作者: Wise Sound

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The Funk Firm Gett! Turntable Review

Is it time to Gett! Funked?

What is the Funk Firm Gett!?

The Funk Firm Gett! is an unsuspended, belt driven turntable – in fact your first glance at it might as well be the archetype of the unsuspended, belt driven turntable. Appearances however, can be deceptive. There are aspects of the Gett! that are unusual regardless of price and some which are practically unheard of at the asking price.

And that asking price is critical because the Gett! pitches into the market at the exactingly specific price of £609. This means that it goes head to head with Rega’s Planar 3 and the Pro-Ject Xpression, products of such ability (and it must be said, ubiquity) that they can make this segment look like a two horse race. At first glance, logic would dictate that there is no reason to back the newcomer in a contest of this nature but things aren’t quite that simple.

This is because The Funk Firm as a company is the brainchild of Arthur Khoubesserian and it isn’t the first company he’s set up. In the eighties, he was responsible for Pink Triangle – a company that has had a disproportionate impact on the business of turntable design. The Gett! is a considered and condensed take on the business of making an affordable turntable and if anyone can bring something a little different to the business of affordable analogue it is likely to be Arthur. Does the Gett! do enough to tempt you away from the major players though?

Specifications

The nature of affordable turntables and the functions that they have to perform means that there really isn’t that much variation in their general layout but if you look closer at the pictures of the Gett!, you will note that there are some variations to its design that are distinctive and wholly deliberate. These distinctions hide other design decisions that are also significant.

The first is that the motor of the Gett! is placed at the front of the plinth in contrast to most rivals. An engineering theme that runs through Funk Firm turntables is the behaviour of the motor on the rest of the turntable. While placing the motor toward the back of the plinth is extremely convenient in terms of connecting everything else up, Funk argues that doing so allows it to generate resonances at exactly the most effective point to affect the playing surface. The motor then proceeds to act on the outside edge of the platter to minimise gyroscopic effect. In more advanced Funk models, it acts on a multi pulley arrangement which serves the same purpose but this isn’t practical for the Gett!

What isn’t visible but is no less important to the Funk philosophy is that the motor works on direct current rather than alternating current principles. This has been a key to both Funk and Pink Triangle designs from the outset and is effectively non-negotiable. The argument goes that a DC motor is not affected by the very slight ‘pulsing’ effect that is present in AC designs and therefore acts on the platter in a more benign way. This is a fairly rare thing to encounter in a relatively affordable turntable. No less useful is the ability to select between 33 and 45 rpm at the switch rather than by moving the belt.

Very significant to the performance of the whole turntable is the tonearm. Thus far, turntables reviewed on AVForums have used either conventional bearing arms or unipivots. The Funk uses a thread bearing arm where a quantity of aluminium wire is used to support the horizontal and vertical axis of the arm’s movement. A knurled screw at the top can be used to increase the torsion of the thread and apply more antiskate. The result is an arm that does without captive bearings without the complete lack of restraint that applies to a unipivot arm. The only remotely similar system we’ve seen is used on the Elipson Omega but this only uses thread torsion for the antiskate rather than mounting. The arm itself is made from aluminium and then makes use of an acrylic headshell on the end for the mounting as the interaction of the two materials is intended to better control resonance. Crucially, this arm is fitted with the ability to adjust the vertical tracking angle (VTA) – the height which it sits over the record. This means that the Gett! can be persuaded to work with a selection of cartridges more easily than many rivals where the arm is at a fixed height.

The acrylic in the headshell isn’t the only use of this material either. The Gett! uses an acrylic platter. This is not terribly unusual in this day and age but it is worth pointing out that Pink Triangle was the first company to use acrylic in this way and held a patent for doing so. The platter itself is fairly thin but thanks to the adjustable VTA, you can add another Funk product and one that we have seen before. This is the Achromat – a sort of ‘blown acrylic’ mat that improves the damping and resonance control. I have a lipped Achromat that I have used on the various direct drive designs I have tested in preference to the supplied rubber mat.

The design ‘stretch’ doesn’t end there either. The Gett! is supplied with pliant rubber feet of a type not dissimilar to rivals. You can however unscrew them and add a system called the BOING (there are products in the Funk inventory that don’t automatically cause Word to go into a spasm of red and blue lines when typed but none are present for this review). This is effectively a decoupled and suspended foot that creates a suspended turntable when substituted for the existing feet. These feet can also be used on other turntables too.

Design

As noted, there are limits to what you can do with turntables at this price point that means that the Gett! does look pretty much like a conventional record player. Thanks to the various idiosyncrasies of the design, the Gett! is different in concept and execution to many rivals and it feels a little different too. Some of this is good. The tonearm can feel a little odd when you attach a cartridge to it but the movement is exceptionally smooth and non mechanical in nature and it feels more able to handle a wide variety of cartridges than most similarly priced rivals. The turntable itself is free of fripperies but it feels well thought out and it is no harder to use than key rivals.

It is harder to setup though. Fitting the belt to the Gett! is a dark art. With the thin platter and a round belt you need to use the approved method (feeding it slowly round the platter) or you’ll most likely never do it. The spindle is also a little on the large side. Having an extremely snug fit is another part of the Funk philosophy but as far as I’m concerned, the tolerances are a little on the tight side. I don’t necessarily believe this is an ideal first turntable – you would do well to ‘get your hand in’ with something simpler first.

It does represent strong value though. If we compare the Gett! to the Rega Planar 3, the Funk initially looks more expensive. The list price of the Gett! doesn’t include a cartridge so, initially at least, the Planar 3 with cart for £625 looks stronger value. Things aren’t quite that simple though. If you want speed control on the Planar 3, you will need to spring for the Neo PSU at £225. This will bring performance boosts as well but it raises the cost of the turntable significantly. Even if you remove the cartridge from the Planar 3 and specify a Goldring E3 – one of the most affordable designs to really do these turntables justice – and the Funk looks competitive.

“The turntable itself is free of fripperies but it feels well thought out and it is no harder to use than key rivals”

How was the Gett! tested?

The Gett! was set up less the BOING feet and Achromat. A £100 Goldring E3 cartridge was used initially but some testing has been undertaken with a Nagaoka MP150 (£275) and a Rega Ania As fitted to the Rega Planar 6 and £448). The BOING feet were added, and tested against a Quadraspire isolation platform. Testing was also carried out with the Achromat. Equipment used has been a Cyrus Phono Signature phono stage, Naim Supernait2 Integrated amplifier and Bowers & Wilkins 705 S2standmount speakers. The test material has been vinyl.

Sound Quality

The most important thing about the Gett! is that once it has been set up, those unusual design decisions do make themselves felt and they do so in a positive way. Exactly how this happens varies slightly on the material you choose to play but as one of the earliest pieces of music that it really made itself felt was Wide Open by the Chemical Brothers, it seems like a good place to start. The presentation of the Gett! is subtly but noticeably different to the way that a Planar 3 goes about the same track.

Firstly, the Gett! has a deeply impressive sense of space and scale for an affordable turntable. The soundstage is absolutely believable and there is more to the way this is handled than simply shoving the sound out to the extremities. Close your eyes and Beck’s vocals are in the centre of the mix and their relationship to the backing music is extremely well judged; nothing sounds detached from each other but it is easy to follow what is going on at all times. No less impressive is the bass response. Even judged as a £600 design, the Gett! is an extremely low mass design but there is a force to its presentation that can be genuinely surprising.

It isn’t perfect. If you listen to the standard torture tests of long sustained notes, the Funk isn’t as resolutely pitch stable as some rivals and nothing I’ve been able to do has completely eliminated this. Depending on how sensitive you are to such a thing, it might be an absolute deal breaker or a non event. The presentation of the Gett! is also a little more matter of fact than some rivals. It won’t sugar coat poor pressings and choosing an unsuitable cartridge might result in a somewhat bright presentation.

Choose the right cartridge though and the Gett! shows it can deliver a seriously impressive performance. The Goldring is excellent – it is unreasonably good for £100 – but moving to the superbly capable Nagaoka MP150 lifts the performance considerably. This is important because the Nagaoka is more expensive than you might traditionally pair with a turntable of this nature. Impressively, the Gett! still has more to give. Putting the Rega Ania on there – a cartridge fully 80% the all up price of the Gett! itself, still shows the Funk making progress. There is a considerable amount of stretch in this little turntable.

And not all of that stretch is down to changing the cart either. Adding the Achromat results in the noisefloor of the performance – already pretty low – dropping even further and the rhythmic edge of the Gett! improving too. For £60, this really should be the first thing you do to a Gett!. The BOING is a slightly different proposition. It actually seems to alter the presentation of the Gett! in that there is a sense of energy added that its normally quite down the line character doesn’t have. This is more engaging but I’m not completely sure it feels more accurate. Depending on what you want your turntable to do, you might find that this is not the direction you want to take it and something like a wall shelf might suit you better. Once again though, having the option to try it is noteworthy.

