19
Apr

My special order boo-boo

Although I don’t keep Definitive Technology speakers on hand I do make special orders when requested. I got an order for a pair of SM55 bookshelf speakers and I ordered SM65 in error. So now I have a brand new pair to sell. The retail price is $449 each, but I am selling this pair for $339 each. And before you bother to check, that’s lower than even the cheapest Internet price.

The SM65 is the top speaker in Definitive’s new SM Series which include the SM45 and SM55. With two woofers and a bass radiator it handles bass and loud play better than most bookshelf speakers. Sound+Vision magazine reviewed it and spoke very well of it, though they thought the smaller SM speakers have a nicer balance, the SM65 has more bass and greater SPL capability.

Link: Sound+Vision magazine

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16
Apr

Five Star review for Aon 2 / ForceField 5 system

GoldenEar Technology keeps coming out with new speakers and reviewers keep loving them. I have been waiting for the first review of the ForceField 5 subwoofer (12″ woofer; 1500 watts; 13 x 14″ bass radiator; $999). The first one came as a surprise. For some explainable reason reviewer Mark Fleishman of Home Theater magazine chose to review a surround system composed of five GoldenEar Technology Aon 2 bookshelf speakers and a Forcefield 5 subwoofer. Who does that? Anyway, the short version is that he absolutely loved the system and gave it 5 stars for performance, 5 stars for build quality and 5 stars for value. I’ll cherry-pick some quotes then give you a link to the complete article.

“It’s remarkable to find this kind of design and construction in a speaker selling for just $400 each” followed by,“Few speakers in my experience have gotten through both movie and music demos with such unfaltering grace and power as the Aon 2.”
 
“It struck me that these speakers were as adept at low level resolution in chamber music as they were with high-decibel rock’n’roll. They were boundary busters…They could play literally anything I threw at them.”
 
“Bass response was so solid that I often ran the Aon 2s without the sub.”
 
“I was dumbfounded by how much bass output the sub could muster…the ForceField 5 sub handled low-frequency barrages with floor-shaking confidence.”
 
And again, commenting on the sub’s more subtle musical capabilities,
 
“Each beat was a series of integrated events with a beginning (attack), middle (dominant bass pitch) and end (damping)…. the system could stand up to high-level blasting, never losing touch with the warmth, smoothness and texture that made me seek out the British vinyl.”

 

http://library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1103589248191-452/HTMP-Aon2_FF5_May_2013.pdf

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15
Apr

Room acoustics – the weakest link

Who among us has a room designed for high fidelity audio? My guess is none. After carefully selecting components that were expertly designed for great sound reproduction we put the system is a room where not one moment’s thought was given by the architect to audio reproduction. Consequently our system performance is usually held back by the weakest link – the room.

The worst problems are in the bass. Room modes can create peaks and cancellations that rob the system of accurate satisfying bass, and affect the overall balance of sound. The other problem, in the mids and highs, is that hard surfaces can create harsh echoes. To solve these problems rooms can be improved with all manner of treatments, but deciding which ones or how much is not always easy. If you want help from a professional we have great resource in town in Brian Pape, who provides advice and treatments from his company sensiblesoundsolutions.com. Yes, acoustic treatments can be costly, but his prices are very reasonable. To do your own research a Google search for “acoustic treatment” will lead you to a huge set of information.

Home theater receivers have tried to correct for room acoustics with correction circuits, but many knowledgeable listeners do not like the results. Nevertheless as time passes I hear a few more satisfied remarks about receiver room correction. After all it’s digital processing, which means that it should get better every generation. Right?

For my part I’m going to try a new room correction product from DSPeaker. Well, actually two products. One is a subwoofer equalizer and the other has more functions, like whole room correction, DAC, preamp, etc. It has an appallingly long name – Anti-Mode 2.0 Dual Core. Once my first one arrives I can begin to experiment to find out whether it does much for my system. That my be tough because I have really good response already, as measured by my XTZ Room Analyzer. But we will see.

DSPeaker-AntiMode2

Posted in acoustic treatments, DAC, Equalizer, Preamplifier, Room acoustics, Subwoofer Equalizers | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment
14
Apr

In praise of the GoldenEar 3D Array soundbar

I do all my demos, both stereo and surround sound, in my living room, where I usually have the GoldenEar Triton Two set up, so I have high expectations for what I hear. Yesterday I moved the Tritons out for a demo of the GoldenEar 3D Array soundbar. As before I was blown away so here I am, a devotee of high-performance high-end audio raving about a soundbar. Usually soundbars are just one step above built-in TV speakers, but the 3D Array is totally a different creature. The biggest reason is the “interaural crosstalk canceling” signal applied to 2 of its 6 woofers. It makes the soundfield expand far to the right and left of the enclosure, giving a 180 degree wrap-around soundfield.

SuperCinema3DArray_final-large


The next day my GoldenEar factory reprsentative visited and I learned that this crosstalk canceling technology has been around since way back when the GoldenEar founders were at Polk Audio making the Polk SDA speakers. He told me the 3D Array works much better then the SDA speakers because the one piece construction keeps the alignment perfect. The SDA speakers had to be set up just right for the crosstalk cancellation to work, but that usually did not happen.

Another reason the 3D Array sounds great is that it uses the woofers and ribbon tweeters from the Triton Two. This sound bar sounds high-end, and it can play loud! It can make a too-small TV room sound spacious. And it makes stereo so spacious it could be a fantastic stereo speaker in an office or bedroom system with a small subwoofer. 

In case you think I have gone overboard with my love for these speakers check out the link below to read what the magazine reviewers say. They make my remarks seem like understatement. And there is a link to a scientist’s explanation of interaural crosstalk.

Link: Golden Ear

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13
Apr

I have finally chosen my new audio racks

I built my last few audio racks, and they were OK but not classifiable as furniture. I can’t count the hours I spent sketching and thinking about of ways to build new ones that would be both useful and good looking without me getting a woodworking shop and better cabinetmaking skills. When the time came to make a decision I chose a ready made set that was my best selling cabinet line back when I had a storefront – the Sanus Naturals. I was influenced by seeing them with fresh eyes at AXPONA in the King Sound suite. While listening to the speakers I looked at the Sanus cabinet and thought how cool they looked. I like the solid hardwood frame, smoked glass shelves, cable management, and really low price. Plus repeated recommendation by The Absolute Sound, which is rare for anything affordable.

The pair I ordered retails for about $700 and sells for as little as $560 on the Internet. I will special order them for $500. Here is what they look like in the finish I chose, Cherry. The also come in black and “Mocha”, a dark finish.:

 

Happy listening,

Wylie

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13
Apr

Welcome to my blog

I am Wylie Williams, owner of The Speaker and Stereo Store in St. Louis Missouri, which is kind of a misnomer because now it operates from my home. For 23 years it was a storefront but when I closed the storefront, intending to retire, people kept calling me and I found myself back in business from home. It’s fun dealing with the brands and products I like – speakers from GoldenEar Technology and Gallo Acoustics, DACs, preamps and amplifiers from Bel Canto Design, Vincent Audio and Musical Design, turntables and electronics from Music Hall Audio, and cables for Analysis Plus and WireWorld.

I don’t claim to be the best stereo store in St. Louis. There are others who have a bigger selection and more expensive components, like The Sound Room, St Louis Stereo, and Music for Pleasure, but I have some components that offer high performance audio at more moderate prices and I give honest counsel and pleasant demonstrations in a home setting.

I have a website, speakerandstereostore.com which has a few more brands and links to my brand’s websites.

Posted in Amplifier, Cables, DAC, Preamplifier, Speakers, Turntables | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment