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Tidal Piano G3

Posted on May 31, 2023 by Anthony Cordesman

The Tidal Piano G3 loudspeaker is each an uncommon design and a problem to most of the conventions of American high-end audio. It is a comparatively small floorstanding speaker that’s clearly supposed to supply state-of-the-art efficiency in smaller rooms, or in areas that current issues with extreme bass power, or the place there’s a want for audio system that may slot in with a variety of decors.

At the identical time, the Piano G3 is the third model of a steadily refined product from Tidal —a agency that has change into a number one a part of the German excessive finish and one that gives an progressive mixture of applied sciences. It can be costly even by the always escalating requirements of right this moment’s market. It sells for $64,000 a pair in an excellent, black, grand-piano-like lacquer end with stainless-steel trim, and $68,000 a pair in wooden veneer. That is a worth that makes it a competitor with a number of the costliest and largest audio system made within the U.S., at a time when such audio system appear to be in a little bit of a measurement and weight race.

In distinction, the Piano G3 is compact for a speaker in its worth vary. It is 45.6″ tall by 9.6″ vast by 15.5″ deep and leans again at a slight angle. Its easy rectangular form and its drivers are also modest by comparability with many U.S.-made audio system. It is clearly designed to slot in with all kinds of pricey decors slightly than dominate them.

It is an easy rectangular field with a clear black, or wood-veneer end that has well-styled, stainless-steel fittings to assist it. The enclosure is comprised of Tidal’s proprietary cupboard supplies, TIRALIT and TIRADUR. The drivers embody a relatively small, spherical diamond tweeter and two 7″ midrange/woofers. They are mounted on a entrance panel that lacks any uncommon visible options, apart from a producer brand plate. And whereas the Piano G3 weighs 154 kilos, there isn’t a method to inform from taking a look at it what number of particular design options it has inside. The spouse of certainly one of my audiophile pals slightly bluntly described it as “a speaker you’ll wish to reside with slightly than worship.”

It is also the one speaker I’ve ever reviewed at any worth the place the instruction guide notes that it has rear connections which let you wire it to your energy amps in a means that the decrease woofer will not be related—in order that it turns into a two-way speaker to be used in small rooms. It additionally has a special set of connections to be used as a 2.5-way speaker in bigger rooms that want extra bass however not the complete vary of energy from each woofers. It is the one deliberate effort I’ve seen to design the state-of-the-art for audiophiles with main bass-response, room-size, and/or “increase” issues.

At the identical time, its visible simplicity and clear styling disguise a tremendous quantity of inside engineering. There are excellent design causes that it weighs 154 kilos, and the result’s that it is among the best-sounding audio system I’ve heard. It does make trade-offs in its efficiency that restrict its response within the deepest bass and its skill to supply sound ranges that may destroy your listening to and produce home-destroying room vibration. But these identical trade-offs present a very distinctive choice to be used in lots of real-world dwelling rooms.

At the danger of showing the punchlines within the description of its sound high quality that follows, it has an excellent soundstage and imaging, a remarkably easy frequency response from the highest of the deepest bass to the best audible frequencies, and it’s intensely musical. If you desire a speaker you could simply place in a small to regular front room, that has a visible picture that doesn’t seem like it belongs on the slopes of Easter Island, and that won’t create a divorce or the sudden departure of your accomplice, the Piano G3 represents the type of high-end choice that’s all too uncommon in U.S. speaker design.

Understanding the Tidal Piano G3’s Design

All kidding apart, I believe it’s significantly vital to know the designer’s targets. Accordingly, I requested Jörn Janczak, the CEO of Tidal—and the Piano 3G’s chief designer—to elucidate why Tidal created the G3 within the type it did.

Jörn’s English, whereas not excellent, is infinitely higher than my German, and the next excerpt from his response makes it clear that the Piano G3 did have distinctive design targets:

“The narrative for a speaker constructed like that is that it isn’t designed to supply essentially the most for a sure worth vary; neither is it too small for what it’s. We preserved the unique design temporary from the first-generation Piano from 1999; we improved it with out altering the speaker’s basic idea. It can be no drawback to construct a means greater cupboard with cheaper midrange, tweeter, and different drivers, however that’s not what Tidal is about.

“I do know there are good merchandise on the market for five or 10 grand (and even 20 or 40 grand) to have enjoyable with and revel in. All legit. But no matter else is out there may be not constructed just like the Piano, nor does it sound like this speaker. It shines to and for many who join/drive it in the way in which it was designed to shine…the place an even bigger speaker would wreck the sound in that specific area and overdrive the room. It calls for and displays the best electronics and can perpetually disguise its functionality if not utterly unleashed on this means. To discover out and expertise why, for instance, one would ever pay a lot for a speaker just like the Piano, you have to be ready to drive it correctly, and we do have such electronics as a part of the methods we provide.

“There would merely be no purpose to purchase one thing so costly and never perceive the the reason why; these are usually not the shoppers for the Tidal Piano. It stands the take a look at of rationale and emotion—once more if one is aware of and understands what it’s. If it didn’t present efficiency that allows you to neglect its worth, then it might show my level. Just connecting it with good electronics and getting one thing ‘excellent & pleasurable’ can be like having a Patek Phillipe on the wrist simply to know the time or utilizing a Carrera 911 to get backwards and forwards in a visitors jam.

“I may use some good beryllium tweeter or ribbons for a fraction of the value and have the ability to have good decision and replicate to a sure level how one is feeding the system. But reaching the final 20% above that, which permits a speaker to shine past ‘excellent sound,’ is why we do all that we do. ‘Quantity values,’ like F3 [the frequency at which the bass has rolled off by 3dB—RH] and most SPL, and many others., have been modified from the start in favor of drilling out the best sonic high quality from a comparatively modest cupboard in measurement.

“The Tidal Piano was by no means a venture focusing on a sure worth class or viewers; neither is it a diluted design, trickled down from one thing else. As our very first product, it was born from the aim of providing the best attainable speaker as a common and reflective instrument for regular rooms—not too small, not too massive.”

Jörn additionally offered an in depth image of the important thing design options that aren’t obvious merely from wanting on the speaker, however that form the Piano G3’s price. One key function is the diamond tweeter and excerpts from his reply describe its growth as follows:

“We have used diamond-tweeter know-how for 20 years. Indeed, we have been the primary to make use of it this manner. No different audio firm has manufactured extra audio system with a 1.2″/30mm diamond tweeter. Plus, issues have been always improved through the years…we’ve got been capable of lengthen the general response to fulfill our sonic targets. That being mentioned, having a diamond tweeter doesn’t itself assure it’ll do an excellent job reproducing the sign/content material/music. People like the concept of one thing sounding ‘diamond,’ and advertising guys find it irresistible, however the actuality is it has each benefits and downsides. Nothing is tougher and strikes extra like a great piston than diamond materials. Nothing. But additionally, few issues are tougher to combine. The key, as with all components, is implementation. Resolution and dispersion can actually be one thing particular if one finds a method to meld them completely into the motive force for the frequencies above and beneath its passband—in order that the ear doesn’t hear the sign created from completely different drivers, particularly off-axis. We are extraordinarily skilled on this linear integration, which permits the listener to listen to deeper into the music.

“With regard to particular components, positive, the best caps with lowest microphonic results and many others. will assist; we simply use or create one of the best components in an effort to design to the purpose of listening to no crossover factors. We did discover a method to design a easy sign transition from the tweeter to the motive force beneath with completely symmetrical loops (for good off-axis efficiency) and an excellent step response, and but defend the tweeter in opposition to low frequencies. Such an enormous diamond diaphragm additionally works as an ideal warmth sink. The crossover is hermetically and microphonically sealed in opposition to vibrations saved within the lowest chamber, immediately wired to the terminal (a decoupled 15mm block of chrome steel, from the skin polished to protect the floor one of the best ways).”

Jörn was extra cautious about explaining the improvements within the G3’s midrange/woofer drivers and the considering behind the Piano G3’s bass response. The following excerpts present how he summarized some key options:

“Both mid/woofers are downscaled variations from our flagship-project the Tidal for Bugatti “Royale.” The diaphragm is black ceramic, distinctive on this form and design. Such a tough diaphragm has each benefits and downsides. Light, laborious, near excellent pistonic motion, however like all laborious and light-weight issues, it has a resonance peak which have to be introduced beneath management—in any other case, we hear the benefits (decision) in a short time however the disadvantages (the standard harsh sound most ceramic drivers include if not correctly handled), as nicely.

“We can’t give away the recipe, however one should carry diametrical issues collectively: laborious diaphragm management versus easy blending-in/out. Classical minimal filters won’t work since they’ll’t management the diaphragms; steep-slope ones mess up the step response and timing. Flat response is not any indicator alone, but it surely is a crucial primary one. There are at the very least 20 different parameters one must take care of, however one of the vital is step response. We mix the tweeter seamlessly into the midrange/woofer.
Not calculated by way of DSP, however by all analog know-how that’s aimed on the core drawback.

“What do we’ve got on the finish of the day? A really inflexible cupboard holds the drivers in place in order that very gentle and stiff diaphragms can transfer in two instructions, completely managed by a well-designed and well-made crossover.

