The speaker?

June 30, 2009

Is Paradigm's Studio 10 v.5 still the speaker to get?

Tim Runnels

For under $1000, yes. However, wait until July 1 for a new review that's on a speaker that costs over $1000, but some people may like more.

Blind testing again

June 23, 2009

Doug,

I read your editorial, and there's a lot to discuss here. Overall, I agree with blind testing, but there are some finer points that must be considered.

Firstly, a machine that moves each set of speakers into the same position makes the assumption that all speakers are designed to work with the same proximity to boundaries. When you're testing variants on a design you're developing, that's valid. When you're testing vastly different designs it may not be. I know that you like to pull a speaker way out into the room to know what it "sounds like," but some people do need to put speakers close to boundaries, and a good design can take that into account. (A bad designer can just claim to have taken that into account.) Such a system is, as you mention, quite expensive. A symmetric room could allow for, at least, A-B tests.

There are two fundamental testing paradigms. In one you change only one factor, and leave everything else the same. In the other, you change many factors in a systematic way. The second approach takes more time and effort, but yields much more information. Changing a single factor in our review systems and making a judgment is little better than changing everything and making a judgment. Boomboxes aside, there will always be equipment interactions.

S. Andrea Sundaram
SoundStage! Network writer

Research shows . . .

June 16, 2009

I just wanted to thank you for your May and June editorials promoting good scientific practices in the evaluation and review of audio components. I appreciate you mentioning Harman as an example of an audio company that uses sound scientific methods in the evaluation of their loudspeakers. As you know, we use double-blind methods for evaluating the sound quality of our products because our research has shown listeners' sound quality judgments are influenced by sighted biases such as brand, price, etc. If you don't remove these sighted biases from the test, you cannot measure the true sound quality of the product.

Research shows that consumers want good-sounding products, but there aren't many reliable or meaningful sources of information to point consumers in the right direction. As more audio review magazines like yours adopt a more rigorous scientific approach in their evaluation of audio products, the availability of accurate and reliable data can only raise consumer awareness and demand for better quality audio products.

Keep up the good work!

Sincerely,
Sean Olive, Ph.D.
Director of Acoustic Research
Harman International

Bravo to blind listening

June 12, 2009

Dear Mr. Schneider,

I just read this article, and all I can say is, "Bravo sir, bravo." The only thing I can add is that Robert Harley is an elitist. (I’m sure you knew this, but chose not to state it in the article.)

Not only are they fearful of being embarrassed by a blind test, but they are also fearful that they may actually like a $1000 amp or speakers. They would then have no argument to justify the multiple tens of thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of dollars they have spent on their systems over the years.

As such, I have long since abandoned reading Stereophile or The Abso!ute Sound. They are for rich @ssholes who believe in the total scam of "pride of ownership." For the last seven or so years, ALL my audio reading comes from the SoundStage! Network, and that goofy guy over there at 6moons.com

I much prefer your liberal take on audio. Bravo again to you sir. Keep up the good, and honest, work.

Greg Morris

CD players and computers

June 7, 2009

I'm thinking of either buying a CD player (probably my last one) or a laptop and a DAC. The way I see it, CD won't last long given the way downloading is growing. But is it too soon to give up on the format altogether?

Timothy Wilson

You're wise in thinking about the options before you purchase. In my opinion, CD players are in their last days and computer-based solutions that play files from a hard drive or other storage device will continue to grow. People who are buying a CD player right now are probably buying their last one, whereas those who are jumping into computer-based audio are positioning themselves for the future. As a result, there might be a reason that someone will still want a CD player, while there are definitely other reasons that people will want to go for a computer-based solution. You'll have to decide which side of the fence you wish to be on.

Anthem matching

June 2, 2009

My Tandberg 3012 integrated amp put in 20+ years of hard work, but is ready to retire. Would the Anthem Integrated 225 be a good match for my recently purchased Canton GLE 490 speakers? Other suggestions?

Thanks,

Martin Bradley

I would have suggested Anthem’s Integrated 225 had you not mentioned it. It’s an affordable integrated amplifier that delivers plenty of power (225Wpc) and, according to Philip Beaudette’s review, sounds great. The Integrated 225 seems like one of the best deals out there today.

I looked up the specifications for your speakers and it appears like they will like the power the 225 can deliver. The 490 is a reasonably large speaker with a number of drivers. Based on my experience, multi-driver speakers do better with more power, not less. According to the company’s specs, the 490’s impedance is said to hover between 4 and 8 ohms, and it can handle 150W continuously and 320W on musical peaks. The Integrated 225 has more than enough power to drive them. This means that you should never fully tax the 255 and drive it into clipping. Based on the numbers, this seems like a good match.