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FEATURE
OLD SCHOOL
Charity Begins at Home
Perhaps the best thing about having audiophile
buddies, especially ones that
have a bit of adult ADD, is that they can’t
sit still for very long, meaning there are
always great deals to be had if you wait
long enough. Car enthusiasts seem to be
that way too. And camera enthusiasts, but
I digress…
While the model 2 always seemed a
bit congested and lacking in ultimate focus,
with the 2+2 a little bit too round on
the bottom end, my goldilocks speaker
has always been the 1+1. Essentially the 2
with the panels on top of each other, rather
than side by side, the 1+1 creates sonic
images like few other speakers can, even
today, thanks to a panel width of about 9
inches and a floor-to-ceiling height.
Back in the 1990s, I had a set of
1+1s that I paired with Jeff’s old Audio
Research D79, and it was a match made
in heaven in my 11-by-14-foot room. The
1+1s even generated decent bass and,
just to be sure, I bought a pair of Quad
57s just to compare—not even close! Yes,
the Quad has a midrange purity that is
arguably tough to beat, but for this guy,
the much greater low-frequency response
and dynamic range of the 1+1 make it a
more interesting daily driver.
Back to the Future
Driving today’s 1+1s with a pair of 100-
watt Pass Aleph monos, combined with
an ARC SP-11, makes for a kick-ass
vintage system on a reasonable budget.
Borrowing a friend’s D-79 to pair with the
1+1s brings back great memories, with a
bit more romance through the midband,
but the class A Pass amps make for
more control and more bass wallop (not
to mention eliminating the need to track
down suitable tubes). (continued)
22 TONE AUDIO NO.64
July 2014 23