“The lacquer is not only some black paint. We use many, many litres of true piano-polyester lacquer (10kg per speaker) and have about 4mm thick lacquer on it. The means we apply it to the cupboard, compress it, sand it, and polish it would make it look good and glossy, but it surely additionally has an impact on the sound, since it’s the remaining layer of the cupboard itself, decreasing Fs much more and ‘closing’ the cupboard much more from each side. The Piano responds all the way down to about 38Hz, though that does range in observe with the room. We have skilled some amplifiers that may ship deep bass, whereas others don’t no matter setup.”

He explains the explanation for with the ability to join the speaker as each a two-way and three-way system as follows:

“There is one software the Piano can do that each one different 2.5-way audio system can’t: It has, ‘constructed inside,’ possibly one of many most interesting 2-way displays. So, it could possibly cowl small locations the place persons are in search of an answer from one thing with a 6-7″ mid/bass and a tweeter, with out overpowering the room. Compacts have disadvantages in opposition to the Piano taking part in in that mode: The Piano has all drivers and crossovers in separate chambers; a compact doesn’t have area sufficient for this—all are in a single chamber. The Piano additionally has the way in which extra steady and inflexible stand and but maintains the identical footprint as a compact positioned on a stand. The magnificence is {that a} consumer can unleash a fuller-range speaker for an even bigger area if he strikes to an even bigger area or needs a deeper bass extension.”

There are many different particular design options, together with the crossover, and the strategy of connecting the G3 so it could possibly change into a two-way speaker. Jörn sums up his view of the G3 as follows:

“We know the Piano will not be for everyone, and actually it could possibly’t be for everyone. A correct setup, together with correct related tools, will give a deep view into the recording. The Piano is our smallest speaker however no much less a reference speaker, since it’s constructed with the identical degree of perfection that we construct into our massive ones.”

This effort to create a state-of-the-art monitor for real-world listening rooms is clearly a design alternative, and never the results of any limits in Tidal’s manufacturing functionality. Tidal additionally produces bigger and costlier audio system, together with its top-of-the line Tidal for Bugatti collection, developed for the luxurious automotive firm—a full-out assault on the state-of-the-art. This Bugatti weighs some 480 kilos a aspect and is a part of a full system of Tidal electronics, together with a discrete digital-to-analog converter. If the Piano G3 appears too small and low cost, you’ll be able to all the time purchase the Bugatti, which sells for nicely over $400,000 a pair.

Putting the Tidal Piano G3 in Perspective

Jörn’s feedback are much more helpful than most producer literature and copywriter technobabble, however there may be an apparent bias behind them. No one is goal about one thing he’s really pleased with. A devoted high-end designer and producer goes to see the results of years of labor and two main generations of modification efforts as a serious achievement. He just about has to imagine in his personal work.

At the identical time, I discovered no goal purpose to disagree together with his feedback, and I actually loved my listening periods with the speaker, utilizing a variety of elements and supply materials. I had Pass Labs, Meitner, and PS Audio elements; a spread of interconnects and speaker cables; and a listening session the place a buddy introduced his personal single-ended tube design.

The outcomes have been spectacular with all kinds of related elements in two completely different rooms and in a number of completely different room places. The Piano G3 did a very good job of showing the colorations of the containers and wires in the remainder of my system—one of many key assessments of a very good speaker. Properly set-up and supported by top-quality musical supply materials and electronics, the Piano G3 is among the finest audio system I’ve heard.

Here, nevertheless, I ought to introduce my feedback on its musical efficiency with some vital caveats which have change into increasingly vital because the inevitable limits imposed by the colorations in front-end elements, wires, and cables, musical supply supplies, listening positions, and the sound character of the listening room change into extra dominant features of the sound of any system than the speaker.

I attempt to cope by testing audio system with completely different elements and with each analog and a spread of various kinds of streaming and digital recordings. I exploit completely different mixes of drugs, slightly than a single reference system, as a result of a high-end audio system has a big “error price range” of various colorations from every passive and lively part that impacts what you really hear.

You can by no means audition or consider a speaker by itself. Given that high-end producers have a tendency to supply elements with a considerably constant sound character (although solely “considerably,” because the nuances they like clearly evolve in numerous methods over time), mixing gear from completely different producers and/or completely different generations has a big and unpredictable influence on sound high quality. The degree of synergy between elements relies upon closely on personnel effort or vendor assist, in addition to entry to completely different elements to experiment with.

The listening room, speaker location, and listening place additionally colour a speaker’s sound. This is why I audition the audio system that I evaluate in numerous places in my fundamental listening space, and in one other listening room, to listen to how the sound modifications with room situations. This type of experimentation has change into a important a part of reviewing since you hear the speaker’s interplay with a given listening room increasingly clearly as audio system get higher and higher. Even inches of change in a speaker placement can have a serious influence on deep and midbass. The identical is true of the ensuing variations in room reflections and modifications in listening place.

More than that, I’ve heard sufficient different audiophile listening rooms to appreciate that the private style of even essentially the most refined high-end audiophiles differs considerably in evaluating and establishing a speaker. So do their decisions of music and efficiency. I additionally know from visiting numerous producers’ listening rooms and speaking to completely different producer design groups that even once they use comparable language to explain their targets, they’re in search of completely different nuances and use completely different recordings and elements to get them. I additionally understand my very own biases—and each reviewer has them. I actually take pleasure in my PS Audio FR30 speaker and the Legacy Aeris as references, however I additionally understand that their sound displays completely different private decisions by their designers that led to variations of their sound. The identical has been true of the Wilson Audio and Magico audio system I’ve used as references prior to now.

Personal style in music additionally issues in optimizing a system and significantly in selecting a speaker. My targets are to get the absolute best sound from chamber music, jazz teams, and single voice or small vocal teams. I’ve different audiophile pals who need one of the best sound from giant bands, full symphonies, or grand opera, and others who concentrate on getting one of the best sound from rock, people, and rap. I’ve one buddy who judges a system largely by its skill to loudly play the bottom organ notes, and one other that may by no means get away from the sound of the bottom digital bass.

“Quid est veritas?” a jesting Pilate mentioned. Reviewing the Tidal Piano G3 is all too good a reminder that seek for absolutely the sound—by producer, audiophile, or reviewer—has all the time been private, and the higher recordings, elements, set-up, and room adjustment get, the extra dominant private alternative turns into. In some ways, the one distinction between the human factor of high-end audio and the human factor of America’s more and more polarized politics is that the majority audiophiles would slightly take heed to music than argue.

The Sound of the Piano G3s

All that mentioned, I think that almost all of audiophiles will nonetheless respect the distinctive sound qualities of the Piano G3s. As I’ve famous from the start, they do have two limitations which can be a part of their design. They don’t present the deepest bass or play the loudest and most dynamic passages of in style or classical music with the least coloration, however these limitations are comparatively minor, even in a lot bigger and extra impartial listening rooms than they’re designed for. In the actual world, it takes a subwoofer setup to supply the bottom bass realistically, and nothing you could have in a real-world listening room goes the reproduce the reside sound of Mahler’s Eighth Symphony or the influence of the near-deafening wave of sound in a membership.

Even in a relatively giant listening room, the Piano G3s offered excellent general bass and dynamics, though you would possibly wish to transfer them a bit nearer to the rear wall than traditional, and you will have to experiment with bass take a look at tones or music to seek out one of the best location in rooms which have zones the place a speaker can expertise severe suckouts within the low finish—one thing that may be much more vital in small listening rooms than bigger ones. I’d additionally advise you to hear very rigorously to the extent of midbass power throughout setup. Doug White, Tidal’s Premium U.S. Dealer, put in the evaluate samples in my house and went by a really cautious set-up process. However, he positioned the G3s able the place there’s a slim zone of room points within the midbass.

Moving them about 12 inches confirmed that it actually was a room drawback slightly than a midbass drawback within the G3s. Even so, I discovered getting one of the best sound required a bit extra experimentation with the finer particulars of placement, toe-in, and listening place than traditional.

I additionally discovered that the Piano G3s nonetheless had barely much less obvious upper-bass/lower-midrange power than my reference audio system, though this had the impact of including a slight depth and width to the soundstage—and that soundstage bordered on the excellent in a number of listening positions in two completely different rooms.

When it involves soundstage, imaging, and general transparency, I’ve no reservations in any respect concerning the Tidal Piano G3’s sound high quality. No two speaker designs sound alike, however correctly arrange, the G3s carried out as nicely in these features as any set of audio system I’ve heard. They produced a large, open stage with glorious depth and imaging element (when the musical supply materials offered such data), they usually did so with pure and extremely detailed dynamic contrasts.

I’m now extra used to planar drivers than the diamond tweeter within the Piano G3, whose sound is marginally much less ahead than that of my references. However, that diamond tweeter in actually excellent in creating a comparatively vast listening space and was equally musically convincing. When the recording was ok and pure sufficient, the Piano G3 offered a degree of musical element that was exceptionally revealing, with no hint of hardening even at very loud volumes. From a room placement perspective, it additionally did so in each nearfield and extra regular listening positions, and in methods the place experimenting with positioning by way of the space between audio system and from the audio system to the listening place—and within the precise angle at which they level towards the listening place—paid off in offering a number of the finest sound I’ve heard.

The G3s’ compact measurement additionally paid off in permitting me to position them in positions that had a comparatively restricted influence on room decors—an element no true audiophile will ever care about, except he occurs to reside with just about anybody else.