“There is a considerable amount of stretch in this little turntable”

Conclusion

For those of you that enjoy reading between the lines, the Gett! might be seen as an idiosyncratic product. You could leave a reasonably educated adult with no prior experience of vinyl setup in a room with many of its rivals and come back with the expectation of finding a functional record player. This is not something that is an absolute given with the Funk – it’s more fiddly and unforgiving. As I said earlier, this is not an ideal candidate for a first turntable.

If you’ve done your time with something else though first and learned about the foibles of the format, there’s no escaping the Gett!’s ability to make many rivals sound constrained and congested. Even with a £100 cartridge on it and none of the extra parts, it has a sheer ability that is noteworthy and the stretch the basic design has is considerable. This isn’t a turntable for everyone but for many people, the incredible capability of this deceptively simple looking design will be too impressive to ignore. For this reason, the Gett! is worthy of recommendation.

 

by Ed Selley Feb 22, 2018

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NHT C3 BOOKSHELF SPEAKER REVIEW

The NHT C3 is a compact 3-way bookshelf speaker with a dome midrange and acoustic suspension cabinet. The C3 replaces NHT’s best-selling Classic Three. NHT claims the C3 offers a modest sound quality improvement over the Classic Three, along with improved serviceability and sturdiness.

Three-way bookshelf speakers are rare. Adding a dedicated midrange can provide dispersion and distortion benefits, but adds complexity and cost. SECRETS recently covered two other 3-way bookshelf speakers: ELAC UniFi UB5 Slim and Bryston Mini A. These three speakers take three different approaches to the midrange in a 3-way: large dome (NHT), concentric cone/waveguide (ELAC), and small cone (Bryston).

I have owned a pair of Classic Threes for years. I currently use them as rears. When NHT offered their C3 speakers for review, I was eager to see and hear if they could best an, ahem, Classic.

Highlights

Introduction

NHT stands for “Now Hear This,” and has a special resonance for audiophiles who came of age in the late 1980s and early 1990s. NHT’s original lineup, from Model 1 to Model 3.3, were instantly recognizable by their slim baffles set at 21 degrees and anti-diffraction foam strips.

NHT BOOKSHELF LOUDSPEAKER REVIEW SPECIFICATIONS

NHT has mostly used acoustic suspension (sealed) cabinets. See the “Design” section below for more about this design choice. NHT’s founders, Ken Kantor and Chris Byrne, have moved on, but NHT continues their legacy of distinctive, affordable high-performance speakers.

NHT’s currently offers three tiers of freestanding speakers and a custom installation range. The C3 speaker reviewed here is NHT’s flagship bookshelf speaker.

Design

The NHT C3’s looks like an updated Classic Three at first glance. NHT straightened the walls and replaced curves with sharp angles. It was a successful update.

My wife quickly pronounced her preference for the C3’s “clean lines” over our Classic Threes’ “blobby curves.” The Classic Three is so curvy that it requires rubber-tipped aluminum rails to sit flat on a stand!

Angled facets flank the C3’s midrange and tweeter, providing some diffraction control and visual character. Closer inspection reveals that the facets are three separate triangles, not flat planes. I associate this level of cabinet detailing with more expensive brands, such Joseph Audio or Avalon Acoustics.

NHT offers the C3 in one finish: hand-polished gloss black with 7 coats of lacquer.

While gloss black is NHT’s signature finish, I think the C3 would look great the sycamore veneer from the Kantor era. A matte white finish would also suit these cabinets. The C3’s grille attaches with pegs that fit into the driver flanges.

NHT also updated the C3’s midrange and tweeter. The C3’s domes have individual faceplates, which makes driver replacement simpler and cheaper compared to the Classic Three’s ovoid mid-tweeter flange. The aluminum dome tweeter is now a 1″ unit. The foam is gone. NHT specifies crossovers at 817 Hz and 4750 Hz, no orders provided. The new dome midrange thus plays a little higher than the Classic Three’s midrange did.

Like NHT speakers past, the C3 has a sealed cabinet.

Most speakers today have bass reflex cabinets.

The main advantages of going sealed are as follows: the box acts as a spring to prevent over-excursion; 12 dB/oct. low frequency rolloff; no colorations from port resonances. Bass reflex speakers offer higher efficiency just above port tuning. However, they roll off at 24dB/oct. below port tuning, do not protect the woofer, and can have midband pipe resonances. Below is a representative model of a 6.5-inch woofer in closed and vented boxes of roughly the NHT C3’s size. The closed box is blue and the vented box is pink.

Setup and In Use

I auditioned the NHT C3 alone and with subwoofers. Oddly, NHT does not provide placement recommendations in the box, and their website does not have a manual for the C3. I placed the C3s on 30″ tall subwoofer-stands, which put their tweeters at ear height. The speakers were 11.5 feet apart, and the distance from each speaker to the listening position was 13.3 feet.

Like the Bryston Mini A and Monitor Audio Silver 1, the NHT C3 is fairly inefficient. Still, three relatively lower-powered amps (ELAC EA101EQ-G, MartinLogan Forte, and Parasound Zamp v3) powered them satisfactorily. Obviously, my reference ATI AT4007 had no trouble driving them.

The treble was a little hot with the C3’s fired directly at the listening position. I found the best treble balance at a very NHT-appropriate 21 degree toe-in. I use Howard Massey’s SpeakerAngle iOS app to ensure symmetrical toe-in. By contrast, the Classic Threes sound best in this room firing straight ahead. As with the Classic Three, rotation had very little effect on midrange/bass tonality or imaging at the listening position.

NHT’s C3 speakers had no immediately obvious sonic signature. Their midrange and treble are substantially neutral. It took much listening to identify their subtle highlighting of details in guitar or vocal accompaniments as a slight forwardness. Image stability and dialog intelligibility held up very well when I stood up in the sweet spot. Run subless they sound lean, some might say “fast.” Their shallow closed box rolloff made subwoofer integration easy.

Iron and Wine “Beast Epic” I think of Iron & Wine as a modern Simon & Garfunkel, Cat Stevens, or Jim Croce. Like those men, Sam Beam is a skillful melodist with a warm, soothing voice that meshes well with acoustic guitar. He also has their knack for lyrical storytelling. “Beast Epic” is best enjoyed as a continuous rinse of music, not atomized tracks on a playlist.

So vinyl was the natural medium. The NHT C3s’s neutral, clear sound let the record wash over me.

The dome midrange and tweeter highlighted the Beam’s fret work at the beginning of “Thomas County Law” without hardening it. The multilayered vocals on the song were soothing and lush. The NHT C3’s slightly emphasized the pop of the bongos in “Call it Dreaming,” but otherwise smoothly conveyed the richly layered sound buried in the grooves and placed the musicians across our front wall. “The Truest Stars We Know” also sounded great, though the lowest notes were heard rather than felt in 2.0-channel mode.

Mahler Symphony No. 5. Minnesota Orchestra Osmo Vanska conducting

I had not listened to this symphony in quite a while, so when I saw this new interpretation on TIDAL I was curious. From the first bars, Vanska’s interpretation proved quite different from the hyper-dramatic Bernstein/Vienna Mahler 5 I grew up with. Comparatively, Vanska almost dissects the symphony.

For example, compare the second trumpet solo in the first movement, starting at around 5:27 on the Vanska and 6:10 on the Bernstein/VPO. Bernstein’s is a cyclone, Vanska’s a sonorous trumpet solo. Still, I think it is a recording to digest rather than rejecting because it’s unfamiliar. BIS offers it in 5.0 channel SACD, so guess what was recently added to the library!

The spacious and clear recording suits Vanska’s interpretation. The NHT C3’s threw a slightly flatter soundstage than my reference, but every bit of the recording’s width, separation, and dynamics came through. The NHT C3s pulled off the rich low brass sound captured in the recording. The treble range was open and clean, and the treble “bite” sounded a little more natural than on the Classic Threes.

Joy Division Unknown Pleasures (2007 remix)

Joy Division was a late-1970s/early-1980s post-punk supernova that morphed into New Order after singer-songwriter Ian Curtis’s death. “Unknown Pleasures” was their brooding, stormy debut album.

The NHT C3 speakers played “Unknown Pleasures” with clarity and detail.

 Curtis’s baritone-ish voice projected clearly, without the syrup an overripe upper bass can cause. The NHT C3’s clarity and neutrality suited the album’s opening track, “Disorder,” especially well.

The C3’s provided excellent separation between each part and effect, and slightly greater clarity than the Classic Three. Augmented with subwoofers, the NHT C3 deftly executed the “huge wall of sound playing through a tin can” spatial paradox of “New Dawn Fades,” and even subless Peter Hook’s bass line had enough heft to propel the song. The apparent size of the wall of sound was just smaller. The C3’s slightly forward midrange drew my attention to the electric guitar noodlings accompanying Curtis’s vocal entrance, but not distractingly so.

