 2003 5

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 arbitrary effect without an explainable isn't just one or two reviewers that do These relationships, as I have found out
cause—"Hip Boots" material over and this. I look at the subjective high-end over the years, are linear—the approxi­
over again. magazines and find absolutely no corre­ mation of the ideal sound is exactly pro­
I'll grant maybe a rare exception to lation between measured performance portional to the degree of perfection ob­
the above in the case of the most eccen­ and listening appraisal. Not that more tained from the measurements. In other
tric "retro" vacuum-tube designs, which than one or two of them do any meas­ words, there are no surprises in the lis­
depart so radically from the flat/low- uring at all, but I do and I can't find a sin­ tening tests—in which case why bother
noise/low-distortion model that, for all gle loudspeaker reviewer whose percep­ with them? The only reason to do so is
I know (and I don't care), they sound dif­ tions agree with mine and track my that our measurements are incomplete;
ferent. The gullible are welcome to these measurements. (Tom Nousaine of we would need the 72 different meas­
electronic abortions. I'll also grant that Sound & Vision is an exception, but he urement points in a 4π space that Floyd
matching levels within ±0.15 dB (prefer­ doesn't count because he also writes for Toole uses at Harman International to
ably within ±0.1 dB) is a fussy, sweaty, The Audio Critic.) Since none of them do be sure that we have characterized each
boring process, requiring some instru­ an orderly, logical, disciplined job—like speaker completely. If we had the labo­
mentation, and for all those reasons not Don Keele or David Rich or me in this ratory facilities to do that, I wouldn't
done when it should be. That is un­ publication—what's the point of "hip A/B test anymore (although Floyd still
questionably the main nonideological booting" one or two of them? does). We have reached the point in au­
reason for all the stonewalling denials of dio where the laboratory instruments
the soundalike outcomes. (Larry Klein, know it all and tell it all, much as the
former technical editor of Stereo Review, golden-ear boys hate to admit it.
Sound & Visions predecessor, once sug­ My conclusions from all this actu­ All of the above considerations are
gested a delightfully ironic solution to ally go beyond the futility of continu­ made more complicated by surround
this problem. He said you don't need ing "Hip Boots." I am beginning to sound, which has its own rules. It is
any instrumentation to match levels think that all comparative (A/B) lis­ not easy to understand that the audible
within ±0.1 dB; all you need to do is fuss tening tests have become unnecessary. differences between Dolby Pro Logic
with the volume controls until A and B What? How can an audio equipment (I and II), Dolby Digital, DTS, Home
sound exactly alike, at which point the reviewer possibly be saying this? Bear T H X Cinema, 5.1, 6.1, 7.1, etc., etc.,
levels will be perfectly matched. Bingo! with me for a moment. Since all mod­ are not a matter of signal paths but of
I love it!) ern electronic signal paths sound the algorithms. The differences are deter­
Let us also address the opposite end same, why go through the motions of mined mathematically, not acoustically.
of the spectrum, where there are always A/B-ing them? I can guarantee that the (There are also differences in bit rate be­
large differences in sound—loudspeakers. results will be the same over and over tween Dolby Digital and DTS, but
Every loudspeaker ever made is at least again, and therefore the exercise is a none that I consider to have audible
slightly different in frequency response waste of time. (Don't misunderstand significance.) Listening tests, therefore,
from every other and therefore necessar­ me. I'm not suggesting that we stop lis­ are quite limited when it comes to sort­
ily sounds different. Unfortunately, this tening to and enjoying music through ing out the inherent audible character­
creates another likely "Hip Boots" situa­ the various components. I'm talking istics of each configuration, because ba­
tion. The various subjective equipment about A/B-ing.) You can try it, as I have, sically the sound is determined before
reviewers have no clue as to how to re­ with a multikilobuck high-end ampli­ it reaches the amplifier/speaker stage. It
late the measured performance of a loud­ fier (A) and a dirt-cheap Japanese mass- could actually be better studied from a
speaker—if indeed they have measured market receiver (B). You'll see. block diagram. Again, remember that
it—to its sound. Let us say it has rapidly But that's not all. I'll go further. Why I'm talking about comparative listening,
falling low-frequency response below 60 A/B loudspeakers? The flatter they are not musical enjoyment.
Hz. In that case they would probably in frequency response and the lower In general, the paradigms have
praise its superior bass. Or it has almost they are in distortion, the more nearly shifted, journalistically, electroacousti-
dead-flat high-frequency response over a they will approach total neutrality, to­ cally, psychoacoustically, every which
large angle. In that case they would com­ tal transparency, which is both the goal way. You can't take the old perspectives
plain about its attenuated treble. If it has and the reference point. Conversely, the for granted. We are well into the 21st
a huge suckout in the crossover region at, more they deviate from flat and distor­ century. Or perhaps I should say, dis­
say, 1.8 kHz, they would praise the highly tion-free response, the more they will comforting as it is, we aren't in Kansas
accurate upper midrange. And so on. It deviate from neutrality/transparency. anymore.

6 THE AUDIO CRITIC

pdf 7
 By Ivan Berger, Guest Editor
D. B. Keele Jr., Contributing Editor
Tom Nousaine, Contributing Editor
Glenn O. Strauss, Contributing Editor

Five Loudspeakers (One a Time-

Honored Exotic) and a Headphone
a closed box extends a speaker's low-
frequency response and reduces its
distortion. It does this by coupling an
acoustic resonant system (the enclo-
sure and a port—usually a tube—that
vents its output into the room) to the
Definitive Technology, 11433 Cronridge rear of the speaker's diaphragm. This
Drive, Owens Mills, MD 21117. sets up an acoustic resonance between
Voice: (800) 228-7148. Fax: (410) 363- the mass of air moving in the port
9998. E-mail: info@definitivetech.com.
and the stiffness of the air in the en-
Web: www.definitivetech.com. StudioMoni-
tor 450 shielded audio/video minimonitor closure. By matching the enclosure
loudspeaker. $329.00 each ($658.00 the and port sizes to the characteristics of
pair). Tested samples on loan from the the driver, this resonator is typically
manufacturer. tuned to a frequency near the lowest
frequency the system is intended to
reproduce, and radiates low frequen-
A 10-inch, side-mounted woofer in cies over a range of roughly two-thirds
a full-range speaker this small? Not of an octave around its resonance. If
quite. It's something Definitive Tech- the system is properly designed, far
nologies calls a "planar-technology pres- more sound comes from the port
sure-driven subwoofer"—in other (within its operating range) than from
words, a passive radiator (sometimes the driver. Because the ported enclo-
called a PR, drone cone, auxiliary bass sure's acoustic resonant system is typ-
radiator, or flapping baffle). Typically, ically more linear than the mechani-
passive radiators substitute for vents, cal resonant system of the speaker, its
or ports, in small speakers designed to distortion is lower. Below its reso-
deliver substantial bass output. That's nance, unfortunately, the port's out-
a good description of the StudioMon- put is essentially out of phase with
itor 450, a member of Definitive Tech- the loudspeaker's, which makes the
nologies' "Monitor Series" of modestly system's bass output roll off much
priced home-theater loudspeakers. faster than that of an equivalent
Using a ported cabinet instead of closed-box system.

ISSUE NO. 29 • SUMMER/FALL 2003 7

pdf 8
 There is, however, a catch to all dependent of its area, any size will do core inductor connecting the
this: At high volume levels, the air in as long as its air-moving capability (area woofer/midrange, an air-core inductor
the vent can move fast enough to gen- times stroke) is sufficient. A properly in the tweeter circuit, four power re-
erate significant turbulence, which designed passive radiator requires sistors, and three capacitors. That's
causes extraneous noise and limits the roughly two to four times the air-mov- one more resistor and capacitor than
port's output. This turbulence can be ing capability (1.5 to 2 times the di- usual; the extra components probably
tamed by increasing the port's area, ameter) of its companion driver and act as an impedance-compensating
but that calls for lengthening the port must have a self, or free-air, mechani- network.
to increase the air mass within it. Oth- cal resonance at least an octave below
erwise, the box resonance, and hence box resonance.
the shape of the speaker's response In Definitive Technology's com- As in my previous reviews, I used
curve, will change. For small boxes pact, two-way StudioMonitor 450, two different test techniques to meas-
that are tuned to low frequencies and the companion driver to the 10-inch ure frequency responses. I used nearfield
designed to radiate a lot of acoustic passive radiator is a 6½-inch cone measurements to assess low-frequency
power, enlarging the port's mouth woofer/midrange, used with a 1-inch response, and measured response at
would call for very long port tubes aluminum-dome tweeter. Both active middle to high frequencies with win-
that take up a lot of space in the box; drivers are mounted on the front of dowed in-room tests (my test micro-
sometimes, tubes that are long enough the cabinet, with the tweeter on top phone was centered between the
won't fit! and offset about an inch to one side. tweeter and woofer/midrange axes, 1
Using a passive radiator sidesteps The speakers are provided in mirror- meter away). The test signal for these
these problems. Typically, a passive ra- image pairs, with black, white, or measurements was the usual 2.83 V
diator is a speaker (frame, cone, sur- golden-cherry piano-gloss finishes on rms, and the curves were subjected to
round, and sometimes spider) without the top and bottom. The front, sides, one-tenth-octave smoothing.
a magnet and voice coil. Here, the and rear are covered in a wrap-around The on-axis response of the Studio
ported-box resonance is a function of grille cloth, held in place by the re- Monitor 450 is shown in Fig. 1, in-
the mass of the passive radiator and movable top and bottom pieces. Con- cluding smoothed and unsmoothed
the compliance of the air trapped in the nection is through a single pair of responses above 10 kHz. Only the re-
enclosure. Because it is shallow, the ra- gold-plated multiway binding posts, sponse with the grille on is shown, be-
diator can be made large enough to spaced for double banana plugs, on cause the grille cloth is not designed to
avoid turbulence while taking up the bottom rear of the cabinet. Cabi- be removed; fortunately, the grille had
hardly any space within the cabinet. net construction is quite heavy-duty essentially no effect on the SM 450's
And because the radiator's mass is in- for a speaker system of this size and response except for very small devia-
price: The medium-density fiberboard tions of less than ±0.5 dB between 8
(MDF) front panel is a full inch thick, and 12 kHz. The smoothed curve is
and the remaining panels are ¾-inch quite well behaved and fits a tight (2.5-
MDF. The cabinet is well braced and dB) window from about 95 Hz to 12
quite solid. kHz. At higher frequencies, the un-
The magnetically shielded, 1-inch smoothed curve exhibits a sharp dip of
aluminum-dome tweeter is essentially about 10 dB at 12.9 kHz followed by
the same as that used in Definitive a less energetic peak of about 4 dB at
Technology's top-of-the-line systems. 14.5 kHz, both presumably caused by
The 6½-inch bass/midrange driver, also a resonance in the tweeter's metal
magnetically shielded, has a cast basket. dome. At low frequencies, the system
The 10-inch passive radiator is simply rolls off slowly, reaching -3 dB at 83
a rigid circular plate with an attached Hz, - 6 dB at 63 Hz, and - 9 dB at
surround. about 50 Hz (which is near the SM
The SM 450's crossover is wired 450's vented-box resonance). Below
on a small PC board mounted near the 50 Hz, the system rolls off rapidly,
speaker's input cup and can be reached about 24 dB per octave, as is common
by removing the cup. The crossover, with vented-box systems. However,
a second-order design, has an iron- this curve was measured in free space,

8 THE AUDIO CRITIC

pdf 9
 without reflecting surfaces to augment
the bass; in a room, reflections from
the walls would enhance the bass con-
siderably. Averaged between 250 Hz
and 4 kHz, the SM 450's sensitivity
was high (89 dB), just 1 dB less than
Definitive Technology specifies. The
left and right speakers matched within
+ 1 dB, with most of the difference oc-
curring in the tweeters' range.
The SM 450's horizontal and ver-
tical off-axis frequency responses are
shown in Fig. 2 and 3. Fig. 2 shows
the horizontal off-axis curves, in 15°
increments out to ±45°. Between 1
Fig. 1: On-axis frequency response. and 3 kHz the response shelves down-
ward, the dip worsening as the off-
axis angle is increased. There are also
significant high-frequency aberrations
above 8 kHz at extreme off-axis an-
gles. These aberrations include a dip
above 10 kHz, followed by a peak at
about 13 kHz.
That high-frequency dip and peak
are also seen in the responses measured
above and below the tweeter's axis. The
above-axis curves (Fig. 3a) are quite
well-behaved, except for a dip in the
3 kHz crossover region that deepens
progressively as the listening angle in-
creases, and the previously mentioned
aberrations above 10 kHz. Response
Fig. 2: Horizontal off-axis frequency response. below axis (Fig. 3b) is significantly
smoother. Between 3.5 kHz and 7 kHz
the output below axis slightly exceeds
the on-axis output, which indicates that
the SM 450's response is smoothest a bit
below axis. This implies that these
speakers should be aimed above ear
level, or possibly be mounted upside
down to provide the smoothest re-
sponse for seated or standing listeners.
Luckily, the cabinet bottoms are fin-
ished like the tops, although there are
four small bumps that serve as feet. Un-
fortunately, the logos on front of the
speakers are upside down when the
speakers are inverted.
The input impedance magnitude
of the StudioMonitor 450 (Fig. 4a)
Fig. 3a: Frequency response above axis. drops to a low of 3.2 ohms in the lower

ISSUE NO. 29 • SUMMER/FALL 2003 9

pdf 10
 midrange (at about 200 Hz) and
reaches a high of about 14 ohms
slightly below crossover, at 1.6 kHz.
The two impedance peaks that mark
the 450 as a vented box are clearly ev-
ident; the impedance minimum (3.7
ohms at about 55 Hz) shows where the
box is tuned. The impedance phase
(Fig. 4b) is well behaved and varies
only moderately, about ±38°. The SM
450 should be an easy load for any
competent power amplifier or home-
theater receiver.
To measure the distortion of the
450 (Figs. 5a and 5b), I used some soft-
Fig. 3b: Frequency response below axis.
ware I recently wrote that works in con-
junction with Igor Pro 4.0, a graphics
and data-analysis program (available for
Mac and PC from www.wave-
metrics.com) and an external audio in-
terface with 24-bit A/D and D/A con-
verters, the Sound Devices USBPre
(www.sounddevices.com). In this setup,
test signals generated by Igor are fed
through the USBPre and my amplifier
to the 450s, while signals from my test
microphone are fed to the computer
through the USBPre, then analyzed and
plotted on graphs by Igor.
Fig. 5a shows the sine-wave har-
monic distortion of the 450, evaluated
from 40 to 500 Hz at frequencies 1/12 oc-
tave apart. The distortion was evaluated
Fig. 4a: Impedance magnitude.
at each frequency by applying a sine
wave to the system for one half second
and then evaluating the harmonic dis-
tortion of the system's output, meas-
uring the total energy of the 2nd
through 5th harmonics by using FFT
(Fast Fourier Transform) to compute
the frequency spectrum of that out-
put. (Results are expressed as a per-
centage of the fundamental's signal
level, not as a percentage of the total
output. Note that this calculation
method allows distortion levels above
100% if the energy of the harmonics
is greater than the energy of the fun-
damental.) The harmonic distortion at
each frequency was evaluated at three
different power levels, 6 dB apart. (The Fig. 4b: Impedance phase.

10 THE AUDIO CRITIC

pdf 11
 moderate 16% or so, occurring at 70
Hz. At the power levels I used for this
test, the distortion did not become ir-
ritating until the test frequency
dropped below 45 Hz.
The SM 450 woofer's intermodu-
lation distortion (IM) was measured
with the same power levels and test
conditions as in the harmonic distor-
tion test but over a slightly different
range of frequencies. For this test, I
applied two tones of equal level, one
fixed at 440 Hz, the other varying
from 31.6 to 100 Hz in half-octave
steps. The dual-tone test signals were
Fig. 5a: Harmonic distortion versus frequency and power level.
applied to the speaker for one half sec-
ond each. The test results, expressed
as a percentage of the energy of the
two original test tones, represent the
total energy of three intermodulation
sidebands above and three below the
higher test frequency. The IM (Fig.
5b) varies slightly over the tested fre-
quency range and increases as the
power level increases. At the highest
test level (25 watts) the IM rises to
roughly 10% at the lowest test mod-
ulating frequency. While 10% har-
monic distortion is not annoying,
10% IM distortion is. At power lev-
els o f - 6 dB (5 watts) and less, the IM
remains below 3 % .

Fig. 5b: Intermodulation distortion versus frequency and power level.

When I first unpacked the Stu-
dioMonitor 450s, I was quite impressed
with their overall appearance, especially
0 dB level was 2.5 V rms, or 25 watts minimum between 50 and 55 Hz, and the cabinets' piano-black top and bot-
assuming a 4-ohm impedance.) Mea- then rises rapidly at lower frequen- tom panels. At first, I could not figure
surements were made with the speaker cies. The dip in the vicinity of 50 Hz out how to get the grille cloth off so I
on its side on the ground plane, passive coincides with the system's vented- could see the drivers, but I soon deter-
radiator facing up, and the test micro- box tuning frequency, where the pas- mined that the top and bottom panels
phone at the ground plane, on the sive radiator is producing most of the could be removed, as they are attached
woofer/midrange driver's axis and 0.25 sound. (As you can see from the slight to the cabinet with four pegs that en-
meters away. shift in this dip when the power level gage holes in the panels. When a panel
For frequencies above 125 Hz, the changes, box tuning varies slightly is removed, it uncovers the grille cloth,
harmonic distortion percentage stays with the test conditions; this is why which is tightened around the cabinet
roughly constant and generally dou- the impedance measurement, above, with a captive drawstring. The grille
bles when the input power does. Be- indicates 55 Hz as the tuning fre- wraps completely around the cabinet
low 125 Hz, the distortion reaches a quency.) At the highest power level, 25 and has a cutout at the rear for the in-
maximum at about 70 Hz, falls to a watts, the maximum distortion is a put-terminal cup.

ISSUE NO. 29 • SUMMER/FALL 2003 11

pdf 12
 When uncovered, the speakers and preamp. The SM 450s are smooth- On well-recorded female vocals,
cabinet had a meticulous, no-non- sounding speakers, and their sensi- the 450s did exhibit some slight upper-
sense look that showed careful crafts- tivity is quite high, especially as com- midrange irregularities, but on high-
manship and attention to detail. Un- pared to my reference B&W Matrix frequency sibilants they did quite well,
der the grille cloth, the enclosure was 801 Series 3 systems. In A/B com- reproducing them without harshness,
finished in an attractive satin black. parison tests, I had to attenuate the strain, or spittiness. After my lab tests
The SM 450s are provided with wall- input to the Definitive Technology revealed high-frequency response aber-
mounting brackets that screw into speakers by about 4 to 4.5 dB to rations caused by the tweeter reso-
routed-out holes on the rear panel— match their levels to the B&Ws'. The nance mentioned earlier, I listened to
a nice touch. LED level monitors on my power am- the speakers again, but could hear no
The large passive radiator essen- plifier showed that the amp was problems caused by this. (Although
tially takes up one whole side of the working noticeably less hard when my hearing, at this point, is rolled off
cabinet; in an enclosure this size, it driving the SM 450s. The Definitive in the range of this resonance, I some-
looks like a monster woofer. The ra- Technology speakers performed well times can detect the subharmonics of
diator is inset " to protect it from as long as the deep bass levels were such resonances.) The 450s were the
damage. When energized by high- modest, but were no match for the full equal of the 801s on male speak-
level sine waves, the speaker sounded B&Ws in the low bass. Otherwise, ing voices.
quite clean down to 40 Hz, but dis- their overall balance was quite simi- On the stand-up/sit-down pink-
tortion was audibly significant at lar to the B&Ws'. noise test, I heard moderate upper-
lower frequencies. At the box tuning The SM 450s performed ad- midrange irregularities when I stood
frequency, the woofer's motion almost mirably on recordings with high peak up. With the speakers turned upside
ceased and the passive radiator's ex- content, which profit from high play- down, the sound heard from a stand-
cursion became quite large. The deep back levels—big-band material with ing position matched the on-axis
null in the woofer's excursion showed prominent brass sections and drum sound more closely. I did perform side-
that the box and the passive radiator rim shots, for example. With the peak- by-side A/B mono listening compar-
work extremely well. exercising special effects on Ein isons between an upright and an up-
At and near the system's tuning Straussfest (Telarc CD-80098—one of side-down speaker. Differences were
frequency, maximum clean excursion my favorites, even though it dates much less evident with music than
was about 0.3" peak-to-peak for the back to 1985!) I could actually get with pink noise.
woofer and a healthy 0.4" peak-to- slightly more volume from the De- The imaging and soundstaging of
peak for the passive radiator. The ef- finitive Technology speakers than the 450s were excellent. Mono center
fective radiating diameter of the pas- from the B&Ws, because the latter's images were quite stable and did not
sive radiator is about 8.35" and that lower sensitivity caused my amplifier shift when the recording's frequency
of the woofer about 5". This makes to clip before they reached the 450s' content changed. The 450s did ex-
the drone cone's radiating area ap- maximum level. However, when I got tremely well on classical a cappella
proximately 2.7 times that of the carried away with the volume control choral music, reproducing the voices
woofer—and with its higher excur- on some of the Telarc CD's very loud and the room's reverberant sound with
sion capability, it can move roughly 3 low-bass passages, I could overload great precision.
to 3½ times as much air as the the 450s severely. The 450s' bass re- Considering their reasonable price,
woofer. As I said above, this is good sponse was quite adequate on most of good looks, and great sound, I highly
design practice for a passive-radiator the material I listened to. On shaped recommend the Definitive Technol-
system. tone bursts, bass response was quite ogy StudioMonitor 450 speakers for
For my listening, I placed the sys- acceptable down to 50 Hz, with us- stereo use or for a home theater setup.
tems on 24" stands (which raised the able output at 40 Hz—but not at With a competent subwoofer, they
tweeter to about 34½" above the lower frequencies. Teaming the 450s provide real competition for many
floor) about 7 feet apart and well up with a subwoofer improved the much larger systems. Their high sen-
away from room's side walls. I drove sound significantly, putting the 450s sitivity and smooth response will be
them with my Crown Macro Refer- on a more equal footing with the welcome in any music system.
ence power amplifier and Krell KRC much larger 801s. —Don Keele