In phrases of timbre and frequency response, the Piano G3s once more sounded barely extra distant within the higher midrange and treble that my references, however right here I need to stress the phrase “barely.” I’ve had the identical expertise with different good dynamic audio system and ribbon designs, and these are areas the place I’ve have heard equal or higher variations within the sound of reside music as I moved round inside completely different halls throughout a rehearsal.

This superior sound high quality was additionally clear once I began specializing in the sound of various devices and voices. The Piano G3s do very nicely in getting the complete vary of sound high quality out of solo, choral, and grand opera music. The sound of a spread of female and male voices, and the extent of element from even one of the best vocal recordings, was as a lot of a pleasure because the supply materials and affiliate elements permitted.

The identical was true in listening to the musical realism of various devices apart from these with the deepest bass, and even right here I’d say that the extent of pure element the G3s supplied with Bach organ music, and even oddities like Kodo drums, largely offset the shortage of deep-bass power you hear from bigger audio system. Percussion element was distinctive, even with cymbals from essentially the most advanced jazz performances. Woodwinds and brass have been equally good, with not one of the contact of dryness within the woodwinds or edge within the brass you generally discover even in in any other case excellent audio system.

As for strings and piano, the extent of element and naturalness of timbre clearly distinguished between completely different devices, and the imaging once more was as pure because the recording. As is the case with all top-quality audio system, the Piano G3s do all too good a job of showing studio-assembled music the place the soundstage by no means actually existed or was modified out of existence, however listening to music that is dependent upon extreme multimiking, mixing separate tracks, and reinventing the sound is, I suppose, a matter of style. The excellent news is you could actually respect a well-miked reside efficiency and one miked to supply true stereo.

Summing Up

No speaker is all issues to all audiophiles. The Tidal Piano G3 is, nevertheless, a very progressive method to coping with actual room and decor points in ways in which reproduce nearly all one of the best high-end efficiency of a lot bigger loudspeakers.

Specs & Pricing

Type: 2-way/2.5-way dynamic loudspeaker
Driver complement: 1x unique 1.2″ Gen 2 diamond tweeter; 2x unique 7″ Gen 2 black ceramic mid/woofers
Sensitivity: 86dB
Nominal impedance: 4 ohms (3.2 ohms minimal)
Recommended energy: 30 watts minimal
Frequency response: 38Hz–>55kHz (anechoic), -6dB; 150Hz–18kHz (anechoic), ±1.2dB
Dimensions: 9.6″ x 45.6″ x 15.5″
Weight: 154 lbs. every (delivery weight, 233 lbs. every in flight circumstances)
Price: $64,000/pr. in Midnight Gloss Black (non-compulsory veneers at additional cost)

TIDAL AUDIO GMBH
Immendorfer Strasse 1H
50354 Hürth
Germany
tidal-audio.com

The Voice That Is (Premium U.S. Dealer)
Doug White
(610) 574-2518

The put up Tidal Piano G3 appeared first on The Absolute Sound.

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Siltech Royal Double Crown Interconnects and Loudspeaker Cables

Posted on May 30, 2023 by Jacob Heilbrunn

Siltech is positioned within the Netherlands, the place it started manufacturing audio merchandise in 1983. They embody the Siltech SAGA System amplification, which was reviewed by Jonathan Valin in 2014, and the mighty Symphony loudspeaker, launched in 2021. But the corporate might be greatest recognized for its interconnects and speaker cables, each for his or her hefty value and stellar efficiency. Its chief designer, Edwin van der Kley Rynveld, who invented a singular silver-gold alloy in 1997, enjoys a excessive status within the audio trade. When Rich Maez, previously of Boulder Amplifiers now the American distributor for Siltech, instructed that I evaluate its new line of cables, I used to be greater than recreation.

The packaging for the Royal Double Crown Series that I obtained, one step from the very high of the road, may hardly have been extra placing—the darkish blue containers containing these gems have been festooned with giant golden royal crowns. The aristocrat of cables? After prying the containers open, I found a passel of pretty hefty-looking interconnects, speaker cables, and energy cords, whose building appeared to be meticulous. The cables are properly shielded—a dual-layer insulation of DuPont Kapton and Teflon coupled with a Hexagon air insulation is meant to decrease inductance and capacitance. Nestled inside all this shielding are Siltech’s S10 monocrystal silver-wire conductors. The connectors are constructed from pure silver, as properly. The build-quality seems to be impeccable.

What did the cables sound like? Abandon all preconceptions about silver cables being harsh or rebarbative or vibrant. Fiddlesticks. Those days appear to be long gone relating to the highest audio producers, who make use of silver for its pace and purity. Whatever annealing course of Siltech is using—and it’s clearly a superb one—proper out of the field the cables sounded darned good. Indeed, the Royal Crown cables produced a lustrous sound that was tough to neglect. Instruments emerged from about as black a background as I’ve ever heard. Forget that. It was obsidian. Take the Scottish Fantasy by Max Bruch performed by Joshua Bell with the venerable Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, a fascinating orchestral work that I’ve been listening to fairly a bit. Through the Wilson WAMM loudspeakers and darTZeel NHB-468 amplifiers, it was a supremely velvety sound. Not just like the notorious “Dockers” time period that my new colleague Michael Fremer likes to make use of as a disparaging phrase for tools that’s too relaxed and mellow, this was one thing else altogether—refined, wealthy, and rewarding. The first motion, which relies on the music “Through the Wood Laddie,” was an actual pleasure to pay attention by way of the Siltech cables. They conveyed the sonority and sheen of the string part with marvelous constancy, permitting Bell’s rubatos to emerge with tender poignancy. Throughout, there was no trace of any stridency within the treble. Instead, there was a lifelike high quality to the sound. It was virtually just like the inside glow of tubes, besides that there was (gulp) nary a tube within the system.

The soothing character of the Siltech was all to the great on “hotter” recordings corresponding to Count Basie’s traditional Chairman of the Board, launched in 1959. This kick-ass recording was one of many late David Wilson’s favorites–a showstopper, loaded with nifty numbers corresponding to “H.R.H.” and “Segue in C” which can be assured to focus on the spectacular qualities of a great full-range stereo. One of the enjoyable issues about this recording is that the songs typically start with Count Basie plunking away, quietly accompanied by a bass, then the remainder of the orchestra joins in, one after the other, till the joint really is leaping. Such is the case on “Segue in C”; the Siltech cables simply dealt with the super dynamic surge on this quantity. Also spectacular was the panache with which the cables locked down the varied sections of the orchestra, starting from the muted trumpets on the far proper to trombones on the left. All nuances and particulars have been absolutely obvious, together with these within the bass line. Indeed, I might be remiss if I didn’t single out the bass efficiency of the Siltech cables for particular commendation.

Siltech Royal Double Crown Power Connector

Put bluntly, they laid down the regulation proper from the second I inserted them. John Giolas of DAC producer dCS in Great Britain not too long ago visited me to hearken to the brand new Vivaldi Apex CD/SACD gear in my system and launched me to James Blake’s album Friends That Break Your Heart. Giolas and the album didn’t. Nor did the playback on “Famous Last Words.” Right from the outset, the Siltech cables virtually appeared to plunge into the sonic depths, delivering a type of deep propulsive character to the synthesized bass. Immediately obvious, as properly, was the creamy sound of the treble. Blake’s falsetto sounded ethereal, and feminine vocals have been only a trace extra detailed than I’m accustomed to by way of the WAMM.

Adding within the Siltech energy cable solely intensified these attributes. On the Proprius recording Cantate Domino, I used to be taken by the deep bass these cables helped to provide on the music “O Helga natt.” The sound grew to become even hotter and extra fulsome. The sense of refinement and palpability additionally went up one other notch. They additionally go deep into the corridor—on “Silent Night” on the Proprius recording, the cavernous sound of the church was overwhelming. If I needed to describe the cables in plain stereo tools phrases, it will be as a single-ended-triode sound.

The composure and tranquility of the Double Crown cables most likely gained’t enchantment to listeners searching for extra razzle-dazzle or sizzle. These cables are in one other realm altogether. There is one thing greater than somewhat spooky in regards to the degree of element coupled to the refinement they provide. On Murray Perahia’s imaginative recording of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata for Deutsche Grammophon, for instance, the cables provided a type of rhythmic stability that made it even simpler to observe his use of the piano pedal. Ditto for a Rolf Smedvig recording for Telarc with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra of Torelli’s Trumpet Concerto. Once once more, I heard the uncanny rhythmic solidity of trumpet and orchestra with unprecedented accuracy. There was no sense of slippage. The notes popped out of the piccolo trumpet. The transient assaults, in different phrases, have been lifeless on. On the Berlin Academy for Ancient Music’s recording of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos for Harmonia Mundi, the precision of the rhythm rendered the accents of the string devices immediately understandable, once more to a level that I’m undecided I’ve hitherto skilled. It gave the much-beloved third concerto, as an example, an pressing character that swept alongside all the things in its path with complete musical conviction.