Pearl Jam 2016/04/11 Tampa, FL

Pearl Jam sells “official bootlegs” on their website in multiple formats. The highest-resolution options, lossless 24/96 “ALAC-HD” or “FLAC-HD,” cost about $20. Not a bad deal for 90-120 minutes of music! On Black Friday they had a half-price sale, so I picked up this show and a few others containing my favorite rarely-played Pearl Jam tracks.
One such track, “Red Mosquito” from No Code, convinced me that the NHT C3’s could really rock out. Matt Cameron’s kickdrum came through with nice punch and some tactility even without subwoofers, and his high-hat decayed crisply.

Mike McCready’s audacious slide guitar work soared unfettered into the room from those two metal domes. “Come Back,” from their oft-neglected – except at SECRETS! – eponymous “Avocado” album, is one of the few pure ballads in the Pearl Jam canon. It is one track where I would have preferred a more laid-back presentation than the NHT C3 provided. Pearl Jam closed the concert with a cover of Hendrix’s “Little Wing.” I have not heard Pearl Jam play Little Wing as a standalone song before, though they’ve often played parts of it in the outro to their traditional closer, “Yellow Ledbetter.” Through the NHT C3’s, you could almost hear the crowd being brought gently back to earth.

On The Bench

Fair warning: this section is necessarily quite dense. If you skim this section, pay closest attention to the following three measurements: on-axis frequency response, CEA-2034A listening window, and the polar map.

Research indicates that a few measurements dominate our perception of speaker sound quality. These measurements are: bass extension, on-axis frequency response flatness and smoothness, and off-axis frequency response smoothness. Other measurements, such as distortion, correlate poorly with perception. Accordingly, my bench sections focus on frequency response both on and off-axis, the latter through polar maps that are a huge pain to make but graphically illuminate previously mysterious aspects of speaker sound in rooms. I also measure impedance to determine how hard a speaker is to drive and confirm the speakers were not damaged in shipping.

Aside from impedance, I measure after listening to avoid biasing my audition. For this review I took frequency response measurements outdoors, except obviously the listening room response. All frequency response measurements are 1/12-octave smoothed.

Impedance

Let’s start with the NHT C3’s impedance curve.

The peak at ~70Hz indicates the box tuning frequency. The minimum impedance is just under 4 Ohms between 100 and 200 Hz. The NHT C3 is not difficult to drive. The two samples show excellent consistency, with just a small and irrelevant difference in the impedance peak around box tuning.

The NHT C3 has a single set of binding posts, so I was unable to measure the woofer and midrange/tweeter sections separately. The frequency response of the whole speaker is below, on axis and at 15, 30, and 45 degrees off axis.

The most obvious takeaway from this set of measurements is that the NHT C3 is just superbly flat overall. The most notable deviation is a small but broad plateau starting just above 1kHz and going to 5kHz. Many speakers, such as the Bryston Mini A, are slightly depressed in this region. As expected from the impedance measurement, the -3dB point is about 65Hz. Bass rolloff is the expected 12dB/octave. The tweeter’s resonance falls at about 24kHz, which is very good for an aluminum dome.

I initially thought the dip and bump from 300-500 Hz was a measurement artifact. However, they both show up in the listening position response (below), and the measurement height was different from the listening height. So I believe they are real. Measurements of the Classic Three (below) show similar behavior.

Given the broad dispersion of a 2″ midrange dome and no foam to mitigate edge diffraction, I was curious to see if there were measured diffraction effects that were not apparent to me in listening. Nope: the facets work! The curves were remarkably similar.

The next graph shows the listening window response. While in previous reviews I calculated the listening window according to the Canadian NRC method, starting with this review I will use the CEA-2034A standard. The CEA-2034 listening window response is an 8-point average: on axis; -10, 10, -20, 20, -30, and 30 degrees off axis horizontally; -10 and 10 degrees off axis vertically.

That is one of the tightest listening window responses I have seen. There is a slight but broad midrange hump, which may account for the slight forward bias observed in listening.

For a more finely-grained view of the NHT C3’s horizontal sound output, let’s look next at the polar map.

The absence of small flares above 500Hz indicates substantially resonance-free performance, which correlates with two of the C3’s best attributes: clarity and detail. Like the Bryston Mini A, the NHT C3 has roughly 120-degree coverage all the way up to about 7kHz, where the pattern narrows due to the tweeter dome diameter. Even in the top octave, the C3 maintains 60 degrees of coverage. That is excellent for a 1″ dome.

The NHT C3’s slight midrange elevation causes the bulge in total sound output visible from about 1.5kHz to 4.5kHz. This bump is small, but the extra energy shows up in all angles because the speaker’s coverage is so even.

The next graph shows the averaged response at my listening position for the left speaker, right speaker, and both combined.

Both speakers’ response at the listening position matched very well. Bass extension goes down to 50Hz, which surprised me. I perceived them as bass shy without subwoofers. Because of the C3’s shallow closed box bass rolloff, they can excite room modes that a vented speaker with a similar cutoff cannot. The midrange elevation appears in these measurements, but otherwise the midrange and treble smoothly decline as expected from a good speaker in a reasonable room.

Normally I strongly recommend limiting any EQ or automated room correction based on listening position measurements to the modal region and below. However, due to their broad and smooth response the NHT C3 is the rare speaker that may benefit from correction above the modal region. If you use the C3’s with a parametric EQ or room correction system such as ARC, Dirac Live, or the Audyssey MultEQ App, try raising the maximum EQ point all the way up to 5kHz or so and see if you prefer the sound. You may not, but it is worth trying.

As discussed above, the dip-peak from 300-500Hz measured outdoors also appears in the room measurements.

While the horizontal off-axis response is considered perceptually more important, the vertical off axis response matters, too. The next chart shows the NHT C3’s response from 30 degrees above axis to -30 degrees below axis, in 10-degree steps.

I did not find the C3 to sound much different standing vs. sitting at the listening position. The measurements confirm the C3 has very smooth response above axis. The notch that develops at about 4.5kHz may indicate the midrange/tweeter crossover point. NHT later confirmed to me that the midrange crosses to the tweeter at 4750 Hz.

While I did not find the NHT C3’s grilles audibly consequential, the below graph indicates they have a measurable effect in the upper midrange and treble.

Lastly, given NHT’s comments about the C3 being a minor sonic update to the Classic Three, I decided to measure one of my Classic Threes concurrently with the C3’s. While SECRETS has not measured the Classic Three, at least two other publications have. My Classic Three measured similarly to those published measurements.

The first graph compares the listening window of the Classic Three and C3.

No question, the C3 has smoother and flatter response than the Classic Three. My listening window measurement of the Classic Three shows less top octave than the published NRC listening window. This difference is because the CEA-2034A listening window measurement covers a wider horizontal angle, and the Classic Three’s tweeter has surprisingly narrow radiation in the top octave.

The next graph is a “split polar map.” It shows the horizontal radiation of the C3 on top (-90 to 0 degrees), and the horizontal radiation of the Classic Three on the bottom (0 to 90 degrees).

While both speakers have objectively excellent off axis performance, two differences are interesting. The Classic Three has wider coverage from about 600Hz to about 1.5kHz, and basically the same coverage over the next octave. Thus, the Classic Three does not share the C3’s overall midrange output bump. Perhaps NHT revoiced the woofer/midrange crossover? NHT suggested to me that this difference in lower midrange directivity may result from the different cabinet shape. Additionally, and surprisingly, the C3’s 1″ dome tweeter puts much more sound into the room above 7kHz than the Classic Three’s .75″ dome tweeter.

Conclusions

THE NHT C3 are great speakers to build a system around. Even more so with subwoofers.

NHT’s C3 bookshelf speakers really impressed me. They look great, sound great, and measure superbly. And in true NHT tradition, they accomplish all that at a very reasonable price. While I liked their predecessor Classic Threes enough to buy a pair for myself and deploy them in several systems, I believe NHT is too modest when they claim the C3’s sonic improvements are “relatively minor.” The C3 is better in every measurable way, and I never preferred the Classic Three to the C3 in listening.

For my tastes, the NHT C3 requires subwoofers for optimum performance. Fortunately, their sealed boxes and relatively high cutoff match the assumptions in AVR bass management tools. Thus, integrating subwoofers with a pair of NHT C3’s is less painful than usual. A new system could start with a pair of C3’s and add subwoofers later. Starting with great speakers is generally a more satisfying system building approach than starting with subwoofers. For a compact 2.1-channel system with very high performance potential, consider a pair of NHT C3’s with two identical subwoofers and an ELAC EA101EQ-G or MartinLogan Forte to integrate the speakers and subs. Such a system would punch well above its weight, cost, and ease of setup.

Based on my audition, audiophiles who resist subwoofers may be better served by NHT’s C4, which appears to be a floorstanding C3 with two supplemental 6.5″ woofers. It has about the same footprint as a C3 on a stand. But if you’re less of a basshead than I am, or you’re willing to add subwoofers, the NHT C3 bookshelf speakers will provide a wide open window into your favorite music.