12 THE AUDIO CRITIC

pdf 13
 improved performance and reliabil-
ity, active loudspeakers have never
taken off in the home market, proba-
Genelec Inc., 7 Tech Circle, Natick, MA bly because most audio consumers al-
01760. Voice: (508) 652-0900. ready have receivers with a full com-
Fax: (508) 652-0909. E-mail:
plement of channel power, or even a
genelec.usa@genelec.com. Web:
stack of amplifiers. Why buy power
www.genelec.com. Model HT210 2-way
active loudspeaker, $2800.00 each in again?
black; other finishes optional. Tested sam- The complexity of modern audio
ples on loan from manufacturer. and home theater systems may change
that. In the days of stereo, all you
needed was a record player, a tuner, a
No audio component is perfect, tape deck, a preamplifier, and a stereo
and speakers are the least perfect of all. power amplifier, plus five shelves to
The imperfections of other compo- hold everything. Today, you might
nents can be too small for anyone to have seven source components, a pre-
hear, but speakers—all of them—have amplifier, satellite receiver, and an many 8-, 10-, or 12-inch two-way de-
readily audible deficiencies. The virtue equalizer (well, I do). Who has rack signs is that the directivity of large
of "active," or powered, speakers is that space for an additional seven or eight drivers narrows rapidly as they reach
their electronics can make those de- channels' worth of amplifiers? I sure the crossover point, which is also the
fects far less audible: Dedicated elec- don't. frequency where a tweeter's directiv-
tronic equalizers can minimize the So I use active speakers through- ity is widest. Passive crossovers can
speaker's frequency-response errors. out my 7.1-channel reference system; have little or no influence on direc-
Built-in amplifiers can provide the ex- they perform better, conserve space, tivity, especially while retaining
act power that the speaker (or, better and (because of their driver-matched smooth response off axis. Better-per-
yet, each driver) requires and, if each power levels and protective circuits) forming satellites use 6- or 6½-inch
driver is powered separately, precise ac- let me leave my system in the hands woofers at most, because such drivers
tive crossovers can be employed instead of a friend without coming home to are the largest ones capable of offering
of cruder, passive ones. What's more, fried tweeters and the smell of melt- both a reasonable low-frequency ex-
protective circuitry can be custom-tai- ing voice-coil glue. tension and a woofer directivity that
lored to the drivers it safeguards. Genelec is a fairly new name in closely matches the tweeter's near the
Despite their obvious potential for the consumer market, but this Finnish crossover (1.8 kHz). With electronic
company's active speakers are highly crossovers the designer can play a few
regarded and widely used in pro little trade-off games regarding direc-
sound, where active speakers have tivity; in the case of the HT210, how-
long been common. Now, the com- ever, the excellent directivity over the
pany is angling for consumer sales, entire operating range from 42 Hz to
with several series of active home-the- 22 kHz, despite the comparatively
ater speakers. The HT210 is the larger large woofer, appears to be due to the
two-way speaker system in the Inti- shallow, hornlike "Directivity Con-
mate Home Theater series (there's also trol Waveguide" surrounding the
a three-way system), recommended tweeter.
for rooms of 3,000 to 4,200 cubic The HT210 has two internal am-
feet; other series are designed for plifiers: a woofer amp with a "short-
rooms of under 3,000, 5,000 to term" power rating of 180 watts, and
10,000, and over 10,000 cubic feet. a tweeter amp with a 120-watt "short-
The line also includes an in-wall term" output rating. Genelec doesn't
model and two subwoofers. say what the hell "short-term" watts
The HT210 has a 10-inch woofer, are, but who cares? Amplifier power
which is unusual in a two-way speaker. ratings for active speakers (powered
The primary reason you don't see subwoofers included) have no signif-

ISSUE NO. 29 • SUMMER/FALL 2003 13

pdf 14
 icance. We need to know how much that control the LED indicators. not measure what effect, if any, they'd
energy comes out of the speaker, not (Users will be able to select whether have on the sound.
how much energy goes in to produce the LEDs remain off, show only yel- The tweeter waveguide plate can
that output. (Of course, if manufac- low for standby and green for opera- be removed and rotated 90° so the
turer X gets 120 dB SPL with a 2,000- tion, or also show red for overload.) Genelec logo will be upright if you
watt amplifier and manufacturer Y The speaker is magnetically shielded, mount the speaker horizontally. The
does it with 20 watts, I might prefer so you can use it near a TV set or electronics panel on the rear is re-
the latter because it's easier on my other cathode-ray tube (CRT) display. siliently mounted, a pro-sound carry-
electric bill.) What is significant is The HT210 is relatively large for over that protects the system against
that Genelec specifies peak output for a satellite speaker. (With its bass re- rough handling on tour. The enclosure
a pair of HT210s as 124 dB SPL at 1 sponse specified as -2.5 dB at 42 Hz, seems relatively tourproof, too: when I
meter with "music material." the H T 2 1 0 could conceivably be accidentally knocked the HT210 off
Unlike the controls on passive used without a subwoofer, but I think my measurement stand, the 6-foot
speakers, the Bass Tilt, Bass Roll-Off, few would use it that way.) Although drop left only a -by-2½-inch gouge
and Treble Tilt controls in the it has a small, 1-foot-square foot- on the rear corner of the cabinet and
HT210's electronics work almost ex- print, the cabinet occupies 2.8 cubic did not affect the speaker's operation.
actly as specified, even at low fre- feet of space in a listening room, and
quencies. An "Autostart" function its 48-lb. weight means that you
turns the unit off if no signal has been won't be hoisting these speakers off How did the Genelec HT210 meas-
present for 5 minutes, but restarts it their stands with one hand while ure up? Let's discuss how it performed
immediately when a new signal is re- dusting with the other. The M D F in the lab first. Basic measurements
ceived. Additional controls on the rear cabinet of my samples had a flat black were taken at 2 meters in my large,
panel (wouldn't remote controls be pro-style finish, and lacked the op- 7,600-cubic-foot, room; maximum
cool?) include an on-off switch, a tional ($79) grilles. In speakers sell- output for a stereo-arrayed pair was
110/220-volt mains selector, XLR and ing for $5,600 a pair, the utility measured at 4 meters in the same room.
RCA input jacks, and a rotary control finish and the extra charge for grilles All measurements were taken with a
for matching input sensitivity to the were disappointing. However, DRA Laboratories MLSSA acoustic an-
output levels of upstream compo- HT210s are now available in glossy alyzer and an AudioControl SA-3050A
nents. Units currently in production piano black and three wood-veneer third-octave real-time analyzer and
have two additional features: a set of finishes, all complete with grilles sound-level meter.
contacts for on-off switching using (prices not established at press time). The horizontal response graph
12-volt trigger signals, and switches As I did not have the grilles, I could (Fig. 1) shows that the HT210 is in-
credibly smooth out to 60° off axis.
Directly on axis, its response fits in
a ±3 dB window from 55 Hz to
20 kHz, shelved up by approximately
2 dB between 1 and 10 kHz. Hori-
zontal directivity is remarkably smooth
and wide. This is not due to some kind
of electronic trickery; there is no sug-
gestion to that effect in Genelec's specs
and literature. As it is most unusual for
a 10-inch two-way system to work this
well off axis, the explanation probably
lies, as I suggested earlier, in the shal-
low, hornlike baffle ("Directivity Con-
trol Waveguide") of the tweeter.
Vertical radiation patterns (Fig.
2a/b) are less uniform. Below the axis,
there's a sharp, deep notch at 1.6 kHz,
followed by irregularities at greater ra-

14 THE AUDIO CRITIC

pdf 15
 diating angles. Above-axis response is
smooth to about 20°, with notching
near the crossover frequency as the an-
gle increases. (These problems are com-
mon when multiway speakers have
drivers placed side by side or when ver-
tically arrayed systems are used hori-
zontally. I beg people with multiple lis-
tening seats to use a vertically arrayed
center channel.) The HT210 should be
used vertically whenever possible, and
when used for a center channel should
preferably be placed below the screen.
The response alterations imposed
by the Bass Roll-Off and Bass Tilt
switches followed almost exactly the
Fig. 1: Horizontal on- and off-axis frequency responses. curves printed in the manual and on the
electronics panel on the back of the en-
closure, although the magnitude of ac-
tion was only about 65% of that indi-
cated. For example, the DIP switch for
Bass Roll-Off (a highpass filter whose
slope increases from 6 to 12 dB per oc-
tave in small steps) indicates cuts of 2,
4, 6, and 8 dB for frequencies below
100 Hz, but setting the switch at -8 dB
only cut response by only a little more
than 5 dB. Likewise, the Bass Tilt
switch (which should cut 2, 4, or 6 dB
below 1 kHz, depending upon its set-
ting) produced a 4 dB reduction when
set in the -6 dB position.
On the other hand, the action of the
Fig. 2a: Vertical off-axis frequency response below axis. Treble Tilt switch, which cuts in at
about 8 kHz and was indicated as +2,
-2 and -4 dB at 15 kHz, matched the
printed graphs exactly. The tweeter and
woofer can be turned off individually
when the Mute position on the driver's
DIP switch is selected—while this is a
fantastic feature for nearfield measuring
it is of no use I can think of for home
listening.
For a two-way satellite, the
HT210 delivered a healthy output,
though not quite as healthy as sug-
gested by Genelec's specification (124
dB peak per pair at 1 meter, with mu-
sic). Using the most challenging
recordings I have, I got the HT210s
Fig. 2b: Vertical off-axis frequency response above axis. to crank out a clean 102 dB SPL peak

ISSUE NO. 29 • SUMMER/FALL 2003 15

pdf 16
 (no audible amplifier clipping, lim- a factor of four.) I define a speaker's bass Dynamically, the H T 2 1 0 plays
iter action or speaker distress) at 4 limit as the lowest frequency and high- damn loud, yet retains its clarity when
meters in my large room, which trans- est SPL it can deliver within the 10% the music gets soft or is simply played
lates to 114 dB at 1 meter. Turning the distortion threshold. For a single softly. There is some, but less than
gain up from the default setting (-6 HT210, the bass limit was 75 dB SPL usual, upward spectral shift when
dBu) to its maximum (+4 dBu) en- at 40 Hz at 2 meters. playing full-range recordings at very
abled the speakers to deliver 105 dB Surprisingly few two-way satellites loud levels. When played at full gain
SPL at 4 meters; however, limiter ac- (or even full-range speakers) can deliver with ultraloud, dynamic, or ultra-
tion and/or amplifier clipping was such usable output at 40 Hz. However, compressed program material (Ra-
clearly evident at sound pressure lev- the HT210's usable output at 40 Hz diohead's Amnesiac, Fugees' Blunted
els above 102 dB; this surprised me, was nearly 25 dB below its maximum on Reality, Jay Leonhart's Salaman-
as most active speakers will not allow clean output at higher frequencies, der Pie) the H T 2 1 0 could play
themselves to be driven into overload. which occasionally caused the spectral roughly 3 dB beyond its clean limit.
The HT210's low-frequency abili- balance shift described previously. If At such high levels, the Genelec's lim-
ties were similar to those of many "full- you want full-bandwidth dynamic ca- iters keep turning on and off and the
range" floor-standing loudspeakers I've pability, you'll need to use the Genelec sound is sometimes grossly distorted.
used. Speakers seldom have the low- with a subwoofer. (I used hearing protection when
frequency dynamic capability that ref- checking this.) But when you're fin-
erence measurement levels imply. Fre- ished abusing the speaker, there will
quently, full-range models whose I listened to the HT210 as a stereo be no burned or bottomed voice coils,
measured low-frequency extension pair. The sound was clean and clear, al- and the system will play as if it were
seems impressive exhibit an upward though somewhat aggressive. With the still new.
spectral balance shift at high output. Treble Tilt switch set to 0 dB, there
This shift occurs because the low-fre- was excessive sibilance when playing
quency driver lacks the displacement Suzanne Vega's recording of "Tom's The Genelec HT210 will reward
to keep up with the mid/tweeters; the Diner" (on Solitude Standing) and per- any listener with high-quality, high-
highs keep getting louder while the lows cussion sounded somewhat overem- output playback in mono, stereo, and
stall out as the system's output level in- phasized. When I set the Treble Tilt multichannel music and film systems.
creases. switch to -4 dB, however, voices and It has more output capability than any
To measure the Genelec's low-fre- acoustic instruments were rendered other two-way home system I've ever
quency abilities, I used a technique with natural timbre and excellent de- used, and more than many 12-inch
adopted from Don Keele: I fed the tail and clarity, although the speaker towers. As a satellite speaker, it's a lit-
speaker ramped, 6.5-cycle tone bursts at still sounded slightly aggressive. tle on the large side. As a full-range
-octave frequencies, and used a The Genelecs delivered a wide, speaker, it's moderate in size but with
MLSSA acoustical measurement system moderately deep soundstage, with ex- the impact of many larger floor-stand-
to determine the maximum low-fre- cellent image placement and separa- ing systems. Like all satellite and most
quency SPL the speaker could deliver at tion. The wide, smooth radiation pat- full-range systems it will benefit from
2 meters (a truly practical listening dis- tern provided an excellent sense of a subwoofer if you like high-impact
tance) before distortion reached 10% ambience, positioned images outboard low-frequency programs.
or overload protection cut in. While a of the left/right speaker pair, and Some people will consider the
distortion figure of 10% seems quite clearly rendered reverb and ambient Genelec HT210s pricey (a 5-channel
high, a speaker still sounds clean at that effects in the mix. Center images fol- system would run you about $14,000)
level. This is because the speaker is just lowed me when I moved off axis; this Others, though will see them as a bar-
leaving its linear output range at that is normal for two-channel systems, and gain, considering current speaker-
point; as the level increases further, dis- the Genelecs do a better job of dis- price trends and the fact that a full set
tortion will begin increasing exponen- tributing ambience and retaining far of high-performance electronics with
tially. (Technically, this happens when left/right images than speakers typi- useful precision operating controls is
the driver's motor BL product, a meas- cally do in stereo setups. I believe the included in the deal. As far as I'm
urement of magnetic field strength, has HT210 can be successfully used as a concerned, these Genelecs would be
fallen to 70% of its rest-position value, left/right, center, or surround speaker welcome in my house anytime.
or when the suspension has stiffened by in a multichannel system. —Tom Nousaine

16 THE AUDIO CRITIC

pdf 17
 duces cone breakup. According to tension of the tweeter's response. Thiel
Thiel, it also moves the diaphragm's says quite a bit about technologies
spurious resonances to a much higher that extend the response of the
frequency, and hence raises the driver's CSl.6's woofer upward, but nothing
Thiel Audio, 1026 Nandino Boulevard, Lex- high-frequency cutoff. about the low end of the tweeter's re-
ington, KY 40511-1207. Voice: (859) 254- As a result of this driving system, the sponse. Nonetheless, I neither heard
9427. Fax: (859) 254-0075. E-mail: nor measured any of the anomalies I'd
woofer's cone is quite shallow and its
mail@thielaudio.com. Web: www.thiel-
dustcap is distinctively large. The large expect if the tweeter lacked low-end
audio.com. Model CS1.6 coherent source
loudspeaker, $ 2 3 9 0 . 0 0 per pair in black voice coil enables Thiel to place the response or had insufficient power
ash, cherry, maple, oak, or walnut neodymium magnet inside the pole handling at low frequencies.
($1990.00 the pair painted black). Tested piece rather than outside it. This topol- Despite the appealing simplicity of
samples on loan from manufacturer. ogy provides magnetic shielding; when basic first-order filter design, it often
I set a CS1.6 right next to my com-
puter's monitor, it caused no color dis-
The CS1.6 shares the distinctive tortion of any kind.
look of Kentucky-based Thiel Audio's The woofer's extended response is a
other floor-standing speakers: a finely necessity, because of the CS1.6's first-
finished cabinet with a raked-back, order crossover. The virtues claimed for
rounded, black front panel. That look first-order crossovers, which have gen-
is part of Thiel's "Coherent Source" tle slopes of 6 dB per octave, are sim-
design, which, the company says, aims ple construction (typically, one capac-
to eliminate "time and phase distor- itor and one inductor) and "phase
tions that cause alterations in the re- coherence" (the elimination of phase
produced musical waveforms of most changes at the crossover frequency).
loudspeakers." Raking the front panel The theory is that a first-order crossover
moves the tweeter farther from the lis- keeps the two drivers in quadrature (90°
tener, so its output will arrive at the apart) at all frequencies, and conse-
same time as the woofer's. The front quently the sum of the two drivers'
panel is claimed to reduce parasitic res- acoustic outputs is theoretically a per-
onances, and its rounded corners min- fect replica of the crossover's input. The
imize diffraction. Thiel also uses wide- importance of this from the standpoint
bandwidth drivers and true, first-order of audibility has long been debated and
crossovers to maintain phase coher- belongs in another discussion.
ence. The result, says Thiel, is enhanced It's not enough for a first-order
realism, clarity, transparency and im- speaker system to have crossovers with
mediacy, as well as improved imaging 6-dB/octave slopes. It's also necessary
and a deeper soundstage. to have loudspeaker drivers that op-
The CS1.6, the second smallest of erate cleanly for two to three octaves
Thiel's six CS-series speakers, is a two- beyond the crossover point. This is
way bass reflex system with anodized because moving-coil drivers are sec-
aluminum diaphragms on both drivers. ond-order devices, which roll off at
The woofer's construction is un- 12 dB per octave outside their natu-
usual. Instead of placing a small voice ral passband. Only very wideband
coil at the apex of a deep woofer cone, drivers allow the system's roll-off to
Thiel gave the CS1.6's woofer a large start well before the drivers'. A first-
(3-inch) coil attached about midway order crossover's gentle slope also does
between the cone's outer surround and little to suppress any irregularities in
its center. This design distributes the the driver's response outside its pass-
driving force over a larger area and, by band. So using such drivers not only
reducing the unsupported span be- requires an extended upper range for
tween the coil and the cone's edge, re- the woofer, but also a downward ex-

ISSUE NO. 29 • SUMMER/FALL 2003 17

pdf 18
 takes sophisticated networks to main- to do with the grille's design than the because the strap needed to bridge die
tain a true first-order response several port's. The grille is a fabric-wrapped two together for use with just one amp
octaves above and below the crossover sheet of ultra-thin steel, 80% perfo- would be "sonically compromised;" that
frequency. Thiel's literature says that rated. Magnets hidden beneath the just plays to existing audiophile myths.
the company's speakers "make exten- cabinet surface hold the grille to the Warranty is 10 years to the original
sive use of network compensation. Typ- front baffle, eliminating grille frames owners for any defects in material and
ically, about 40% of the network ele- and other constructions that could af- workmanship.
ments are used to achieve correction of fect response. That baffle, by the way,
what would otherwise be minor re- is 2 inches thick, and the other enclo-
sponse irregularities." sure panels are an inch thick, stiffening My basic measurements of die Thiel
The CS1.6 has an unusual bass-re- the cabinet and minimizing secondary CS1.6 were quasi-anechoic, taken at a
flex port: a half-inch-wide, 12-inch- radiation. distance of 2 meters in a 7,600-cubic-
long slot exiting through a beveled re- The cabinet is not only stiff but foot room, combined with near-field
cess on the front panel. The recess flares beautifully finished, something Thiel measurements for the low frequencies.
outward rapidly to a width of 4½ inches is known for. Buyers have their choice All measurements were taken with a
at the panel's front surface. Thiel says of 15 fine cabinet finishes, at several DRA Laboratories MLSSA acoustic an-
this design reduces unwanted port price levels. In the standard finishes alyzer with calibrated microphone and
noise, and my experience with the (ash, black ash, cherry, maple, oak, and an AudioControl SA-3050A third-oc-
speaker backs that up. walnut veneers), the speakers are $2390 tave real-time analyzer and sound-level
According to the company, the port per pair. More exotic finishes (such as meter. I also supplemented the quasi-
design also reduces "grille loading ef- ebony, dark cherry, mahogany, teak, anechoic measurements with 2-meter
fects," and—hallelujah!—the grille had and zebra wood) are available at prices readings taken with the speaker stand-
virtually no effect on the sound of the up to $2865 per pair. At the other end ing on a carpeted floor to replicate nor-
CS1.6. However, that may have more of the scale, a pair of CS1.6s in plain mal use. In my opinion, measurements
black paint is $1990. Custom finishes of performance on a floor should al-
are also available. My test sample was ways be used when designing and eval-
finished on three sides and the top in uating a tower speaker, because its prox-
amberwood, an aggressively grained imity to the floor will affect its response
walnut ($2565 per pair); the front baf- in any listening room. (Floors also af-
fle and bottom were black. fect the response of stand- or shelf-
The CS1.6 comes with four mounted speakers, but the effects will
threaded and pointed feet, which can be vary with the height at which the
used to steady the cabinet on a thick speaker is mounted.)
carpet and to control the tilt of the front The characteristic on-axis response
baffle. An optional outrigger base is also of the CS1.6 is basically flat and
available ($200 per pair) for added sta- smooth, fitting inside a ±2 dB window
bility on deep-pile carpets or in homes from its 45 Hz low limit to 8 kHz. At
with active small children or large dogs. higher frequencies, response slopes gen-
Connections are made via heavy- tly downward at approximately 3 dB
duty multiway binding posts on the rear per octave. Off-axis response in the hor-
panel. They are not on ¾-inch centers, izontal plane (Fig. 1) is very well con-
so they won't accept double banana trolled to ±30°, with only moderate
plugs, but single banana plugs work fine. notching near the crossover at wider
(By the way, you can easily convert a angles. Vertically, response deteriorates
dual banana plug into a pair of singles rapidly above axis (Fig. 2a); so it's ab-
with diagonal cutters.) There is only one solutely necessary to aim the tweeter's
pair of connecting posts per speaker, be- axis at the listener's ears by using the
cause Thiel doesn't believe biamping or speaker's spiked feet to angle its front
biwiring are necessary (neither do I). But panel upward. Radiation below the axis
the company also says that it does not use (Fig. 2b) is much smoother but, be-
separate woofer and tweeter connections cause the speaker is a floorstander, lis-

18 THE AUDIO CRITIC

pdf 19
 teners will always experience an octave-
wide, 3.5 dB floor-bounce notch cen-
tered at 225 Hz. On the other hand, the
clever grille has virtually zero effect on
the response.
Sensitivity is 90 dB SPL at 1 meter
with 2.83 volts applied (equivalent to
1 watt into 8 ohms). The CS1.6 is a
low-impedance speaker by any measure.
From 200 Hz up, its impedance is 4
ohms or less, reaching its minimum
(3.2 ohms) at 5.6 kHz.
I use a ramped 6.5-cycle tone burst
at -octave frequencies (adopted from
Don Keele) and MLSSA to determine
the maximum low-frequency SPL at 2
Fig. 1: Two-meter, on-axis (0°) response and horizontal off-axis frequency responses. meters (a useful listening distance) that
can be attained without exceeding 10%
distortion. While 10% seems quite
high, it denotes the point where a loud-
speaker is leaving its linear output range
(that is, its motor BL product has fallen
to 70% of its rest-position value, or the
suspension has stiffened by a factor of
four). At this point, the speaker still
sounds clean, but distortion begins in-
creasing exponentially with further in-
creases in level. I define a speaker's bass
limit as the lowest frequency and SPL
it can deliver with 10% distortion or
less; for a single CS1.6, the bass limit is
83 dB SPL at 40 Hz, measured from a
distance of 2 meters.
Fig. 2a: Vertical off-axis frequency response above axis. While the CS1.6 has good exten-
sion for a speaker system with a 6.5-
inch woofer, aided greatly by the sys-
tem's 50 Hz tuning, overall bass
performance is not especially robust; at
100 Hz, the CS1.6 can produce only 90
dB SPL at 2 meters with less than 10%
distortion.

