LOUDSPEAKERS

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go to: Contents | Features | Bookshelf, Stand-Mount and Desktop | Floorstanding | Editors' Choice Awards FROM THE Editor Welcome to the 2013 edition of our Buyer’s Guide to High-Performance Loudspeakers, brought to you by The Absolute Sound. Inside you’ll find reviews of 21 great loudspeakers, priced to fit any budget. The reviews have been selected from the pages of The Absolute Sound, but all are new for this Buyer’s Guide. In addition to On The Horizon, our traditional report on newly introduced products, we’ve added some special new features. Sneak Previews gives you an advance look at products under review before that review appears in The Absolute Sound. The new Further Thoughts section provides you with additional commentary on a product that has previously been reviewed. The reviewer might have additional insight into the product, and can also tell you what it’s like to live long-term with the loudspeaker. Another new feature is Our Top Picks. Four of our editors and reviewers each name the speaker that they would buy for themselves at $1500, $5000, $10,000 to $15,000, and $25,000. Recommendations don’t come much higher than that. We’ve also included a fascinating look into the minds of the world’s foremost loudspeaker designers in the Designer Roundtable: The Art of the Small Speaker. What goes into making a musically satisfying sound from a small enclosure These experts share their secrets. Finally, for the technically minded we bring you “Loudspeaker Types and How They Work,” a crash course in speaker technology excerpted from my book The Complete Guide to High-End Audio (fourth edition). The product reviews in this Buyer’s Guide are notable for the sheer number of amazing values available today at every price level. Can a $129-per-pair speaker be considered “high-end” If that speaker is designed by Andrew Jones, author of the magnificent $70,000 TAD Reference One it can. When Jones turned his attention to creating a $129 speaker for Pioneer (TAD’s parent company), the results defied expectations in this price category. You’ll also find Andrew’s work represented in this issue with Neil Gader’s review of the $29,800 TAD Evolution One. These two products prove the point that high-end audio isn’t about price, but about the attitude and skill of the product’s designer. High-end products are built by skilled enthusiasts to deliver real musical performance, not as commodities to be sold in the greatest number. Every time I attend a hi-fi show I’m amazed to discover a new small affordable loudspeaker that delivers performance far above what its price and size would suggest. The PSB Imagine Mini ($799), Sonus faber Venere 1.5 ($1198), and the KEF LS50 ($1499) have all impressed me greatly at shows, and have pushed the price-to-performance ratio on the category. You’ll find full reviews of these three remarkable speakers in this Buyer’s Guide. No matter what your budget or listening tastes, you’re sure to find a great loudspeaker among those featured here. Remember that a review is just a starting point for your own auditioning. Use the reviews and recommendations in this Buyer’s Guide to create a short list of speakers you should audition yourself. Choose wisely and you’ll enjoy your favorite music brought to life as never before. —Robert Harley Click here to turn the page. 4 Guide to High-Performance Loudspeakers www.theabsolutesound.com previous page NEXT page
go to: Contents | Features | Bookshelf, Stand-Mount and Desktop | Floorstanding | Editors' Choice Awards ON THE HORIZON Hot New Loudspeakers Coming Your Way Neil Gader 5 Guide to HIgh-Performance Loudspeakers previous page GoldenEar Triton Seven The GoldenEar Triton Seven brings awardwinning Triton Series performance to a more compact size and more affordable price range. It represents the first Triton Tower without a built-in powered subwoofer, yet it achieves subwoofer-like bass performance by combining advancedtechnology drivers with GoldenEar’s sophisticated bass-loading technologies. Like the Triton Two, the Seven combines a D’Appolito array of 5.25" mid/bass drivers, a High Velocity Folded Ribbon Driver (HVFR), used in both the Triton Two and Three, plus a pair of side-mounted subbass radiators that are located on either side of the cabinet down near the floor for optimum coupling to the room. The Seven’s crossover and unique cabinet shape not only aligns the driver array for a coherent wave-launch directed at the listening position, but also results in better control of internal standing waves. Sensitivity is rated at 89dB; nominal impedance is 8 ohms. Price: $1400. www.goldenear.com www.theabsolutesound.com NEXT page and you’re there Close your eyes and you’re there. Building on our award-winning AR series, Sony ES speakers recreate the experience of hearing music performed in a live venue. Hand-crafted from Scandinavian birch selected for its acoustic resonance, the single cabinet, two-enclosure design gives you unparalleled low-frequency isolation. The I-Array tweeter system delivers a true-to-life listening experience. And the result is beyond words. Because You Care About Music Learn more at www.sony.com/ES ©2013 Sony Electronics Inc. Sony and the Sony make.believe logo are trademarks of Sony. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. All other trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners. SS-NA2ES
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LOUDSPEAKERS

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