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極具性價比的瑞士線材： VOVOX Vocalis 電源線

仔細觀察這幾年音響圈的發展，線材早已經從原本配件的角色發展成音響器材般的重要地位，而決定線材地位的因素不是別的，就是價錢。當許多線材廠不斷地設計出高價位線材的同時，一款兼顧技術與價錢的性價比產品似乎變成一種苛求了。近幾年，在眾多天價線材品牌當中，一個來自瑞士的專業線材公司進入了發燒友的視野，這家公司成立僅十多年時間，但是他們不做別的，就是專心研發線材，其生產的產品得到世界多家知名錄音棚的認可，並為他們提供專業線材，同時還是世界幾大知名Hi-End音響廠商的機內指定用線提供者。更重要的是他們的線材售價非常有吸引力!這就是 VOVOX (華豪)。

材料學工程師設計的線材
1997年，業余貝斯手 Jurg Vogt 在演奏過程中，發現線材引入的噪聲以及干擾尤為明顯，此外，很多線材都不能精准地傳送音頻，於是決定給自己開發更好的音頻線。而 Jurg Vogt 的身份正是材料科學工程師。別以為材料科學工程師就能夠很容易設計出優秀的線材，Jurg 經過試驗各種材料以及詳盡地測試，花去近 5年的時間，才設計出滿意的產品，此后，他便成立了 VOVOX (華豪)。

正是因為有著一位材料科學工程師的主理人，VOVOX 的產品才有著很多特別的設計。首先是實心導體設計，一般的音頻線材的中心導體通常採用多股細線繞制而成，而 VOVOX 的產品則採用一根橫截面積是一般細線好幾倍的實心導體作為中心，外部輔以細線包圍，再以特殊材質的絕緣材質，就算採用了實心導體，但是線材的柔韌性不受影響。而材質方面，VOVOX 的產品採用了 OFHC 高導無氧銅，通常這種純度的銅應用在低溫材料學當中。而線身的編織也是與眾不同，大部分音頻線材都採用了整體屏蔽設計，但是 VOVOX 廠方認為，屏蔽網包圍著幾條導線的設計雖然能夠有效地防止外來的干擾，但是對於幾條導線之間的干擾是無法避免的，於是 VOVOX 將導線之間的間距增大，並設計出兩種特殊的屏蔽方式，分別是無屏蔽(整體無任何屏蔽)以及線芯屏蔽(隻是線芯屏蔽，整體不屏蔽)的特殊設計。能夠設計出這樣的線材，可見 Jurg Vogt 對線材的要求非常之高。

瑞士原廠生產
VOVOX 線材都是在瑞士原廠生產。VOVOX 秉承了瑞士一貫以來嚴謹、真實的作風。VOVOX 的工程師們信奉一個原則：所有音頻工程測量的基准應該是人的耳朵。他們認為音頻曲線的差異，可以通過精確儀器的測量進行把握，但聲音色調的差異卻隻能在盲測中聽見。為了迎合不同階段發燒友追求的需要，VOVOX 推出了initio (原音)、vocalis (聲樂)、textura (監聽)三個不同價位的系列，2013年更是研發了 texture fortis (金監聽)系列以給用家帶來最完美的音樂享受。

送到本刊試音室的 VOVOX Vocalis 電源線，是在上一級型號 Textura 的延伸出來的更為入門的級別，價錢也是讓人相當驚喜的。Vocalis 電源線採用單導體銅線制造，與絞線相比，單導體銅線的總邊界面減少了 90%，因為導線的每個邊界都是對電流傳輸有一定影響的，因此單導體銅線更利於電流的通過。雖然為單導體設計，Vocalis電源線的線身並非粗壯，但是相當柔軟，而且重量也是相對較輕的，對於較為輕薄的器材如數碼播放機、解碼器等都能適用，並不會因為線身過重使得這些輕量級的器材“翹起來”。

讓人驚喜的聲音表現
筆者先將 VOVOX Vocalis 電源線接到音源上進行試聽，同時採用了一條同價位的台灣產電源線進行對比，試聽《Paganini For Two》，筆者感覺到整套器材的解析力有了明顯的提高：背景更為寧靜，吉他的撥弦、小提琴時強時弱的演奏，還有樂器的定位，甚至演奏家的呼吸聲……這些細節都有了更上一層樓的表現。此外，Vocalis 電源線的聲音非常活潑開放，尤其是高頻的部分，在聽小提琴演奏時，琴音向上延伸的力道很足，因為收尾收得很漂亮，所以完全聽不到任何過於刺激刺耳的聲音，更可以完整地聽出這項樂器的特色與優點。

試聽人聲方面的表現，Vocalis 電源線給了我們全新的印象，VOVOX 不是一般我們對銅線的印象的聲音，它聲音飽滿而豐厚。而聲音的擴散部分，跟高頻感覺一樣，還是屬於開放而直接，此外，對線條的描繪不是非常銳利，而是很自然的呈現出來。特別是試聽合唱片段，合唱團以及伴奏當中的輕微舉動等的細節捕捉也能交代得一清二楚，毫無遺漏。

隨后，將 VOVOX Vocalis電源線接上功放。Vocalis 電源線最大的聲音特色是背景雜質極低，可以充分重放中低頻細節及能量感，因此樂器音像特別飽滿，樂器及人聲充滿朝氣及活力，音樂聽起來就是充滿許多以前聽不到的新鮮感受，好像在新的系統聽音樂一般。重放Mercury出品的《1812序曲》，開頭的弦樂群就是對於線材解析力的一大考驗，而加農炮及鐘聲能量形體更是對線材能量感把控的考驗。難得的是聲音並沒有因為強大的能量而變混亂吵雜，而應有的樂器都能完整地展現出來，隻有極大的場面下定位感略打折扣，Vocalis 電源線在此價格帶卻有全面的表現，令人刮目相看。

選購建議
VOVOX 的線材均有著極高的性價比，這次試聽的 Vocalis 電源線也是值得留意的產品。VOVOX 線材的聲音風格線條感強，聲場自然寬闊，背景極黑，細節豐富，通透，三頻銜接自然。難怪歐洲多家Hi-End音響品牌如 Orpheus、Soulution、FM Acoustic、GOLDMUND 等以及歐洲多家著名錄音室均採用 VOVOX 的線材，就連德國老虎魚(Stockfisch Records)唱片公司也採用 VOVOX 的線材來制作專輯，更重要的是，所有線材全部在瑞士手工制作，VOVOX 可謂是線材當中最具性價比的產品!

原創司徒耀明 “視聽前線音響短評” 2018-03

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Wharfedale Diamond 11 技術揭秘：絲絲入扣的分頻核心，帶來栩栩如生的“英倫之聲”

Wharfedale（樂富豪）工程師認為：雖然喇叭單元在揚聲器系統內處於核心地位，但如果沒有一個精確的分頻電路，整個揚聲系統的表現也將會大失水准。

因此， Diamond 11 系列在設計時，使用了 Wharfedale（樂富豪）獨家專利設計的分頻設計軟件系統做仿真實驗，力求使低音/中音和高音單元的無縫連接形成自然完美的銜接。

▋多曲反復調試，找到表現最佳的聲音

一旦確認了最終的電路方案，在實際的調試過程中，Wharfedale（樂富豪）的工程師們通過精密的微調和嚴格的聽力測試對分頻器進行了縝密的評估。

一切以聽音測試的結果作為對品質的最終判斷，並以此為基准對分頻器分量值、組件類型和電路板布局進行最精確的調整，從而調試出最佳的音樂表現力。

調音選用的音樂涉及廣泛，包括但不僅限於：古典音樂、爵士樂，電子搖滾和民謠等廣泛的音樂測試范圍，並特別關注聲樂與器樂的品質表現，讓 Diamond 11系列每款產品都能帶來自然細膩、栩栩如生的的“英倫之聲” 。

▋ 精選高質量元器件

Diamond 11 的分頻器採用高質量元器件，每一個元器件都經過精心挑選，並進行專業的分析儀器進行檢測，務求令每個元器件均符合產品性能要求：

MKP 電容擁有滑順，流暢和音樂味，同時擁有良好的精確度、透明感和細節，使你隨時融入天鵝絨般黑暗背景下的全息聲場；精確配對的電容帶來充沛的低頻量感和綿密的中頻密度感，擁有流暢中頻和自然的音色。

採用高純度無氧銅繞制而成的電感，以優秀的卷繞工藝精致而成。具有高承載力，低功率損耗的特點，從而帶來優異的解析力密度感及動態，賦予耳朵不俗的聽感。

Wharfedale（樂富豪）工程師確信，分頻器的調試重點在於與揚聲器技術設計相結合。最大限度發揮喇叭系統和箱體設計的優點，讓音樂得以完美展現，才是愛樂人士對揚聲器關注的重點。

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Step away from the soundbar – Wharfedale DX-2 Home Cinema Speaker Package Review

What is the Wharfedale DX-2?