Two-channel listening may be offi-

cially dead in this home-theater era, but
I listened to the CS1.6s as a stereo pair
so I could better hear what they were
doing. Even stereo can mask some op-
erating deficiencies, and Floyd Toole
makes a good case for using a single
Fig. 2b: Vertical off-axis frequency response below axis. speaker system for listening evaluations.

ISSUE NO. 29 • SUMMER/FALL 2003 19

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 Spectral balance and dynamics can Using the adjustable feet, I tilted The pair of Thiels did, however,
surely be tested in this way. Certain spa- the speaker carefully to aim it at my sound clean, with no obvious distortion
tial characteristics, such as openness ears. Even though the baffle slopes back and only modest spectral shift at levels
(the ability to make sound seem inde- a bit more than 10°, the tweeter axis was up to 99 dB SPL at a 10-foot listening
pendent of its actual source) and re- still somewhat below the plane of my distance in a large room. On material
production of ambience, can also be ears at a 10-foot listening distance with- with very low frequency content (Bass
fairly evaluated with a single channel. out this adjustment. Connection's "Drivin' Bass"), overload
However, a goodly share of spatial ren- Spectrally, the system had very good would occur at 80 dB SPL, but with re-
dition is dependent on the room and clarity and detail but sounded a little markably little noise from the port.
the positions of the listener and speak- thin and soft in the bass; that's often the These dynamic limitations are of lim-
ers, so I tend to be skeptical of spatial case with 6.5-inch two-way systems. ited importance for jazz, soft rock, mid-
impressions reported in reviews (in- For example, on Oscar Peterson's "You dle-of-the-road music, and all but the
cluding mine). So should you. Look Good To Me," the piano, soft most challenging classical material—
No matter, my evaluation was con- percussive details, and bassist Ray but I wouldn't recommend the CS1.6s
ducted with the CS1.6 pair set up well Brown's low-level mutterings were for hip-hop or heavy metal.
away from side walls and 4 feet from the clearly rendered and had natural timbre,
rear wall, with the speakers 9 feet apart but Brown's acoustic bass was some-
and 10 feet from the listening position. what subdued. Likewise on Carla Bley's The Thiel CS1.6 is best suited for
(Thiel recommends a minimum listen- "Copyright Royalties," the smallest de- listeners who listen to traditional two-
ing distance of 8 feet.) The owner's man- tails of brushes, brass, and clarinet channel jazz and classical music in a
ual suggests "straight-ahead" speaker sounds were clearly identifiable. Female moderate-sized room. Adding a sub-
aiming. I tried that and "cross-fire" toed- vocals—by Jennifer Warnes ("Famous woofer will generally make the system
in aiming. For the most part, cross-fire Blue Raincoat"), Tracy Chapman ("For useful with a wider range of more dy-
aiming tended to improve perceived spa- You"), and Joan Baez ("Diamonds and namic programming, but it will never
ciousness, tighten image precision, and Rust")—were also rendered with ex- be suitable for head-banging.
make the thin bass sound fuller. Of tremely natural timbre. Home theater? By themselves, the
course, much of this is undoubtedly as- Although the CS1.6 delivered cen- Thiels lack the loudness and bass for
sociated with the acoustics of my lis- ter images to centered listeners as well that, unless you add a subwoofer—and
tening room. Your mileage may vary. as any two-channel system I've heard, as long as you're doing that, you might
left and right images tended to cluster want smaller speakers anyway. And
at the left and right speakers; there was somehow, I can't see their styling fitting
a lack of good mid-left and mid-right gracefully into a multichannel system.
imaging. The Thiels seldom managed What should we expect from a two-
to convince me the sound was not com- way speaker in the CS1.6's price range?
ing directly from the speakers. When I Excellent cosmetics? Thiel nails it; great
moved off-axis, the center image fol- finish, state of the art grille. Excellent
lowed me; all 2-channel speaker sys- spectral presentation? Right on, Thiel.
tems are somewhat subject to this effect, A design philosophy and interesting
but not always to this extent. tech story that will keep owners loving
On recordings with loud bass, the these speakers through the years? That's
CS1.6's spectral balance shifted upward here in spades. State-of-the-art dynam-
as volume increased. For example, the ics? No—not with a 6.5-inch speaker,
strong bass line on Roy Orbison's no matter how well-respected its maker.
"Dream You" just disappeared at high In all, the CS1.6 is an excellent-
levels, and the percussion on The sounding speaker with limited dynamics.
Sheffield Track Record and Joe Farrell's That's about all you can expect from any
kick drum in "Upon This Rock" went small-woofer system. Yes, there are sys-
'pop, pop' instead of delivering a solid tems that work nearly as well for a lot less
whack to the sternum. Similarly, when money. But, I can't think of any that have
turned up to high levels, Heart's "Magic nearly this nice a finish.
Man" tended to shriek. —Tom Nousaine

20 THE AUDIO CRITIC

pdf 21
 plifier (circa 1947). His loudspeaker in-
vention was based on a simple insight: No
speaker cone is actually a piston, in the
sense that its perimeter moves the same in-
stant as its apex is set in motion by the voice
Ohm Acoustics Corp., 76 Degraw Street, coil. It takes a finite amount of time for an
Brooklyn, NY 11231. Voice: (800) 783- impulse to travel from the apex to the
1553 or (718) 422-1111. Fax: (718) 422-
perimeter. A good woofer cone appears to
0076. E-mail: OhmSpeakers@aol.com.
be a piston only because the wavelengths it
Web: www.ohmspeakers.com. Walsh 200
Mk-2 floor-standing 2-way tower speakers, reproduces are so large that the transmis-
$2595.00 to $2995.00 per pair, depending sion time from apex to perimeter repre-
on finish. Tested samples on loan from sents only a tiny fraction of the wavelength
manufacturer. and does not result in a perceptible ripple
Editor's Note: The origin of the or breakup. A cone reproducing the full au-
unique Walsh driver appears to have been dio range, however, inevitably ripples and
forgotten, or at least allowed to lapse into breaks up, because the higher-frequency
some kind of vague folklore, over years; the wavelengths are only inches and the cone
following is the "official" version, which I is relatively large, requiring several cycle du-
can confidently tell—because I was there. rations for the signal to travel from apex to
Ohm Acoustics was founded in 1971 perimeter. This is true of all cones, regardless
by Martin Gersten, a self-taught loud- of cone material or geometry. They are, in
speaker designer, for no other reason than effect, transmission lines, albeit poor ones.
to become employed again after he had So Lincoln Walsh said, "If you can't
lost his job at Rectilinear (a speaker com- lick'em, join'em!"If a speaker cone is not a
pany that went out of business many years piston but a transmission line, let's make
ago). Gersten had several silent partners it a good, well-organized transmission line!
with a financial interest in the new com- He inverted the driver and turned it apex out. The Walsh design then went through
pany; I was one of them. (I was still in up, so it fired downward into the enclosure, numerous experimental and production
the advertising business at the time; three with the sound coming off the convex side models. In my opinion, the perfect Walsh
years later I sold all of my stock back to of the cone. He made the cone material stiff, driver has yet to be made; if it were made,
the company, so for the past 29½ years I've so that sound waves were transmitted in it it would be the world's simplest, most
had nothing to do with Ohm—-just to re- at a calculated speed that was much higher beautiful, most unproblematic speaker
assure the three or four aging conspiracy than in air, and he made the slope of the design. (Perhaps German Physiks, a
theorists who still haven't given up trying cone exactly such that the horizontal vec-
to catch me in a conflict of interest.) At tor of the transmission synthesized a co-
first the company made only conventional herent cylindrical wave front in the air,
"monkey coffins" (as rectangular box starting at the cone surround (Fig. 1). One
speakers were condescendingly called in cone covered the full audio spectrum, om-
those days), but soon Lincoln Walsh, nidirectionally, without crossovers and
whom Gersten had known for some time, without any interference with the original
entered into negotiation with Ohm to waveforms as seen by the voice coil. (Note
have his patented loudspeaker invention that any old inverted, downward-firing
developed, manufactured, and marketed. cone driver is, when you think about it, a
(I would never have become involved Walsh driver, just a very bad one.)
with Ohm—whose name was actually This, of course, is a simplistic sum-
my suggestion—if I hadn't known that the mary of the theory behind invention; in
Walsh speaker was coming) the real world there were huge problems—
Lincoln Walsh was a veteran engineer, efficiency, cone material issues, resonances
a member of the team that had developed (and what resonances!), inadequate ter-
radar during World War II and the de- mination of the transmission line at the
signer of the legendary Brook triode am- surround, etc., etc.—as Ohm soon found

ISSUE NO. 29 • SUMMER/FALL 2003 21

pdf 22
 Frankfurt company, has come closest to it, Ohm does, however, offer a few mod- assembly was so well put together that I
at a very steep price, since the expiration els in the original omnidirectional for- was not able to take it apart for observa-
of the patent—but that's another story.) mat, for special applications such as sur- tion without damaging it irreversibly,
Ohm Acoustics, whose ownership shifted round channels or background music. but there is an illustration on Ohm's Web
several times over the decades and is now Ohm offers Walsh speakers at prices site (http://www.ohmspeakers.com/co-
headed by John Strohbeen (formerly of the from $ 1395 to $4495 per pair (plus ship- herentlinesourcedriver.cfm) that shows
defunct Tech HiFi chain), ended up mak- ping). The company suggests using the what's inside. The inverted conical surface
ing the speaker neither full-range nor om- 200 Mk-2's only for rooms up to 15 by of the cone driver radiates all the system's
nidirectional—that's how they got around 25 feet (375 square feet). For rooms up sound omnidirectionally except in the
the design challenges. Lincoln Walsh may to 25 by 32 feet (800 square feet), the top octave, where the small dome tweeter
be a little restless about that in his grave 300 Mk-2's are recommended, while the mounted on top of the Walsh driver's
(he died in the early 70s), but at least the smaller 100 Mk-2's are for rooms 14 x magnet assembly takes over. When the
major problems have been eliminated. 20 feet (280 square feet) or smaller. Ac- speakers are set up in a normal listening
—Peter Aczel cording to Ohm, all these speakers have configuration, the tweeter is aimed 45°
such robust bass that subwoofers are not laterally off the frontal axis of the system
Acoustic barriers now partially sur- needed. All Ohm speakers are sold fac- towards the inside space between the
round the downward-facing driver to tory direct, with a generous two-month speakers. An oversized, trapezoidal space
reduce rear sound radiation, and a home trial program. frame made of metal and covered in grille
tweeter has been added. Both changes The Walsh 200 Mk-2 is a direct de- cloth fits over the cylinder and completely
tailor the speaker's lateral coverage so scendant of the Ohm Walsh 4 sold in covers the top of the system.
that listeners toward the left of the room the 1980s. Our review sample, in fact, The cabinet of the 200 Mk-2 is a
will hear more of the right speaker than started out as a Walsh 4. This was pos- straight-sided, vented enclosure that's
they would from conventional speakers, sible because Ohm provides an upgrade deeper than it is wide. It's constructed
and listeners toward the right will hear program for older systems; Ivan Berger's of 16-layer birch plywood covered with
more of the left speaker. This compen- sidebar tells what it's like to upgrade an real wood veneer on all four sides. Am-
sates for the precedence effect, which older model. ple internal cross-bracing increases the
makes the stereo image collapse toward Ivan's upgrade involved replacing the cabinet's rigidity. The vent is a port
the nearer speaker (whose sound arrives drivers and crossovers, which are built tube, 2¾ inches in diameter and 15
first and is louder) for listeners who are into a squat, perforated-metal cylinder inches long, or about half the cabinet's
not equidistant from both. The tweeter roughly 9¼ inches in diameter and 8 height; the tube exits through a hole on
(which I consider a supertweeter, as it inches high. The two drivers within the the cabinet's bottom. Signal connec-
operates only from 8 kHz up) also aug- cylinder are a Walsh driver, 10 inches in tions are made via a single set of gold-
ments the high-frequency response. diameter, and a dome tweeter. The head plated, double-banana five-way binding
posts, also on the bottom. The posts can
handle wire up to a generous 0.22-inch
diameter (AWG #4).
Four furniture casters make it easy
to move the Walsh 200 Mk-2 around.
Why roll-around casters rather than
spikes or feet? Ohm believes you'll get
the best from speakers if you can easily
experiment to find what location and
orientation optimize imaging and bass
response. Ohm points out (and I em-
phatically agree) that the very audible
changes that result from repositioning
speakers make a far bigger difference
than the subtle changes that occur when
using different types of cabinet feet.
Also, there is no possibility of the cab-
Fig. 1: In a Walsh driver, waves traveling down the cone produce a cylindrical wave front. inet's moving back and forth during

22 THE AUDIO CRITIC

pdf 23
loud passages, because the woofer to be directed laterally at 45° off the box curves are also very close to each other
moves only up and down. axis towards the center line (inside) be- but exhibit lower high-frequency output
tween the speakers, i.e., the left stereo than the other three inside curves. Out-
speaker directed its sound 45° to the board of the 0° (straight-ahead) curve,
I measured the performance of Ohm right and the right speaker's sound was there is substantial high-frequency
Acoustics' Walsh 200 Mk-2 in my usual directed 45° left. Maximum radiation rolloff above 1 kHz, increasing with the
way: making nearfield and ground-plane vertically appeared to be roughly angle. (This, and the fact that the main
measurements to assess die speaker's low- aligned with a point about one-third the response axis is toed in at 45°, help make
frequency response and using windowed, way down from the top of the cylin- early reflections from the room walls
in-room tests to measure response at mid- drical cage. The lateral direction and less troublesome.) But between 0° and
dle and high frequencies. height coincide with the supposed ra- 90° inside, coverage is quite uniform. As
In addition to my customary tests, I diating direction and vertical location far as smoothness and spectral balance
did a complete set of horizontal off-axis of the system's tweeter. (There was no are concerned, the 30°, 45°, and 60° in-
response curves every 10° completely way to get into the driver cage and side curves are quite well behaved, ex-
around the Ohm to investigate its full-cir- check my hunch. Drat!) cept for a slight uptilt in high-frequency
cle lateral soundfield. The test micro- The Ohm's frequency response at var- response above 14 kHz and a moderate
phone was located at a distance of one ious horizontal angles is shown two ways: depression in the midrange response be-
meter from, and aimed at a point three as conventional response curves (Fig. 2a) tween about 400 Hz and 3 kHz.
inches below, the top of the driver's cylin- and as an "overhead view" of the response Another anomaly is a slight upper-
drical cage; a 2.83 Vrms signal was applied contours (Fig. 2b). Consider "inside" as bass/lower-mid response hump centered
to the speaker. One-tenth-octave smooth- the direction from either speaker of a at 250 Hz, which appeared regardless of
ing was used in all the following curves. stereo pair toward a centered listener, and the angle or distance at which I made my
Figure 2a shows various horizontal "outside" as the direction from the measurements. However, such direction-
off-axis frequency responses of the Ohm speaker to the room's nearer side wall. independent response anomalies are easy
Walsh. Normally, my first graph is of on- Figure 2a shows response from 90° to handle with appropriate equalization.
axis frequency response but, with this outside to 90° inside in 30° steps, plus The Ohm's anechoic bass response is
speaker, where would "on axis" be? Di- a 45° inside curve that corresponds to well behaved, extending strongly to 40
rectly in front of the cabinet? At some un- the direction of strongest response. The Hz, then rolling off at 12 dB/octave be-
specified horizontal angle to the cabinet's symmetry of the response curves around low that. In a room, response below 40
front panel? Someplace else? Only after this 45° curve is clearly evident. The Hz would be stronger, due to reinforce-
waving around a microphone connected 30°, 45°, and 60° inside curves essen- ment by the room's boundaries.
to a real-time third-octave spectrum an- tially lie one on top of the other, which The speaker's sensitivity, averaged
alyzer did I get a general idea. indicates excellent directional unifor- from 250 Hz to 4 kHz, was 84 dB;
The maximum radiation appeared mity. Note that the 0° and 90° inside that's 3 dB less than specified by Ohm,
primarily because the depression in the
system's output between 400 Hz and 3
kHz happened to roughly coincide with
my sensitivity measurement span.
Right-left matching was good; the right
and left speakers agreeing within ±1.5
dB, with most of that difference oc-
curring above 10 kHz, that is, in the
tweeter's range. The grille of the Mk-2
had minimal effect on response.
Figure 2b shows the 360° directional
response of the Ohm Walsh over the full
audible frequency range. (I chose this
method of display rather than the usual
horizontal off-axis "waterfall" display be-
cause it makes the Ohm's radiation pat-
Fig. 2a: Horizontal off-axis frequency response. tern more understandable.) The vertical

ISSUE NO. 29 • SUMMER/FALL 2003 23

pdf 24
 axis displays the horizontal angle from
180° (behind the speaker), around to 0°
(straight ahead), and continuing around
back to 180° again. Positive angles are to
the inside, negative angles to the outside.
The horizontal axis displays frequency,
from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. The display has
been normalized to the 45° inside fre-
quency response, the direction of the
strongest radiation; this is equivalent to
making measurements after the speaker's
frequency response has been equalized to
be flat at an inside angle of 45°.
The numbered curves are constant-
level contours for levels from - 3 0 to +1
dB. (The top left " - 1 " curve shows, for Fig. 2b: Horizontal off-axis frequency response contour plot (response normalized to the
response at 45° inside); see text.
example, that the Ohm's response is
down 1 dB at an inside angle of 135°
for frequencies from about 50 to 200
Hz.) Levels at intermediate points can
be read from the color coding, which is
explained by the color scale at the bot-
tom left of the graph.
Now that we have this fancy colored
graph, what does it all mean? If you take
slices of the graph along the frequency
(horizontal) axis at a particular angle rel-
ative to the speaker's axis, you'll see the
speaker's frequency response at that an-
gle. If you take slices of the display along
the angle (vertical) axis at a particular fre-
quency, you'll see the Ohm's lateral po-
lar response at that particular angle. Fig. 3a: Above-axis response.
If a speaker were omnidirectional
in the horizontal plane at all frequen-
cies, the entire graph would be yellow.
If the speaker radiated sound only to
45° on either side of its axis, but had a
perfect directional radiation pattern be-
tween those two angles, the graph
would show a horizontal yellow bar that
rapidly changed to red and then black
at angles beyond ±45°. This would
mean that, within ±45°, the speaker
had flat frequency response at every
horizontal angle, or precisely even hor-
izontal coverage at each frequency. Of
course, real-world loudspeakers are not
this well-behaved.
Getting back to the Ohm Walsh
200 Mk-2, Fig. 2b makes it even easier Fig. 3b: Below-axis response.

24 THE AUDIO CRITIC

pdf 25
 to see that the lateral response is sym-
metrical about the 45° inside angle
rather than about the speaker's axis (0°).
In the range from 0° to 90° inside, the
response is very uniform over the whole
frequency range (the graph is mostly
yellow in this range). The speaker is
clearly omnidirectional below 1 kHz,
but above that frequency its output is
pretty much restricted to the range from
straight ahead (0°) to 90° inside.
Shown in Figs. 3a and 3b are the
Walsh Mk-2's vertical off-axis frequency
responses, measured at the 45° inside
horizontal angle, from +15° to—15° in
Fig. 4: Phase response at 45° off axis (inside), horizontal.
5° increments. Above-axis response (Fig.
3a) is fairly well behaved except for a dip
at 1 kHz that deepens at higher angles,
and slight irregularities at higher fre-
quencies. Response below axis (Fig. 3b)
is even better behaved, with no sign of the
1-kHz dip; at -15° (down) the response
is exceedingly flat from 500 Hz up.
To check Ohm's claim that the
Walsh 200 Mk-2 preserves waveforms,
I measured the speaker's phase and
group delay responses at the 45° (inside)
horizontal angle. For both measure-
ments, I set the receive delay of my an-
alyzer to coincide with the arrival of
the tweeter's signal, which flattens the
phase response above 5 kHz, primarily
Fig. 5: Group delay at 45° off axis (inside), horizontal. in the tweeter's frequency range.
The measured phase response (Fig.
4) shows that the Ohm is not a linear-
phase or minimum-phase system. (If it
were, its phase response would be flat
and near 0° over the whole frequency
range, assuming its amplitude response
was also reasonably flat.) However, the
Ohm's phase rotates only by about 200°
from 20 Hz to 20 kHz, much less than
in typical two- or three-way speakers.
The group delay (Fig. 5) also indi-
cates minimal time error. Above 400
Hz, the average group delay varies only
by about 200 us (0.2 ms). The irregu-
larities in the group delay are directly
due to bumpiness in the amplitude re-
sponse (the "45°" curve in Fig. 2a). Al-
Fig. 6a: Impedance magnitude. though the phase and group delay re-

ISSUE NO. 29 • SUMMER/FALL 2003 25

pdf 26
 sponses do not indicate that the Walsh
200 Mk-2 will preserve waveforms ex-
actly, it will do significantly better in
this regard than most competing speak-
ers. Interestingly, the Ohm Walsh dri-
ver's output at middle and low fre-
quencies leads the tweeter's output,
rather than lagging behind as it would
in most two- or three-way direct-
radiator speakers. Stated another way,
the output of the inverted-cone
woofer/midrange reaches the listener
about 200 us before the tweeter's out-
put. Spatially, this is an offset of about
2.7 inches and roughly corresponds to
Fig. 6b: Impedance phase.
the distance between the centrally lo-
cated tweeter and the outside edge of
the woofer/midrange.
Figures 6a and 6b show the 200 Mk-
2's input impedance magnitude and
phase from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. The im-
pedance magnitude drops to a low of 3.8
ohms at 40 Hz, near the tuning of the
vented bass box, and reaches a high of
about 26 ohms in the midrange, at 1.3
kHz. The phase is well behaved and cov-
ers a moderate range, from about +50°
at 500 Hz down to a minimum of about
-35° at 3 kHz. The Ohm Walsh should
be an easy load for any power amplifier
or home-theater receiver.
Below 20 Hz (not shown in either
graph) the 200 Mk-2's impedance mag- Fig. 7a: Harmonic distortion versus frequency and power level.
nitude continually rises as frequency is
lowered and the phase approaches a
constant angle of-90°. This indicates
that a capacitor is in series with the in-
put of the system, which I verified with
an ohmmeter. Why? Because a capaci-
tor very nicely limits input below 20
Hz, where the woofer can be easily over-
loaded. An excellent addition, especially
considering that input capacitors on
loudspeaker systems are extremely rare
due to the high cost of the high-value,
high-quality components required.
The last two graphs (Figs. 7a and 7b)
show the harmonic and intermodulation
distortion of the Mk-2. The details of
the test methods are outlined in my re-
view of Definitive Technology's Stu- Fig. 7b: Intermodulation distortion versus frequency and power level.

