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    New Magico and JL Audio Subwoofers

    ^ Is that a picture of a Magico sub under construction, or another subwoofer using Aurasound drivers? (The pointed conical dustcap is the giveaway.)
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    New Magico and JL Audio Subwoofers

    Looks like Magico is using Aurasound's underhung neo radial motor drivers, which bodes well for the sound quality of their subs. Kind of amusing that Jello's dismissal of off-the-peg parts is followed immediately by a very expensive sub that obviously uses off-the-peg parts, though...
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    The Cable Dialectic

    Do you seriously not accept that, given two wires of identical specification, a claim that insulation identical in every way except for color results in audible differences between the two is on its face idiotic, and leads to a reasonable inference that the claimant is (with regards to this...
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    Is ABX finally Obsolete

    Is there anything that ultimately matters in audio other than audibility? If the difference between two things is not reliably and repeatably audible, then the two things for all intents and purposes (given that audio equipment is just a tool to achieve an audible result) are freely...
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    What are your favorite 2011 releases?

    The three 2011 releases that seem to have gotten the most play around here are Adele's "21," Radiohead's "King of Limbs," and Death Cab for Cutie's "Codes and Keys." The least played, of the albums I've bought this year? Eddie Vedder's solo album Ukulele Songs. Not that I'm biased against the...
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    The Cable Dialectic

    Your mistake, it seems, is taking rather obviously figurative language literally. "Fire hose" is a common colloquial expression for speaker wire that is very large in diameter. The Google search ""fire hose' speaker wire" turns up nearly 60,000 hits, so clearly I am not alone in that...
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    Is ABX finally Obsolete

    There is simply no reliable evidence available to support that proposition. There are many things in room/speaker interaction that cannot be modeled or predicted in advance. They have to be measured/observed in situ. So in that respect, yes, it is considerably more difficult. And considerably...
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    magneplanars

    That is true. An even cheaper approach that takes up less space and is also IMO easier to do because one isn't dealing with unbalanced-balanced adapters and consumer vs. pro level issues, is the miniDSP. Regardless of the specific box used, the real key to integrating subwoofers with mains is...
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    Is there a reason to make low efficiency box speakers in this day and age?

    I think it's about thermal compression, or rather the lack thereof. Because the coil is operating at a lower temperature, its "large signal" behavior is not markedly different from its "small signal" behavior. Being used to speakers that are both efficient and designed for smooth sound power...
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    The Cable Dialectic

    Scale on a screen can be deceptive. The conductors alone for a true 8AWG wire are something like 3.5mm in diameter. True, the one you linked will be thinner than most 8AWG wires, because teflon insulation is generally thinner than PVC or other types. That's why I prefer speaker wire with teflon...
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    Is ABX finally Obsolete

    The 1983 date was not accidental. Anyone serious about audio will know the seminal article about subjective listening comparisons published in JAES that year. Nope. There's a massive gulf between pure electrical systems (audio electronics) and sometimes electronically-controlled mechanical...
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    The 12 Most Significant Loudspeakers of All Time

    I'll give you most Thiels, Vandies, and the triangular Spica (is that the only one? It's the only one I've ever seen) as having phase coherence at some measuring angles. To my knowledge, only the ESL-63 and Danley's Synergy horns are time coherent all over the place. Joseph Audio, at least when...
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    The Cable Dialectic

    Without wading into the wire "sound" debate, that is not correct. Eight strands of 26AWG wire in fact sum to ~17AWG, not 8AWG. The handy "rule of three" rule of thumb (double the number of strands, drop down 3AWG) wgives you 26->23->20->17, By the actual math, using numbers on of the first...
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    Is ABX finally Obsolete

    That's fine. My position has actual evidence to support it (the results of controlled subjective listening tests dating back to 1983 or so) and yours simply does not have anything to back it except for sighted flights of fancy. I think we should leave things at that. I agree with you, but that...
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    The 12 Most Significant Loudspeakers of All Time

    Outside of their propaganda, few do. Their measured performance tells the real story. As do the specs. How many speakers use 1st order (acoustic, not electrical) crossovers and/or coincident drive-elements spaced such that all elements arrive in time? Excluding Quad - I think it's an open...
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    Is ABX finally Obsolete

    My observations upon similar noodlings (a comment on how I derived my observations, not how you derived yours) are exactly the same. That's why to me at least a good speaker starts with controlled, even midrange directivity and low diffraction. That is certainly not a sufficient condition...
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    The 12 Most Significant Loudspeakers of All Time

    Given that "time coherence" has never been even shown to be audible, that is simply incorrect.
  18. D

    The 12 Most Significant Loudspeakers of All Time

    "Time coherence" is a technical claim, so obviously the only evidence that could support it is measured performance. It is not. "Time coherence" is a technical claim, not a subjective one, so obviously the only evidence that could support it is measured performance. An odd comment, given...
  19. D

    The 12 Most Significant Loudspeakers of All Time

    I've never seen any evidence that the DQ-10 is time-coherent. Indeed, with its huge numbers of drivers covering similar frequency ranges seemingly haphazardly tossed across a baffle, I don't think it is possible. The aesthetics of the DQ-10 were certainly influenced by Quad, though. First time...
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    OSX Lion

    Office 2011 is fully supported, though older versions aren't. It also so much snappier to use than older versions, though I do miss the old Formatting Palette. I think that was a better design than the extra toolbars on top of the screen, and better suited to modern widescreen monitors. Leave it...
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    Is ABX finally Obsolete

    Depends on the driver. :) But that does seem to be the way "audiophiles" assemble their systems, by and large. Not much rhyme or reason, and certainly not much attention to things that actually matter. How many "audiophiles" use a modern multisub system to smooth out the room response in the...
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    The 12 Most Significant Loudspeakers of All Time

    If that's the case, though, then there is a disproportionate number of panel speakers on there, considering what a small niche panel speakers are. By that standard, there should probably only be two: a Quad 57 or 63 and one of the early Maggies. But then shouldn't the choice have logically...
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    Is ABX finally Obsolete

    My point is, simply, that people holding these two points of view aren't going to reach some grand synthesis. I think that's an incorrect view of the rational music lover position. I think the position was best summed up by the ghost of Mrs. Landingham in the season finale to the second season...
  24. D

    OSX Lion

    One more pro with Lion: it seems to have improved how much time can be squeezed out of the almost 5 year-old battery on my MacBook.
  25. D

    Is ABX finally Obsolete

    Add "and level matched" after "blind," and I think you've nailed it. Often, what people hear as "subtle sonic differences," after all, are just small broadband level differences.
  26. D

    Is ABX finally Obsolete

    That sounds awfully familiar. :)
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    OSX Lion

    I was a little surprised that just running the app worked so well. I made sure the backup on my Time Capsule was up-to-the-minute current, but it looks like that wasn't necessary.
  28. D

    OSX Lion

    Anyone else step up to Lion on opening day? So far on my old MacBook - 1.83GHz core 2, 2GB ram, 650GB HDD, 500+ GB in the iTunes library :) - I don't notice much speed or stability difference, though I didn't do a fresh install. Scrolling is backwards until you uncheck the box atop the...
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    Best computer speakers

    What's your size limit? Something like a pair of Tannoy Precision 8D's would make killer near field speakers, if you're willing to have bigger boxes. I use an older, passive model (System 8 NFM II) for the LCR channels my computer/multichannel music nearfield system.
  30. D

    Is ABX finally Obsolete

    True. The argument always seems to end have the following result: audiophool: YOUR hearing may not be good enough to hear the differences, but I hear them so na, na, na na na. rational music lover: you're deluded. The funny thing is, most of both of those statements (everything except for...

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