SO, WHICH IS IT: Loudspeaker efficiency versus sensitivity

The sensitivity of a loudspeaker is the sound pressure between 125 Hz (250 Hz) to 4 kHz (8 kHz) at a specific distance – when you have a constant voltage – measured in dB per watt and meter. Mostly it is the voltage of constant 2.83 volts, the distance is 1 meter, at 8 ohms […]

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Electronics aren’t immune either!

There are many multi-driver speakers, but few that go floor to ceiling like the IRSV. Floor to ceiling multi-driver speakers are called a Line Source. What’s counter-intuitive about a line source is how specific the imaging can be. With that many drivers, one would think the image would be tall, rather than lifelike, when the […]

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AUDIO INSIDER

SPEAKERS / AMPS: A beginners guide to bi-wiring

Jim Lesurf writes:  “Bi-wiring” is a controversial topic. Some people are quite certain it makes an audible difference. Some others are convinced that it can’t actually make any difference at all. The purpose of this analysis is to try and decide whether it is at least theoretically feasible that bi-wiring can make any difference. To […]

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AUDIO INSIDER

ROOM or SPEAKER? There seems a persistent notion that rooms need to be of a certain quality in order to take full advantage of what a speaker has to offer.

If your room isn’t good enough then investing in a wonderful pair of speakers is a waste of resources. Kind of like the idea that if you’re not a gourmet you cannot appreciate fine food. Poppycock. Of course it is true our rooms play a huge role in helping and hurting our HiFi system’s performance. […]

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UNDERSTANDING: Line sources

PAUL McGOWAN Kevin in Wappinger Falls New York (wherever that is) asked me an interesting question recently. “Arnie Nudell popularized the line source loudspeaker design and many of his most revered speakers such as the Quantum Line Source, the IRS 1B, the IRS V, and the Genesis 1 (and apparently at least the two larger members […]

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VANDERSTEEN: Richard Vandersteen: Keep on Truckin’ – by Ken Kessler

First published in 1988 Richard Vandersteen doesn’t look like a typical loudspeaker designer. True, he wears glasses, but his presence suggests a longshoreman or somebody who’d be played by Gene Hackman. And sure enough, he tells you in a quasi-Dukes of Hazzard drawl that he’s been a construction worker, plumber, truckdriver, and electrician. Electronics had […]

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APOGEE: Amplifiers suitable for 1 ohm Scintilla loudspeakers

Howard – help please! WHICH vintage Krell? Certainly. I sold many pairs of these magnificent but tricky-to-drive speakers when I ran Subjective Audio. I was, so I’m told Apogee’s most successful UK retailer. i mention this because I have a lot of direct, personal hands-on experience. The simple part of my 2-part answer is re […]

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BOSE: Are the Bose 901 speakers still considered among the best?

Eric Huang replies …. I’m not an audio equipment expert. But I can share some things I learned about the Bose 901 speaker from the man himself, because I took Professor Bose’s acoustics class when I was undergraduate, and we got to ask him lots of questions. When people buy speakers, what sounds “best” is […]

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ACOUSTAT: What happened to them?

This is all I’ve been able to find: A manufacturer of electrostatic loudspeakers formed by designer James C. Strickland in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA in 1973. First product was shipped in 1976 in the form of the Model X, a hybrid electrostatic/dynamic loudspeaker that featured a built in valve based servo amplifier and a year […]

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AUDIO INSIDER

A little tilt back

When setting up a pair of speakers it’s standard practice to move them closer or farther apart, more or less toe in, and away from or towards the front wall. Rarely do we remember to angle them forward or backward. This is because it is simply not part of the standard practice in speaker setup. […]

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OPINIONS DIFFER: Trying to decouple speakers from the room

 Just wondering if anyone else has suspended their speakers. My first attempt was with an old pair of infinity’s which I placed on top of a bicycle tube. I was wondering if manufacturers would design a speaker with this in mind? My main purpose is to keep the floor from resonating, IMHO it works well […]

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