26 THE AUDIO CRITIC

pdf 27
dioMonitor 450, elsewhere in this issue. it would in a traditional vented-box taching the cylindrical head units to
The distortion of the Mk-2 was measured speaker. I believe this is due to the effect the top of each cabinet with several long
in the nearfield, with both systems on the of an internal damping blanket stretched woodscrews. Ohm eases this process by
floor in the middle of my listening room. across the bottom of the driver cage, just providing a screwdriver with extra long
The systems were lying on their side, at below the woofer-midrange. The air shank to clear the top of the head unit,
right angles to each other, with the bot- moved by the woofer must pass through a nice touch.
tom of one system facing the top of the this acoustic resistance to reach the in- The head unit is connected to the
other, and were driven in parallel. This side of the enclosure. This changes the cabinet by a heavy-duty industrial con-
configuration allowed the acoustic out- system from a pure vented box into a nector wired with heavy-gauge, audio-
put of the head unit of one system to lossy design, which is somewhat closer phile-grade stranded cable. As stated be-
properly combine with the port output to a closed box that doesn't exhibit the fore, connection to the system is via a pair
of the other to form an effective overall rapid rise in distortion below box reso- of double-banana jacks mounted some-
response measurement. nance. The Ohm enclosure's design ef- what inconveniently on the bottom of
The sine-wave harmonic distortion fectively combines the advantages of a the system. I would have preferred hav-
of the Mk-2 between 40 and 500 Hz vented box, with its distortion-reducing ing the connectors mounted on the rear,
(Fig. 7a) was measured in 6 dB steps at capabilities at and near box resonance, but that would have interfered with the
three power levels: 100 watts (0 dB), with the power-handling capability of a clean look of the cabinet when viewed
which corresponds to 20 Vrms into the closed box at low frequencies. from behind. Remember that Ohm
rated 4-ohm minimum load; 25 watts Figure 7b shows the system's two- makes an omnidirectional version of this
(-6 dB), and 6.25 watts (-12 dB). The tone intermodulation distortion (IM), system (for use in surround channels),
second through fifth harmonics were in- evaluated at the same power levels as in which might be visible from all four sides.
cluded in the distortion calculations. At the previous test. Two equal-level tones, Ohm recommends that, for best
100 watts, distortion was low, rising only one at 440 Hz and the other swept from imaging and smoothest bass, the Walsh
to 6% at 100 Hz, dipping to a very low 20 to 100 Hz, were applied to the system. 200 Mk-2 speakers should be spaced
1.3% at 60 Hz, and then rising to a still The intermodulation sidebands around wide apart, relatively close to the rear
moderate 17% at 37 Hz. The measured the higher frequency were evaluated out wall, and at least two feet from the cor-
distortion rose into objectionable ranges to the third order, and the test results ex- ner and side walls. Ohm also suggests
only below 25 Hz. Above that frequency, pressed as a percentage of the energy of a laterally asymmetric room placement
the 200 Mk-2 sounded quite clean, even the two original test tones. At the high- to further smooth the bass response.
at the maximum tested power. est (100-watt) level, the IM generally For proper imaging, the speakers should
Interestingly, all three harmonic dis- stays below 10% over the whole meas- be set up so that the front of each cab-
tortion curves reached minimums at ured range. At lower levels, the IM is cor- inet (the side with the Ohm logo) faces
about 60 Hz. This behavior would nor- respondingly lower, staying below 5% at straight into the room; this ensures that
mally be associated with a speaker's the -6 dB level and below 3% at the -12 the speakers' main radiation axes cross
vented-box resonance, but the Ohm's res- dB power level. The Ohm's IM was not in front of the listener. Following Ohm's
onant frequency is considerably lower. I too objectionable subjectively, even at instructions, I set the speakers up about
determined this by measuring the port's the 100-watt power level and at 20 Hz. nine feet apart, spaced them about one
output in the nearfield and finding that All in all, the Mk-2 did quite well in to two feet from the rear wall, and made
it reached a peak at 45 Hz, quite close to the harmonic and intermodulation tests. sure that each speaker was facing for-
the 40 Hz impedance dip seen in Fig. 6a. It performed well all the way down to 20 ward and in the correct channel; the
I believe the box tuning is closer to this or 25 Hz. right and left systems are marked with
lower value. arrows (normally hidden by the grille)
This was just one sign that the Ohm that should point towards the center of
Walsh 200 Mk-2, despite its ported cab- The Ohm Walsh 200 Mk-2 speak- the room.
inet, does not act like a conventional ers were shipped in five separate boxes: Once set up, the Ohms looked quite
vented-box speaker. The impedance one for each cabinet, one for each driver handsome—tall and slender—even
magnitude curve does not show the assembly, and one containing the two though their appearance is very atypical
usual second peak below the box reso- grilles. This allowed me to unpack and for speakers, because the grille extends
nance. More important, though the assemble the heavy parts of each speaker from the top of each cabinet rather than
Ohm's distortion is rising below reso- separately, which made unpacking and covering about two thirds of its front. The
nance, it does not rise as dramatically as setup a breeze. Assembly consisted of at- roll-around casters not only added to the

ISSUE NO. 29 • SUMMER/FALL 2003 27

pdf 28
 Upgrading Old Ohms
Although some (mostly high-end) electronics can Ohm's president, these other speakers are designed
be upgraded to incorporate recent improvements, for specific room sizes, and the Walsh 5 retains
few speakers can. It's too awkward to ship any but these controls "to allow our biggest system to be
the smallest speakers back to the factory for up- used in small rooms."
grades, and do-it-yourselfers encounter the problem With the drivers hidden within a cloth-lined cage,
of removing and replacing glued-in drivers or delving it's impossible to see when they're facing front. But
into scratchy fiberglass to remove and replace the thumbscrews and screw holes that attach the
crossovers. driver platform to the cabinet are arranged asym-
Ohm's Walsh speakers are an exception. An Ohm metrically, ensuring that it can only be mounted with
Walsh speaker's drivers and crossover are part of a the drivers facing front. At first, the new assembly
one-piece assembly (the sealed cage that frustrated wouldn't drop into position. Then I realized that my
Don Keele) that's screwed-not glued-in place; this cabinets had warped a small fraction of an inch over
makes installation easy. That leaves a few remaining the years; when I spread their walls slightly with a
details, but they're usually simple ones. screwdriver, the driver platforms dropped into place.
My own Walsh 4's being 20-odd years old, I Because so much time elapsed while the mis-
thought it time to bring them up to date; that would matched-plug problem was sorted out, I can't really
be a lot cheaper than replacing my old Ohms with new say how well my upgraded Ohms compare to my
ones. The update made them almost clones of the original pair. But I can say that they perform almost
200 Mk-2's in the accompanying review. identically to the 200 Mk-2's, which use the same
At first, the job looked simple. For my Walshes, drivers and crossovers. The old and new cabinets
the driver can is attached to a squarish board that's have the same enclosure volume, but different con-
secured to the cabinet by four extremely large, easy- struction. My enclosures are of veneered fiberboard,
to-tighten thumbscrews, and a single plug connects with sloping sides and heavy internal bracing. Cur-
the driver can to the cabinet's wiring. To retune the rent enclosures are of veneered birch plywood, with
cabinet for the new drivers, I had to slip the old port straight sides and slightly less bracing. That's
tube out of the cabinet bottom and replace it with enough to add a decibel or two of output between
the new one Ohm provided. (The company says this 40 and 60 Hz, which would probably be unnotice-
retuning yields deeper bass.) Owners of Ohms less able in normal listening.
than about 10 years old have the option of prying The price of an upgrade
out the panel that holds the spring-clip input termi- kit varies with the model.
nals (which accept double-banana plugs) and hot- Ohm charges $995 per pair
gluing a new panel, with multi-way binding posts, in for the Walsh 4 upgrade, as
its place. long as the old drivers,
For my ancient Ohm, replacing the panel was not crossovers, and vent tubes
optional. When I took off the old driver assemblies are returned to the com-
and unpacked the new ones, I discovered that the pany (so factor in some
new assemblies had a two-pin plug and my cabinet shipping costs). Upgrade
had a three-pin connector. That was because Ohm prices for other models can
used to mount the crossover on the input panel, but be found on Ohm's Web
now puts it in the driver cage. It took me and Ohm site. For speaker upgrades,
a while to get that straightened out and for me to Ohm's free home trial pe-
receive and install the plugs I needed; luckily, I had riod is 60 days long, and its
other speakers I could use while I waited. limited warranty on parts
In changing the input panel, I lost one feature of and labor runs three
the old Walsh: switches that raised and lowered years-not as long as for
bass and treble, plus a third switch, "Perspective new Ohms, but still gener-
(Rear/Middle/Front)," that tweaked the midrange ous. Frankly, I'm not much
level slightly to make the music sound a bit closer concerned about the war-
or farther away. I regret their loss a little, but I can't ranty, since my original
say whether I really need them or just miss having Ohms worked without a
something to tweak. Ohm's most expensive speaker, hitch for more than 20
the Walsh 5 Mk-2, retains these controls but Ohm's years.
other models don't. According to John Strohbeen, -Ivan Berger

pdf 29
tall and thin effect but were a boon when the Walsh 200 Mk-2's to the 801's, the very loudly and cleanly on material that
I was moving the Ohms around to opti- sound field would collapse into the speak- profits from high playback level, such
mize their sound. The cabinet's fit and fin- ers, causing a significant loss of realism. as rock 'n' roll, country, and party mu-
ish were very good, with top-rate color- As an experiment, I tried re-aiming sic. But they also did justice to more se-
ing and grain on the wood side panels. the Walshes, turning them 45° outward date music because of their spaciousness
I drove the systems with my Crown (facing their inside corners straight into and realism.
Macro Reference power amplifier and the room) so that their axes of maximum
Krell KRC preamp. I was completely radiation would directly face die listening
surprised by how different the Ohms area rather than crossing in front of it. This The Ohm Walsh 200 Mk-2's have
sounded from my reference speakers, essentially negated the evenness of the some extremely uncommon capabili-
the B&W Matrix 801 Series 3's. The Walshes' side-to-side coverage; but it ties. Their nearly 360° sound radiation
Ohms' imaging, soundstaging, and spa- hardly affected their spaciousness, because pattern below 1 kHz, and the way this
ciousness were distinctly different. the speakers still had significant sound maximizes room reflections, yields a
These differences were not quite as ap- radiation to the sides and rear, which in- strikingly realistic soundfield that ex-
parent when I was sitting in my usual creased room reflections. tends across and between the speakers,
listening position, on the center line The Walsh 200 Mk-2's sometimes and even behind them. This is both an
between the speakers. But oh, what a added an upper-bass chestiness to both advantage and a disadvantage, because
difference when I stood up and walked male and female vocals, although other- it potentially makes the systems more
back and forth in front of the speakers, wise the realism added by the Ohms on dependent on room acoustics. The
or walked closer to or in between them! vocals was very compelling and appealing. speakers' tailored radiation pattern pro-
The Ohms always maintained a more Imaging and spaciousness aside, however, vides a stable center image and sound-
stable center image as I moved across the B&W systems usually sounded more stage for listeners located almost any-
the room. Even when I sat close up and neutral than the Ohms. The Walsh Mk- where in the listening area, with no
directly in front of a system, the oppo- 2's also sounded somewhat distant at need to be equidistant from the loud-
site speaker could be heard clearly; times, although this had more to do with speakers. The Ohms add a large degree
when I tried this with the B&W 801's, their frequency response than with the of spaciousness and airiness to anything
only the nearer speaker could be heard. spaciousness or reverberation that they that is played through them. Record-
On most program material, the added. On the same program material, ings intended to sound dry however,
Ohms created a wide and stable sound- the B&Ws had a more up-front, in-your- may not be so dry when played through
stage, very realistic and spacious, with im- face sound. When reproducing pink these speakers. And the Ohms' robust
ages that extended way behind the rear noise, the Ohms had a distinct sound of bass capability should appeal to even
wall. With the B&Ws playing, I was very their own, not objectionable but less pipe-organ aficionados. The Walsh 200
aware that the sound was coming from the smooth and more tonal than the B&Ws'. Mk-2 speakers can also be played loud
speakers; with the Ohms playing, the The Ohms handily passed the pink-noise and clean.
sound was more diffuse and often seemed stand-up/sit-down test, with barely no- Do I like them? Yes! But before you
detached from the speakers. On material ticeable spectral change. run out and buy a pair you should def-
recorded in a large space with significant The Ohm and B&W speakers had initely listen to them, to decide if their
reverberation (such as choral, orchestral, almost identical sensitivity, so I did not distinctive sound and uncommon ca-
and pipe-organ music), the Ohms' added need to raise or attenuate the signal pabilities suit your expectations and de-
spaciousness and realism were stunning. level to the Ohms when comparing sires. Ohm makes this easy by offering
On other material, such as dryly recorded them to the B&W systems. In the bass, a full money-back 120-day home trial,
female vocals, I preferred the B&Ws. I al- the Ohms competed on a nearly equal so you can try them out in your own lis-
most always preferred the Ohms' sound footing with the B&Ws, even on loud tening setup for up to two months, then
on percussion instruments such as cym- rock music with heavy kick-drum and return them for full credit if you are dis-
bals, drum rim shots, wood blocks, bells, low organ-pedal notes. However, the pleased. For me, the Ohm Walsh 200
etc.; the realism always went up a notch B&Ws' bass was still somewhat tighter, Mk-2's' soundfield-enhancing capabil-
when I switched to the Ohms. I also pre- a bit better controlled, and extended ities outweighed such minor problems
ferred the Ohms on well-recorded cham- slightly lower than the Ohms'. Moving as moderate tonal imbalances and the
ber music, where the systems' added spa- the Ohms closer to the corners elevated addition of spaciousness to material in-
ciousness increased the realism the bass level but did not improve the tended to sound dry.
significantly. Often, when I switched from control. The Mk-2's could be played —Don Keele

ISSUE NO. 29 • SUMMER/FALL 2003 29

pdf 30
 series, but it's hardly a conventional box. 805 exhibited wonderfully. The step
Its cabinet is all curves, with hardly a test (response to a DC input pulse) re-
parallel surface in sight; its only flat sur- vealed very good time-alignment be-
B&W Loudspeakers of America, faces, in fact, are its front baffle and its tween the drivers, although the third-
54 Concord Street, North Reading, MA bottom. Even in a head-on front view, order crossovers do not permit true
01864-2699. Voice: (978) 664-2870. it's saved from conventionality by the coherence.
Fax: (978) 664-4109. E-mail:
curvy transmission-line tweeter enclo- I set the Nautilus 805s up in my
marketing@bwaudio.com. Web:
www.bwspeakers.com. Nautilus 805 mini-
sure atop the cabinet. This visually ar- smaller listening room (about 2000 cu-
monitor, $2000.00 the pair. FS-N805 resting design simultaneously addresses bic feet), placing them four feet out from
stands, $600.00. Tested samples on loan the issues of diffraction, standing waves, the front wall. This arrangement gave
from manufacturer. and rigidity. me decent imaging and flattest overall
The Nautilus 805, a beautifully The tweeter in that top enclosure is response, though it somewhat reduced
crafted and elegant British miniloud- B&W's 1-inch aluminum dome. The bass extension and impact—a common
speaker, is less exotic-looking than some bass and midrange are handled by a trade-off in speaker placement.
other speakers in B&W's Nautilus 800 6.5-inch Kevlar driver, similar to the The 805s reproduction of music
midrange driver in the Nautilus 801, and voice was clean and wonderfully
but with a rolled rubber surround to smooth. The treble reproduction was
give it more excursion and extend the clean and without audible grain. With
bass response. The large port below the a pink-noise test signal, the Nautilus
bass/midrange driver has B&W's char- 805 proved to have excellent horizon-
acteristic dimpled surface, said to re- tal and adequate vertical dispersion. As
duce port turbulence. The deep red with many speakers, response off the
cherry pair we auditioned had top- vertical axis dipped at the crossover fre-
notch fit and finish. quency (about 3 kHz), but seated lis-
The matching FS-N805 stands, teners will be on the vertical axis.
made of extruded aluminum, add an The 805 slightly editorialized the
eye-popping $600 to the Nautilus 805's sound, which I attribute to a slight
price of $2000 per pair, but they and lower midrange excess and a dip in the
the speakers form a beautifully inte- upper midrange that I measured with
grated pairing. The stands, which are both speakers working together in my
available in black or aluminum finish, room; I did not find the speaker to be
mount securely to metal plates on the as transparent in the midrange as it was
speakers' undersides. in the treble, being a bit too polite
(British?) for my taste in comparison to
a pair of Paradigm Reference Stu-
The 805's performed quite well in dio/20's I had on hand. In the treble,
the tests I was able to run (in-room however, the Nautilus 805 definitely
sweeps with 1/6- and 1/12-octave resolution outclassed the Paradigms, which tended
and various smoothing time windows). to have a bit more bite on horns than
There was still adequate bass down to the horns themselves did.
just below 55 Hz, and the speakers were For most of my listening, I used
quite flat in the midbass (where the re- the speakers full-range, driven either
sponse of many mini-monitors is tipped by one amplifier or by two separate
up) but delivered a bit of excess energy amps, one feeding the woofer and the
in the 200 Hz range. In my listening other the tweeter terminals of the
room, I measured a small trough of speaker's crossover (passive biamp
about 4 dB in the range from 800 to mode). In my 2000-cubic-foot room,
1,000 Hz, but on many recordings they could play loud enough to satisfy
that's a boon; it also has been shown me. On occasion, I did hear some
that a dip in this region seems to add glare in the midrange on difficult or-
more sense of depth, something the chestral material, but only at levels a

30 THE AUDIO CRITIC

pdf 31
bit above what I consider to be home- side was extremely flat. With the con-
concert level. ventionally prescribed equilateral tri-
I also tried using the Nautilus 805's angle listening setup, listeners would
with various subwoofers and cross be 30° off axis, where response should
overs. My best results were with a Velo- show some of the elevated treble seen
dyne HGS-10 subwoofer and a Brys- on axis. These are definitely not speak-
ton l0B-sub crossover, the Bryston's ers to toe in so they directly face you.
high- and low-pass Butterworth filters At 45° above axis, the crossover dip
set at 80 Hz with an 18-dB/octave extended from 1.5 to 5 kHz, but from
slope. This combination let me take about 5.5 to about 12 kHz the treble
advantage of the 805's strengths, while was still up by 2 to 4 dB, dipping again
getting low-distortion bass down into to reach a low of about -6 dB at 16
the twenties, and improved the dy- kHz, then starting to rise again.
namics by increasing headroom (gen- In the bass, the measurements
erally 4 dB, according to speaker de- showed response rolling off to -3 dB at
signers I've spoken to). This setup gave 40 Hz, a little better than B&Ws spec-
me flat, deep bass despite my having ified -6 dB at 42 Hz. Bass response was
placed the B&Ws out from the wall for smooth and free of peaks, pretty close
optimum imaging and flattest re- to the classic fourth-order Butterworth
sponse. On the other hand, adding the response, with a tuning frequency of
Velodyne sub brings the setup's price about 37 Hz.
to more than $5000, a price at which The Nautilus 805's impedance does
there are plenty of full-range speakers not fall dangerously low; it reaches a
with comparable performance. So this minimum of 4.7 ohms at 200 Hz, and
combination is more of academic than its magnitude from 500 Hz to 8 kHz is
of practical interest, unless you plan to high enough to qualify it as an 8-ohm
use the Nautilus 805's in a den or as speaker overall. But the impedance
part of a home theater, where there's phase takes some hefty swings, ranging
too little space for big, full-range from -57° around 90 Hz to +40° at
speakers. 700 Hz. Most amps can handle that,
The Audio Critics longstanding but it would make some marginal am-
policy for testing speakers is to combine plifiers uncomfortable.
objective measurements with several lis- Distortion was reasonably, but not
tening evaluations, preferably by at least spectacularly, low. At a 1-meter SPL of
two experienced listeners in at least two 90 dB,. a 100 Hz tone produced a bit
different rooms. So the B&Ws next over 0.7% at the second harmonic and
went to the magazine's laboratory, for about 0.3% at the third harmonic.
a full measurement workup and listen- With the level raised to 100 dB SPL,
ing tests in another, larger room. the speaker's T H D + N between 170
The laboratory's measurements and 500 Hz averaged 1.5%, rising to
were taken on a single speaker, quasi- 6% for frequencies below 100 Hz. gested we move the B&Ws closer to-
anechoically (to factor out room ef- That's pretty normal performance for gether, changing the listening setup
fects). On-axis frequency response was a minimonitor. from an equilateral to an isosceles tri-
pretty flat up to about 2.5 kHz, but Next, we auditioned the Nautilus angle. This improved things consid-
above 3 kHz it was pretty consistently 805's in The Audio Critics large lis- erably, but neither Peter Aczel nor I
elevated: 2 to 3.5 dB above the 1 kHz tening room, which is less well were enthralled, and I commented
output, rising to about +4 dB at 20 damped than my room and whose lis- that this performance was much less
kHz. "Too much," said Peter Aczel. tening position is twice as distant. Ini- satisfying than it had been in my quar-
"They goosed the on-axis response to tially, with the B&Ws 3 feet out from ters. The 805's sounded dynamically
get flat power response into the room." the back wall, classical selections compressed on operatic recordings.
Sure enough, response 45° to the sounded ragged and unfocused. I sug- The midrange sounded a bit ragged,

ISSUE NO. 29 • SUMMER/FALL 2003 31

pdf 32
 and the recording's dimensionality was lacked the transparency of the best 805. It has improved drivers, crossover,
reduced. minimontors we've heard. and bracing, as well as new finishes.
Peter suggested we compare the Certainly, the driver and crossover im-
Nautilus to our previous minimonitor provements may well improve per-
champion, the Joseph Audio RM7si All in all, I would call the Nautilus formance in the areas we found chal-
Signature, which is similar in price and 805 a qualified success. It is beautiful in lenged in the original, and we would
size to the B&W. It was no compari- design and construction, carefully engi- welcome a chance to assess the new ver-
son: the Josephs sounded much more neered, and without significant measur- sion. At $1750 each, it is, alas, signifi-
detailed, transparent, refined, and dy- able vices. It can deliver fine sound with cantly more expensive.
namic than the 805's. To me, it small signals, but others in its class can The Nautilus 805 is recommended,
sounded as though the B&W's deliver such sound at higher volumes. but with qualifications due to its dynamic
bass/midrange driver were being taxed Perhaps in recognition of the Nau- limitations and lack of ultimate trans-
beyond its linear operating region, al- tilus 805's limitations, B&W has an- parency. It may well be your cup of tea;
though even with smaller signals it nounced a new version, the Signature it just wasn't ours.

Bose Corporation, The Mountain, Framing-

ham, MA 0 1 7 0 1 . Voice: (800) 999-2673.
Fax: (508) 820-3465. Web:
www.bose.com. QuietComfort 2, $299.00.
Tested sample on loan from manufacturer.

