Displaying items by tag: acoustic - StereoLife Magazine

Choosing a loudspeaker is a task that requires matching many factors at the same time - size, construction type, finish, performance, and, of course, price. When we have solved this puzzle, all we need to do is to carefully remove the new equipment from the box, connect the cables, and arrange speakers in such a way as to get the best possible sound out of them. However, the latter turns out to be quite complicated. Finding the optimal positioning of loudspeakers in the listening room costs pretty much nothing and can surely give a lot of satisfaction. All it takes is a little experience, intuition, and commitment to turn this "problem" into an exciting adventure.

If we asked audiophiles which element of the stereo system is the most important in their opinion, most of them would definitely bet on speakers, an amplifier or a source, or - in some cases- on something like cables, power accessories, or anti-vibration pads. A large group will answer, however, that the room in which all this equipment works has the greatest impact on the final sound result. In a room with poor acoustics, even the most expensive and the most refined equipment will not be able to show even some of its capabilities, while in interiors adapted to listening to music, even inexpensive equipment should do well and give us a lot of pleasure. What to do to find ourselves in the latter group? There are, of course, many simple home methods to improve acoustics, but more and more people are choosing a "real" solution - the assembly of professional acoustic panels. There are many companies on the market offering specialized products for the adaptation of room acoustics - not only listening rooms, but also recording studios, concert and conference halls, offices, hotels, restaurants, and public facilities. One of them is Vicoustic. The Portuguese have long been providing audiophiles, sound engineers, and installers with panels that do not look like typical, ugly, gray pieces of foam. A lot has changed recently, so I decided to explore the subject in more detail and talk to Vicoustic's technical director, Gustavo Pires.

British monitors gained an exceptional appreciation in the audiophile world. Many manufacturers of such sets have rich and interesting history, often intertwined with famous recording studios. Even today, in the offer of PMC or ATC there is a sharp line dividing the consumer and professional segment. Obviously, every manufacturer dealing with professional equipment likes to boast about it everywhere, but it is also fair to say that many British companies have the right to do so. Among many institutions, one has become the real breeding ground of speaker talents - the British Broadcasting Corporation. Boxes originally developed for the BBC have 'that something' - the sound which is difficult to replicate even today. Most of the engineers have abandoned the old way of building the speakers, but a few companies are still faithful to those proven solutions. Graham Audio is one of them.

Whenever I hear about the possibility of reviewing Xavian speakers, I'm already enthusiastic. These speakers are designed to stand out from the mass-produced crowd, but this is not the end of the story. As almost every review begins with the company's history, this time I'll skip the story about a charismatic audiophile who moved to Czech Republic from Italy for his wife, hired talented carpenters and so on... One can just visit Xavian's official website or take a closer look at its products to realize that we have some seriously specialized activity here. In Xavian's speakers there is no cheap plastic, gimcrack, drivers for half a dollar or wood-like veneer that comes out of the printer. Roberto Barletta doesn't design the speakers that will work with any cheap receiver, and the tuning of each new model takes several years on average. Perhaps that is why every new product and every major change in Xavian's catalogue is a big deal. The introduction of Perla and Orfeo monitor speakers was just such a step change. Now new boxes joined the family.

Audiovector is a company which doesn't need an extra philosophy - what it already has is enough to tell the story. And the story was mainly created by one man - Ole Kliffoth. He is responsible for most of the solutions Audiovector uses in its speakers, including five foundations of corporate technology - ADC (Active Direct Concept), IUC (Individual Upgrade Concept), LCC (Low Compression Concept), SEC (Soundstage Enhancement Concept) and NES (No Energy Storage). In conjunction with other features, they have one job - to make the sound faster, more direct and more dynamic. Audiovector's products are easy to recognize because of the curved side walls, metal panels with drivers and various, sometimes very bold, finishing versions.

Subwoofers are very specific products. It might seem that the market was dominated by speakers manufactures, but this is not entirely true. Specialized companies often offer much more interesting, more powerful subwoofers than those which can be found in catalogues with common speakers. What do we want when choosing a subwoofer? Obviously - it has to be big, powerful and able to bring out frequencies which will significantly extend the capabilities of our stereo or home cinema system. And that's what XTZ SUB 12.17 is.