audio-electronics

big speaker without the big bad bass: Dunlavy Audio Labs SCIV loudspeakers

dunlavy SC-IV, anechoic response on HF axis at 3m with grille on, with nearfield midrange response below 400Hz, nearfield woofer response below 700Hz, and complex sum of nearfield midrange and woofer outputs in the ratio of the drive-unit diameters.

 colin jordan of the boiler room mastering studios on his dunlavy SCVI-A’s (the “A” stands for the newer generation of SCIV’s with modified bass drivers producing slightly deeper bass than the SCIV’s)

dunlavy audio labs: the DAL factory in colorado springs before it closed down

hand made to last a lifetime

its been over a year that i have been looking for a pair of speakers that can fill my large room at low volumes without dealing with exaggerated bass or loss of midrange. i seriously considered magnepan 3.6 or 3.7’s (a brand i owned years ago) but ended up here. i finally had a pair of dunlavy SCVI’s delivered over the weekend and i’m super excited to set them up. they are to be customized for me in white (pics to follow) to blend the 6 foot tall monoliths into my space a bit. dunlavy loudspeakers are a rather special bunch (measurements/specs), hand produced for a short period of time in the 90’s in colorado springs USA by john dunlavy (formerly head designer of the duntech out of australia) before DAL disappeared, as most idealist companies do… john dunlavy also passed away in 2007 making his speakers, and life’s work immortal. the SCVI’s were honored as stereophile’s 1994 loudspeaker of the year and then product of the year. stereophile editor robert deutsch who reviewed the speakers in april 1994 ended up not returning the speakers as they do with the usual reviews and instead ended up buying a pair himself. back in 1994 (more than 18 years ago) they cost what many considered a reasonable $4,995-$5,495/pair or $6,995-$7,495/pair for SCIVAs plus shipping (a considerable amount given they are over 500lbs, 250lbs each) plus tax. today they are still sought after by those looking for an un-exagerated, flat bass, and neutral mids that is due to its dense un-ported modular cabinetry that houses each driver separately. i had listened to them before purchasing them and while they fill the room beautifully at low volumes they still have the incredible ability to be fast unlike the magnepans. i will write more later. by dd

CATEGORIES: audio-electronics, read

bergmann belt drive sleipner danish turntable: a record player you can fall in love with

while the U.S. still kicks ass on the turntable hall of fame, the danes are not doing so poorly either. i think the problem with U.S. audio industry, is that they simply have no clue about the fact that we have to stare at ‘their’ ugly contraptions on a daily basis while we listen to our  beloved music. the danes on the other hand, are perhaps more used to beauty as a part of life. for one thing, everyone there weighs a fraction of those in the U.S. so streamlining is a part of cultural engraine-ment (sorry that’s a new word i just invented). second, the danes must have discovered material beyond the readily available and disgustingly common natural oak. now of course, the sonic capabilities are to be judged by discerning ears everywhere; but, at approx $4,800 bergmann sleipner sustem gets an “a” for aesthetics in our book. well done… turntable: airbearing design. vacuum hold down or clamp. high precision digital controlled DC motor. belt-driven. tonearm: linear tracking airbearing tonearm. carbon armtube and headshell, moulded in one piece, for optimum stiffness. armtube damped inside. counter weight decoupled from armtube. adjustable in all angles. by dd

CATEGORIES: audio-electronics

iphone megaphone by en&is


a ceramic passive amplifier created for iphone/ipod touch, by italian designers isabella lovero and enrico bosa of en&is. classic, sleek design with function. not sure how it sounds, but a great idea and nice design nonetheless. by m+m

CATEGORIES: audio-electronics, design

white noise: tyler hays bbdw speakers


our friend tyler hays, at bddw, has done his handiwork on a pair of speakers made of white american holly. now, while scott is a sensitive and detailed guy there is no saying how much of an audio expert he is. we’ve all seen his turntables made of stone, yes, but speaker design and research takes years and requires intricate attention to drivers and cross overs, the inner cavity of the unit, resonance, and not to mention a knack for mid-range. so while the speakers are gorgeous, how they sound will be a whole ‘nother story. given the $7,500 price tag, and the amazing sounding speakers that are out there in that range, i would think the buyers will be more of an aesthetic driven bunch than a musical bunch. i’m making a note to check them out but i simply can not imagine nirvana. that said bravo to the look of the piece. simple and pure. by uh