The Wharfedale DX-2 is a 5.1 speaker package and thus something of a rare breed in 2018. Coming in at £450, it is very clearly intended to contest parts of the market that many rivals have conceded to soundbars (and more often than not, proceeded to build one themselves). Paired with an affordable AV receiver, the Wharfedale could be part of a system for £700 which is pretty impressive judged by the pricing of a lot of the competition.

On the face of it, there’s a lot to be said for this approach. Your upgrades can be staggered rather than chopping the whole thing in and the DX-2 offers the promise of real surround rather than an approximation of it. The speakers themselves (as we shall cover) are compact and this shouldn’t be too challenging in most spaces. It’s easy to see the appeal of real AV over a simpler boost to your TV speakers.

Of course, the important question is just how much surround package can £450 get you? What has Wharfedale had to cut out, omit or sacrifice to get the DX-2 out the door for the money? Is the reason why this part of the market is now dominated by one box solutions because it simply can’t be done? Time to find out.

Specifications

The Wharfedale is a sub sat based design with four upright satellites, a dedicated centre and a small active subwoofer. The satellites are very compact indeed with a height of only 19cm. What is notable therefore is that each speaker is a true two way design with a 19mm silk dome tweeter and a 75mm woven polypropylene cone. This configuration has been key to how Wharfedale has designed and built speakers for at least the last decade and the DX-2 is part of this system rather than something tacked onto the end.

The centre speaker is clearly closely related to the satellites. It is effectively a ‘cabinet and a half’ type design with a second 75mm driver added to the cabinet. The arguments over the use of dedicated centre speakers will run and run but with a speaker cabinet of this size, I think it will help matters. The amount of information normally contained in the centre channel of the soundtrack sufficient that having an ‘anchor’ that manages this information is going to be useful in a speaker package of this size.

The subwoofer that partners these speakers is a compact design with a forward firing eight inch driver powered by a 70 watt amplifier. In a world of 1 kilowatt monsters, it might not sound terribly exciting but the reality of its execution is rather more positive than you might expect. You get an adjustable crossover (never a given at this price point), phase switch, stereo input and an auto on/off switch that can be bypassed (and that seems to work pretty well too). Given that this is going to be doing plenty of work in a system of this nature, this is very much a good thing.

These speakers aren’t huge and Wharfedale quotes a fairly honest sounding lower response of 110Hz being available at +/-3dB with 100Hz being available at -6dB. This means you will need to put a little thought into how you set the DX-2 up to get the best out of it. That sub will be at least partly directional so it will do its best work on axis with the front speakers – particularly for music. Helpfully, this is made easier by the cabinets being sealed and something you can wall mount without too much issue and the sub is also fairly easy to place. The subwoofer that partners these speakers is a compact design with a forward firing eight inch driver powered by a 70 watt amplifier. In a world of 1 kilowatt monsters, it might not sound terribly exciting but the reality of its execution is rather more positive than you might expect. You get an adjustable crossover (never a given at this price point), phase switch, stereo input and an auto on/off switch that can be bypassed (and that seems to work pretty well too). Given that this is going to be doing plenty of work in a system of this nature, this is very much a good thing.

These speakers aren’t huge and Wharfedale quotes a fairly honest sounding lower response of 110Hz being available at +/-3dB with 100Hz being available at -6dB. This means you will need to put a little thought into how you set the DX-2 up to get the best out of it. That sub will be at least partly directional so it will do its best work on axis with the front speakers – particularly for music. Helpfully, this is made easier by the cabinets being sealed and something you can wall mount without too much issue and the sub is also fairly easy to place.

Design

At £450, Wharfedale would be well within their rights to wrap the DX-2s various drivers in a container robust enough to stop them falling onto the floor and be done with it. That it feels (a lot) better than that is testament to the engineering and manufacturing clout that parent company IAG has.

The satellites are finished in a manner that balances two slightly disparate requirements very well. They manage to feel like they have elements of design and styling to them while remaining usefully unobtrusive. The use of a gloss front panel is smart and the chrome rings avoid everything feeling a little overly black (a white finish is due too). This is then partnered with a faux leather surround for the cabinet. I can’t pretend to love this – I don’t really like actual leather on speakers – but it helps to make the DX-2 feel like something more than a ‘rubber mat’ product. You could be slightly critical of the grills being non removable but, honestly, I’m not sure how many people are going to want to remove them.

No less importantly, it all feels well assembled too. The cabinets are roughly a kilo each (with the centre being a little more) and this is sufficient to make them feel like a meaningful assembly and points of contact like the speaker terminals are of good quality and should work with the majority of cables that the DX-2 is likely to encounter. The subwoofer manages to deal with the standard issues of small affordable subwoofers well. The cabinet avoids any unpleasant resonances and the feet are sufficiently pliant that it stays put when you crank it up.

The long and the short of it is that this is a pack that feels more than worth the asking price. Crucially, it has he measure of most rival soundbars and shouldn’t – cabling not withstanding – present a significant challenge to get in and running. It also shouldn’t be too much of a challenge to most AV receivers to drive. The satellites are quoted as having sensitivity in the mid eighties which isn’t bad for a speaker of this size assuming a largely eight ohm impedance.

“The long and the short of it is that this is a pack that feels more than worth the asking price”

How was the DX-2 tested?

The Wharfedale was placed on a combination of Soundstyle Z2 speaker stands, a Quadraspire QAVX rack and the floor (sub). It was connected to a Yamaha RX-A3040 AV receiver with a Cambridge Audio 752BD Blu Ray player and Sky HD acting as source and a Panasonic GT60 Plasma acting as the screen and supplying Netflix and Amazon as further sources. Test material has included Blu Ray, broadcast and on demand material as well as some FLAC files and Spotify via the Spotify connect function in the Yamaha.
Sound Quality

As the review sample appeared to have done plenty of running before it arrived here, I haven’t put a huge amount of running in into the DX-2 and as the behaviour of the speakers hasn’t changed in the time it has been in use suggests that it is behaving as it should. I’m pleased to report too that the behaviour in question is very, very positive.

First up, the Wharfedale does the one thing absolutely crucial thing that a sub/sat system has to do in order to work and that is that it integrates the sub and the speakers correctly. With the crossover of the sub bypassed and a 100Hz one running in the Yamaha (I did briefly try a 120Hz one but feel that a 100Hz one works better even allowing for a roll off in the output from the satellites), the performance is extremely cohesive. I re-watched Sleepy Hollow with the DX-2 in place and the way that the DX-2 renders the woods from where the horseman emerges is really rather impressive. There’s plenty of low key detail in the mix and those little satellites do a fine job of rendering it.

They also show excellent tonal balance. The driver materials in use in the DX-2 are hardly the stuff of science fiction but they serve as a welcome reminder that the classics work well. Early on in the film, there’s a short (but effective) cameo from Sir Christopher Lee. With the DX-2, even with your eyes closed, the output of the centre speaker is very much Christopher Lee. The presentation is refined, detailed and continuously engaging.

There are limits of course. Even on the end of the capable and unflappable Yamaha 3040, the Wharfedale has a very clear comfort zone in volume terms and pushing too hard will result in it starting to harden up and become somewhat brittle. Watching the catacombs sequence in John Wick 2 at a loud level comes across as a bit breathless and constrained. This being said, in a normal lounge, listening at more day to day levels, the results are still very entertaining.

Interestingly, the sub has more poke in it than the satellites do. For a fairly small and sanely powered box, it has no trouble giving you some decent bass extension and staying cohesive and together even with fairly complex material. The good folks of SVS are unlikely to stop making their instruments of destruction when confronted with it but after a week in situ, it is very clear that plenty of effort has been expanded on it.

Where this effort really shows for me is when you switch over to general TV viewing – conducted at rather lower levels and with less sophisticated soundtracks than on movie night. The Wharfedale is a truly excellent partner for this day-to-day material. It sounds spacious, refined and convincing across pretty much anything you might choose from the visual insanity of Britannia to the eyegasm of The Grand Tour. The latter gave the DX-2 the chance to show off the tonal realism it has by doing a fine job of capturing the effort that had gone into recording the Jaguar XKSS and Aston Martin DB4 Lightweight. The sheer array of mechanical noise from the Aston in particular is superbly rendered and very immersive. The single biggest accolade I can give the DX-2 is that I don’t feel compelled to re-watch anything once it had been re-boxed.

Used in 2.1, the DX-2 is capable if not as capable as using a straight pair of stereo speakers. Listening to The Thread That Keeps Us by Calexico, which is well produced and tonally accurate, that slight dip in output where the sub finishes and the sats really come into their own is noticeable (but again, for me at least, preferable to the 120Hz crossover setting). There is a very good stereo image though and the sub is light enough on its feet to deal with complex basslines without getting slow or wallowy. I suspect that the critical aspect of judging the DX-2 is that no AV solution (soundbar, HTIB etc.) that I’ve listened to recently sounds better.

