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Letters To Us
May 2005
Steven,
Perhaps you can offer some advice. I need to purchase a pair of quality monitors and don't have the time nor inclination to chase my tail auditioning the damn things. We listen to baroque and blues almost exclusively and are at that stage of our lives where we can afford most anything. I'm curious about the PSB M2 and Revel M20. Though reviews of the PSB seem a bit tepid compared to the raves vis-a-vis the Revel.
Any other ideas? A friend suggests I save my money and purchase a pair of the diminutive towers from PSB. I believe the correct designation is "Image T45." He insists they will pull the "disappearing act" as well as the monitors mentioned above, yet will play noticeably lower in the bass region. I'm a bit dubious given the fact they retail for about one-third the price of the monitors. What say you? Oh yes, I have a cavernous room, but not to worry. We've lived with monitors for years and I have no desire to purchase large floor standers that mimic Easter Island statuary.
Best,
Reg McConnell
Reg,
Thanks for your e-mail. Alas, while i have never reviewed either of those units, many reviewers including myself enjoy the Reference 3a MM De Capo-i as reviewed here. As a musician and reviewer, the most important part of a system that makes a large difference is the loudspeakers. Over the past 7+ years I have enjoyed the 3a monitors in various forms. They are very clean, clear, musical, accurate, and I can enjoy music through them all day in my office.
Enjoy the Music,
Steven R. Rochlin
May 2005
Mr. A. Colin Flood,
Thank you doing a review on Aperion 522D-PT loudspeakers. There are very little articles to read about this product and I am glad to have read your article for added insights other than a manufacturer's point of view. I am particularly interested when you compared these Aperion speakers with Axiom Audio's Millennia M80Ti or Usher X-708 as reviewed by Mr. Scott Faller. I am actually in a decision making process of considering only one of the two brand of speakers. My main application is home theater but I certainly have a share of CD collections to play. The type of movies that I enjoy most are sci-fi, action, comedy, and (very few drama movies when watching with my fiancé) while the music that I enjoy most are 80's new wave music, 80's rock-and-roll (i.e. Van Halen, U2), electronic dance music, grudge band type of music, a rap few music, no country!, and a few R&B. My room size is 8' high ceiling x 17.5' wide x 8.75' long (family room). However, my family room is not enclosed but instead it extends to the kitchen...this would make my room length 17'. The seating position to view or watch movies will be 9' away from the back wall of the front channel speakers. Would you recommend the Axiom, the Aperion, or the Usher X-708 for my application?
Please advise. Regards,
Art Ortega
Thank you Art,
Although the "which is better" question is a common as wheat in a field, it is rare to actually have all of the information required for a qualified opinion. Of course, I see you are an engineer, so that explains it! You do not say however, what you have for front-end equipment and that can make all the difference. Although Aperion’s powered subwoofers let ASL’s AQ1003DT integrated tube amplifier do a great job with all sources, the Axiom towers did better with solid-state amplifiers capable of handling their low impedances. Yet, I found the M80Tis' row of silver cones was very good with smooth jazz, good-old Rock n' Roll, along with a lot of movies!
Yours in Listening,
Colin
May 2005
Hi Dick,
Thank you for your review on the Murata Super tweeter. I am considering the Murata ES-105 or the Townshend Super (ribbon) Tweeter. Both are in the same price range. The main components in my system are Edgarhorn speakers (Titan + Seismic Sub), Von Gaylord Signature pre-amp and Yamamoto Sound Craft A-08 (2A3 version). Which super tweeter, in your opinion, will work better with my system. I am leaning towards the Murata at this time because of your review. I hope to hear from you soon.
I would also like more information on Enjoy the Music.com™. Is there a hard-copy version of your magazine?
Thank you,
Marc Shimamoto
Hi Marc,
Thanks for tuning in to Enjoy the Music.com™. Alas, there is no paper edition; we're strictly online. I have not auditioned the Townshend ribbon tweeter, but in my experience to date, the Murata super tweeter has bested every ribbon design that has come my way. In addition, the Murata's wide dispersion pattern makes it easier to integrate as an add-on. In contrast, ribbons tend to beam in the vertical direction, making it more difficult to blend in -- especially with horn-loaded systems.
