T.H.E. Show 2021 -- The Video Interviews

Ron Resnick

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Jan 24, 2015
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Ron Resnick

Site Co-Owner, Administrator
Jan 24, 2015
16,017
13,346
2,665
Beverly Hills, CA
Review of Audiotech Forty-10 by Rick Becker of Enjoy the Music:


From the review:

"The depth and resolution of the bass carried upward into the midrange and treble such that more detail emerged from top to bottom than I've been accustomed to. There was more transparency and more tonal color throughout. Pace, rhythm & timing were not particularly superior. The improved transparency and focus made it a lot easier to hear the individual notes, sort out different instruments in a group or orchestra, and follow the interplay of those instruments as the piece evolved. Attack of the notes was right now and the decay was smooth and natural, imparting a pleasant bloom to the music. Cognition of song lyrics became a lot easier, even in the more obscure situations. A key signifier on my compilation CD is the "Fifty-seven channels and there's nothin' on" refrain in Bruce Springsteen's song, "57 Channels." It is way upstage and to the listener's left — barely audible. The Forty-10 pulled it off as well as any speaker I've heard it on.

Moreover, there was just a little disparity between the bass cube and the spaced array in tonality, but not in dispersion. Keep in mind, I was using a very high-quality AGD amp on top that cost more than five times the Parasound amp on the bass. Frequency response seemed seamless and dispersion was extremely wide without a significant shift in tonal balance or color as I moved far to the side of the room. My SPL measurements at the end of the review period indicated a 10dB peak at 400Hz that would have boosted the vocal region but again, this was likely a room-induced node. The sound completely escapes from the enclosures and there is just a small penalty for getting the end seat on the sofa when listening with friends. Sitting directly in front of one or the other speaker is like sitting a bit off-center at the Eastman Theater. The orchestra is still all there, but you're a little off to the side.

As good as the AGD/Parasound solid-state combination sounded, swapping in the Tube Magic Research/Coincident combo revived my tube lust. The more vivid sense of space, transparency, and tonal color took the Forty-10 to an even higher level. The high efficiency of this two-way design allowed the magic of these SET amps to turn loose the unique design of these speakers imparting even more bloom and making them even more emotionally engaging. Hearts of Space on NPR was dreamy and I learned many pieces of this ambient form of music contain deep synth notes that I didn't know were there. Any music with a beat set my toe-tapping incessantly and only one loud and very complex classical music passage asked more than the 18 Watts could provide. The bass, driven by the stronger Coincident amp, never faltered, but what was even more impressive was the completeness of the deep notes, ripe with tonal color, defined by attack and decay — deepest bass notes that my Kharma could not quite reach.

. . .

I can think of few other speakers that offer this level of sound quality with such a wide listening area, such high sensitivity, and near full-range capability."
 
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