Music shouldn't have to compete

with noise but it always does. In our
homes, where it's reasonably quiet, the
competition isn't too fierce. But music
is so portable these days that we take it
with us to noisy places such as airliners.
If we want to hear the music, we'd bet-
ter quash the noise. anachronism these days), and has its the inverted signal cancels out most of
Bose's original solution to this battery and circuits built into the the low-frequency noise that leaks in
problem, the QuietComfort head- earcups, not in a separate little box from outside. For higher frequencies,
phones, made a good impression on that weighs the cord down. Those are however, cancellation is not practical,
me from the first flight I took with the main, but not the only, differences because of the shorter wavelengths
them. They fit comfortably, sounded between the models. and, perhaps, higher processing speed
good, and did a terrific job of keeping Bose was the first company I know involved. (In an airliner, headphones
ambient noise from competing with of to address the fact that high- and that reduce only low-frequency en-
the music they were reproducing. low-frequency noise pose separate gine noise merely make it easier to
Bose's new model, the QuietComfort problems, and provide separate solu- hear annoying conversations in other
2, does all that a little better and a lot tions for each. rows.)
more conveniently. For the low frequencies, Bose em- But high frequencies are easier to
Unlike the earlier model (still avail- ploys active cancellation: Using built- block than low frequencies. To block
able, at $249.00), the QuietComfort 2 in microphones to pick up the noise, them, both the old and new Bose's ear-
folds flat to fit more easily in your the phones invert the noise signal's cups have hard shells and nonporous
carry-on, has a single cord instead of polarity and feed it to the transduc- cushions that form a good seal against
an easily tangled "Y" cable (an ers in its earcups. Within the earcups, (continued on page 52)

32 THE AUDIO CRITIC

pdf 33
 By Peter Aczel, Editor
David A. Rich, Ph.D., Technical Editor

High Efficiency Meets Hi-Fi, in

Analog and Digital Embodiments
Issue No. 26, is just one example.) The
two amplifiers under review here appear
to be identical, except for (1) the num-
ber of channels and (2) the beefier
power supply and fatter chassis of the
AudioControl, a division of Electronic Engi- 5-channel model. For that reason, I
neering & Manufacturing, Inc., 22410 70th only tested a couple of channels out of
Avenue West, Mountlake Terrace, WA
the available 7, under the reasonable
9 8 0 4 3 . Voice: (425) 775-8461. Fax: (425)
assumption that my measurements and
778-3166. E-mail: info@audiocontrol.com.
Web: www.audiocontrol.com. Avalon high- conclusions will apply to both models
definition 2-channel home-theatre power (and therefore all 7 channels) equally.
amplifier, $1900.00. Pantages high-defini- The two amplifiers are well built;
tion 5-channel home-theatre power ampli- they even possess a certain degree of
fier, $2800.00. Tested samples on loan
cosmetic polish, such as we are accus-
from manufacturer.
tomed to from AudioControl. But of
AudioControl has always repre- course they are totally lacking in high-
sented no-nonsense engineering and end affectations such as half-inch thick
solid value, untainted by either sculptured front panels and fancy car-
"tweako" cultism or el cheapo mass- rying handles.
marketing—our kind of manufacturer. The amplifier operates in Class H;
(Their reasonably priced 1/3-octave this is a somewhat unusual configu-
real-time spectrum analyzer, reviewed in ration, based on tiered voltage rails

AudioControl Avalon

ISSUE NO. 29 • SUMMER/FALL 2003 33

pdf 34
 load, clipping occurred at 340 watts,
with the 1 kHz and 20 Hz distortion
curves retaining much the same pro­
file at proportionately higher power
levels and the 20 kHz distortion curve
flattening out at -62 dB right up to
300+ watts.
Now - 6 2 dB is only 0.08%, so
you could say "what's the big deal?",
but the fact is that cheaper amplifiers
with conventional power supplies of­
AudioControl Pantages ten have considerably lower dynamic
distortion. The —80 to -85 dB min­
ima for distortion at the lower fre­
that permit low current draw with which points it was in the - 8 1 to quencies are far from bad, but in a
low-level signals and instantaneous -82.5 dB range. At clipping, distor­ classic circuit they would be located at
high current draw with high-level sig­ tion rose to -77.5 dB. With a 20 Hz clipping, not at lower power levels.
nals. This lets the amplifier idle most input, the minimum was at -85 dB Probably more revealing of the
of the time without dissipating large from 30 to 60 watts. The 20 kHz dis­ true nature of the Class H circuitry is
amounts of energy and allows cool tortion, however, was about 10 to 20 our PowerCube test (short-burst
operation with thermal convection dB worse (-73 to - 6 3 dB) at power power into 20 different resistive and
only, not to mention fairly compact levels above 10 watts, indicating rather reactive loads), which no other Amer­
size. (A more sophisticated imple­ severe dynamic distortion. Into a 4Ω ican audio magazine performs. This
mentation of the same concept is Bob
Carver's "tracking downconverter" as
used in his Sunfire amplifiers.) The
output devices are BiMOS power
transistors, claimed to combine the
best characteristics of bipolar and
C M O S technologies. (I have no sup­
porting data.) A nice feature is the
availability of both unbalanced (RCA)
and balanced (XLR) audio inputs. The
various output status lights are con­
solidated in a handsome large win­
dow. All in all, it's a pretty slick design.

The most basic measurement of

any power amplifier is distortion ver­
sus output power at various frequen­
cies. The channels I tested were vir­
tually identical—and not particularly
impressive, distortionwise. Into a load
of 8Ω, clipping occurred just above
200 watts, but this was not the point
PowerCube performance of AudioControl amplifier, showing short-burst output at 1 %
of minimum distortion as is the case distortion for 20 different loads. The center (0°) line shows performance into purely re­
where the distortion is completely sistive loads; the others show performance into increasingly reactive loads, capacitive
loads to the left and reactive loads to the right. The vertical scale shows output voltage.
noise-dominated. With a 1 kHz input,
Output into 8-ohm loads is just as it should be, but power slopes off rapidly at lower im­
the distortion curve bottomed out at pedances, a sign of power-supply limitations. The power dropoff with reactive loads of
16 watts and again at 67 watts, at 4 ohms or less shows that such loads trigger the amplifier's current limiting. See text.

34 THE AUDIO CRITIC

pdf 35
test clearly showed that the Audio- quantified with standard measure­
Control amplifiers are really happy ments; they can only be evaluated
only with 8Ω loads, which drew out­ subjectively. We are therefore not re­
puts of 365/350/343/344/361 watts viewing the updated receiver all over
into -60°/-30 o /0°/30 o /60 o imped­ again, nor do we list again its many
ances at 1% distortion, i.e., slightly features, except to add some general
more into reactive than resistive 8Ω Denon Electronics (USA), Inc., 19 Chapin commentary further below to the pre­
loads—the proper response. With 4Ω Road, Building C, Pine Brook, NJ 07058- viously published review.
loads the picture changed radically, 9777. Voice: (973) 396-0810. Fax: (973) The Denon Link would not
the output being far greater into 0° 396-7448. Web: www.denon.com. DVD-
be necessary if the S/PDIF and opti­
9 0 0 0 DVD-Audio/Video player,
than into the reactive loads. Lowering cal connections were allowed to trans­
$ 3 5 0 0 . 0 0 . AVR-5803 AV surround
the loads to 2Ω greatly exaggerated receiver, $ 4 3 0 0 . 0 0 . Tested samples on mit digitally encoded multichannel
this anomaly and when it came to 1Ω loan from manufacturer. sound, but the industry has prohib­
loads—forget about it, hardly any ited that approach out of fear of a
outputs at all. Give the amplifiers Let us note right up front that the too-easy/too-perfect copying capabil­
credit, however, for not shutting down Denon AVR-5803 receiver is identi­ ity. (It's a complicated and highly con­
with any of the 20 different loads, as cal to the superb AVR-5800 reviewed troversial scene, deserving a separate
some do. in Issue No. 27, except for a limited article.) The Denon Link is a propri­
Frequency response at 1 watt into number of new features, the most im­ etary workaround, based on an en­
8Ω dropped to -0.1 dB at 10 kHz portant of which is the Denon Link cryption process, to obtain a digital
and -0.34 dB at 20 kHz, a somewhat terminal. Using a special cable, the multichannel connection. Let us be
steeper high-frequency rolloff than the Denon DVD player can be digitally grateful, under the circumstances, that
norm. At 20 Hz, the response was connected to the Denon Link termi­ it exists at all.
down to only-0.08 dB. Crosstalk be­ nal on the updated receiver, thereby Quite aside from the Denon Link
tween two adjacent channels was 10 avoiding redundant D/A and A/D feature, the DVD-9000 is a handsome,
to 13 dB better in one channel than conversions in multichannel playback surprisingly massive (41 lbs.), and
the other: -57 and -67 dB at 10 kHz, and allowing multichannel bass man­ highly capable piece of equipment—
-72.5 and -86 dB at 1 kHz, converg­ agement. That is the main reason for and at $3500 it had better be. Indeed,
ing to - 9 3 dB at 40 Hz. Those are all bracketing the two units in the same at that price, I expected it to play
pretty good figures. Signal-to-noise review. Other new features of the SACDs in addition to DVD-Audio/
ratio at clipping was between 95 and AVR-5803 include DTS 96/24 com­ Video discs and standard CDs, but it
97.5 dB in the channels I measured— patibility, Dolby Pro Logic II decod­ doesn't. Too damn bad. What it does,
also good. ing, and Dolby headphone com­ however, it does just about perfectly.
Does all of the above add up to a patibility, none of which can be Whatever test discs I have on hand
recommendation? Maybe a qualified
one. These units aren't exactly cheap,
but they are physically attractive and
compact packages, and into 8Ω loads
their performance is basically flawless.
If you have speakers whose imped­
ance tends to dip low and turn highly
reactive at various frequencies, then
there exist better choices in amplifiers.
Since the majority of speakers have a
nominal impedance of 8Ω, the Au-
dioControl amplifiers can certainly be
recommended to drive them. A more
sweeping endorsement isn't war­
ranted, despite our respect for Audio-
Control's engineering.
—Peter Aczel Denon AVR-5803

ISSUE NO. 29 • SUMMER/FALL 2003 35

pdf 36
 Denon DVD-9000

package, but at least no one can say Rich dismissed in Issue No. 22 as "de-
that the same thing is available for a signed to make undithered sine waves
fraction of the price. (Actually, the look good at hi-fi show demos." There
AVR-5803 is such an exceptional AV may be some vague benefits, but I'll
receiver that, in its case, I am almost be damned if I can figure them out,
resigned to the astronomical retail and Denon's mysterious statements
price tag.) Don't misunderstand me. I are no help. H D C D is a rarely used
am not saying that the DVD-9000 encoding/decoding technology, trans-
isn't "better" than a $200 player. Of parently compatible with conven-
were reproduced through the analog course it is. But the difference is in tional digital recordings, whose main
outputs of the DVD-9000 within a general solidity, smoothness of opera- benefit is increased dynamic range (at
dB or two of theoretical perfection. tion, a few extra features, subtle video least in theory). I haven't seen too
Only a couple of high-end Sony play- detail, etc., etc.—it's not a machine many HDCD-encoded recordings
ers I have tested in the past were its from another planet as the price dif- lately (Reference Recordings is one la-
equal in that respect, exhibiting no ference might indicate. bel that has consistently stuck with
gain-related analog distortion at full A few features of the DVD-9000 it), but it's only right that a $3500
scale (0 dB), among other things. I are worth noting. The remote control player possesses the decoding capa-
won't even specify the exact numbers, is nicely laid out and relatively easy to bility. As for progressive scan, it is un-
however, because they are basically ir- use, with discrete up/down/left/right doubtedly an important advancement
relevant. Nobody in his right mind buttons instead of the annoying joy- in video resolution, but it requires a
would spend $3500 on the Denon be- stick control of so many other units. compatible TV monitor.
cause of its great performance through The "newly developed AL24 Process- When it comes to the AVR-5803
the analog outputs. Not in the era of ing Plus" is hyped by Denon as "an receiver, it was my opinion (see Is-
perfectly good $200 DVD players. Its advanced version of conventional sue No. 27) that its almost identical
only raison d'être is the straight- AL24 Processing." It used to be called predecessor, the AVR-5800, repre-
through digital playback of multi- Alpha System Processing and is a neb- sented the state of the art in AV
channel recordings in conjunction ulous, very sketchily explained signal surround receivers, so the "new im-
with the AVR-5803. That's a $7800 compensation technique that David proved" version automatically ad-

36 THE AUDIO CRITIC

pdf 37
vances to that rank. Among its new between the two, saving the expense
features the most important and im- of added converters.
pressive by far (other than the highly Because the multichannel analog
specialized Denon Link) is the inputs on A/V receivers and controllers
Dolby Pro Logic II decoding capa- commonly bypass all processing stages
Sony Electronics, Inc., One Sony Drive,
bility. For the first time, there can be Park Ridge, NJ 07656. Voice: (201) 930-
except the volume controls, the bass-
no argument about playing even 1000. Fax: (201) 358-4060. Web: management and speaker-distance-
conventional stereo recordings, not www.sony.com. Model AVD-S50ES multi- compensation functions built into such
just 5.1-encoded program material, channel player/receiver, $500.00. Tested systems aren't available for SACD play-
sample on loan from manufacturer.
in the 5.1 mode. It's a considerable back. Including these systems on an
improvement over the earlier Dolby SACD player would further raise its
Pro Logic. The sound field is more There are plenty of good reasons cost. In theory, a player-receiver com-
convincing, beginning to approach to combine a player for CDs, DVDs, bination like this Sony permits imple-
discrete 5.1-channel reproduction in and Super Audio CDs (SACDs) with mentation of such features. In the
quality, even with just plain stereo an audio/video (A/V) receiver, as AVD-S50ES, however, the SACD sig-
CDs. As far as video performance is Sony has done in the AVD-S50ES. nal enters the digital power amplifier
concerned, I noticed no significant For starters, there are the usual ad- after the digital signal-processing
differences from the AVR-5800. vantages of combining components: (DSP) circuits that do this compensa-
There remains the Denon Link savings in cost and shelf space, plus tion; thus this product does not ap-
to be subjectively evaluated, and simpler operation (e.g., the receiver pear to have this capability. Unfortu-
that's a problem. Today's best D/A automatically knows when a disc is nately, my review showed that this was
and A/D converters are so perfect— playing). And with a multichannel but one of the capabilities the AVD-
and Denon uses only the best in their setup capable of playing SACDs, S50ES lacked, despite its advanced
high-end equipment—that leaving these advantages are even more pro- technology in other areas.
them out of the loop appears to make nounced; for example, the Sony's di-
little or no audible difference. My ex- rect internal digital connection from
posure to the DVD-9000-cum-AVR- player to receiver eliminates the need To squeeze a multiformat digital
5803 combination has been relatively for as many as eleven cables (for 5.1 disc player and a receiver into a box
brief; I would really need more time analog channels, digital audio from that is smaller than a conventional A/V
and a greater variety of multichannel CDs and conventional DVDs, and receiver alone, you must do something
program material to fine-tune my au- both S-Video and component video). radical to improve the efficiency of the
ral perception of the difference be- Furthermore, while SACD players power amps. Sony has chosen to use its
tween the two modes—if any. That usually have digital outputs for CD S-Master digital power-amp design,
doesn't alter the fact that bypassing and DVD playback, they have only which is based on its one-bit, delta-
the D/A-to-A/D conversion process is analog outputs for SACD, to prevent sigma modulation technology. In the S-
absolutely the right thing. It makes unauthorized digital copying. So a Master design, all signal processing
sense. It's the way things should have multichannel SACD player will need within the unit takes place in the digi-
been done since the beginning. That six digital-to-analog (D/A) convert- tal domain—but in pulse-code modu-
bass management is now possible ers, raising the player's cost. Putting lation (PCM), not one-bit, form. At
with DVD-Audio signals, which it an SACD player and receiver in one the power amp stage, a DSP chip con-
wasn't through the six external ana- box provides a secure digital interface verts the PCM digital signal to a one-
log connections, is alone a consider-
able advantage. Unfortunately, the
Denon Link does not work with
copy-protected discs. Those discs
don't know the difference between a
proprietary and a generic digital con-
nection. Don't blame Denon, how-
ever, for the idiocy of the recording
industry.
—Peter Aczel

ISSUE NO. 29 • SUMMER/FALL 2003 37

pdf 38
 bit digital signal (but with a different sive filter components capable of han-
sampling rate and noise shaper than dling high voltages and currents. Fur-
SACD). Next, an intermediate IC scales thermore, the rise and fall times of the
the one-bit signal's voltage up from 3 digital signals at the speaker terminals,
volts to a signal large enough to drive and the time uncertainty as to when
high-speed power MOSFETs. The the switching occurs (capture jitter),
power MOSFETs switch between the create opportunities for noise and dis-
two supply rails, thus forming a high- tortion to arise.
voltage one-bit signal. The radio-fre- The S-Master design (see sidebar,
quency energy of the one-bit signal "Circuitry of the Sony AVD-
present at the power MOSFETs' output S50ES")is an all-digital implementa-
is removed by passive filter circuits, and tion of a switching amplifier. This is
the filtered signal is sent directly to the the Holy Grail of switching-amplifier
speaker terminals. I predict that this is design, with analog signals present
how almost all mass-market A/V units only at the speaker terminals. While
will work in the future. However, as pure digital solutions are the most el-
we'll explore later, audiophiles won't egant implementations, it is generally
find this approach optimal now, and agreed that switching amplifiers of ul-
possibly not ever. timate quality will require an analog
In discussing the design of its digi- feedback loop around the digital sec-
tal power amp, Sony's press release states tion, to reduce the distortion intro-
that "this one-bit signal can, in effect, duced by the nonideal waveforms the
be turned into an analog signal simply MOSFETs produce. (The issues are
by filtering out the digital sampling fre- the timing of the switch's turning on
quency, so that the signal appearing at and off and the shape of the waveform
the speaker terminal is essentially the as it rises and falls).
digital signal itself." However, as Sony
itself admits, it's not that simple. For
one thing, SACD signals contain much I'm an audiophile, not a videophile,
out-of-band noise, due to the aggres- so to me the AVD-S50ES is not a DVD
sive, fifth-order, noise-shaping used in player that can also handle SACDs, but
the SACD system. This is no problem rather a device for playing music in sur-
with standalone SACD players, whose round (the best way to hear it) that also
low-voltage output signals are normally happens to play DVD movies. The Sony
carried via shielded cables. But such can handle several forms of surround:
signals won't do as output to the speaker discrete, uncompressed multichannel
terminals, where signal amplitudes are sound from SACDs; discrete surround,
higher and the unshielded cables used with some data reduction, from Dolby have enough bass to be classified as
could act as antennas, broadcasting the Digital or DTS soundtracks on DVDs; "large" in surround setups. All the
noise. Since switching voltages between decoded matrix surround from video- speakers were equidistant from my ears
two levels in the Sony design generate tapes and other two-channel sources car- and mounted in the same vertical plane.
out-of-band signal components, the rying Dolby Surround soundtracks; and Monopole speakers like mine should
noise must be filtered out. simulated surround generated from also be several feet from any wall (and
In the AVD-S50ES, this filtering stereo CDs and other sources. were), though this is less critical for sur-
happens in the amplifier output stage, My listening setup for this review round speakers.
where voltages are comparatively high was optimized for audio; I feel that a Like other surround components,
and currents fairly large (at the Sony's mixed-use audio/video system entails the AVD-S50ES has adjustable delays
rated power—100 watts per channel too many compromises. The front left, to compensate for unequal speaker dis-
into 6 ohms—output amplitude is center, and right speakers were matched tances (except when playing SACDs;
about 25 volts rms, with about 4 rms AR 302's. The rear channels were Mon- these adjustments are bypassed in that
amperes of current); this calls for pas- itor Audio Studio 6 speakers, which mode). However, moving the center

38 THE AUDIO CRITIC

pdf 39
speaker relative to the left and right should be placed farther apart, for a and brass images are more towards the
ones reduced the realism of the sonic wider listening angle. The diagrams in back of the sound stage, where they are
picture, as did moving the left and right the Sony manual and the Telarc CD supposed to be. Strings sound fuller
front speakers closer to the wall behind booklets basically describe this setup, and less bright, too, aided by both the
them, even when the distance com- which is optimized for music listening center and ambience (surround) chan-
pensation was adjusted for this. (Dis- and differs from the optimal layout for nels. And all instruments in a concert-
tance compensation was more effective movies. Using Sony's and Telarc's rec- type recording gain definition and de-
when moving the rear channels closer ommended layout was no problem for tail, because ambience information is
in than it was for movement of the cen- me—I don't do movies. For almost moved to the rear, making the front
ter channel.) Moving the center speaker everybody else, movie placement wins. channels drier.
farther from the listener than the left The AVD-S50ES was not only the The problem with the original Pro
and right ones creates a cavity effect, first SACD player I've used, but also the Logic is its gain-steering circuit, which
with some of the center speaker's sound first component I've had that incorpo- was designed to keep center informa-
scattering from the sides and back of the rated Dolby Pro Logic II (PL II) sur- tion in the center at all costs. This is
other front-speaker cabinets. And when round decoding. The original Pro Logic good for movie voice tracks, but not so
the center speaker is moved closer to the delivers an okay sort of surround from good for vocal music, and one can
listener, it blocks or scatters sound from stereo recordings, even though it was not sometimes hear the attack and decay as
the left and right front speakers. (More designed for that. PL II was designed the steering logic operates. Dolby Pro
problems arise when the speakers are with that use in mind, so naturally it Logic II has more advanced logic, which
used for home theater—see sidebar, does a better job of converting stereo to operates less noticeably and more nat-
"The Center-Channel Conflict.") De- surround than the older system; it even urally. Pro Logic II also enhances am-
lay adjustments compensate only for has separate Movie and Music modes. bience by having stereo surround chan-
arrival-time differences, not for acousti- But, to my surprise, the AVD-S50ES's PL nels.
cal effects that occur when speakers are II decoder did a better job of converting In A/B comparisons, I heard signifi-
placed too close to a back wall or are not stereo music to surround in Movie mode cant shifts in tonal balance when switch-
in the same vertical plane. than in Music mode. ing from Pro Logic to Pro Logic II Movie;
The placement of the surround- On systems having left, center, and with large-scale orchestral music, I pre-
channel speakers also proved impor- right front speakers, PL II Movie can ferred the PL II Movie mode to plain
tant. Improper placement, with the transform a good orchestral stereo Pro Logic in almost all cases, but on
rears not the same distance from the recording remarkably. (The surround chamber music, Movie mode reduced
listener as the main speakers, caused speakers, in my opinion, make less of a definition and made instruments sound
some instruments to wander into the difference.) With three speakers across larger than life. The alternate PL II mode,
rear channels. Although the rears the front, the center is defined, wood- Music, sounded better than the Movie
should be about the same distance from winds gain definition, and the brass mode on some chamber music.
the listener as the front speakers, they gains body; moreover, the woodwind Pro Logic II Music should have been

The Center-Channel Conflict

In a home theater setup, there is usually a conflict TV, don't meet these requirements; minimonitors, for
between the center channel and the TV, arising from example, frequently reach 1 0 % distortion at 80 Hz
audio requirements. For optimal multichannel repro- with an output of 95 dB SPL. Even when the three
duction of music, the center speaker must match the front speakers are identical, a center speaker placed
frequency response of the left and right front speak- right in front of a TV, or above it, is operating in a
ers all the way down to the subwoofer cutoff. Also, different acoustical environment than the other two;
the center speaker's distortion must be at least as low this also alters its frequency response. These prob-
as that of the left and right speakers (preferably lower) lems can be overcome: in The Audio Critic's lab, for
because it often must work harder than they do. example, the speaker setup is optimized for music
Center speakers small enough to be placed in and a front-projection screen is placed high on the
front of the TV without blocking it, or on top of the wall, above the top of the center-channel speaker.