Best regards and enjoy the music!
Dick Olsher
May 2005
Hello Scott,
On your do it yourself speaker cable, would you recommend also using the shielded part of the cable to be connected with the rest of the inner wire to form a heavier gauge wire? Parallel of Left and right runs of course.
Thanks,
Ray Medina
Hi Ray,
You could incorporate the shield to effectively increase the wire gauge but I would suspect that the overall capacitance of the wire would increase also. Try tying the shield and main conductor together and then measure the resulting capacitance. You may want to contact the manufacturer with the result to see if that is within the acceptable limits of your amp. We can't have your amp going into some bizarre oscillations or anything :-)
Regards,
Scott Faller
May 2005
Dude...
You need to test more turntables, especially new ones coming out...forget about Redbook and SACD/DVD-Audio. Everyone is doing DAT!! Not many are doing more turntable reviews. What juices me up are Turntable reviews. No not an old fogey. Gen-X dude that is gonna dive into turntables next summer after I purchase my second system -l tube system around the Jadis da60. You should review and enlighten people on the virtues of buying integrateds. It doesn't mean a compromised sound and can be better than buying separates. On to my second job... need to fund my audio addiction.
Ren Barroga
Ren,
Fully agree and while we do have quite a few turntable/cartridge reviews now online (see our archiuves) yet we could always use more. Have contacted a few analog manufacturers and it seems some have little inventory so can not spare any for review while others say they will sex "XYZ" yet nothing arrives :(
Enjoy the Music,
Steven R. Rochlin
May 2005
Colin,
The ASL WAVE 8 or Paramour SET amps? What would be your choice to drive Klipsch Cornwall please?
Respectfully,
Marius
Marius,
Boy, that is a toughy as they are both very different amplifiers. See my reviews in the Enjoy the Music.com™ Equipment Archives. Though I generally don’t agree with many knee-jerk audiophile platitudes, I think this is one area where personal movie and musical taste, along with the room affects, would make all the difference. Flea-powered Bottlehead Paramours are $549 monoblock amplifiers in kit form, with delicate and refined sounding 2A3 tubes (Dec 2002), while Antique Sound Lab's monoblock amplifiers are now pre-assembled 10-watters for $249 each (March 2002). I had both for a few months in two different rooms.
Since the super-sensitive Klipsch Cornwall has 15" vented woofers, the ASLs drive the mid-bass easily, but the 3.5 watt Paramours benefit from deep (<40Hz) subwoofers. The Paramours however, still reign supreme in the mid and upper end details. I found myself loudly listening to snappy Tray Chapman tunes and watching movies with the ASLs. I enjoyed mellow late night sessions with female vocalists like Diana Krall with the Paramours.
Except for movies, I use my entertainment system primarily for late night decompression. I went with the Paramours, eventually upgrading to even more sensitive Khorns and a mighty ACI Titan subwoofer (April 2005). Hope that helps.
Yours in Listening,
Colin
May 2005
Hi Jeff,
Enjoyed your article on VHS tape machines. I would like to add another advantage to VHS machines, Although I suppose most owners/ users do not realize its potential but with a HIFI VHS machine you have at your disposal, in your own home, a pretty high quality audio recorder capable of up to ten hours audio recording. I have for many years used one to tape concerts of all types of music broadcast by the BBC . In the past this has been from fm broadcasts ( or VHF as we used to call it in the UK) and more recently from BBC Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) sources. The hifi VHS machine with its low wow and flutter, V good signal to noise ratio and generally good fidelity is so useful for that 4 hour opera broadcast or all day music event. For portability I used to dub these precious concerts down to cassette to play on the move in my Sony Walkman Pro but happily always retained the original source format. I now have an enjoyable time reviewing 18 years worth of VHS tapes with wonderful events on them ranging from years of Prom Concerts to a magical concert given for the BBC by "The Magic Band" recently.
I have an Alesis ML9600 machine now and transcribe some concerts into 24/96 but I still tape stuff on the VHS machine due to its flexibility. I am still hanging onto the tapes as long as I have a good VHS machine to play them on. I actually have "laid down" a brand new VHS machine for future use.
Enjoy the mag too.