“The single biggest accolade I can give the DX-2 is that I don’t feel compelled to re-watch anything once it has been re-boxed”

Conclusion

Wharfedale DX-2 Home Cinema Speaker Package Review

My time with the DX-2 has been illuminating. In so many ways, this is not a radical system – it is very similar in concept and execution to the old Mordaunt Short Premiere systems which I used to provide technical support for over fifteen years ago. There’s nothing here that is in any way revolutionary… but… it doesn’t stop the DX-2 being seriously good.

Partnered with a decent affordable AV receiver, this is a package that doesn’t do a convincing facsimile of surround, it instead offers honest to goodness home cinema thrills at a more than sensible price. It does this while taking up very little space and being perfectly up to the job of working in most decors. If you can handle a moderately more complex cabling arrangement than would be required of a soundbar, then the Whafedale DX-2 shows that there is a whole world of fun you can get in on and for that reason this bargain box of brilliant is an indisputable Best Buy.

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Undiscovered Gem – Wharfedale Diamond 225

This is the world I grew up in: iPods, ear buds, tinny laptop speakers. Most people my age don’t think twice about their equipment, so long as it makes sound. Your average iTunes a cionado isn’t going to shell out big sums of cash on stereo equipment, especial- ly when everything seems to have speakers built in these days. Why bother?

But there is good sound at approachable prices, fantastic sound really, the sort of sound that people obsess about. It’s not a mystical thing; it’s a visceral one; and younger people are nally starting to gure it out. Vinyl’s comeback is proof of that. The iPod generation is ready for quality; it’s just a matter of guring out how to get it. And for me, it always starts with speakers.

There’s nothing better than opening something new, which is probably why people watch videos of strangers unboxing hard- ware on YouTube. The Wharfedale Diamond 225s sat wrapped in plastic covers sandwiched between tight foam inserts at the top and bottom, keeping them secure in transit. When I nally got them up and out, I stared at the gorgeous rosewood-ve- neer boxes, with their black-lacquer MDF baf es and the small Wharfedale logo just beneath the woofer. I leaned back in my desk chair and thought: “Wow, those are pretty.” They’re clean, unpretentious, and clearly put together very, very well.

OK, the speaker grilles were a little weird. They’re two round foam pieces with little plastic rods that snap in over the tweet- er and the woofer, leaving the rest of the baf e exposed, as opposed to something that covers the whole front. It’s not my favorite aesthetic choice, though it’s not necessarily a bad one, either. Just a matter of taste, I guess. At least they’re easy to remove, so I popped them off and forgot about them.

The 225s are fairly compact, though deep and solid. Sound is always the most important aspect of any audio component, but you still have to live with these things, and it’s easier to live with beautiful stuff. Fortunately, they’re exactly what they need to be: simple and attractive. Clearly the people at Wharfedale know what they’re doing, which makes sense, considering how long they’ve been around. Wharfedale is a relatively large British out t founded back in the 1930s, and they’ve been a big name in British hi-fi ever since.  The Diamond series debuted in 1981, and Wharfedale has been slowly improving the Diamond designs and sound without inflating cost, and that’s exactly what I’m looking for.

The 225s list at $450, which is a price an actual human with a real job could potentially afford. If you’re like me, and you’re sick of “affordable” equipment pushing easily into the $1000 range, this review is for you. Fact is, the majority of people can’t shell out the cash for the absurdly hyper-expensive audio equipment that clogs up most blogs. If we want to get the next generation to fall in love with great sound, I think it’s about time to accept that there’s some seriously good, affordable stuff worth writing about.

So with all that in mind, I put the 225s on top of my cheap stands, hooked them up to my (also British) Cambridge Audio CXA80 integrated, and turned it all on. Truth is, my listening space isn’t ideal. It’s small, oddly shaped with a sloping roof, and my speaker placement is limited. They have to be up close to a wall, though fortunately for me, these Wharfedales were designed with that in mind.  The slot-loaded bass port res downwards, instead of back, minimizing room inter- action. So don’t worry about sticking them on either side of an entertainment system in the living room, for example, or squeezing them into a small of ce. Like I said, we have to live with these things, and space is sometimes at a premium.

Diving into the sound, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Bookshelf speakers typically aren’t known for deep, earth-shaking bass, and the 225s are no different in that regard. They aren’t going to rattle anyone’s bones and dig deep into that 40Hz bass region, which is fine—that’s what a sub’s for. Still, when I started with “Sparkle,” the rst track on Tatsuro Yamashita’s City Pop masterpiece, For You, I got such a satisfyingly deep drop that I didn’t find myself missing the lowest of the low registers. Frankly, I didn’t find myself missing much of anything at all, especially when that clean, twanging guitar played its insanely catchy riff.  The opening of “Sparkle” features a heavy, show-stopping reveal, and the 225s were more than up to the task of reproducing that big moment. I was surprised by how but I think it’s so much more than enough for my small listening space. I can’t say how well they’d do in a much larger room, although I suspect they’d be up to the task.

The other good thing about “Sparkle” is the way Yamashita’s voice is recorded. There’s tons of reverb and space, his notes just drifting off into the background, and the 225s highlighted that nicely. For such small speakers, these things could create an impressive soundstage. Not the greatest, most spectacular presentation, but plenty to keep me engaged. Sound hung, drifting, projected nicely in both directions. At some points at higher volume, I noticed a bit of gristle in the upper registers, and sometimes the lower end felt a bit soft. I have to admit though, I was having fun just running through my favorite sides, one after the other, looking for any sonic detail that might be worth delving into. That’s the best sign that a piece of equipment is working. These little boxes just seemed to get me.

But I had to push the 225s, give them something challenging.  That’s the whole point of a review, after all, to see how these things really perform. I turned to one of the strangest and most complicated albums of the year, King Krule’s The Ooz. This double-LP is as idiosyncratic as it is fascinating. On the most basic, surface level, it’s an experimental trip-hop masterpiece, but I think it’s so much more than that.  It’s a sonically dif – cult album, with deep, rolling bass lines, up-tempo shifting beats, and Krule’s own morphing, grinding voice switching registers at will. The 225s did not disappoint me. They had a solid grip on the bass, keeping up with the hairpin-turn bumps and rumbles. The horns blaring in the background of “Dum Surfer” were rendered but- ter-smooth, along with that catchy guitar floating over the tight snares. I was drawn to the way the 225s made THE Ooz, somehow more accessible.  It’s such an intricately layered album  and little details such as Krule’s English slang could easily be missed if anything muddy got in the way. I could feel the de- tails of his voice despite the heavy synths and shimmer- ing guitar effects. The 225s did a great job of creating a solid soundstage with minutely differentiated pieces. These songs felt so simple at first listen, but it took a piece of equipment like the 225s to do this level of complexity justice.

Finally, I wanted to hear how the Diamond 225s would deal with rich, complex upper-range vocals. These speakers could handle bass and midrange, but I was curious as to how they’d do when it came to subtlety. For that, I turned to Moses Sumney’s odd, pared-down, R&B-influenced album, Romanticism. Sumney’s music focuses so much on his intense, wonderful, lilting falsetto, which nicely showcased the 225’s ability to highlight delicate high-end and midrange detail as he moved through registers. I had a feeling the 225s would be plenty engaging with a softer sound, and I wasn’t disappointed.  The bass guitar on “Man on the Moon (reprise)” barely kept pace while Sumney’s vocals played above it, yet through the 225s the layers ofSumney’s voice came through clean, uncolored, and almost liquid. I didn’t really understand this album on first listen, but as I went through it again and again on the 225s, I came to really love its low-key cleanliness.  In the end, I think that’s the real strength of the 225s.  They weren’t throwing the deepest bass or resolving the upper registers absolutely perfectly, but they had weight right where I needed it, a;ong with the details and the clarity necessary to resolve complex tracks into enjoyable musicality.

These speakers remind me that the “entry-level” isn’t a bad place to be.  Inexpensive components are getting better and better as high-end design trickles down into supposedly budget hardware.  The diamond 225s take everything good about high-end audio, the power of beautifully reproduced music, and they make it accessible to a wider audience.  I believe the 225s would satisfy just about anybody for fantastic-sounding speakers design by a respected manufacturer at a reasonable price.  They’re not perfect, but man, they’re still more than good.  I highly recommended them.

 From “The Absolute Sound” no. 282

 

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After hearing these incredible TS712z Mk2s, you’ll think that everyone else has got it wrong, and Eclipse has got it right!

Eclipse’s range topping TD712z Mk2s are a wonderful mixture of sublime brilliance and mediocrity.

It all stems from the company’s dogged determination to produce a speaker that can properly reproduce an impulse signal.

Impulse? It’s a single transient lasting a very short period of time. Such a signal contains all frequencies, and Eclipse believes if its speakers can produce an impulse correctly, then everything from timing to detail resolution will fall into place.

So, the engineering approach is as distinctive as they come. Eclipse uses a single drive unit to avoid all the phase and integration concerns that are part and parcel of any multiple driver arrangement.