ISSUE NO. 29 • SUMMER/FALL 2003 39

pdf 40
 Circuitry of the
The details of the Sony's design and operation were the RFI filter for the S-Master output stage. This filter
not made available to us, nor was a service manual. drives the speaker terminals. The S-Master output stage
Without a manual, I was left to literally poking around the is balanced, with voltages on the positive and negative
unit. speaker terminals moving in opposite directions rather
Opening the AVD-S50ES reveals, Toto, that we aren't than one moving while the other serves as ground. It
in Kansas anymore. In Sony's A/V digital Oz, the re- thus follows that the RFI filters must be used in pairs for
ceiver's power supply is dominated by heat sinks for the each output channel. The components in the RFI filter are
power-hungry digital electronics, which run on standard, much smaller than one would expect in a 100-watt/chan-
class A voltage regulators. The high-efficiency audio nel amplifier, leading me to wonder about saturation of
power amplifiers are powered by a high-efficiency switch- the inductors at high currents, which would be consis-
ing power supply, whose biggest transformer is less than tent with our THD measurements.
2 inches on a side. Absent are massive transformers, fil- So the key to how the Sony does the audio D/A con-
ter caps, and output-transistor heat sinks-all of which version and power amplification is in the LSI (large-scale
would be highly noticeable in conventional 100- integration) chips and the stuff under the S-Master plate.
watt/channel receivers. Questions to Sony yielded no answers, but a nifty Web
Most mass-market consumer electronics use rela- site on class D amplifiers (www.classd.com) did. This site
tively less expensive, single-sided boards. The AVD- offers a wealth of information on the many class D am-
S50ES uses double-sided boards because of the com- plifier ICs for audio applications. While some of the opin-
plex network of digital integrated circuits (ICs) they ions on the site are questionable, and one must thus be
interconnect and because of Sony's desire to keep the careful before taking all the information as accurate, the
unit compact. (Even the power-supply board is double- overall site is extremely useful for anybody who is inter-
sided.) The boards are stacked on top of each other in ested in the technology. (The site also presents sonic
some places, with ribbon cable running between them. evaluations of the circuits, although these are not of any
Anything analog (such as S-video and audio switching) use because they are not based on double-blind listen-
happens on the rear of the unit (or so it seems-the lo- ing.)
cations of the audio A/D and video D/A converters were From the class D site, and the Mitsubishi IC site it links
not clear.) The whole signal-processing engine and the to, we learn that the power-amp section of the AVD-
microcontrollers that coordinate all the functions of the S50ES uses two types of LSI chips made for Sony's S-
receiver are on a single PC board of just 4½ by 7½ Master system by Mitsubishi. The first is an all-digital
inches. One DSP chip is covered with a very large heat chip (one required for each two channels) that eventu-
sink, a sign that it's crunching data at a high rate and dis- ally converts the PCM or SACD digital data into the S-
sipating a lot of heat. Master one-bit stream. The second set of chips (two per
A problem with class D amplifiers is that their power- channel), are predrivers that convert the small S-Master
supply rail voltages must stay absolutely constant, digital signals into digital signals with much higher volt-
whereas the speaker load requires the amplifier to source ages and current capability to drive the digital power
or sink large amount of current. Unlike a class AB am- MOSFETs. The predriver is also involved in protecting the
plifier, a class D amplifier has no power-supply rejection; MOSFETs, including formatting the signals to these
if the supply-rail voltages are not absolutely constant, power devices so that the two FETs are never on at the
distortion results. The small size of this unit's switching same time.
power supply makes me wonder if the power rails are kept The MOSFETs themselves are critical to the per-
constant enough. The PowerCube measurements given formance of the switching power amplifier. To prevent sig-
in the main text of this review point to potential problems nal distortion, they must switch at very high speed and
here. achieve very fast rise and fall times. They are especially
The power amp PC board, at the rear of the receiver, critical in a design like this, which has no feedback, thus
holds three 80-pin surface-mount chips, each connected laying bare the distortion produced by the MOSFETs or
to two additional small chips, which in turn connect to the by the RFI filters for all to see and maybe hear.
power MOSFET devices. These devices are hidden be- The data sheet for the Mitsubishi digital audio proces-
neath a metal plate, 2½ by 1½ inches, marked "S-Mas- sor chip hands us a big disappointment: the SACD bit-
ter" (this is the only heat sink in the signal circuitry). The stream is converted into PCM and then re-modulated at
plate is glued directly to the MOSFETs, making it im- a slower data rate (768 kHz vs. 2.28 MHz) by a delta-
possible to find out what MOSFETs are used. The out- sigma modulator in the processor chip. The chip also ac-
put from these secret MOSFETs goes off to a rather cepts PCM data at a variety of sampling rates. To re-
complex network of inductors and capacitors that forms sample all the different input data rates (from CD, MD

40 THE AUDIO CRITIC

pdf 41
Sony AVD-S50ES
and DVD) to one sampling rate, the Mitsubishi chip uses high levels of high-frequency energy, which carry through
an asynchronous sample-rate converter. With this circuit to the high-level analog signal and could therefore radi-
within the Mitsubishi chip, it is possible to use a clock that ate from the unshielded speaker cables to other com-
is independent of the clock associated with the incom- ponents in an audio system. To prevent this, the S-Mas-
ing data stream. The Mitsubishi chip generates a low-jit- ter must use a different noise-shaping algorithm than
ter clock, using a crystal oscillator on the power-amp PC DSD, to shift some of this noise energy back into the au-
board; an external system clock from the DSP board dio band.
would have an unacceptable amount of jitter for a digital It can thus be seen that the S-Master data stream and
power amp using an oversampled class D noise shaper. SACD's DSD data stream have very different charac-
And in an all-digital switching amplifier that uses no feed- teristics, with the S-Master stream being unable to pro-
back, jitter levels on the data output of the digital proces- duce the DSD stream's low distortion and high signal-
sor chip must be very low. to-noise ratio. This situation is not improved by having the
But if, as here, a new clock is generated on the power- volume-control stage precede the S-Master modulator,
amp board, we no longer have a synchronous system with where it discards some of the signal data when the con-
one clock locking all the digital circuits together. To op- trol is turned down.
erate a PCM-based system on multiple clocks, an asyn- One is left to wonder how Sony overcame the nor-
chronous sample-rate converter is mandatory; such a mal problems associated with high sampling rates in
converter is part of the Mitsubishi S-Master digital chip. switching power amps (768 kHz is about twice the nor-
The Mitsubishi chip handles volume-control attenua- mal rate for a switching amplifier of this type). One of
tion in the digital domain, before the delta-sigma modu- these problems is an increase in switching losses: the
lator. This requires the modulator and switching power class D output stage is only efficient when there is no
amplifier to have extraordinary dynamic range. In a tradi- voltage across the MOSFETs' drain and source terminals.
tional A/V receiver, small volume changes (3 dB or less) But there is a voltage while the MOSFETs are switching
are accomplished digitally but larger steps are handled between positive and negative rails. Doubling the clock
in the analog domain. In such receivers, the analog vol- rate of a class D amplifier doubles the number of edge
ume-control function occurs between the D/A section and transitions, and switching losses increase.
the analog power amp, ensuring that any noise generated Another problem with faster switching is dead time
in the D/A conversion process will be reduced as the vol- (the time when both the pull-up and pull-down transis-
ume is reduced; the D/A converter can thus get by with tors are off). A certain amount of dead time is essential,
a smaller dynamic range than would be needed in an all- lest the pull-up and pull-down transistors turn on to-
digital implementation. gether, short-circuiting one transistor to the other (in en-
The data sheet gives very limited information on the gineering land, we call this crowbar current). This dead
Mitsubishi digital amplifier chip's delta-sigma modulator. time stays constant as the switching frequency in-
The modulation frequency is very high for a class D power creases, causing it to be a larger percentage of each
amplifier (768 kHz-one fourth of SACD's top sampling switching cycle. Needless to say, you do not get effi-
frequency), requiring extraordinarily fast power MOS- ciency when the circuit crowbars; but any dead time in
FETs. With the identity of these MOSFETs concealed by the output stage results in distortion, since the output
the S-Master plate, there is no way to ascertain their per- just floats during that time rather than being pulled to one
formance characteristics. One assumes the higher sam- of the desired states.
pling rate was chosen in order to produce a class D am- Finally the higher speed results in less accurate
plifier that could accurately reproduce frequencies in the matching between the rise and fall time of the pulses. This,
range from 20 to 40 kHz, which can be produced by too, results in distortion.
SACDs. But as SACD's data rate is 4 times higher than Summing up the technical discussion, we find the
the S-Master's, the amplifier's signal-to-noise ratio is technology Sony has chosen to be at the bleeding edge.
lower than that achieved by SACD's Direct Stream Dig- I would have thought it impossible to create a consumer
ital (DSD) data stream. In addition, the noise shaper in product with a 100-watt/channel all-digital class D am-
the S-Master system must be designed to ensure that the plifier, switching at close to 800 kHz, with full digital vol-
passive RFI filters at the amplifier outputs can reduce the ume control, and a microscopic switching power supply
out-of-band energy in the S-Master data stream to below to provide 500 watts of power to the five speakers. But
FCC limits. Sony, with the LSI chips Mitsubishi made for it, has turned
Noise shaping in the DSD data stream shifts noise the apparently impossible into a commercial reality.
energy outside the audio band in order to reduce noise
within the band. This data stream therefore has very -David Rich

ISSUE NO. 29 • SUMMER/FALL 2003 41

pdf 42
 better for all music, but on the AVD- Sony: Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante lots of woodwind content but also with
S50ES it usually was not: too much in- in E-flat Major, K. 364, and Concerto lower levels of strings and brass to bet-
formation moved from the front to the in D Major for Violin and Piano, ter center them in the soundstage. The
surround channels; the front soundstage K.Anh.56, with Midori on violin, soundstage for the violin and viola so-
was too wide; and individual instru- Nobuko Imai on viola, and Christoph los, however, was completely messed up,
ments were placed far less accurately in Eschenbach on piano and conducting with the center channel carrying mainly
the soundstage than was true in the the NDR-Sinfonieorchester. These are low-level echoes of the solos while the
Movie mode. These factors are con- all dual-layer discs, with SACD data on violin was placed hard right, the viola
trolled, respectively, by three parame- one layer and CD-compatible stereo hard left. In real life they would be much
ters: Panorama, Center Width, and Di- PCM data on the other. However, the more centered. I tried the old Marriner
mension; they are found in PL II Music, AVD-S50ES will not play the CD layer stereo recording of this piece (same vi-
but not Movie, mode. On many sur- of such discs; to hear each disc's stereo ola player, in a better performance) in
round processors, these parameters can mix, I had to make a CD-R copy of its Dolby Pro Logic II Movie mode. The
be set by the user, but I could find no way stereo PCM layer (which plays fine on soloists were much more realistically
to do this on the AVD-S50ES. While I regular CD players), then play that copy placed, but the orchestra sounded less
cannot be positive without some way of on the AVD-S50ES. clean.
changing these settings, it appears to me To my surprise, the SACD surround
that Sony switched on Panorama (which tracks on the three Telarc discs sounded
extends the front image out to the sur- strange compared to the same record- To my great surprise, the Sony
round channels for what Sony calls "an ings' stereo mixes played in Pro Logic II AVD-S50ES has only S-video and no
exciting 'wraparound' effect"), set Cen- Movie mode. The issue appears to be composite-video signal inputs, so you
ter Width too low, and set Dimension Telarc's unusual use (or, rather, almost cannot hook up the many VCRs or ca-
(which moves the surround field for- nonuse) of the center channel. Almost ble boxes that have only composite out-
ward and back within the room) too nothing comes out of the center—some puts. On the other hand, the compo-
high. Conceivably, these settings are cor- woodwinds, but limited strings and no nent-video outputs worked okay; I even
rect for some speaker setup other than brass. The result is a soundstage that got my three-year-old, first-generation,
mine, but it should be possible to adjust confines stage-center instruments to the Panasonic progressive-scan TV to lock
them for any reasonable sound system. center channel and puts too much to the AVD-50ES in that mode. Since
I feel certain that, were I able to adjust sound at the left and right sides of the I am not a videophile, I loaned the Sony
these parameters, Pro Logic II Music stage. The Telarc Rachmaninoff record- to a friend who is. Three months later,
would become the winner it should be. ing is a crazy mix: the piano is spread he reports no problems when using the
Meanwhile, the Dolby Pro Logic II from full left to full right, and only the unit in home-theater mode. (In fact,
Movie mode is a music lover's dream, piano—not the orchestra—appears in he found the advantages of the single-
dramatically enhancing the sound of the center. The orchestra soundstage is box system so compelling in compari-
well-recorded discs. It is so good on pasted into the piano soundstage, with son to his big, complex A/V receiver
most classical-music CDs—as good as no relation between the two. With no and separate DVD player that he de-
true SACD discrete surround discs in center info, the orchestra does not sound cided to purchase our test sample.)
many cases, and sometimes better!— as good as it does when the stereo ver- The Sony's front-panel controls are
that I'd never want to go back to stereo sion is played with Pro Logic II Movie very rudimentary—a pain, because you
for orchestral music decoding. (Furthermore, the piano are therefore forced to work with the re-
I had four surround SACDs. Three sounded as it would if you were very mote (if you have not misplaced it) to
were from Telarc: Rachmaninoff's Pi- close to the instrument and facing the adjust and use the receiver—and the re-
ano Concerto No. 3 with Chinese pi- keyboard, as if playing it—though it mote has only identical, microscopic
anist Lang Lang and the St. Petersburg sounded very good once I accepted this buttons. On the good side, the front-
Philharmonic under Yuri Temirkanov, perspective.) panel display of the AVD-S50ES is in-
Sibelius's Symphony No. 2 with Paavo The Sony disc (Mozart Double formative enough that you do not need
Järvi leading the Cincinnati Symphony Concerto) sounded much better. The to watch an on-screen display to adjust
Orchestra, and Vaughan Williams's A orchestra's sound was truly excellent, and control the unit. Even with the re-
Sea Symphony with Robert Spano con- with great clarity yet with body and mote, adjustment modes are minimal:
ducting the Atlanta Symphony Or- warmth. On orchestral passages, the no tone controls, no adjustable sub-
chestra and Chorus. One was from center channel was used correctly, with woofer crossover frequencies. And the

42 THE AUDIO CRITIC

pdf 43
AVD-S50ES has one fewer surround- shorted together. And with neither ter­ put of the AVD-S50ES, I saw IM. spurs
speaker placement mode than my $300 minal grounded, the chance of short­ in the output spectrum, possibly stem­
Sony A/V receiver. (That receiver has ing speaker terminals to ground is dou­ ming from the switching amp. When a
settings for side, mid, and rear surround- bled. But these are trade-offs: the use full-scale (0 dB) 1 kHz signal was ap­
speaker placement, corresponding to of balanced, floating outputs can re­ plied, the output included an unusual
angles of ±90°, ±60° and ±30° from duce distortion. series of odd harmonics; the third har­
the center speaker's axis; the AVD has As for the Sony's tuner section, the monic was down only 54 dB, while
only the side and rear settings.) Select­ less said the better. It is a pitifully small higher odd harmonics (seventh, ninth,
ing modes and making settings on the module, just as in so many other A/V etc.) were 80 dB down—all the way
AVD takes a lot more button-pressing receivers, and was unable to bring in out to the 13th harmonic, with the
than on my receiver, because it forces anything but strong local signals. 19th harmonic still present at —90 dB
you to go through menus to get into the (Fig. 1). Nothing like this would ever
speaker-placement, speaker-level, and be seen in an analog amplifier! The most
surround-algorithm selection modes; The performance of the Sony's am­ likely cause is saturation of the teeny-
my receiver has dedicated buttons for plifiers is significantly below the level of weeny inductors in the RFI filter (see
these choices. The AVD also has no even low-cost analog A/V receivers. The the sidebar on circuitry).
T H X modes (no Sony units do) and, be­ measured S/N was not good: on gain- The AVD-S50ES soft clips. Distor­
cause it has no back-speaker outputs, linearity tests, I could not resolve below tion comes out of the noise floor at 30
does not support Dolby EX or Neo: 6 -80 dB. White noise could be heard at watts (-60 dB), and 1 % T H D (-40 dB)
(the DTS equivalent). the speakers, and at high-volume set­ is reached at 120 watts. At 6 kHz the
There were also some performance is­ tings it was clearly audible from my T H D is at -48 dB (0.4%) for 100 watts
sues. The AVD-S50ES takes a long time center listening chair. The noise went output into 8Ω. The high level of high-
to spin up a disc, and the transition time down at lower volume settings, indi­ order harmonics, coupled with the need
from CD to SACD mode can take a full cating that its source comes before the to make our measurements through a 22
minute. On some classical CDs, the Sony digital volume control. This is surpris­ kHz bandpass filter to reject the noise
appeared to clip off the first one or two ing, since we'd expect most of the noise that pours out of this unit, limits our
tenths of a second of the first track. Loud to originate after the volume control, at ability to determine what the T H D is for
pops occurred when I used the front- the digital noise shaper. frequencies above 6 kHz.
panel switch to select inputs, but not The digital amp did other strange The PowerCube dynamic power
when I used the remote for this. (With things, perhaps as a result of the po­ test (Fig. 2) did not go well, perhaps be­
one SACD I got almost continuous tential problems with fully digital class cause of the digital switching power
dropouts, and had to stop the player and D amplifiers, discussed in the sidebar supply's limitations discussed in the
reseat the disc to get it to work—that's on the system's technology. With a —60 technology sidebar. The PowerCube
probably the disc's fault, but I've had no dB, 1 kHz test signal applied to the in­ shows that the Sony puts out about 32
chance to try it on another player.)
Dolby Pro Logic and Pro Logic II
are disabled when a disc with discrete
5.1-channel sound is played. Unfortu­
nately this also happens when a stereo
SACD is played. And the player stays
in stereo mode when you switch back
to listening to CDs, even if you had
been listening to them with Pro Logic
previously; it should remember your
settings rather than making you turn
Dolby Logic back on again.
The output terminals are balanced
and floating, with no fixed ground, so
you must be careful with connections;
sparking can occur when the negative
terminals of two speaker outputs are Fig. 1: Harmonics of a 1 kHz signal at 95 watts into an 8-ohm load.

ISSUE NO. 29 • SUMMER/FALL 2003 43

pdf 44
 Sony has recently dropped the price of
the AVD-S50ES from $800 to $500, at
which it is an excellent value for the
mass market. Its measured performance
and feature list may not match those of
two-box solutions at similar price
points, but its audible performance
should be about the same, and
the convenience of having an
SACD/DVD/CD/AV receiver that is
fully interconnected in both the oper­
ational and electrical domains in a sin­
gle small box is an overwhelmingly clear
advantage. We caution those who seek
surround-sound conversion of stereo
sources as the primary reason for pur­
chasing a new A/V system not to con­
Fig. 2: PowerCube test of an AVD-S50ES amplifier channel. (See also PowerCube on sider the unit, given its inability to al­
page 34.) low adjustment of Dolby Pro Logic II
Music. In addition, those who want to
V into all 8Ω loads. Capacitive 4Ω turned into a different one-bit stream add in a DVD-A player in the future
loads trigger the protection circuit to kills the only real advantage that a seri­ will not be able to do so with this unit.
some extent; with loads sufficiently ca­ ous audiophile would hope to find in The AVD-S50ES is the first receiver
pacitive for a 60° phase angle, voltage this unit. The lack of such important with an all-digital signal path and a
dropped to 23 V. At 2Ω the voltage operating features as composite-video built-in CD/SACD/DVD player. This
falls to 10 V, relatively independent of inputs and Dolby Pro Logic II Music is the future, and the AVD-S50ES rep­
the phase angle. Into 1Ω, the Sony puts adjustments is an additional reason not resents the first commercial attempt to
out 4 V. to recommend the AVD-S50ES to the make the future happen. Unfortunately,
The measured performance prob­ advanced audiophile. though all its digital high technology
lems I found in this unit can be corre­ That said, the Sony would make makes the unit small, cuddly, and love-
lated directly with the chip design. The most people very happy, because it is able, it cannot perform as well as the old
fact that the SACD signals are con­ compact and eliminates the need for analog designs.
verted back into PCM before being separate SACD and DVD player boxes. — D a v i d Rich

As a subscriber to The Audio Critic magazine Sound Off, but who ap­
and Invention & Technology, I can't help pointed you to be the guardian and mon­
(continued from page 4)
but mention that both magazines are itor of my "editorial integrity"? What
tube-versus-transistor sound. Son of a published quarterly...!? Thanks for lis­ did it matter to you? Did you actually
gun a second time! My tip-of-the-ob- tening, Peter. spend time and energy tracking down
jective-hat to you and David and In­ Regards, Greg Keilty's telephone number? Don't
vention & Technology magazine. Joseph M. Cierniak you have anything more important to
I would encourage your readers to Glen Burnie, MD do? And would you have broken into a
obtain a copy of this particular issue of triumphal dance and written a self-
Invention & Technology and read the At the risk of sounding churlish in re­ righteous expose had you discovered that
referenced article. The article is not sponse to a flattering letter, let me ask you my story didn't jibe with Greg's? Gawd,
without a minor fault (the author is a couple of probing questions, foe. I what a busybody!
way too easy on the tube cultists), but know you are a regular contributor to Anyway, thanks for the tube-article
it does an excellent job of separating sci­ The Sensible Sound, as well as Edi­ reference and for your compliments.
entific fact from cultist bullshit. tor/Publisher of the laser-printed mini- —Ed.