Best Wishes,
Gary Dance
Hi Gary,
I am really kicking myself for having neglected to mention what great audio recorders VHS machines can make.
But what really pains me about your letter is your mention of all the great live broadcasts that Britons are blessed with. This makes me very nostalgic for the UK.
On occasion, I will listen to a live performance on Radio 3 over the internet, but it’s really, as you will surely agree, not the same.
I have in fact used a VCR to make recordings of a few local radio shows here and the results have been pretty good. And the 10 hour of recording time available using the extended play function of many VCRs did not go unnoticed either.
One problem I did have with recording directly to VHS was that at least on the recorders I used I had no way of setting the levels and it was my impression on listening to the tape on playback that the recording levels were wandering leading to even more dynamic range compression than you often already hear on a live broadcast.... Oh well, just kicking myself that I did not make more on air tapes when I lived in Britain.
All the best,
Jeff
May 2005
Hi Colin,
I enjoyed your enthusiasm for the ACI Titan sub woofer. Just imagine your joy if you had one for each channel! Really random-phase LF for the best in Large-Venue re-creation!
Cheers,
Stan Ricker
Stan Ricker Mastering
Thank You Stan...
For your appreciation. It is easy to be enthusiastic about well-made products offering good value and solving A/V system problems. The mediocre stuff is the hard work. One can’t simply say this product sucks. The reviewer has to subjectively and analytically his impressions: "this woofer was boomy and a poor value, for example, offering too much mid-bass and not enough low bass for the price compared to XYZ model." BTW, industry giant harmon-kardon not only has white papers available online showing that two sub-woofers are indeed better for balancing mid and low bass, but also recommending equidistant locations for them.
Yours in Listening,
Colin
May 2005
Hello,
I just bought a pair of 1964 k-horns for $1500. They sound very nice, the guy had bought them 15 years ago from the original owner. I understand they used electro voice horns and crossovers back then. But the newer k-horns look a little different. The ones that I have the hole walnut front slides right on to them. When I saw the original brochure on eBay it looks like those do in the black in white picture. My question is i think the LaScalas would be a better fit for my place, and i might be just about as happy with the mids and tweets. I know I wouldn't have as much bass but i have a powered sub. Are these speakers anymore significant or less than the newer k-horns?
Thanks for your help,
Curtis
Curtis,
Thanks for your e-mail. There are some people who truly cherish the older Klipsch loudspeakers as they were designed specifically by Mr. Klipsch and are excellent. This is not to say the new versions are any less so, just that newer is not always better. The choice is yours, though you may want to seek out modifications/upgrades to the old Klipsch crossover for achieving higher performance. Check the Klipsch discussion board. for more information.
If it was me, I'd keep the older ones, though I have a fetish for vintage loudspeakers :)
Enjoy the Music,
Steven R. Rochlin
May 2005
Dear Scott,
Read your review of Sony SCD-CE595. Do you have any review or comparison with Harman Kardon FL8385 5-disc carousel CD changer with HDCD?
Daniel Rotto
Daniel,
The Sony and the HK are two different animals. The HK is HDCD which isn't nearly the resolution of a SACD or DVD-A player. My Arcam Alpha 8se does HDCD's. Comparing resolution only, the SACD and DVD-A formats wins hands down when compared to HDCD. The Sony doesn't do DVD-A's but the Pioneer DV-578 does. Steve Rochlin peaked my interest and I picked one up. Though it isn't quite as refined as the Sony, it sounds pretty darned good plus it does DVD-Audio.
Hope that helped. Regards,
Scott Faller
May 2005
Hi Steven,
I am new to tubes and am wondering... Is The Stingray still a "good amp" or have you found something better? The $2000 VTL ST85 or some other, such as the Pathos Classic 2, Unison... or what? I do like the "palpable presence" of the Stingray. Would you still recommend it? Wow, there are so many choices!!! Aint' we lucky! (But, confused, too).
Boland
Hi,
Welcome to tubes and the enjoyment of 'the glow' of music. Yes, the Stingray is indeed a wonderful unit. Solid build quality, a great company, and most important of all, a great sounding unit! Have fun and as always...
Enjoy the Music,
Steven R. Rochlin
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