the flat response - Hificritic.com

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With its rich balance, the Duetta needed heavy driving to bring up the mid and treble ranges subjectively, whereupon the magic qualities of this fundamentally musical transducer were then revealed. Most of the frequency range was of high purity with excellent transparency, and once you had become adapted to this speaker tonally, it rewarded you with an excellent focus, fine orchestral perspectives, and big sound stages. The usable treble range was dulled, but otherwise of very fine quality leaving aside the question of balance, the bass was appearing powerful, clean, articulate, and extended, virtually to the subwoofer level. * * In larger rooms - 200m³ - the bass was proportionately reduced, and much better balanced. But most importantly, the midrange was very good indeed, and worthy of both the brand name and the asking price. Coloration (in the resonance sense) was very low, the sound imbued with a great sense of ease. The Duettas were not immediately lively, in a dynamic sense, but did continue to impress with their high resolution of inner detail, as well as by their discrimination of subtle harmonic shadings. Sound Quality: Martin-Logan CLS An earlier CLS had sounded quite impressive-lively, brilliantly clear, and full of dynamics as well as considerable musical information. Ultimately, however, it had proved a trifle wearing in that its tonal balance was up-tilted - too bright - the converse of the Duetta. The current review sample sported the latest-electronics comprising a factory-specified treble resistor selection, which has balanced it closer to tonal neutrality.
This CLS was better balanced than before, yet much of its impressively exciting “liveliness” was still apparent. My listening notes contain a very good first impression, which placed it in the true high end. The broad midrange was undoubtedly very fine, and sounded quite remarkable on plucked instruments, such as harp and acoustic guitar. As with the best panel speakers, the absence of the usual wooden-box colorations came as a welcome relief. The mid was highly informative and immediate, with that now much-sought-after “direct-coupled” character. The speaker could play pretty loud with quite modest amplifiers, and showed a surprisingly healthy bass and bass-power handling. If I had stopped listening here, the CLS would have sailed through the subjective testing; however, as the listening period was extended, I became increasingly aware of certain adverse effects that ultimately moderated my early good opinions of this model. For example, I found the stereo imaging restless and aurally uncomfortable. To put it bluntly, the upper range, beyond 5kHz say, was “phasey”. * (* JGH also noted this quality when he heard the CLS's in J. A.’s room. He refers to this as the “Venetian blind” effect. ) By this i mean that small head-position movements or changes resulted in disconcerting shifts in apparent image position. Higher-frequency instruments were often presented in a forward, manner, which tended to detract from the impression of depth. Unless one sat perfectly still, head virtually clamped, with the two speakers perfectly and symmetrically aligned, the stereo focus was consistently imperfect, restless, in the upper registers. In addition, the upper treble possessed a distinct, though subdued, “edge” or “fizz” above 10kHz. Finally, the bass, at first impressive, began to resolve itself into a one-note emphasis or “hangover” located in the midbass, with little extension apparent below this point. Small musical forces, such as a string trio, replayed exquisitely, but with larger forces the CLS showed a tendency to lose this higher level of clarity. In addition, it could be made to clip on moderately high levels of solo piano.
Page 1 and 2: _____________________ THE FLAT RESP
Page 3 and 4: in a true ribbon form. The magnet s
Page 5 and 6: lossy foam-plastic mounting is used
Page 7: I shall leave sound quality rather
Page 11 and 12: For the record, the Quad ESL-63, wh
Page 13 and 14: Duetta can be rated well enough . F
Page 15 and 16: 50Hz, and, in my view, showed exces
Page 17 and 18: FIG.10 The CLS offered a below-aver
Page 19: * Provisions have been made for the

the flat response - Hificritic.com

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