44 THE AUDIO CRITIC

pdf 45
 B y I v a n B e r g e r , G u e s t Editor

Four Audio Side Dishes:

Two Good Little Radios,
the World's Best CD Rack,
and a Switcher for Recordists
that heritage directly, right down to a problem. Leaving it too long in the sun,
vernier tuning dial like that on the however, can affect the rubber coating
Eight and all Kloss's later radio de- (which comes in a choice of seven col-
signs. The Boston Acoustics Recepter ors, from a dignified brown to a flashy
Radio is a new interpretation of the yellow). The radio operates for about 15
Boston Acoustics. 3 0 0 Jubilee Drive, concept, from a company founded by hours per charge, depending on how
Peabody, MA. 01960. Voice: (978) 538- people who had worked with Kloss. loud you play it, and the green LED pi-
5000. Fax: (978) 538-5199. E-mail: Each radio extends the concept in a lot light blinks when the NiMH bat-
support@bostona.com. Web:
new direction—portability in Tivoli's tery's charge is getting low. Thought-
www.bostona.com. Recepter Radio,
$159.00. Tested sample on loan from man-
case, the practicality of a clock radio fully, Tivoli put its brand name on the
ufacturer. in Boston's. plug-in charger, so it won't get confused
As you'd expect from Kloss, the PAL with the wall-wart power supplies you
Tivoli Audio, 451 D Street, Suite 902, (short for "Portable Audio Laboratory") already have.
Boston, MA 02210. Voice: (877) 297-
is the one that breaks new ground. Most Boston Audio's Recepter, the clock
9479. Fax: (617) 464-0008. E-mail:
mail@tivoliaudio.com. Web: www.tivoliau-
radios are horizontal designs, and all radio, has a more conventional layout
dio.com. PAL, $129.99. Tested sample on but the smallest portables have handles. and comes only in gray, with a narrower
loan from manufacturer. The PAL sits upright and needs no choice of faceplate colors: platinum,
handle because its case is cleverly de- charcoal, or white. The digital clock
These two radios are descendants signed for portability. Its vertical layout and tuning dial glow a pale yellow
of Henry Kloss's KLH Model Eight, puts the Tivoli's narrow side up, for eas- green. With no need for weatherproof-
of 1960. The Eight had no frills, just ier grasping, and its slip-resistant rub- ing, the speaker is vented through a
a good tuner, a nice look and feel, a ber coating has subtle grooves for a port in the back.
state-of-the-art small speaker from one more secure grip. The radio's speaker Perhaps because the clock and dis-
of the world's top loudspeaker de- enclosure is sealed to keep rain out and play create heat even when the radio is
signers, and frequency contouring to has captive flaps to weatherproof its off, the Boston radio has " feet, to
wring the best possible sound from rear-panel jacks when nothing is help air circulate beneath it. However,
that speaker. The Tivoli Audio PAL, plugged into them. You shouldn't dunk because they're comparatively tall and
one of the last designs Kloss finished this radio but it's okay to leave it in the narrow, these feet can get knocked off
before his death last year, continues rain—I've done it for weeks, without a easily. The Tivoli's feet are shallow rub-

ISSUE NO. 29 • SUMMER/FALL 2003 45

pdf 46
 ber pads that stayed put during the
months I used it.
Portability aside, the Tivoli is the
more versatile of the two. Although its
built-in amplifier and speaker are
monophonic, the radio's other circuitry
is stereo, so you can listen binaurally
through headphones or use the PAL as
a tuner. (The Aux In and headphone
jacks are in the back, together with a
swiveling, telescoping antenna, and a
jack for the battery charger.)
The only extra connections on the
Boston Audio Recepter Radio are a
75-ohm FM antenna jack and spring
clips for an external AM antenna, but
it has several features the PAL does
not. Its tuner has memory slots for up
to 20 station presets, which can be
whatever mix of AM and FM you like.
Its two independent wake-up alarms Tivoli Audio PAL
can be set to rouse you with music, a
buzzer, or both. (An AAA battery
keeps the clock and station presets station you want, even if you can't yet one's favorite stations (a whole family's,
alive if the radio is unplugged or the hear it, then fiddle with the antenna un- I suspect).
power fails.) til that station comes in. And in Preset I mentioned earlier that the PAL's
The Tivoli's vernier tuning dial, mode, of course, each click takes you to headphone jack enabled it to be used as
Kloss's hallmark, consists of a geared- a station you've preselected. (An incon- a tuner. It would make a pretty good
down dial-pointer ring surrounding a spicuous button above the tuning knob tuner, too. It's sensitive enough to pick
large knob. The knob's diameter (about cycles through the three tuning modes.) up distant stations, selective enough to
1½") makes fine adjustment easy; the Twenty presets are enough to store any- separate stations on adjacent frequen-
dial pointer turns only one-fifth as fast
as the knob does; and the gearing is
damped to provide just the right
amount of resistance for a pleasant tac-
tile experience. The smooth vernier lets
you tune slowly through a station to
find its "sweet spot" on the dial instead
of flicking past it; the AFC (automatic
frequency control) has enough bite to
enlarge that "sweet spot," yet is mild
enough to let you tune weak stations
even when a stronger one is nearby on
the dial. Tuning this radio is fun.
Tuning the Recepter, though, is eas-
ier. Its digitally controlled tuner hits only
the legal station frequencies, stepping
0.2 MHz per click in FM mode and 10
kHz per step in AM mode. The digital
frequency display (which can be read
from across the room) lets you dial in the Boston Acoustics Recepter Radio

46 THE AUDIO CRITIC

pdf 47
cies, and quiet. Reception improves, of most space-efficient, but by far the most
course, with the antenna extended, and practical. It's the only one I've seen that
improves still more if it's reoriented for takes into account the way people ac-
the specific station you want. tually access CDs.
Using only the antennas supplied, The worst way to store CDs is in
the two radios' sensitivity and selectivity Davidson-Whitehall, 290 M. L King Jr. those storage racks that have one slot
were just about exactly equal, with a Drive SE, Suite A5, Atlanta, GA 30312- per disc. Once you have too many
slight advantage to the PAL because its 21 00. Voice: (800) 848-9811 or (404) discs for easy retrieval from a random
658-1704. Fax: (404) 6 5 9 - 5 0 4 1 . E-mail:
adjustable antenna mast is easier to po- array, you need to organize your col-
info@storadisc.com. Web:
sition than the Recepter's floppy wire. lection. Fill up a CD-slot rack with
www.storadisc.com. Model LS-576,
But the Recepter has connections for ex- $625.00 to $1025.00, depending on fin- discs stored, say, alphabetically, and
ternal antennas, with which it would ish. Tested sample purchased by author. your growing collection becomes a
probably outperform the PAL Interfer- problem: If you buy a new disc by,
ence rejection was excellent on both ra- Davidson-Whitehall's STORAdisc for example, Albeniz (or Audioslave),
dios (even on AM) but the Boston's was is the best CD storage system in the the only way to make room for it is to
better than the Tivoli's. world. Not the prettiest, hardly the pull each disc in your collection out,
The Tivoli's sound is loud enough for
outdoor use, clean enough for classical
and other acoustic music, and punchy
enough for reasonable rock. When the ra-
dio stands alone, it sounds a wee bit thin,
but back it up against a wall or other sur-
face (even the back of a laptop computer's
screen will do) and the bass fills out pleas-
antly. The Boston radio has more volume
and more bass, much of that likely due to
its larger speaker (about 3¼" in diameter
to the Tivoli's 2¼" or so). This is a small
difference in diameter, but enough to give
the Boston's speaker about twice the
other's area.
The Tivoli Audio PAL is, like all of
Kloss's radios, simple, sweet, practical,
and charming. The charm comes
mainly from its human engineering—
the feel of its vernier tuning dial, and
such niceties as flats on the small knobs
to give your fingers a good purchase
and let you see how they're set. And, like
Kloss's other radios, it's an excellent per-
former.
The Boston Acoustic Recepter Ra-
dio is less involving, more businesslike.
And it outperforms the PAL.
Yet, these two don't really compete
with each other. The Tivoli won't wake
you; the Boston can't join you outdoors,
or even be carried from room to room
without unplugging and replugging it,
and it won't let you listen in stereo
through headphones.

ISSUE NO. 29 • SUMMER/FALL 2003 47

pdf 48
 move it down one slot, and repeat sembly took me a bit more than the mistakes I sometimes used to make
with the next C D . Even if you leave a half hour Davidson-Whitehall cites, it while doing it. This simple, passive
scattering of empty slots for expan- strained neither my back nor my switchbox, designed specifically for jun-
sion, you'll face this problem sooner brain. The finished rack is sturdier gles of recording gear like mine, lets
or later. than any other furniture I've assem- you dub from anything to anything else
Bookshelf-type storage is space-ef- bled myself. while you monitor any source or
ficient and makes expanding your col- Pricing depends on the STORA- recorder that's hooked up to it. One-
lection easy. When the top shelf fills, disc's size and finish. The tall LS-576 way switchboxes that add extra inputs
pull out a handful of discs and move costs $625.00 to $675.00 in textured to an audio system are common, but
them down one shelf, progressing paint, $850.00 in red or white oak, this is the only recorder-oriented
shelf by shelf until you hit an empty and $1025.00 in cherry, black wal- switcher I know of that's currently in
space. You can leave empty spaces for nut, pickled ash, and black or white production.
expansion, but they can't be so wide lacquered oak. The LS-360 costs The device is a small box, 10½
that adjacent CDs fall over. And be- $495.00 to $820.00, depending on inches wide, 6 inches deep, and l¾
cause the type on the jewel boxes' finish. Custom widths and finishes inches (one rack space) high, mounted
spines is small, you have to get down are available. The Davidson-White- on a 19-inch rack panel. On the back
on the floor to see what's on the lower hall Web site gives unusually com- are 17 pairs of gold-plated RCA jacks:
shelves. plete details. inputs for three stereo sources (marked
The STORAdisc's clever design "Tuner," "CD," and "TV") plus input
overcomes those limitations. The back and output jacks for two processors
of each shelf has a rubber stripe, pro- (such as an equalizer and a noise re-
viding enough friction so that even a ducer), four recorders (labeled "DAT,"
single, isolated CD won't fall over. "Cassette," "Rcdrl," and "Rcdr2"), and
The shelves are angled up, making the your audio system's tape monitor loop
Esoteric Sound, 4813 Wallbank Avenue,
spines of the jewel cases easier to read. Downers Grove, IL 60515. Voice and fax: ("Main Amp"). I have one more
And each shelf sits farther forward (630) 960-9137. E-mail: EsotericTT- recorder than that, but no problem: on
than the one above it, making it easy @aol.com Web: www.esotericsound.com. the front are three-conductor input and
to get what you want even from the Superconnector, $299.00. Tested sample output phone jacks for a fifth recorder
on loan from manufacturer.
bottom shelf (whose front, on my tall ("Ext").
STORAdisc, is more than 6 inches If you don't have a lot of recorders, Also on the front panel are two big
from the floor). you won't need this neat little switch- knobs and three small toggle switches.
But being the world's best CD rack box, but I salivated at the thought of it. The knob on the left selects which of
doesn't mean the STORAdisc is per- On my desk right now are a PC that nine sources you'll record from (the
fect. Because its lower shelves project doubles as a hard-disk recorder, a CD three rear-panel source inputs, the five
further the lower they go, it's a lot recorder, a DAT recorder, a cassette recorders, or the feed from your audio
deeper, front to back, than a straight recorder, and an open-reel tape deck. system). The selected source is fed to all
CD bookshelf. The eight-shelf model Managing them all used to require the recorders, so you can make up to
LS-576, which holds (surprise!) 576 plenty of plugging and unplugging, be- five recordings of it at once. With the
CDs, is 11 inches deep; it's also 31½ cause the component I was recording "Monitor" knob, on the right, you can
inches wide and 63½ inches high. The onto one day often became be the select the output of any recorder or of
five-shelf LS-360 is 4l¾ inches tall; source I was recording from the next. the Superconnector itself.
single, stackable, 50- and 36-CD The Superconnector eliminated all Two of the toggle switches select
shelves are also available and are that connection-swapping—and the processors (labeled "EQ1" and "EQ2"
smaller in all three dimensions.
Some people may be bothered by
the small but visible screw heads on
the side panels. The reason the screws
are visible is that you have to assem-
ble the STORAdisc yourself, using a
supplied Allen wrench. Though as-

48 THE AUDIO CRITIC

pdf 49
 a delight. The controls work logically To some, the price may seem a bit
and are clearly marked, and the jack high for a component that's nothing
identifications are printed clearly on but a bunch of jacks and switches.
top of the chassis. I like the feel of the However, because the market for a spe-
plastic-covered toggle switches but cialized switcher like this is small, the
not of the square-ribbed knobs—ad- Superconnector has to be hand-built.
mittedly a quibble. For my desktop And having built switchers for my own
setup, the projecting rack ears are a use, I know how much work is in-
on the front panel, though the corre- nuisance, nearly doubling the Super- volved.
sponding jacks are labeled "Processor 1" connector's width. But for home stu- So: cheap at the price-if you need
and "Processor 2"). The third is a dios, the obvious intended market, one.
stereo/mono switch. Because all three they're a necessity. —Ivan Berger
switched circuits are in line with the
record outputs, they affect the signal
you're recording.
Frankly, I've never used the proces-
sor loops except to check that they
worked properly. The stereo/
mono switch, however, has been a god-
In the Infinity Intermezzo 4.1t now only $3,995.00/pair."
send for dubbing from monophonic
review (Issue No. 28, p. 16), the In the same review, the graph
LPs and 78-rpm records. Stereo phono
stated price of $3,500.00 per captioned "Fig. 5: Impedance
cartridges pick up the record groove's
pair should have been $3,500.00 magnitude" was actually an in-
lateral and vertical undulations, but on
monophonic records the vertical com- each-a lamentably easy error to verted version of the impedance
ponent is just noise. Switching to mono make when pricing speakers, but phase graph shown (correctly)
drops the noise level markedly. (This is lamentable nonetheless. Since as Fig. 6. The text, however, cor-
no surprise, as most of Esoteric Sound's then, the price has come down; rectly described the impedance
products are oriented toward record in a mail-order catalog we re- magnitude, and the correct graph
collectors.) cently saw "regular $5,000/pair, is reproduced below.
There is not much you can say
about a passive component's per-
formance. Either it screws up the
sound, or it doesn't. The Supercon-
nector doesn't. The rear panel has
some gaps that theoretically could
compromise the unit's shielding, but
even with this switchbox sitting right
next to my PC, I've heard no sign of
interference.
The Superconnector has one se-
vere potential problem (which the
manual explicitly warns about): If you
inadvertently set its "Source" switch to
play a recorder whose own output se-
lector is set to "Source," you'll create
a feedback loop. The loud squeal this
will send through your speakers could
Impedance magnitude of Infinity Intermezzo 4.1t (corrected graph)
damage them—not to mention your
relations with your neighbors.
Otherwise, the Superconnector is

ISSUE NO. 29 • SUMMER/FALL 2003 49

pdf 50
 "You want me to come up to your place to listen to your stereo?
You don't have 5.1 surround sound with Dolby Pro Logic II and DTS 96/24?
Get lost, retro boy!"

50 THE AUDIO CRITIC

pdf 51
 By Tom Nousaine
The driver's calculated Q values
changed accordingly.
However, using a computer pro-
gram to model an ideal enclosure for
this driver gave me the same results
whether I entered the data for the
driver I'd "broken in" or for a fresh

I
n my last column, on audio's urban elastic elements and moving parts. If one. In other words, the lowered free-
legends, I failed to mention per- anything should need breaking in, air resonance counteracted the in-
haps the most persistent and se- speakers should. And manufacturers creased compliance to give me the
ductive one: that new audio compo- often do recommend substantial same results. I built a pair of the en-
nents—even cables—must be broken break-in intervals. One maker, for ex- closures the computer had recom-
in, or "burned in," before they reach ample, suggests "at least 50 hours at mended, and installed a fresh driver in
their full potential. moderately loud levels. . . even more one and the broken-in driver in the
This gives the dealer an out when improvement after 100 hours of play- other, then made the same perform-
a customer brings a new component ing." I asked a local retailer about his ance measurements for each. My re-
home and calls back to complain that store's return policy. He explained that sults for the two speakers were not
it doesn't sound as good as he had all his customers had an opportunity quite identical, but the differences
hoped: "It'll sound better once it's to listen to fully broken-in speakers on were within the tolerances implied by
burned in," the dealer will reply. And the floor and sometimes with weekend the unit-to-unit variation of four sam-
that advice may be useful for resolv- loans, but once they purchase they ples I had measured fresh. The two
ing unjustified cases of buyer's re- have 15 days to return it (and must speakers sounded the same, too.
morse—as long as the recommended pay a 15% restocking charge). By my I repeated this experiment for an-
break-in interval doesn't exceed the reckoning, a buyer of the speaker I other manufacturer, who insisted his
return period. just cited would have to listen at a speaker required at least a 48-hour
More to the point, do products loud level for 3½ hours every day for break-in. In this case I broke the driver
really need breaking in? And if they two weeks just to break his speakers in while it was in the manufacturer's
do, how do they know exactly when in, and would need another two weeks recommended enclosure. The speaker's
to stop? Vinyl records have a wear cy- to get that "even more improvement." frequency response was the same be-
cle, but it doesn't stop; the discs sim- Of course, he could also just leave fore and after break-in. This time I
ply wear out. Same with vacuum them on all day for a few days—as also measured the resonant frequency
tubes, phono-cartridge suspensions, long as there's nobody home to be (fSB) of the system at intervals (30 min-
styli, CD or tape-recorder drive belts, bothered. utes, 1, 2, 3 hours, and the next day)
and anything else having elastic or Let's think about this in engineer- following the break-in cycle. The fSB
moving parts. These products break ing terms: It would appear that the did change but, interestingly, it slowly
down, not in. drivers most likely to need breaking in dropped back to its original value once
Solid-state electronic devices have would be woofers, which have com- the speaker had cooled down for a few
no parts that break in. They either die pliant suspensions and relatively hours. The woofer had warmed up but
very young (which the trade calls "infant floppy cones. Over the years, I've con- its performance hadn't changed—it
mortality") or go on virtually unchanged ducted two in-depth studies of 12- hadn't really broken in. If you truly
for years. So if a solid-state amplifier inch woofer break-in, both at the be- want to get whatever effects (if any)
turns on and makes sound the first time hest of manufacturers who insisted might result from breaking a speaker
you turn it on, it is generally good to go. their products had to be broken in for in, you'll have to warm it up for a cou-
And cables, completely passive trans- lengthy periods before being reviewed. ple of days before listening sessions or
mission devices, have nothing that can The first time, I measured a driver be- make sure it never cools down.
break in or needs to. Audio buffs often fore and immediately after a long Despite all this, there is a break-in
talk about the benefits of break-in, and break-in period, and found that its period for drivers. But according to a
they have a reason (which I'll get to later) free-air resonance frequency (fs) had transducer engineer who used to work
— but not the reason they think. fallen by five to ten percent and com- for a large American maker of drivers
What about speakers? Unlike pliance, or springiness (CAS) had in- and finished speaker systems, the whole
amps and cables, speakers do have creased by a corresponding amount. deal takes just a few seconds, and usu-

ISSUE NO. 29 • SUMMER/FALL 2003 51

pdf 52
 ally occurs during the final quality-con- sound loud when you turn it on, but for your ears'. There is a technique to
trol check at the end of the driver as- you may not even notice the noise af- minimize the aural annoyance during
sembly line. ter you've been hearing it for half an break-in, by placing the speakers face
So do speakers break in once we get hour. Turn it off, though, and the to face but wiring one with reversed po-
them home? Hell, no. And we should room will sound remarkably quiet— larity, so that the sounds from the two
be thankful for this. I'd worry about a until you get used to that noise level. speakers largely cancel. But this tech-
manufacturer who'd let a product leave While you shouldn't expect audio nique, which encourages driving the
his factory before he'd verified its final products to improve with use, you speakers at high levels for a long time,
performance. If breaking in is truly shouldn't forget that what changes is fraught with danger: too much level
needed, it should be done at the factory. may be you, not the product. for too long, and you'll become inti-
If a product—speaker or other- Finally, if you insist on breaking-in mate with the smell of melting voice-
wise—sounds substandard, it won't your speakers, do it carefully. Letting coil glue. The only thing that has in
improve with breaking in. But you the speaker play overnight with a low- common with the smell of good per-
might think it has, because you get level test signal or music is prudent. Do fume is the expense.
broken in, acclimating to to the prod- not play a noise, sine wave, or other Next issue: True or false? Every room
uct's sound over time. Humans are re- continuous signal through your speak- is different. Rooms may all be different,
markably adept at adapting to any ers at high levels for an extended time. but they are more alike in important
stimulus. For example, a fan may That's for the speakers' sake as well as ways than is commonly believed.

want to use the headphones just to usual perception of sound changes

counter ambient noise, without listen- when you put on a pair of headphones,"
ing to music, by making the cord de- and used this data in the development
tachable; in the original model, with of "proprietary acoustic equalization
(continued from page 32)
the electronics dangling from the cord, techniques" to make the sound a closer
the listener's head. (Those cushions, that wasn't possible. match to that heard from speakers. (No
and a well-designed headband, also The QuietComfort 2 doesn't sound attempt was made to compensate for
make the headset comfortable to wear as live and airy as the best open-air the perspective change between head-
for long listening sessions.) phones, but the extra silence it sur- phones and speakers—centered soloists
I've flown with the earlier model rounds the music with is a good trade. are still inside your forehead.) To me,
and can attest that the noise control The highs were clear and extended, the the new model does sound just a bit
works fine, and I do indeed get off the lows were rich and deep, and both more natural than the original Quiet-
plane feeling less fatigued than I do af- stayed in balance with the midrange— Comfort, but some listeners may pre-
ter a couple of hours with my ears naked nothing quite exceptional but nothing fer the older model's more emphatic
to the noise. I'd expect the Quiet- to take exception with. The sound was bass.
Comfort 2 to handle noise equally well. very neutral—more appealing, I sus- The QuietComfort 2 is a definite
In fact, during the press demo, the pre- pect, to listeners who preferred the old improvement on a product that was al-
senter sneakily fed a recording of air- Shure V-15 phono cartridge than to ready good. It offers the same comfort
liner noise through speakers at 83.5 dB those who preferred its moving-coil and isolation from noise as the origi-
SPL while we were listening to music competitors. nal QuietComfort, marginally better
through the phones; none of us noticed In designing the QuietComfort 2, sound, and far greater convenience.
until we turned the headphones off. Bose made a series of tests with tiny in- These differences are well worth the
Bose even provided for people who ear microphones "to identify how your additional $50 they cost.