No crossover circuit

It also means there isn’t a crossover circuit – there’s no need with just a single driver – so all the resolution, dynamic and phase issues of such circuits are bypassed.

That single drive unit is held rigid by a dense anchor inside the enclosure, which diverts any vibration energy into the dedicated stand.

The enclosure is also held by the anchor, but is decoupled – meaning little of the drive unit’s energy is fed directly into the cabinet. This reduces resonance to a very low level.

The enclosure’s egg shape helps too, minimising diffraction and improving rigidity. Making it out of ABS – fancy plastic to you and us – means it’s strong and very well-damped.

Design changes pay off

The most obvious changes from the early version of this speaker include a 50 per cent larger enclosure and a new drive unit.

The design aim is to deliver greater bass and smoother treble without sacrificing the model’s traditional strengths. And There’s no doubt Eclipse has succeeded.

The sonic presentation is more tonally even than before. There’s enough bass weight for the speaker to sound balanced without using a sub, and its extra treble energy helps openness.

That said, the 712z Mk2s are still compromised at both frequency extremes. That 12cm fibre glass driver is still a relatively small unit, and has no chance of matching the kind of low-end grunt just about any other five grand speaker has in spades.

High frequencies, despite the gains, still lack the extension and refinement expected at this price level. The 712’s dispersion at treble frequencies is still relatively poor – the driver is too large to disperse high frequencies well – so precise positioning is crucial.

Well defined and precise

But make no mistake, there is plenty to enjoy. When it comes to timing, dynamics and detail resolution, we doubt you’ll find better – at any price.

Much the same could be said of the stereo imaging. No other speaker in our experience, with the possible exception of Quad’s electrostatics, can produce such a well-defined and precise sound stage.

These Eclipses sound more life-like and cohesive than just about anything you can buy.

They play Tori Amos’s Abnormally Attracted to Sin with all the insight and subtlety you’d want, yet still have the power and excitement the likes of Kings Of Leon deserve.

Far from conventional speakers

Multi-driver alternatives put bandwidth ahead of cohesion and timing.

Compare any of these to the Eclipses, and they sound messy and poorly organised. The flip-side is, they’re more expansive tonally and can fill a room better.

All speakers are engineering compromises. Eclipse has a different set of compromises to everyone else: give them a long listen and it’s hard to argue they’ve got it wrong.

From “What HiFi” UK

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Size isn’t everything – Wharfedale DX-2

Wharfedale’s commitment to affordable – surround sound cheers Ed SeHey

It wasn’t too long ago that an entry-Level AVR partnered with a sub/sat speaker package was the default starting position for home cinema thrills. As such, any self-respecting speaker brand had one in its inventory. Yet times change — soundbars have left the compact home cinema option looking a bit Less compact.

Not everybody has abandoned the old ways, though. Wharfedale made us very happy with its DX-1SE array [HCC #267 — and our 2016/2017 Best Compact Speaker System award winner], which was very much in the classic sub/sat system mould, and it has now clearly felt that the design had more to offer. so has released the DX-2.

On the face of it, it doesn’t Look like too much has changed. You still get five tittle speakers and a subwoofer. But Wharfedale says that a lot of what you see is different — including cabinet designs, drivers that have been ‘fine-tuned’, and boosted subwoofer power.

So, at £450, is this is a tempting proposition?

Compact convention

In terms of speaker design, the DX-2 doesn’t push any boundaries. It features two pairs of compact satellites that function as left and right channels, front and rear. Each is a two-way design, with a 0.75in soft dome tweeter and 3in woven polypropylene midbass driver, and looks like a shrunken bookshelf speaker. These satellites are joined by a dedicated centre, which adds a second 3in midbass driver to the spec rather than simply placing a satellite on its side.

The system is completed by the WH-D8 active subwoofer. In a world of multi-driver monsters with output power in the kilowatts, a sub with a single 8in driver and 70W (150W peak) amplifier might not stir the blood, but this is still rather more subwoofer than some soundbar rivals possess. Most importantly, it feels like a properly engineered device. The seated cabinet is mounted an feet that are pliant enough to isolate it from the outside world, and ensure it doesn’t make a bid for freedom if you crank the levels up. You also get a crossover control, a phase switch and the ability to bypass the auto on/off function — although, it has to be said, this works pretty well.

The WH-D8 is going to be pretty busy in a system of this nature because the output of the satellites doesn’t drop especially Low. Wharfedale quotes a lower response of 120Hz (+/- 3cI8) and 100Hz at a more severe roll-off (+/- 6dB). As this means the sub’s output is likely to be at least partially directional, I found it does its best work on axis with the front speakers.

Crucially, the DX-2 package doesn’t feel cheap.  The finish of the satellites is fair, with a gloss-black front panel brightened up with chrome trim rings. I’m Less sold on the leatherette wrap on the cabinets, but it’s largely unobtrusive and the speakers themselves seem solid and well made.

At the moment, the DX-2 is available in black, as pictured, but a white finish is due to surface too.  The speakers can be wall-mounted via keyhole fixings, and they benefit from decently rugged speaker terminals. There are no spring-clip holes here.

Overall, I’d argue the Wharfedale system is built to a standard that is entirely competitive with soundbars in the £600-£700 range. This is important because the benefits of separate receivers and speakers are worth repeating. Not only can they offer authentic surround sound, they’re likely to offer better connectivity, improved stereo performance and the ability to be upgraded independently of one another. Wharfedale has an eye on this already, and has announced that an extra pair of DX-2 satellites will be available for £100 to enable expansion to 7.1.

Against this, you do have the greater complexity and cabling to consider, but installing a setup of this ilk is not exactly arduous.

Turning up the Wick

No less importantly, the DX-2 doesn’t sound cheap either. With the bruising core TrueHD mix of John Wick: Chapter 2 (Btu-ray), the Wharfedales cover all the basics correctly. With the woofer at the front of the room, I preferred using a 100Hz crossover to a 120Hz setting. I didn’t perceive there to be any `hole’ in the system’s bass response; the DX-2 instead sounded cohesive and controlled.

The movie’s opening chase through the streets of New York is handled well. The engine sounds of the slower cars that Wick’s Chevelle overtakes were smoothly passed from speaker to speaker.

The enclosures are, in home cinema terms, fairly small, yet the soundstage delivered never sounds small and creates a convincingly room-filling experience. Sure, there are limits. The sequence where Wick falls back through the catacombs can reach the maximum level of what the satellites are capable of handling, meaning they sound more congested, but the volume level that this occurs at is fairly substantial.

It is also worth noting that this limit is much more on the part of the satellites than the subwoofer. The WH-D8 bass bin does a superb job all the way from its handover to the satellites, down to the point where energy is felt rather than heard. It sounds larger and more potent than you would expect, and balances this with a likeable sense of agility and speed.

This all means that the DX-2 is well equipped to tackle fast-paced but deft movie moments. The sequence where Joy and Sadness are ejected from the headquarters in Pixar’s Inside Out (Blu-ray) convinces, with the speakers nailing the movement of the memory balls and general sense of disarray while keeping the score and dialogue distinct from the wider effects.

The use of a dedicated centre speaker really pays dividends in situations like this. Sharing drivers across the front soundstage keeps it uniform tonally, resulting in a robust, believable sound with smooth transitions, and dialogue that’s never lost in the mix even when things get hectic.

The system maintains its clear and cohesive presentation with things like Sky’s deranged (but weirdly watchable) Britannia; is a satisfying listen late at night with the volume dropped low; and turns in a decent presentation with music too. That well-judged handover between satellites and woofer ensures an impressively fulsome delivery of Kraftwerk’s Aero Dyriamik (FLAC, 3-0 The Catalogue), with its bassline rolling along nicely with no sense of overhang or delay, nor any obvious feeling of there being three speakers rather than two. With the more considered and relaxed Losing to You by Stars, the DX-2 delivers the vocal centre of the song with surprising scale and genuine realism, given the dinky nature of the satellites. As with film use, you can push the speakers to run out of headroom, but the sub remains as unburstable as ever.

This 2.1 performance naturally isn’t as refined or largescale as that of a pair of floorstanding speakers, but it is achieved while taking up an awful lot less space in the room. And it’s more than good enough to balance some stereo listening along with multichannel.

A slice of home cinema

Again, Wharfedale has got the balance between price and performance bang an. The sonic chops of this sub-E.500 package are considerable, while styling is good and setup fuss-free. There are speaker wires to run and an AVR to budget for, but the DX-2 is not so much bigger or more cumbersome than a high-end saundbar, while offering much more flexibility. This gives buyers a real slice of home cinema joy at a very sensible price point. Like its predecessor, it’s a bit of a bargain.