The absence of grain together with the superior bass management and picture solidity of the Royal Double Crown be sure that it ranks among the many aristocrats of high-end cables. It could not have the identical supersonic pace because the Nordost Odin 2 or the heft of the Transparent Magnum Opus, nevertheless it brings its personal set of virtues to the desk. Nothing is brummagem in regards to the efficiency of the Double Crown. Quite the opposite. These cables deserve each accolade that will get showered upon them. Anyone searching for efficiency match for a king would do properly to contemplate them.

Specs & Pricing

Royal Double Crown interconnect: $18,100/1 meter
Royal Double Crown loudspeaker cable: $37,500/2 meter
Royal Double Crown energy wire: $15,300/2 meter

MONARCH SYSTEMS LTD. (U.S. Distributor)
16 Inverness Place E, Building B
Englewood, CO 80122
(720) 399-0072
monarch-systems.com

The put up Siltech Royal Double Crown Interconnects and Loudspeaker Cables appeared first on The Absolute Sound.

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The submit 2023 Editors’ Choice: Best Preamplifiers with DACs $5,000 – $10,000 appeared first on The Absolute Sound.

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Living Voice Auditorium R25A Loudspeaker

Posted on May 26, 2023 by Robert E. Greene

Living Voice has lengthy been a big presence within the British speaker business. The “25” within the mannequin quantity right here is in reference to the speaker being a 25^th anniversary mannequin. In reality, the historical past of the design goes again even a bit additional, in that the unique Living Voice Auditorium was apparently strongly influenced by an earlier design from DALI, the Model 104. Meanwhile, the unique Living Voice mannequin has been steadily and thoroughly revised in a course of that resembles the Old Masters of violin-making refining their designs yr after yr, even era after era. Living Voice shouldn’t be distinctive on this respect. It appears a British custom, with the unique LS3/5a and the unique Spendor BC1 having led to many years of refinements and variants, over a 50-year interval for the BC1 and near that for the LS3/5a. Still, 25 years is in itself spectacular in a world the place technical merchandise are likely to have a brief life.

The design targets of Living Voice within the R25A and its associated fashions (there are different related designs at greater costs within the Living Voice line) have pursued an extra purpose in comparison with BBC designs, which have been searching for full neutrality. Living Voice sought not simply accuracy however excessive sensitivity. The Auditorium R25A has a listed sensitivity of 94dB. Compare this to say the LS3/5a, with its 83dB sensitivity. Clearly, we’re in a distinct world right here, supposed to be appropriate for lower-powered tube (or Class A solid-state) amplifiers and, certainly, Living Voice’s designer Kevin Scott voiced the audio system with tube amplification. Living Voice additionally makes horn audio system with the low-power tube consumer in thoughts: The Vox Olympian has a sensitivity ranking of 105dB!

But none of that is to counsel that the Auditorium R25A shouldn’t be of curiosity to people who find themselves proud of higher-power solid-state amplifiers. It is, actually, a speaker of basic curiosity, regardless that it might be significantly enticing to the low-power tube individuals.

Still, the sensitivity situation is a crucial side of the design, and it is sensible to have a look at that basic context first earlier than attending to the extra particular sonic description.

Living Voice Auditorium R25A Loudspeaker rear panel

Size, Sensitivity, and Bass

In the early days of the trendy high-fidelity period, the late Nineteen Forties and early Fifties, amplifiers of excessive energy by as we speak’s requirements weren’t out there. An amplifier with 30 watts (per channel) was thought of a powerhouse. But individuals wished bass with each quantity and extension. The reply was to make audio system large. The logic of that is based mostly on physics: Bass wavelengths are lengthy. A 40Hz tone is over 28 ft in wavelength. This implies that a small driver is not going to couple to the air at that frequency in any respect properly and must transfer violently to provide any substantial sound in any respect. Large drivers fare higher. So, individuals ended up making actually giant woofers: the ElectroVoice Patrican 800 had a 30-inch driver! That was then, however acoustic ideas don’t change, and if one needs bass with excessive sensitivity, dimension stays the way in which to go. The Cerwin-Vega CLS215s—my go-to audio system for reproducing the complete bass energy of the orchestra—are 96dB delicate, they usually get this mixture of bass energy and extension and excessive sensitivity by being nearly the dimensions of a small floorstanding fridge and utilizing two 15-inch woofers. At the opposite excessive, the diminutive Spendor S3/5, beautiful although it’s at reasonable volumes in midrange replica, is a fish out of water confronted with orchestral energy at full throttle. Its bass restrict is 70Hz, the sensitivity is 84dB, and the utmost energy enter is 70 watts: stunning sound inside its limits, however orchestral bass energy and extension are usually not on this system and most positively not so with a low-powered amplifier. A small speaker can pump out bass with sufficient energy driving it and the construction to deal with the ability: Subwoofers may be small and nonetheless produce low bass in a giant method. But they want plenty of amplifier energy. Many have amplifiers as highly effective as 1500-watt constructed into them. And the massive energy is required, and the bass driver is pushed very exhausting.

The Living Voice R25As are a well-chosen compromise within the inevitable trade-offs amongst dimension, sensitivity, and bass energy and extension They are delicate sufficient to be pushed by fairly small quantities of energy, sufficiently small to suit gracefully into unusual home environments, they usually have sufficient bass extension and quantity functionality to be fairly satisfying for many sorts of music.

The designer of Living Voice, Kevin Scott, is firmly of the opinion that amplification of any actual energy (by modern requirements) entails critical sonic errors. I have to say I don’t discover this to be so. But, after all, there isn’t any hurt in precept to having a speaker that’s so excessive in sensitivity that prime energy ranges are usually not even near being wanted. The energy that’s out there however not used shouldn’t be bothering something. And for some individuals, the comparatively excessive 94dB sensitivity will probably be fascinating. To try the lower-power scenario, I used the Schiit Aegir (solid-state, however comparatively low energy at 10 watts in pure Class A, 20 watts in what Schiit calls Continuity mode). It did a high quality job with the R25As. I didn’t have a low-power tube amplifier to strive, however normally it’s positively the case that 20 watts is a lot, and I might guess that 10 could be sufficient for many functions. Certainly, the Aegir was working fantastically properly on the ranges concerned, with Class A sound in the most effective sense—stunning amplification certainly, at a really rational worth ($799 if you don’t want extra energy than is on provide). The energy was enough within the case of the R25As so long as no substantial equalization was used—extra on that time later. I additionally used the 100-watt Benchmark AHB2, which, after all, was simply loafing alongside in its impartial, distortion-free method on the energy ranges doubtless with a 94dB-sensitivity speaker with or with out EQ.

What is within the R25A?

The R25A has two 170mm mid/bass drivers in an MTM (midrange/tweeter/midrange) driver configuration with a 26mm soft-dome tweeter. The drivers are made by Scanspeak. The mid/bass driver has a coated-paper membrane and is constructed particularly for Living Voice, the unique type of the motive force having been in any other case discontinued, it appears. The cupboard is a slim floorstander, uncommon in that it’s provided with a podium to raise it to a greater listening peak. (Bravo for this—all too many smaller floorstanders require the listener to sit down nearly on the ground to be on an excellent axis.) This is a good suggestion and in addition a crucial one, as a result of, actually, the response of the R25A varies an excellent cope with the vertical place of the listening place relative to the speaker, except the listener is admittedly distant. The speaker has fairly a large dispersion sample total, however it’s not significantly steady in frequency response with variations of the vertical listening place (listening peak). On the plus aspect, the MTM association makes the speaker work together with the ground, it appears, moderately lower than regular. The R25A is ported, with the port within the rear. Positioning the audio system pretty far into the room appeared to work greatest in my setup. (Close to the wall behind introduced up the underside however in a considerably coloured method.) The audio system sound like themselves normally phrases in a wide range of positions, however the very best efficiency is dependent upon cautious adjustment, apparently particularly so due to the speaker’s complicated radiation sample. Patience is rewarded. This shouldn’t be a speaker design of the equipment strategy, common with what was referred to as “mid-fi” corporations, the place you load up the dishes any outdated method and push a button and the dishes get washed. (One of the actually peculiar concepts concerned right here is that one ought to check audio system by switching between them however placing all of the totally different pairs in the identical place successively, by no means minding that the most effective place is likely to be totally different for various audio system.)

Starting to Listen and the Imaging Behavior of the R25As

When I first arrange the audio system, I ran Stereophile’s Test CD1 (as is my regular follow) to confirm that the channels have been wired appropriately and that the 2 channels have been “in part.” This is straightforward to detect on music materials, however it’s faster nonetheless to make use of alerts designed for the aim. The channels have been right (monitor 2) and so was the polarity (monitor 3). But the latter was startling to listen to. The distinction is obvious on any pair of audio system which might be intently matched in frequency response. But for the R25As, the distinction was excessive. Focus was excellent in polarity, and in reverse polarity, the barking canine was simply nowhere in any respect—whole lack of spatial focus. This was extra so than with nearly some other audio system I’ve tried, nearly on the degree of the Gradient Helsinki 1.5s, that are absolutely the champs at this in my expertise. No doubt there are those that assume that efficiency on such check alerts shouldn’t be related to music, however this explicit type of check, and the equally spectacular results of the pink noise correlated versus uncorrelated, is instantly associated to stereo imaging in concept, and so it proved in follow, with music materials. The lateral stereo efficiency of the R25As was tremendous. In addition, the depth of picture was additionally fairly startling good.