CATEGORIES: audio-electronics

lamhorn 1.8: canadian audiophile speakers

i only gazed at the lamhorns at a friends pad and read about them but conceptually i fell in love with them. although i have yet to hear them, the principle of a single driver embedded with another seemed pure in theory. i can’t wait to have a listen once they are set up in the months ahead. the bass that is usually created by another driver is channeled through the lamhorns humungous trumpet like enclosure eliminating the need for yet more circuitry. although huge the lamhorns can be driven by a small 4 watt (yes that is four not 40) amplifier making it an extremely efficient speaker. designed by robert lamarre in canada, the lamhorn speakers are among a category of speakers that are special in technology, efficiency and innovation. now if only someone could save the audio industry from its bleached wood demise and offer us a more intriguing finish we’ll be extremely happy. $9,500 canadian dollars a pair or 9,351 USD made individually to order. (with special thanx to joakim and shadi for this introduction.  by uh

CATEGORIES: audio-electronics

Indianapolis: klipsch speakers since 1946


beautiful horn heritage speakers reissued by klipsh. the hand-built and horn loaded american made speakers are back. originally dating back  to 1946, the new heritage range comes in four levels. the top one, klipchorn, is a fully horn-loaded, full range, three-way speaker system. it weighs 80 kg and stands 1.28 meters high. the 1-inch tweeter and 2-inch midrange driver alongside a 15-inch fiber- composite woofer give a sensitivity of 105 dB. $9,500 a pair. the second down, is named la scalla II (another one of those silly names). $5,450 a pair. the third one is the three-way cornwall III speaker that boasts a sensitivity to match the fully horn-loaded cabinets.  $2,700 a pair. The 4th and cheapest model is the heresy III that comes equipped with a powerful woofer, bi-wire network, diaphragm tweeter, midrange drivers and a removable slant riser. $1,350 a pair. by dd

CATEGORIES: audio-electronics

goodbye genius: steve jobs dead

the original apple logo… phew, we sure dodged that bullet!

 


we need more people like this please. farewell to the man who thought different and did something about it. the son of a syrian muslim father (a professor) and an american mother (a pathologist) he was an unwanted child. set for adoption, and raised by paul and clara jobs in california, steve surely made up for his childhood set backs by becoming the most wanted man. he went on to build perhaps the one company that its products and software sold themselves with one leap innovation to the next. he created the company that made us ask “why doesn’t everything work the way this does?”

 

despite the efforts to insure us all that apple is bigger than one man, unfortunately it will never be. in 1985, after apple’s board-of-directors fired jobs from the company he had built from his garage into a 2 billion dollar business, apple lost its way, despite the presence of co founder and friend steve wozniak and the newly appointed hack of a ceo john sculley, from pepsi (sorry! steve may have forgiven you but we haven’t), and apple nearly disappeared from the face of this earth by talking about processor speeds and chips inside their grey boxes not to mention sculley’s brilliant , the apple newton, a total bomb, which i have an original model of. now without steve, there’s no saying where its future will rest. with apple stocks overvalued by 10 folds, banking not on apple but on steve jobs and his vision, they have a heavy legacy to stand up to, and  the announcement of the 4GS isn’t quite gonna do that. at the end, brands are nothing without the people behind them, despite what corporations, and businesses would like us to believe, and jobs will truly be an irreplaceable citizen of this earth. thank you steve, but also paul and clara, and dog bless. by dd

CATEGORIES: audio-electronics

human audio: bamboo cd player

im sure most people have abandoned their cd’s and cd players, but until there is an affordable digital player that can store the billions of tracks we have afford-ably and in full resolution there will be cd players. human audio transport and player are not not cheap but not only they are beautiful they are amazing sounding alternatives. this model: human audio libretto cd player in bamboo available for approx 7,000 euros, roughly $10,000. click here to contact distributors in your area. by dd

CATEGORIES: audio-electronics

iphone with macro, fisheye and zoom

 


very geeky, but cool none-the-less. the word is that the iphone 5 will be so thin you can floss with it, which will render this gadget useless. on my end i will simply wait till sept before adding anything… although i must say the white iphone has been quite tempting. by xy

CATEGORIES: audio-electronics