An open mind is all very well in its way, hut it ought not to he so open that there is no
keeping anything in or out of it. It should be capable of shutting its doors sometimes,
or it may he found a little drafty.
—SAMUEL BUTLER (1835-1902)

52 THE AUDIO CRITIC

pdf 53
Capsule CD
(including SACD and DVD-V)
By Peter Aczel, Editor
Since I am in the process of curtailing my contributions to this journal, with 90% retirement as my wistful goal, I would welcome an-
other reviewer to take over this column, if I could only find the right one. He or she would have to be not only reasonably knowl-
edgeable and highly enthusiastic about music but also genuinely finicky about audio quality—and that's the problem. Most music
critics don't distinguish between pretty good, better, and superb recorded sound—usually they don't even own first-class audio
equipment—and this is an audio publication. Eventually I'll find a solution, especially since the recording technology has reached
the point where CDs are almost uniformly good and thus require less and less technical criticism. (David Ranada filled the bill years
ago, but he is much too busy these days.) As for the reviews below, please note that the year in parentheses after the CD number
is the year of recording, not the year of release.

however, who is truly world- and ended it in 2002, having

This has turned out to be a re- class, a mesmerizing singer been the orchestra's music di- John Eargle, one of the best
liable label for first-rate Eng- who totally dominates his rector for the last 18 of those recording engineers in the
lish opera productions. Dis- scenes. Rizzi's conducting is 20 years. He basically owns world, has retired; his successor
tributed by Naxos. thoroughly idiomatic, and the that stupendous orchestra, one at Delos appears to be his assis-
orchestra is above reproach, of the finest in the world. This tant, Jeff Mee, but lately most
Giuseppe Verdi: II Trovatore. never submerged under the monumental set of CDs, taped Delos recordings come from
José Cura, Manrico; Dmitri voices, although you see very by the orchestra in live analog Russia, recorded by Russian
Hvorostovsky, Count di Luna; little of the instrumentalists stereo for radio station WCLV, engineers.
Verónica Villarroel, Leonora; with the strangely restricted appears to be quite competitive
Yvonne Naef, Azucena. The Or- camera angles used. The stag- sonically with the Cleveland's Ernest Bloch: Prayer, From
chestra and Chorus of the Royal ing is somewhat peculiar; the commercial digital releases and Jewish Life, No. 1; Schelomo.
Opera House (Covent Garden), costumes and props are closer is a fit celebration of two Nina Kotova: Concerto for
Carlo Rizzi, conductor. DVD- to Napoleonic than 15 th cen- decades of glorious music- Cello and Orchestra (recording
Video OA 0849 D (2002). tury Spanish, and the back- making. Half of the recorded premiere). Max Bruch: Kol
Caruso once quipped that ground scenery is all over the works were composed in the Nidrei (Adagio for Cello and
it is very simple to cast Il place, sometimes period, some- 20th century; the rest are 19th- Orchestra), Op. 47. Nina Ko-
Trovatore—all you need is the times industrial. The picture is century classics from tova, cello; Philharmonia of
four greatest singers in the 16:9 anamorphic; the 5.1 Beethoven to early Mahler, Russia, Constantine Orbelian,
world. This production doesn't Dolby Digital surround sound with the exception of one late- conductor. DE 3305 (2001).
quite satisfy that requirement, is fine but does not by any 18 th century symphony by This I haven't seen before. I
but it's very good. As a matter means set a new standard. All Haydn, but no Bach, no didn't even know it existed.
of fact, there may not be a bet- in all, I would grade this effort Mozart. The performances Imagine a top-notch virtuoso
ter baritone in the world today between B+ and A-. range from routinely first-rate cellist and composer who is a
to sing Count di Luna than to superb (e.g., an absolutely real babe, a gorgeous ex-model!
Dmitri Hvorostovsky, and the stunning rendition of that old Only in America.. .well, actu-
other principals are also highly warhorse, Liszt's Les Préludes). ally she is a native Russian,
competent or better. The This is the orchestra's private The picture of the maestro that born in 1971 and transplanted
swarthy Argentinean José Cura label, releasing recordings of its emerges from the recordings is to America only about 12 years
even looks like a Gypsy sol- own performances only. that of a musician of excep- ago. She plays the cello with an
dier/musician. He is a fine tionally wide-ranging tastes exceptionally rich, burnished
tenor who strains occasionally "Christoph von Dohnányi: who is in total, hair-trigger tone and an utterly secure
on the high notes but is very Compact Disc Edition." control of his magnificent technique. Her own composi-
convincing overall (although Archival live stereo recordings of band. Few persons will want to tion is accessible-contemporary
he sings only one verse of Di the Cleveland Orchestra's home pay $175.00 (plus $12.00 in idiom, exploring every pos-
quellapira—chicken!). I have concerts, 1984—2001, comprising S&H) for the set, which in- sible nuance of cello sonority,
nothing but praise for Yvonne 28 works by 26 composers, con- cludes a 72-page booklet, but and somewhat pedestrian in
Naef as Azucena, a beautiful ducted by Christoph von maybe the Cleveland Orches- orchestration. (You expected
performance, and Verónica Dohnányi. MAA-01032-A/B/C tra will eventually release the this dishy "10" to orchestrate
Villarroel, looking a little older (10 CDs, previously unreleased). ten CDs one by one. For re- like Respighi, on top of every-
than Leonora should, is also Christoph von Dohnányi viewers who received a compli- thing else?) It's too soon to
excellent once she has warmed began his association with the mentary copy, the set is cer- form a strong opinion about
up her voice. It's Hvorostovsky, Cleveland Orchestra in 1982 tainly a blast. the concerto, one way or the

ISSUE NO. 29 • SUMMER/FALL 2003 53

pdf 54
 other. The Bloch and Bruch ity—it couldn't be better. Per- Susanna Pell, viols. HMU original is a modified ending
pieces are familiar and not re- formed and recorded this way, 907296(2001). that Bartók himself composed
ally my cup of tea, but they are the Mahler Fifth really sings Fact: Bach didn't call his fi- between 1926 and 1931.) This
beautifully (and idiomatically) and hangs together. nal incomplete masterpiece Die is the premiere recording of the
played. The audio is excellent, Kunst der Fuga; his pupil and restored version, complete with
no problem, but the music W. A. Mozart: Violin Concerto son-in-law J. C. Altnikol did. corrected dynamics, bowings,
doesn't really test the mettle of No. 3 in G Major, K. 216; Bach just wrote Contrapunctus etc. The American conductor
the Russian recording team, so Adagio and Fugue in C Minor, on the title page. Fact: There is David Robertson leads a bril-
I can't tell whether we need K. 546; Symphony No. 41 in C no indication of instrumenta- liant performance, illuminat-
John Eargle back. In any event, Major ("Jupiter"), K. 551. tion in the open score, and far ing the work's remarkable col-
Nina Kotova is headed for su- Itzhak Perlman, violin; Berlin from all experts agree that it oristic details, not just its
perstar status. Philharmonic, Itzhak Perlman, was intended to be a keyboard brutality, and the Lyon orches-
conductor. 7243 5 57418 2 0 work. Opinion: Six viols pro- tra plays magnificently, prov-
(2002). ducing a beautifully blended ing itself a world-class ensem-
This British conglomerate ap- Anything recorded by sound are a better instrumental ble. The other two Bartók
pears to be still able to make Itzhak Perlman is worth listen- combination than most to play compositions are of no lesser
frequent recordings of great ing to, and this CD is no ex- this music. This is a gorgeous- importance (Bartók wrote no
orchestras under important ception. The concerto is sounding performance of diffi- mediocre music) and are
conductors, something that played with the superstar's cult, highly abstract music, best equally well played. The audio
has become unaffordable in wonted magnificent tone and listened to one fugue at a time. quality of the disc is on the
America. musicality, but there exists an Some find the unvarying D Mi- same high level, with an ex-
early digital recording young nor of the 20 fugues monoto- tremely wide dynamic range
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. Perlman made with James nous; others are convinced that and low distortion. This CD is
5 in C-sharp Minor. Berlin Levine and the Vienna Philar- this is the most sublime music a must for Bartók lovers.
Philharmonic, Sir Simon Rattle, monic (Deutsche Gram- in the world. Both opinions
conductor. 7243 5 57385 2 3 mophon, 1983) that is much have validity. Certainly Die Arias for Farinelli. Vivica
(2002). sprightlier, more variegated, Kunst represents the absolute Genaux, mezzo-soprano;
I have reviewed one or and generally more exciting. pinnacle of contrapuntal com- Akademie für Alte Musik
more Mahler symphonies in six The present performance position. Personally I'd rather Berlin, René Jacobs, conductor.
of the last seven issues, not be- sounds somehow homoge- listen to a late Beethoven quar- HMC 901778 (2002).
cause Mahler is my favorite nized by comparison. It helps tet when I'm in the mood for Carlo Broschi detto
composer (I still have certain to have a good conductor serious fare, but you may very Farinelli (1705-1782) was a
reservations about the breast- when you're busy playing the well disagree. The six English castrato and the most adulated,
beating style and prolixity of fiddle, and youth is sometimes musicians who constitute Fret- almost deified, singer of his
some of his works) but because, an advantage. As for the sym- work are world-class string time. He sang with an aston-
on account of his orchestration, phony, the competition is players, and the recording does ishingly perfect vocal tech-
he is the composer for the hi-fi enormous, and this is just an- them full justice. Highly rec- nique in an extremely virtu-
era—and this is an audio mag- other decent performance ommended to a necessarily lim- osic, highly ornamented style
azine. This new version of the without any truly memorable ited circle of music lovers. that was already passé in
Fifth is probably the best digi- qualities. Perlman is obviously Mozart's days. Forgotten com-
tal (meaning: since the mid- a fine musician but not a ma- Bela Bartók: The Miraculous posers, such as Porpora, Gia-
'80s) recording of them all. jor conductor. The audio qual- Mandarin, Op. 19, Sz. 73; comelli, Hasse, revived for this
Rattle and the great orchestra ity is routinely good but not in Dance Suite, Sz. 77; Four Pieces recording, were some of his
of which he recently became the same league with the for Orchestra, Op. 12, Sz. 51. repertory. The Alaskan-born
the leader give a more nuanced, Mahler above, recorded in the Orchestre National de Lyon, mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux
coherent performance of the same hall. David Robertson, conductor. is one of the few practitioners
symphony than any other I can HMC 901777 (2001). of this forgotten art—and she
recall. Those others seem The Mandarin, Bartók's is amazing. You could argue
episodic by comparison, a se- I keep returning to this label 1918-24 masterpiece (you that the almost ridiculously
quence of sound effects, for solid, old-fashioned quality could argue it's his Sacre, with florid music is a bit monoto-
whereas Rattle shapes the work in a classical-music world its savage rhythms and disso- nous—when you've heard one
like a Haydn or Mozart sym- where marketing rules and nances), has not been per- aria you've more or less heard
phony, with every note related quality is random, if not beside formed quite so authoritatively them all—but it is still very ex-
to the previous one and every- the point. for many decades. In 1999, Pe- citing when sung with this
thing in perfect balance. Very rer Bartók, the composer's kind of virtuosity. Rene Jacobs
impressive. On top of it, even J. S. Bach: The Art of the younger son, restored the was the conductor of the Così
though EMI is certainly not an Fugue, BWV1080. Fretwork: work's original version, which fan tutte I raved about a num-
audiophile label, the recorded Richard Campbell, Richard had been hacked, cut, and ed- ber of issues ago, and here
sound (by a British, not Ger- Boothby, Wendy Gillespie, ited to pieces over the years. once again he makes period
man, team) is of demo qual- William Hunt, Julia Hodgson, (The only change from the practice vital and relevant.

54 THE AUDIO CRITIC

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 Capsule CD
Such attacks, such Playing polyphonic music recordings, ending in 1936, to Act I; Götterdämmerung,
crispness . . . The recorded on a single unaccompanied when he was 63 and almost as Siegfried's Funeral Music (Act
sound is extremely clean and stringed instrument is closer to good as ever. Altogether there III); Tristan und Isolde, Prelude
sparkling, as good as it gets. a circus act than to musical are 40 tracks on the two CDs, to Act I; Der fliegende Hollän-
Not a CD for everybody but practice; yet just about every superbly remastered by the der, Overture; Tannhäuser,
far from negligible. cellist of some standing has blind specialist Ward Marston, Overture (Dresden version); Lo-
recorded these six suites of so that even the oldest selection hengrin, Prelude to Act III;
baroque dances, if for no other (1902) is entirely listenable. As Siegfried Idyll. Berlin State
Pierre Sprey continues to baffle reason than as a test of tech- a matter of fact, Chaliapin's Opera Orchestra, Karl Muck,
me with his cockamamie two- nique. I haven't listened to deep bass mated better with the conductor. Naxos Historical,
track analog taping technique, them all, not even every fourth acoustic recording technique Great Conductors series.
with which he achieves the one, but I can testify that the than, for example, Caruso's 8.110858(1927-29).
most astounding you-are-there brilliant Alexander Rudin higher voice, so that the old Karl Muck (1859-1940)
realism in playback. Hey, the passes the test with flying col- tracks have been easier to re- was 8 years older than
outcome is what counts, not ors. He also manages to sound store. The music in this collec- Toscanini and regarded in his
the means. warmly musical in the process. tion is mainly 19th century time as one of the two or three
More than that I dare not say opera and song, with a heavy greatest living Wagner conduc-
"Gentle Giant of the Tenor because no one can really soar sprinkling of Russian com- tors. He was 24 years old when
Sax." Bob Kindred, tenor sax; in this music. It is just too posers, Mussorgsky in particu- Wagner died, so he was com-
Larry Willis, piano. 09032 damned difficult and awkward. lar. You don't know the possibil- pletely aware of contemporary
(2001). It's enough that he ities of the bass voice until you performance styles. In these
All the giants of the tenor sounds.. .well.. .at ease, com- have heard these two CDs. marvelous restorations by
sax from the heyday of modern fortable. His technique rises Mark Obert-Thorn of early
jazz are dead. The aging Bob above the hardest passages. Franz Schubert: Sonata No. electrical recordings, Muck
Kindred continues the tradi- Some find the Bach cello suites 20 in A Major, D. 959; Sonata plays Wagner as if the com-
tion and occasionally rises to to be utterly sublime music, No. 15 in C Major ("Reliquie"), poser were still alive, without
their level on this CD. Is he a but let's face it, they cannot D. 840. Jenö Jandó, piano. any fuss, bother, mannerisms,
John Coltrane or a Stan Getz? possibly give you the same 8.554470 (1998). or religious awe, just total fo-
I don't think so, but Pierre thrill as, say, the organ Toccata Jandó is Naxos's house pi- cus and accuracy. The results
Sprey, the head of Mapleshade, and Fugue in D Minor—the anist, one of those affordable are absolutely thrilling. The
does, and some reputable crit- instrumental format militates first-rate artists referred to Meistersinger overture, for ex-
ics concur. At any rate, he is against it. This recording does above, and at least in the clas- ample, is played much faster
awfully good, the genuine arti- provide audio thrills, however; sics (namely Mozart, than is today's rev-
cle. You don't hear playing like you can close your eyes and Beethoven, Schubert, etc.) he is erent/pompous practice, and it
this nowadays, so I could be pretend the cello is there, in as good as anyone with a bigger works. The timpani strokes an-
wrong. The recorded sound is the room with you. The sound name—and I mean anyone. In nouncing Siegfried's death are
unbelievable and alone worth is that good. the D. 959 sonata, one of the much louder than in today's
the price of admission. three from Schubert's miracu- recordings, perhaps because of
Feodor Chaliapin: A Vocal lous last summer (1828), he the limited dynamic range,
Portrait. Naxos Historical, plays spellbindingly, making and it also works. The
No longer just the leading Great Singers series. 8.110748- the 40 minutes of heavenly Tannhäuser overture is again
low-priced classical label, 49 (2 CDs, 1907-36). music appear too short because faster than usual, and I think I
Naxos is now the leading clas- The Russian basso Feodor you want it go on forever. Both like it better that way. There is
sical label, period, based on Ivanovich Chaliapin technically and musically, he a lack of ceremony about these
the number of new releases (1873-1938) was arguably the performs on the highest level. performances that is most re-
every month. It's amazing how greatest operatic bass of all To me this is one of those freshing. They are simple and
successful their marketing plan time, certainly of the phono- desert-island-top-20 pieces, too noble instead of worshipfully
of selling lesser-known artists graph era. His voice was huge, beautiful for words. The unfin- "interpreted." The audio qual-
with low performance fees but effortless, absolutely even in ished "Reliquie" sonata is ity is amazingly lifelike for
high performance has been. scale, and virtually without vi- merely a curiosity by compari- 1927-29; I can't recall any
The big names have mean- brato—a unique instrument. son, not that it isn't very fine recordings of comparable fi-
while priced themselves out of His histrionic ability was also of music. Jandó does it full jus- delity until well into the
the hurting classical market. the highest order, sometimes tice. The recorded sound 1930s. Another triumph for
Of course, if you want big overpowering the composer's (Phoenix Studio, Budapest, no Naxos Historical.
names—old big names—there intentions; he certainly didn't longer active) is absolutely
is Naxos Historical. sing everything exactly as writ- state-of-the-art, none better. A
ten but was unfailingly fascinat- great CD. After 100 years, still the label of
J.S. Bach: Cello Suites (Com- ing. Here one CD is devoted to some of the world's greatest mu-
plete). Alexander Rudin, cello. his acoustic recordings, up to Richard Wagner: Die Meis- sicians, although its most glori-
8.555992-93 (2 CDs, 2000). 1924, the other to his electrical tersinger von Nürnberg, Prelude ous era is a thing of the past.

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Robert Schumann: Sonata No. phonies, I had to include this just needs a few more years to Zander, conductor. Also: Ben-
1 in F-sharp Minor, Op. 11; one because it represents a be a legend (he is 34 years old). jamin Zander Discusses Mahler's
Carnaval, Op. 9. Evgeny Kissin, major exception to my fre- He could perhaps further im- Sixth Symphony. 3 SACD-
piano. 09026-63885-2 (2001). quently mentioned reserva- prove the evenness of his scale 60586 (3 SACDs, 2001).
At 30, when this recording tions about Mahler. The First and cut down on the sobs, but Some critics consider this
was made, and now 31, Kissin is a highly original, fresh, overall his singing is better Mahler's best symphony. I'm
is without question the world's sparkling, unmannered work than that of 99% of all tenors. not one of them; I find too
No. 1 young pianist and per- of young genius, no question The program here includes all many of the ranting, over-
haps even the world's No. 1 about it. I love it without the warhorses—E lucevan le heated, and to my mind in-
pianist, period, at least of the qualifications. On top of it, stelle, Nessun dorma, Celeste sincere elements in the music
Rachmaninoff/Horowitz (as Thomas's interpretation is the Aida, etc.—inviting compari- that make me hesitate to rank
against the Schnabel) kind. best one 1 can remember since son with the greatest of the Mahler among the greatest of
His control of the keyboard is the beginning of the digital great. He passes. His high the great. That it is an inter-
so absolute and so finely tuned era. It is straight, natural, notes, in particular, are of awe- esting, complex, and far from
that I don't understand critics meticulous but unfussy, just some power and absolutely negligible work is of course
who don't see the distance he beautifully musical. Gorgeous clean. Carlo Rizzi and the undeniable. Zander is true to
has put between himself and playing. The SACD surround London orchestra provide ex- form in his interpretation,
the rest of the field. Not that sound is excellent but for cellent accompaniment, and rendering a superbly detailed
this gives him the interpretive some reason 5.0 instead of the recorded sound is all it and accurate reading of the
advantage over everyone else 5.1; the subwoofer channel should be. score, close to what I imagine
in these Schumann pieces; has no feed. I consider that a Mahler had in mind. Jack
they can be played differently drawback since some sur- Renner's multichannel record-
and just as impressively; but round-sound systems (not This label has become the ma- ing is stupendous, an explo-
his clarification of the sonata's mine) consist of five small jor source for multichannel ration of all the possibilities
textures is without equal, as is speakers plus subwoofer. In SACDs of classical music and of the medium, and alone
his virtuosity in the many vari- that case—no bass. jazz—and therefore, since worth the price of admission.
ous very short episodes of DVD-Audio is stagnating, the It will make you conclude
Carnaval. He may not be the major source for classical/jazz that stereo is dead. As for
most musical of all pianists but I am still in the habit of brack- multichannel recordings in Zander's exegesis of the sym-
he is the most explicit. I pre- eting this label with its prede- general. That the latter are su- phony, we know from previ-
dict that when he mellows cessor, CBS Masterworks, but perior in sound quality to ous occasions that he is
(maybe at 40?), he will have it I guess the identity is fading. stereo recordings is now no uniquely qualified and fasci-
all and rule the world. These longer debatable; it is an obvi- nating. A monumental set of
works of Schumann, by the Salvatore Licitra: The Debut. ous, accepted fact. discs, no matter where on the
way, are among his very best, Arias from Puccini and Verdi Mahler scale you rate it.
more interesting in my opin- operas. Salvatore Licitra, tenor; Reinhold Glière: Symphony
ion than any of his later com- London Symphony Orchestra, No. 3, Op. 42 ("Il'ya Jean Sibelius: Symphony No. 2
positions, when he was slowly Carlo Rizzi, conductor. SK Murometz"). London Symphony in D Major, Op. 43. Eduard
approaching insanity. The 89923 (2002). Orchestra, Leon Botstein, con- Tubin: Symphony No. 5 in B
recorded sound of the piano, Here he is, Pavarotti's al- ductor. SACD-60609 (2002). Minor. Cincinnati Symphony
played in a German studio, is leged successor—and the claim I don't think this is much Orchestra, Paavo Järvi, conduc-
resonant and incisive, with is not without solid founda- above the level of pretty good tor. SACD-60585 (2001).
close to optimum balance be- tion. Young Licitra is a stupen- movie music—great orchestra- I don't have an opinion—
tween warmth and clarity. dous tenor, with a huge, effort- tion, thin substance—but the requiring several hearings—on
less voice, unstrained top multichannel recording is the 1946 Tubin symphony,
notes, and a musician's ear, state-of-the-art, in trans- but I can report that the
ready to wow the world. Is he parency, envelopment, local- Sibelius is very well played, in
This orchestra has started to is- as good as young (as distinct ization, the whole bit. The a crisp rather than grandly ro-
sue its recordings under its from aging) Pavarotti? Perhaps venue, Watford Town Hall in mantic performance. The
own label, just like the Cleve- not quite as polished; in my England, may have had some- socko finale is rousing enough,
land Orchestra. Economy, no opinion the Pavarotti of the thing to do with that. The at any rate. Paavo Järvi
doubt. late '60s and early '70s was sec- London Symphony Orchestra (Neeme Järvi's son) is new to
ond only to Caruso in the plays beautifully, as usual; the Cincinnati, and it appears
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 20th century—better than Botstein's conducting is rou- to be a happy partnership.
1 in D Major ("Titan"). San Gigli, better than Bjoerling, tine. One for your sound- Michael Bishop's multichannel
Francisco Symphony, Michael better than Corelli, better than demo collection. recording is outstanding; if
Tilson Thomas, conductor. anyone else—and only later you have a 5.1 system, you
821936-0002-2 (SACD, 2001). went into an up-and-down Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. won't be tempted to switch to
At the risk of overloading phase (mostly down). Licitra 6 in A Minor ("Tragic"). Phil- stereo, I promise you.
this column with Mahler sym- comes close, though; maybe he harmonia Orchestra, Benjamin

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