It is pure to ask whence this arises. What makes the R25As so good at stereo? The presently common perception is that superior stereo arises from uniformity of radiation sample. This is virtually a mantra amongst semi-technical writers on audio, that vast and uniform radiation offers rise to steady and proper stereo. Stable, possibly, however my expertise is that the very best focus and depth is definitely connected to sure sorts of deviations from theoretical point-source uniformity. It is hardly stunning that this is likely to be so. The ear/mind senses location of photos acoustically not from the alerts on the two ears with a hard and fast head place, however from how the alerts range with small, just about subliminal head actions round that place. It is thus greater than doubtless that sure small variations of the soundfield with such variations of head place would give enhanced outcomes, and others not. In any case, my expertise has been that audio system that run a single driver (or within the R25As a pair of drivers) as much as a comparatively excessive crossover level earlier than the tweeter is available in are likely to have extraordinary picture focus. And the R25As have the crossover to the tweeter at 2.85kHz. The off-centered tweeter placement, which tends to attenuate total diffraction results, may also play some position. Finally, the MTM driver association, which makes the ground interplay totally different from a two-way with two drivers performs a job I believe within the era of depth and in liberating the entrance of the soundstage from the airplane of the audio system.

In any case, leaving such tentative theorizing apart, the imaging conduct of the R25As is prime drawer. And this can be a fixed enhancement of the musical expertise. Even in the event you assume you don’t care, that solely the sound itself not the spatial side counts for you, I believe you will discover the way in which by which the R25As inhabit the room with out seeming to work together with it spatially enhances the sense of listening to music as if within the authentic venue. I, not less than, discovered this a seamless supply of musical satisfaction and to an uncommon extent.

The Tonal Character

The R25A’s fundamental tonal character is considerably distinctive, and the perceived frequency response is a bit up and down, though total it’s easily altering on the entire. From the underside up: Deep bass is lacking, although extension shouldn’t be unhealthy contemplating the dimensions and the excessive sensitivity. There is a type of lumpiness round 100Hz, and under that the bass is a bit light-weight, although it goes nominally right down to under 40Hz. Above that, there’s a dip (common, from ground impact, not so extreme as in some audio system). The midrange within the 500Hz-to-1kHz area is considerably over-prominent. Then, there’s a perceived broad dip across the crossover level (within the 3kHz area), arising from the truth that anyplace however precisely on the suitable axis vertically there really is a dip. The prime appears clean and prolonged, even barely rising precisely on the tweeter axis however considerably rolled not far off that axis. The most observable side of those options is the general lightness and midrange emphasis. And this actually is noticed, not a lot as a coloration in any slim resonance sense however as a shift in stability. The male talking voice is lightened up, the other of chestiness. And the feminine talking voice is equally affected. The cello sounds extra within the viola route than it ought to, extra alto than tenor. On musical devices this isn’t usually disagreeable, however it’s not actually proper, and the talking voice is commonly fairly peculiar, particularly in comparison with the BBC faculty audio system that are optimized for the talking voice specifically. To paraphrase Lewis Carroll, “Collar that midrange” is the factor to do with some EQ. Otherwise, issues are simply too unusual, to my ears anyway. It nearly sounds as if the baffle-step compensation had been omitted or not less than was incomplete.

What is peculiar to my thoughts right here is that this midrange emphasis, which is sort of conspicuous to my ears, is hardly commented upon in different opinions. The RM25A has been fairly extensively reviewed, however nearly nobody appears to have even seen the distinctive tonal character of the speaker. This is a part of a pattern: In the obvious zeal to speak about different issues than frequency response, modern audio opinions typically merely ignore frequency response results altogether. And then there’s the truth that the mix of the “ground dip” and the roll-off off-axis in most audio system leads very often to the midrange being considerably projected, as you may see in in-room measurements when they’re printed. In any case, the impact within the R25As doesn’t look spectacular in measurement phrases, however it’s there, and it has a musical impact, whether or not one likes this impact or not. To my ears, the R25As sounded quite a bit higher if one pulled down the 800–1200Hz area considerably, easily however positively down. With that achieved, one thing like impartial stability appeared exterior of the (not unpleasant) sense of dip round 3kHz arising from the near-but-not-on-axis dip if one strikes vertically. The corrected response was really extraordinarily enticing to my thoughts and made a stunning variety of recordings sound “good” within the sense of sounding moderately like live performance music. Euphonic in the most effective sense!

Back to the Sensitivity Question

This brings up the problem of precisely what sensitivity measurements imply. Traditionally, sensitivity is measured at 1kHz. The thought is that individuals are likely to set the amount in accordance with the extent heard at 1kHz, and that is doubtless kind of true, though a part of that is simply the comfort of the spherical quantity 1000. But in acoustic music, orchestras specifically, the massive energy calls for are literally additional down in frequency, as you may confirm for your self through the use of a peak-power-level meter and taking part in some music. The large energy calls for occur when the orchestra goes “whomp” within the bass. The impact of that is that if a speaker is elevated at 1kHz and down a bit decrease down, the sensitivity ranking at 1kHz will give a deceptive impression of what number of watts of amplifier energy you want total. (This was mentioned by RH in his editorial in Issue 335.) One watt could also be loud sufficient within the mids, however when the bass whomps come alongside, chances are you’ll be in hassle with the extent that was all proper for 1kHz.

This is a really actual situation. An amplifier that places out 1 watt will play 1kHz at 94dB earlier than clipping. That is sort of loud. But when the massive bass comes alongside, clipping will occur on the drop of a hat. How excessive is that this in follow? I attempted some time again a McIntosh amplifier that had peak-level meters on my Harbeth M40s, sensitivity 84dB. Playing orchestral music at reasonable ranges—mid-80dB forte degree total on an SPL meter (C-weighted), the massive bass whomps drew 170 watts ceaselessly. People who assume their micro-powered amplifiers are usually not going to clip are doubtless mistaken, except they pay attention solely to clavichords and soprano recorders. Of course, one of many nominal promoting factors of SETs is that they have an inclination to clip gracefully—they usually certainly must.

Looked on the different method round, with 1kHz being the determiner of the setting for the amount, a speaker that initiatives the mids will want much less bass energy as a result of the amount setting will probably be decrease. But in the event you EQ the bass as much as match the mids, then energy calls for go up. In impact, the speaker operates as having decrease sensitivity.

The impact of all that is that, whether or not consciously or subconsciously, the high-sensitivity/low-power world tends to pursue midrange forwardness most of the time. As one may anticipate, SETs are often rolled on the frequency extremes. People discuss their midrange superiority. But the midrange of SETs shouldn’t be essentially superior—it’s simply extra ample in comparison with the frequency extremes. These results are giant in listening phrases. And related bias is concerned generally in audio system.

I’m not making an attempt to counsel that anybody units out to make a speaker with pushed-up mids with the intention to make its listed sensitivity greater. Rather, there are components that make for greater sensitivity that additionally promote midrange forwardness. Among these are light-weight drivers, which usually tend to be energetic on the prime of their working vary, and the absence or close to absence of inside damping. This contributes to greater perceived sensitivity, since damping out sound in impact converts sonic vitality to warmth, so there’s much less sound vitality emitted to the skin world. Furthermore, the undamped sound appears livelier even when it’s not all that a lot louder: Resonances make issues sound louder. This is, after all, no place for a protracted technical dialogue, however the R25As do have moderately little inside damping, in accordance with Living Voice.

Let me give an analogy. If you sit down at a grand piano and depress the right-hand pedal (the damper pedal or sustaining pedal), which lifts the dampers off all of the strings. The instrument appears nearly alive—the very act of making use of the pedal and lifting the dampers makes a small sound reminding one of many resonances ready to be unleashed by pushing down the retains and having the hammers hit the strings. Now these resonances are what make the music, creates the sound of the piano taking part in. But they’re all ready there to be launched.

At first sight, one may assume that for a speaker to be lifelike, it must be related; it too must be a bunch of resonances ready to be unleashed. But this isn’t actually the suitable thought. If a grand piano with the dampers raised is a racehorse ready for the beginning gate to be opened, aquiver with pleasure of the ability to be unleashed, a speaker must be extra like a brick mendacity on a mud flat. It shouldn’t be about to maneuver except shoved and when the shoving stops, it stops transferring. Speakers want to breed the recorded results of the resonances of musical devices, however they don’t seem to be imagined to have any resonances of their very own.

Now, individuals fear quite a bit about the best way to deal with the motion of the cupboard partitions within the decrease frequencies, both by making the cupboards super-rigid or by making them barely versatile however damping them. What I’m describing is additional up in frequency than the bass. A midrange driver taking part in at say 2kHz is producing a backwave of a wavelength of about seven inches. It shouldn’t be pressurizing the field as a unit the way in which bass does, however it’s nonetheless bouncing round inside in varied methods. What is one to do with that sound? Ideally, one needs merely to do away with it as a result of it’s saved vitality that one doesn’t wish to hear. So, often, audio system are filled with one thing or have sound-absorbing damping materials on the partitions of the field. This materials eliminates sonic vitality—it’s imagined to, and it does.

You can skip doing this. If you skip it, the emitted sound will change. The ensuing sound is livelier and fewer “useless.” But useless is admittedly what you wish to hear—or, not less than, I believe so. In basic phrases, controversies alongside these strains have been happening in audio endlessly. How useless ought to issues be? How damped down ought to a listening room be? What concerning the backwave of dipole audio system, absorbed or mirrored? It is dependent upon whom you ask, particularly about listening rooms.

To return to the R25As, they belong considerably within the “undead” class. And to my ears, they’re (within the phrases of Rex Stout’s thriller traditional) “not fairly useless sufficient.” Even in the event you EQ down the midrange prominence to get the measured response flat, there’s a type of glow to the sound at a subliminal degree that I used to be not keen on. I stored wishing I may “put a sock in it,” actually—stuff one thing into the field, not the port however into the field itself.

Don’t misunderstand: This shouldn’t be an enormous factor. Musical devices, in any case, do “glow” on this sense—they’re resonators. But to my ears they have an inclination to amass a bit extra glow than is admittedly there. This is true particularly of the piano. I freely admit that a lot of individuals appear to love this. Reviews of the R25As have both ignored the query or have preferred the “energetic” sound. And some individuals have praised them for percussive sound particularly.

In any case, this can be a smaller matter than the frequency-response results, as such. But in case you are sensitive about this, pay attention rigorously to some piano sound to get the concept. This makes a lot much less distinction on sustained materials, nonetheless.

Good News

It is necessary to comprehend that the R25As do numerous necessary issues rather well, no matter points I might need had with absolute neutrality or lack thereof. As already famous, the R25As do a high quality, certainly a spectacular job of stereo imaging. And they do that in a method that’s of actual musical significance. Orchestral music, for example, is correctly separated spatially, which provides to the listener’s skill to listen to particular person strains. (Ernst Ansermet’s remark within the early days of stereo about how the primary musical job of stereo was separation of elements got here to thoughts.) Comes to that, the R25As do a high quality job of preserving complicated textures straight and unconfused. It is tough to say what’s concerned right here technically, however the lack of auditory confusion is hanging and musically rewarding.

In the Telarc Cleveland Quartet recording of Beethoven’s Opus 59, No. 2 and No. 3, the 4 devices are all the time separated in house and identification, however the entire has a unity on the similar time. It actually sounds very like a string quartet does sound in a gratifying method. (This is an effective recording for these on the lookout for the repertoire.) And when one strikes as much as extra complicated multi-lined materials, the gestalt stays wonderful. The Swan of Tuonela on Reference Recording’s Reveries CD (Minnesota Orchestra, E. Oue cond.) sounds each stunning and convincing, not solely when the solo English horn is taking part in with sparse accompaniment but additionally when the entire orchestra speaks in response. And the massive second is simply large, not in any method muddied up. This feeling of effortlessness stays when even greater orchestral moments come up in different repertoire. Again, the readability with none harshness and with none sense of pressure (so long as quantity is stored rational—that is in any case a small speaker) is musically gratifying. Even the heaviest scores of R. Strauss and Mahler stick collectively whereas remaining unconfused (the recording allowing). The sense that so typically turns up of issues falling aside, the middle not holding when the going will get intense, is blessedly lacking to an extent that’s outstanding, particularly in a speaker of this dimension. (It was a little bit of a shock to me to seek out this in a speaker with so little inside damping. I might have anticipated that the after-sound that one hears on the piano recordings would obscure barely complicated orchestra textures. however for no matter cause, the readability is there.)

At very shut vary, one hears the considerably difficult acoustic relationship among the many two drivers and the tweeter geometrically between. But at an inexpensive listening distance, the speaker turns into very coherent and of a bit. And the sound could be very “un-speaker-like.” These descriptions could seem to be customary audio-review boilerplate, however on this occasion, they’re really true. The lengthy work in adjusting crossovers and selecting crossover elements which has been concerned with the design appears to have paid off—one thing has paid off, in any case. (It is all the time exhausting to reverse-engineer, to know what a part of the design course of precipitated what, however the audible results are there it doesn’t matter what the rationale.)

One begins to grasp how different reviewers have determined to disregard problems with full neutrality and focus on what the speaker does properly—as a result of the issues it does properly it actually does do properly, and they’re musically vital. It is probably foolish to name Beethoven and Sibelius “enjoyable,” however in some sense the R25As actually are “enjoyable” to take heed to or, to make use of a greater phrase, a pleasure.

Long Thoughts

As I used to be penning this, I recalled the passage on web page 102 of Issue 335 the place our editor RH discusses how even audio system on the grandest worth and dimension vary (on this case the Göbel Divin Noblesse) have a sure distinctive character of their very own, prone to be totally different from different giant and costly audio system. This is probably not stunning. Indeed, it even appears inevitable within the context that simply taking a look at on-axis response alone, by no means thoughts the consequences of off-axis and room sound and all the remainder, the brink for audible distinction is about ±0.1dB for broadband shifts in response. All speaker designers are within the place of getting to decide on amongst a large number of prospects, even when one supposes that they’ve full management, which, after all, they don’t.

But the odd factor is that individuals, even confronted with the truth that there are going to be inevitable variations, turn out to be devoted to 1 or one other risk. We all wish to imagine that the speaker we like is someway “proper” in a method that others are usually not. Even amongst individuals who agree largely, impassioned disagreements come up. Have a have a look at any discussion board the place totally different variations of basically the identical speaker design are mentioned.

In this spirit, I’m actually fairly satisfied that the R25As are too “midrangy.” But I’m ready to confess that others may really feel in another way. Perhaps this can be a second when one ought to recall the strains from the Youngbloods’ “Get Together”: “Come on individuals now, smile in your brother.”

The R25As are a cautious work, refined over a protracted time frame and geared toward a particular aesthetic in sound, as is any critical speaker design. In this case, the aesthetic appears to incorporate the maximization of midrange life in a speaker that’s, even so, almost full vary, reasonable in dimension, and excessive sufficient in sensitivity to be pushed by lower-power amplifiers.

If the latter level, specifically, is of compelling curiosity to you, then you definately positively must audition the R25As. If you aren’t decided to stay with lower-powered amplifiers and don’t thoughts a bit EQ to collar the midrange, the R25As are nonetheless of curiosity for his or her imaging, coherence, and bass extension in a comparatively small speaker.

Specs & Pricing

Driver complement: 1x Scanspeak 26mm (1″) mushy dome tweeter, 2x Scanspeak 170mm (6.5″) coated-paper mid/bass drivers
Frequency response: 35Hz–22kHz, ±3dB
Sensitivity: 94dB
Nominal impedance: 6 ohms, nonreactive
Dimensions: 215mm x 1170mm (together with podium) x 270mm
Weight: 42 lbs. (every)
Price: $6995/pr.

LIVING VOICE
Long Eaton
Derbyshire, UK
44 (0) 115 9733222
livingvoice.co.uk

BORDER PATROL (U.S. Distributor)
(301) 705-7460
borderpatrol.internet

The publish Living Voice Auditorium R25A Loudspeaker appeared first on The Absolute Sound.

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Focal Stella Utopia EM Evo Loudspeaker

Posted on May 19, 2023 by Andre Jennings

Focal calls its second-from-the-top Stella Utopia EM Evo ($149,998 pair) a technological twin sister to its topmost Grande Utopia EM Evo due to its implementation of comparable options. The Stella shares the Grande’s high-efficiency field-coil or electro-magnetic (EM) woofer, TMD (Tuned Mass Damper) driver suspension, NIC (Neutral Inductance Circuit), MRR (Machined Reinforced Rings), “W” sandwich composite cone materials, Power Flower magnet construction, Focus Time driver alignment, and OPC+ filtering, multi-adjustment sound-personalization in a three-way design with extra svelte dimensions than the bigger four-way Grande.

Being a 3 manner, the Stella has crossovers at 230Hz and a couple of.2kHz. The speaker has a single 13″ electro-magnetic woofer, a 1″ beryllium inverted-dome tweeter, and twin 6.5″ midrange drivers. The midrange and tweeter are in a bodily midrange-tweeter-midrange (MTM) association, sitting above the EM woofer’s enclosure.

The Stella has visually enticing curved surfaces on all 4 sides. Each driver is mounted in its personal optimized semi-separate chamber, organized in what Focal calls Focus Time—a mechanical system that aligns the section between drivers on the listening place. This is achieved with the woofer module having an ever-so-gentle backwards tilt, with the decrease midrange module close to parallel, the tweeter module barely tilted downward, and the upper-midrange module tilted a bit extra downward. The ensuing look provides the modules the looks of being gracefully curved, like a backbone. When correctly arrange, the Stella’s module alignment higher time-aligns the drivers’ outputs on the listening place.

Internally, the Stella’s cupboard is made from medium-density fiberboard (MDF) as much as 2″ thick in key areas and closely braced internally. Focal believes the MDF materials has inherent benefits for loudspeaker development, together with stability and resistance to vibration. The entrance baffle incorporates Focal’s MRRs across the drivers for elevated power. Additional gadgets contained in the Stella embrace: extra acoustic wadding for bass management; precision, 20%-thicker inner wiring to restrict present losses; and premium crossover elements.

