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audioXpress February 2010

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Voice Coil February 2010

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audioxpress REVIEW

Swans M3 Speaker

By Howard Ferstler

HiVi, a leading Chinese manufacturer of audio systems, established research and design facilities in Toronto in 1994, and in 1997 merged with Swans Speaker Systems, opening corporate offices in Monterey Park, Calif. The company’s huge product line runs the gamut from borderline minispeakers to towering, megabuck line-source models, as well as subwoofers. The M3 system is Swans’ latest smaller model, and its performance should be indicative of what the company’s larger systems can do in terms of spectral-balance issues and voicing...

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audioxpress REVIEW

Dayton T1503A Subwoofer

By Tom Nousaine

This interesting product actually turns out to be a real subwoofer. By that, I mean it actually produces sound pressure from 12-20Hz. Most of what manufacturers call a subwoofer these days is simply a woofer that runs out of gas by 25Hz. Many of them also have a dynamic (SPL) capability that peaks at 50Hz or 62Hz and then falls by 12-20dB per octave as frequency falls ...

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AMPLIFIER RECALL

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a recall of Krell Industries amplifiers due to a fire hazard. These power amps—model numbers KAVC-250a, KAV-250a/3, KAV-500I, and KAV-1500—were designed to operate at a temperature warm to the touch. However, a component input device can fail and cause the amplifiers to overheat, posing burn and fire hazards to consumers. Consumers should immediately stop using these amps and contact Krell (888-436-6055) to schedule the free installation of replacement fuses. Krell has received 50 reports of the amplifiers overheating, including reports of smoke and electrical fire. No injuries have been reported.

 

J. GORDON HOLT, 1930—2009

I met Gordon (he insisted on being called Gordon; to this day I don’t know what the J. stood for) in 1955. He drove from Philadephia to The Publishing House in Great Barrington, Mass., home of High Fidelity Magazine, for a job interview. He had a fresh degree in journalism and boundless enthusiasm, as well as a keen interest in and knowledge of tape recording. He was hired as a Contributing Editor for the new magazine then being planned, Audiocraft. From the first issue until the end of the magazine’s life, Gordon contributed to it in a major way, not only with his monthly column on tape recording but also with delightfully drawn cartoons sprinkled throughout the pages and with helpful inputs on general editorial matters.

Gordon was a socially active member of our small group. A frequent visitor to my home, he loved teasing my wife’s Siamese cat, often leaving with fresh arm scratches. He learned to like the martinis served at our Friday afternoon editorial lunches. I spoke with him not long ago and asked what his current recipe was. The answer was the same as ever: Five parts Tanqueray gin, one part Noilly Prat dry vermouth.

Not long after Audiocraft folded, we both left—I to work with Edgar Villchur at Acoustic Research, Gordon to found, write, and publish Stereophile Magazine. It was a long struggle for him but he persevered and eventually made it a successful enterprise. During those years we respectfully disagreed on many things, but always remained friends. I am one of the great many who will miss him.—Roy Allison.

 

Reginald Williamson 1925—2009

Audio Amateur’s very first contributing author passed away quietly in his sleep this past June after a yearlong battle with cancer. He was not only a fine engineer and author, but over the years became a great personal friend. He made many influential friends over his lifetime and performed the painful duty of reporting the passing of most of them. These included Peter Walker, famous for his Quad line of preamps and power amplifiers, but more so for his Electrostatic loudspeakers; and Peter Baxandall, designer of the Baxandall tone control topology, as well as superior test equipment. Not so well known was another fellow British Telcom engineer, Alan Watling, who converted Reggie’s designs into working hardware.

Most Britons who have a special interest manage to make the knowledge useful in some way which benefits society. Reggie’s love for music took him into positions of leadership and responsibility for music societies such as the one honoring Elgar, or a local Norwich audio club which built a wired-wireless radio facility for entertaining patients in a local hospital.

Reggie was a popular, highly demanding teacher in local community and university colleges. His standards were high but practical as well. He understood the art of the possible and was very good at what he thought were obvious improvements in the designs of others. His simple upgrades to Heath’s IG-18 audio generator became one of his most popular and widely used articles in early Audio Amateur issues. He was one of the first of many British authors giving permission for their articles to be reprinted in the pages of our magazines. He opened doors to his wide range of technical friends who enriched many of our publications over decades.

He leaves behind a son by his first marriage and his most enthusiastic and supportive wife Marjorie who relays one of Reggie’s characteristic quotes, “On the day I refuse my glass of red wine, call the undertaker.” We will all miss our lively, roisterous and beloved friend.—ETD

CORRECTION

More-legible figures for the published article T-reg: a High-Voltage Regulator for Tube Amps are available on the author’s website: www.linearaudio.nl. The figures as published in the magazine (April ’09, p. 24) are correct.—Eds.


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