The Stella Utopia’s base is a thick laminar materials with everlasting, low-profile, built-in wheels on the underside and 4 threaded holes within the corners to simply accept Focal’s three-piece (threaded screw, higher cone, and decrease cone), customized, decoupling spike meeting, along with a magnetically attracted counter-spike (spike cup) to guard tile and wooden flooring. On the rear of the Stella’s base is a DC energy connection for the EM woofer’s exterior energy provide. There are WBT bi-wire/bi-amp speaker connections for the principle (midrange and tweeter) and bass (woofer) speaker sections. (Focal provides customized metallic jumpers for single-wired use, once you’re not bi-wiring or bi-amping the audio system.) The upper-front portion of the Stella’s base is a large, flared outlet for the bass module’s reflex port. This port is claimed so as to add no distortion or noise from air circulation, in addition to no dynamic compression of the woofer, which is built-in instantly above the speaker’s base. (The woofer module has a gap on the underside that mates with the formed, front-ported outlet of the speaker’s base.)

The 13″ EM woofer occupies the higher entrance of the bass module. The EM woofer’s cone is made from the identical third-generation “W” composite materials described within the midrange module part under however optimized for the bass-frequency vary. Unlike most drivers accessible at present utilizing everlasting magnets constituted of numerous supplies, Focal has chosen an electromagnet. This is a metallic core fashioned right into a magnet by an exterior energy supply used to cross electrical present by the field-coil surrounding the core. This design selection permits Focal to keep up an optimum steadiness of effectivity and low-frequency output extension. The EM woofer is round in diameter (clearly seen with the grille cowl eliminated). With the grille cowl on, the woofer appears to have a vertical oval form, which provides to the svelte slender look of the Stella—a pleasant design contact.

The two midrange modules (instantly above the woofer module on the high of the speaker) look an identical. The 6.5″ midrange is centered within the module, according to the tweeter and woofer. The cone is made from Focal’s third-generation “W” composite materials: selective fine-weaved, long-strand, glass-fiber tissue above and under a driver-specific-thick, structured, resin-foam core. The motor system consists of Focal’s Power Flower motor (a sequence of double-stacked ferrite rings in a round array surrounding the voice coil) that helps higher magnetic vitality and vented cooling of the voice coil that’s proportional to the quantity of motion throughout operation: the extra cone motion, the extra venting and thus the extra cooling. The midrange additionally incorporates Focal’s mechanical Neutral Inductance Circuit (NIC). This NIC Faraday ring is used to optimize the magnetic area across the voice coil, rising efficiency by delivering higher readability, dynamics, and definition. Finally, the midrange driver has the Tuned Mass Damper (TMD), born from the usage of finite factor evaluation to selectively tune the motive force’s encompass suspension and get rid of undesirable resonances, leading to extra linear cone motion, particularly within the 1kHz-to-4kHz vary.

The tweeter module, sandwiched between the 2 midrange modules, incorporates the inverted, pure beryllium dome tweeter, vertically according to the opposite drivers. Unlike the detachable fabric grille covers of the opposite drivers, the 1″ tweeter has a everlasting metallic grille cowl defending the tweeter. The driver’s operational bandwidth is 1kHz to 40kHz. The Infinite Acoustic Loading (IAL2) of the tweeter has a low resonance frequency that’s practically two full octaves under the in-system crossover frequency of two.2kHz.

Unlike a number of the giant high-performance audio system that ship in a number of smaller instances, the Stellas come totally assembled. That’s the upside. The draw back is {that a} forklift is required for supply. Each totally assembled Stella speaker is shipped in a really giant wood crate weighing practically 600 kilos. The crate is provisioned for forklift motion alongside the lengthy facet of the construction. The courier delivered the crates to my storage by way of forklift, the place they sat for a few days till the piano movers might take away the audio system from the crates and convey them into my listening room. The Stella lays flat on its again within the crate throughout delivery and is protected on all sides internally with very robust closed-cell foam helps lower exactly for the speaker’s outlines. The piano movers set the crates vertically as directed within the unpacking directions and rolled every speaker out of its crate. The 374-pound Stella had protecting padding across the decrease base and a fabric “gown” masking the complete speaker. Once the movers acquired the audio system into the home, we rolled them into preliminary positions and put in the three-piece decoupling spikes and counter-spike cups. The subsequent steps have been to take away the “gown” and padding on the bottom to disclose an attractive Ash Grey-colored speaker. Final steps concerned unpacking the EM-woofer energy provide for every speaker and making the AC-inlet connection, adopted by the EM-power-supply-to-EM woofer DC energy connection. I wired up the speaker terminals in a bi-wire configuration and turned the EM energy provide on by pushing the ability button on its high. The Stellas have been able to play music.

Before I say extra about setup, it’s value mentioning that purchasers of the Stella Utopia EM Evo will more than likely have all these steps of supply and setup carried out by their vendor or consultant. If the proprietor is curious in regards to the steps in setup, the Stella unpacking information and consumer handbook has helpful fundamental directions for getting the audio system arrange and taking part in satisfactorily. Some of the data consists of advising how placement within the room impacts bass, recommended places to make use of and keep away from, the right way to join the audio system and EM module, the right way to set up decoupling spikes, the right way to set listening distance and speaker separation, and the right way to troubleshoot set-up points. Lastly, there’s a part dedicated to the usage of the OPC+ filter settings and the EM woofer power-supply stage.

Once the Stellas have been initially arrange with nominal settings, bodily moved and adjusted for finest in-room sound, and taking part in music for a number of weeks, I started to pay attention extra critically and discover the OPC+ and EM woofer changes.

One of the distinctive options of the Stella Utopia EM Evo is the mix of OPC+ filtering and EM-woofer-power-supply sound-personalization changes. The EM woofer energy provide has three settings for bass output that may be chosen based mostly on the amplifier used, private desire, and/or the speaker’s room interplay. The OPC+ filter (hidden behind a entice door on the rear panel of the decrease midrange module) has 4 frequency band changes (bass high quality, midrange, tweeter slope, and tweeter stage), permitting three settings for every. All OPC+ filter bands and the EM woofer management include a nominal setting adopted by a stage adjustment that enables for a setting above and under regular. Together, the sum whole of settings accessible on Stella provides as much as a wholesome 243 mixtures!

Starting with the EM woofer level-control, the “2” setting provides extra output in comparison with the “NOM” setting. This extra output begins slowly within the decrease bass frequencies and rises as frequencies improve till it reaches about +2dB at 150Hz, then begins to say no to flat when it will get to the woofer crossover frequency of 230Hz. In this setting, the higher bass is extra pronounced and might, in some situations, serve to counter a room anomaly or a floor-bounce concern in that frequency vary. If the consumer needs a fuller upper-bass sound than what is offered within the “NOM” place, this setting can even do this. The ”1” setting is used to decrease the bass output from 230Hz on all the way down to the decrease bass frequencies. This setting drops the output by about 1dB and is fairly linear in operate throughout its vary of operation. In this case, the setting can be utilized to easily scale back the bass output of the EM woofer. Subjectively, this setting gives very tight and linear bass with much more management than the already glorious “NOM” setting.

The Bass Quality adjustment within the OPC+ filter adjusts the bass frequencies from roughly 50Hz to 100Hz centered round 70Hz. Position “3” provides 1dB whereas place “1” drops the output by 1dB. Position “2” is nominal. The Midrange adjustment within the OPC+ filter operates linearly from 230Hz to 2.2kHz. Position “3” provides 1dB whereas place “1” drops the output by 1dB. Position “2” is nominal. Like the midrange, the Tweeter Level adjustment within the OPC+ filter operates linearly simply above its begin frequency of two.2kHz to properly previous human listening to. Position “3” provides 1dB, whereas place “1” drops the output by 1dB. Position “2” is nominal. The Tweeter Slope adjustment operates across the transition frequency of the tweeter, 2.2kHz. This adjustment is regular in place “2,” produces a slight dip in place “1,” and provides a slight peak in place “3.” All the adjustable dB-levels listed above are approximate values. (The OPC+ and EM woofer stage controls and their recommended settings underneath sure use circumstances are listed within the consumer handbook for additional clarification.)

Using the Stella with regular settings can be simply high-quality if that have been the one possibility accessible. My predominant curiosity for many visiting audio system is the bass efficiency in my listening room. The Stella performs very properly with these default settings. However, provided that I had the chance to additional refine the bass, I took benefit of the scenario and opted for the subjectively tighter, barely extra linear, and managed bass of the EM woofer energy provide’s “1” setting, although the output was diminished by about 1dB. The diminished bass output was not a big concern; I ended up turning the OPC+ midrange and treble controls all the way down to compensate and convey issues again into subjective steadiness.

I listened to the Stellas with the speaker grilles on and off. There is a distinction. Anytime you set one thing between you and the speaker’s driver, it’s extremely possible {that a} distinction will probably be seen. How a lot of a distinction might rely upon the listener and his/her style. It will definitely rely upon whether or not the producer/designer designed the audio system for use with or with out grilles, which I have no idea. In the case of Stella, the distinction between grilles and no grilles got here all the way down to a slight discount in transparency. After the comparability and settled listening, I collect one might simply regulate to the change if grilles-on are the popular visible look.

Once correctly arrange and adjusted for the listening atmosphere, the Stella Utopia EM Evo proved to be a superb sounding speaker. There was an uncanny quantity of transparency, paying homage to my time with some electrostatic loudspeakers. Unlike most ESLs, the Stella has frequency extremes to steadiness the sound and convey issues right into a extra holistically full perspective. Like an ESL, there may be that feeling you’re listening to extra of what’s on the recording within the vital midrange. With the Stella, one tends to listen to issues happening within the background through the efficiency extra clearly. Things like a fragile hand motion on a delicate guitar vibrato by Kenny Burrell on “Mule” from Midnight Blue (Qobuz 24/192), Stanley Turrentine’s barely muted coughing round 3:27 into the identical music, or the small sound of a key motion by Art Pepper throughout a efficiency of “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To” (Tidal 16/44.1).

Another function of the Stella is the flexibility to maintain up with the rhythm and pacing of music. On Herbie Hancock’s “Rockit” from the Future Shock album, the lightning-fast rhythm of the fixed synth percussion (and the plethora of digital devices overlayed out and in of the combo) was rendered with such pace and precision that the complete composition took on an exhilarating sense of vitality—an upbeatness that accelerated the enjoyment of this early 90s tune. Friday Night In San Francisco proved to be one other deal with. The rapid-fire taking part in of guitar from Paco de Lucia, Al Di Meola, and John McLaughlin was as pleasing as at all times, however there was a further quantity of readability delivered by the Stella’s means to parse, separate, and simply painting these people and but maintain their performances holistically full. I’ve at all times thought-about this stay efficiency an fascinating distinction to their studio album Passion, Grace & Fire. In the stay album it has at all times appeared as if they’re stepping on one another at instances through the efficiency. With the Stella, it nonetheless sounds that manner, however the added readability reveals their particular person taking part in extra clearly throughout these situations.

Making a multi-driver speaker play as a single entity will not be a simple job. The Stella pulls the feat off properly. One approach to establish this trait is to play a single instrument over one speaker channel. Another manner is to play a number of devices in a single speaker and observe how properly the speaker pulls their imaging off. On Art Pepper’s “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To,” the association places Red Garland on piano, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Philly Joe Jones in the identical proper channel. This trio of performers train all of the drivers within the speaker’s array whereas concurrently requiring a single speaker to maintain every instrument sounding actual but separate from the opposite devices. The Stella accomplishes this feat completely with nice separation of the three devices; but all are full sounding throughout playback, no matter variations in dynamic contrasts at any given second.

Bass efficiency is tight, managed, and real looking sounding. Brian Bromberg’s efficiency of the basic Beatles music “Come Together” (Qobuz) is a superb instance. The bass is current and wealthy, but fast as Bromberg slaps the fretboard to cease a string tone. Each particular person be aware sounds true and real looking. Moving to one thing a bit extra artificial, James Blake’s “Limit to Your Love” (Qobuz) produces a pulsing bassline that shortly stops at its finish and but is fantastically managed throughout fast be aware pulses. Stella performs these synth bass notes with ease, whereas producing the low-frequency energy on this monitor.

Voices are rendered with precision performed again by the Stella. Ella Fitzgerald’s super-pure voice through the Verve years is unmistakably pretty and fascinating. Yet, once we take heed to her singing through the Pablo years, we hear Ella’s magnificent voice aged like high-quality wine by these audio system. Male vocals forged the same spell with a number of the greats. Take Nat King Cole singing “Welcome to The Club.” His voice is as pure as ever when backed by a giant band taking part in with vigor and rhythm. Name your favourite vocalist after which take heed to them by the Stellas utilizing glorious sources and electronics. You will more than likely be greater than happy with the outcomes.

Soundstaging and imaging from the Stella audio system is great by way of instrument placement laterally throughout the stage, and picture peak could be very passable for a big speaker. Playing something with embedded processing, like Q-Sound recordings, simply transfer sounds across the listener, far exterior the speaker boundaries and behind your head if processed to be positioned in these places—suppose Roger Waters’ Amused to Death (Qobuz, Tidal, LP, CD). Standard recordings give well-placed preparations based mostly on the blending engineer’s picks, whereas extra minimalist stereo-mic recordings depict a sensible house with room atmosphere when captured.

I can’t establish any obvious weak point or concern with the Stella Utopia EM Evo that may’t be ameliorated with correct set-up changes, supporting elements, cables, and/or sources. Subjectively, in my listening house, with such a big and bass-friendly room, I’d prefer to have had a couple of dB extra bass output, preserving the identical efficiency achieved with the bass settings staying precisely the place I’ve most well-liked them. This might be an answer the bigger Grande Utopia EM Evo would offer. The different merchandise I seen is that such a big speaker can barely sign its location at instances when devices are laborious panned on to the speaker. I ought to be aware that if I transfer my listening place one other three or extra ft away, that is a lot much less noticeable. Given that almost all giant audio system have this concern, it shouldn’t be a lot of a priority. Lastly, I’d choose only a tad bit extra lower-midrange heat with out it affecting the remainder of the midrange frequencies. This largely falls into the supporting elements and cables class. With that famous, I’ll say that after I play an emotional piece of music like Bill Withers’ 1973 Live at Carnegie Hall rendition of “I Can’t Write Left-Handed,” and the extra fashionable 2010 model sung by John Legend and The Roots on their album titled Wake Up!, these minor quibbles shortly dissolve away, as I slide into the enormously poignant and heartfelt renditions of the Withers music.

The Stella Utopia EM Evo acquitted itself properly through the analysis interval, with spectacular transparency, lightning fast transient response, close to limitless dynamic playback functionality, glorious lateral soundstaging and imaging, excellent picture peak, and nice instrumental separation to enhance very tight, managed, and refined bass response. The Ash Grey end on the analysis pair is as stunning to take a look at because the sound produced by the speaker. Since the present model Stella’s introduction in 2018, many new upper-high-end audio system have entered the market from a number of producers. Today, these Stella Utopia EM Evos proceed to supply glorious sound that’s aggressive with all of them. Go pay attention and listen to for your self how Stella(r) sounding they are often.

Specs & Pricing

Type: 3-way dynamic loudspeaker
Tweeter: 1″ IAL2 pure beryllium inverted dome tweeter
Midrange: 2x 6.5″ “W” composite sandwich expertise midrange
Woofer: 13″ “W” composite sandwich expertise woofer
Impedance: 8 ohms nominal (2.8 ohms minimal)
Crossover frequencies: 230Hz, 2200Hz
Frequency response: 22Hz–40kHz (±3dB), 18Hz (-6dB)
Sensitivity: 94dB (2.83V @ 1 meter)
Recommended amplifier energy: 50–1000 watts
Dimensions: 21.75″ x 61″ x 32.69″
Weight: approx. 374 lbs. ea.
Finish: Carrara White, Black Lacquer, or Ash Grey
Price: $149,998 pair

FOCAL NAIM AMERICA (Distributor: U.S. & Canada)
313 Rue Marion
Repentigny, QC J5Z 4W8, Canada
(866) 271-5689 (Canada)
(800) 663-9352 (U.S.)
focalnaimamerica.com

Reference System
Analog tape: Otari MTR-10 Studio Mastering (¼” 2-track) tape deck with customized Flux Magnetic Mastering Series repro head and secondary customized tube output stage, Studer A820 Studio Mastering (¼” 2-track) tape deck (x2), Studer A80VU MKII Studio Mastering (¼” 2-track) tape deck, ReVox A700 (1/4″ 2-track and ¼” 4-track heads) tape deck, Stellavox SP7 (¼” 2-track) tape deck with ABR giant reel adapter, Nagra IV-S tape deck with customized giant reel adapter, ReVox G-36 (¼” 4-track) tape deck
Analog vinyl: Basis Audio Debut Vacuum with Synchro-Wave Power Supply, Basis Audio 2800 Vacuum ‘tables; Basis Audio SuperArm 9, Basis Audio Vector IV (x2), Graham Phantom III tonearms; Lyra Atlas, Lyra Atlas SL, Lyra Etna, Lyra Etna SL, Lyra Titan-i, van den Hul Colibri XGP, Hana SL, Hana Umami Red, Hana Umami Blue, Ortofon Verismo cartridges
Analog phonostage: The Raptor (Custom), Ayre P-5xe, Musical Surroundings Phonomena II+ w/Linear Power Supply, Zanden Model 1200 Signature
Digital supply: Intel i7 tenth era processor-based music server internet hosting JRiver Media Center, Roon, Qobuz, and Tidal. Currently researching reference DACs
Preamplification: Dual Placette Audio Active linestage
Amplification: Custom/Modified solid-state monoblocks
Loudspeakers: Vandersteen Model 3a Signature with twin 2Wq subwoofers and twin SUB THREE subwoofers utilizing M5-HPB high-pass filter, Focal Stella Utopia EM EVO
Cables: Assortment of AudioQuest, Shunyata, Tara Labs, Acoustic Research, Cardas, and customized cables
Support: Minus-Okay BM-1, Neuance shelf, Maple wooden shelf, Symposium Ultra
Acoustics: Walker Audio
Accessories: Aurios Pro, Pneuance Audio, Walker Audio, Klaudio KD-CLN-LP200, Kirmuss Audio KA-RC-1, VPI 16.5, Clearaudio Double Matrix Professional Sonic
Room: 18′ (W), 8′ (H), 43′ (L)

The submit Focal Stella Utopia EM Evo Loudspeaker appeared first on The Absolute Sound.

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