From “HOME CINEMA CHOICE MARCH 2018”

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沒有負擔，只有享受，夫復何求? Soulution 520/501前後級

瑞士不產可可，但巧克力舉世聞名。瑞士沒有大煉鋼廠，但手工手錶世界第一。 瑞士沒有如台灣的電子加工業，但高級音響器材卻讓人嚮往。Soulution 就是一個 讓音響迷嚮往的品牌。

文|劉漢盛

一家專門生產特殊馬達的公司，怎麼會變成瑞士著名 的音響製造商呢? Spemot 這 家創立於 1956年的公司，替許多汽車 廠如福斯、Seat、BMW，以及著名手工具公司Bosch等客製各種馬達。不僅 如此，還生產瑞士著名的 Paco 廚房用 具，這樣一家公司怎麼會轉型成高級 音響製造廠呢?其實並不是轉型，這二種業務還是佔公司營業額大宗，只是另外增加了Soulution的音響製造業務而已。

延攬天才設計師

這個故事起頭是這樣的，Spemot 三個原始創業老闆之一的老 Hammer 把公司股權全部買下，於 1997 年交 給兒子 Cyrill Hammer 經營，從那時 起，小 Hammer 就跟另一位股東 Roland Manz 合力經營 Spemot。這二位老闆 因為喜歡音響，所以也進口德國品牌 Audiolabor 的擴大機，還有 HMS 線材。 到了 2000 年，他們想玩更大，乾脆把 Audiolabor 的設計者 Christoph Schurman 延攬過來，要他研發擴大機，準備轉 型製造音響。Christoph Schurman 這個人很天才，他不僅自己演奏樂器、 搞錄音室，還設計各種擴大機、主動式喇叭，以及其他相關電子產品， 可說是罕見全才。過幾天我要去採訪 Soulution，如果遇上他，再跟他好 好聊聊。Schurman 花了二年設計出原型機，徵詢大家的意見，最後的結論 是應該做更高級的擴大機，也就是不管成本，只要把聲音做到最好。於是 又花了三年研發，到了2005 年才推出 700系列。果然 700系列一鳴驚人，一 砲而紅。不過老實說，如果沒有母公司 Spemot 的財務支持，有那家公司能夠花五年的研發才推出產品呢?

幾項好聲關鍵要點

Soulution 的產品我從一推出就開始聽到今天，綜合他們的做法，我可 以簡單地分析出幾項要點: 第一就是超大餘裕的電源供應。第二是超頻寬。第三是訊號路徑的銅箔配線都特別粗，尤其後級輸出級接到喇叭線端 子更乾脆用厚厚的銅條。第四就是機箱做得特別大、特別堅固。第五就是機內特別注重屏蔽，使各級之間干擾 降低。這樣的特點導致什麼聲音呢? 音質特別好，柔順溫潤，音像龐大， 而且特別寬鬆。咦? 或許有讀者已經發現，上述的設計特質跟德國的 MBL 很相近。沒錯，MBL 的設計也是走這個路子，聲音表現也是音質特別好， 柔潤溫和，音像龐大，特別寬鬆。不 過，二者的聲音還是不一樣，就好像二個男人的嗓音不可能完全一樣。在 此我偷偷告訴一項我觀察到的秘密， 送給台灣的擴大機製造者: Soulution 擴大機的線路板 Layout 幾乎看不到直 角線路，難道這也是聽起來柔潤溫和的原因嗎?

承襲 7系列，售價相對便宜 簡單講過 Soulution 的來龍去脈， 準備進入本文。Soulution 的高價系列是 7系列，相對平價系列則是 5系列，5系列包括 520前級、501單聲道 後級、530綜合擴大機、540 Digital Player，以及 590 USB Converter，這次要寫的是 520前級與 501後級，先說 520前級。它的外觀跟我寫過的 540 CD唱盤完全一樣，只是 CD 唱盤多了抽屜口。面板設計很簡潔，一個大型顯示窗在左邊，旁邊是一個圓形旋鈕，二者之間有 Mute、Prog、以 及 Power三個小按鈕，再來就沒有任 何東西了，這麼簡潔的設計因為面板頂端的弧線與旋鈕的圓弧相搭配， 而顯出不凡氣質。在此插嘴一下，5 系列的外觀早在 2009年就已經設計定 案，可見 Soulution 做事情有條不紊， 按步就班，並不是急就章。

來到背板，可以看到 XLR 與 RCA 前 級輸出端各一組，再來是底下的同廠器材連接埠與RS232。接著是四組輸入端，包括二組 XLR 與二組 RCA。再往左是 MC Phono 唱頭輸入端子，端子下方有二組小扳手開關，負責唱頭的阻抗匹配，匹配範圍從 20歐姆到 1,000歐姆，說明書會告訴您切換之後的不同負載阻抗。

一個旋鈕搞定全部操控

520 前級面板雖然簡單，但那個旋鈕卻同時擁有數種功能。在正常狀態 下可以控制音量大小。再輕按一下會讓音量控制失效，按久一點再放開可以進入輸入端切換選擇，選取您要的 輸入訊源。如果要進入選單設定要怎麼做? 按住 Prog 鈕不放至少10 秒鐘， 就會進入選單模式，接著旋轉大旋鈕來選擇想要的項目，選好之後再按一下大旋鈕表示進入，接著可以轉動大 旋鈕來改變數值，最後再按一下大旋鈕來表示 OK，這樣就設定完畢了。其實這些簡單的設定沒有太大的需要， 出廠時都已經設定好常用狀態，就算 您不去動他都可以正常使用。

520 的電源供應分類比與數位二 組，所謂數位就是面板上顯示幕的各種顯示，以及內部簡單的設定。520 的背板雖然有平衡端子，不過內部線路並非全平衡架構，只是左右聲道分離而已。為何不使用全平衡架構呢? 設計者認為全平衡架構要使用雙倍元件，元件本身的誤差或品質不良導致的失真增加，倒不如將元件數量降低，提升純度。

雙重音量控制系統

在輸入端方面，520 跟其他前級一 樣，採用繼電器做切換，避免各輸入端相互干擾。而在音量控制方面，520 採用雙層設計，第一層為精密金屬皮膜電阻跟繼電器所組成的 R2R 級進式音控系統。為了怕改變音量時失誤，突然 產生的強烈音量損及後級與喇叭，另外以 PGA(Programmable Gain Amplifier) 方式作第二層音量控制，不過這第二層 音量控制只有在用家調整音量時才會啟動，當音量旋鈕不再轉動時，音樂訊號 回到原本的精密電阻繼電器線路上，因 此不會劣化音質。

520 的內部線路與 720 前級類似，採多級設計，頻寬高達 1MHz(-3dB) 速度反應非常快，輸出訊號可以使用長訊號線輕易驅動後級。更棒的是，520 也 跟 720前級一樣，內建MC唱頭放大線路，方便黑膠唱盤用家。

散熱片只有一邊

接著來看 501單聲道後級。它是每聲道 125瓦 (8歐姆負載) 的純A類單聲道 後級，線路同樣來自 700 與 710，它的面板更簡單，只有中央一個旋鈕，負責打開電源(On)、自動電源(Auto)以 及關機(Off)三段切換。關機狀態其實是 S t a n d b y， A u t o 則是以原廠 L i n k 端子 其他器材相連時自動觸發開機之用，至於 On 當然就是開機啦! 有意思的是， 501是單聲道設計，而且純 A類，但是竟然只有右邊有散熱片，面積也不大，這 樣就能有效散熱嗎? 幸好，501 的背板可 以看到有一個散熱風扇，如果機內溫度過高，一定會啟動強制散熱的。當我在 聽音樂時，風扇是一直啟動著，平常就算靠近旁邊，也聽不到風扇雜音。一旦 散熱片溫度升高到手摸會燙時，風扇加快轉動，如果府上很安靜，此時靠近後級背板才可聽到輕微的風扇聲，可見風扇品質很好。

背板上除了一組喇叭線接端， 還有一個同廠器材連接埠，以及 Input 與 Output XLR 端子各一。為何會有 Output 端子呢?這個輸出端子可以連接另外一部後級，做雙擴大機使用。在喇叭線端子下面，還有三個 LED 燈號，Main 燈亮起代表正常 使用狀態，Power 燈亮起代表開始供電，Protect 燈亮起代表故障，此時就要送修了。

電源供應特別注重

打開 501箱體，可以看到左邊是以金屬板密封的電源供應線路，右邊則是放大線路。密封的電源供應中其實包括六組電源供應，除了數位線路與類比線路分離之外，驅動級與輸出級 電源也獨立分組，六組電源各自有穩壓裝置。比較驚人的是，這六組供電 中最大的二組竟然是交換式電源，提供 1,200瓦電能。Soulution 認為他們的交換式電源比傳統線性電源還優，實際聽起來音質純淨，背景噪音低，可 見 Soulution 真的有所本，不是為了降 低成本而使用交換式電源。

在機箱右邊是線路板，首先映入眼簾的是二條銅條連接著功率輸出級的輸出端跟背板喇叭線接端，而喇叭 線接端用的也是大大的銅端子，這樣的做法保證大電流的無阻力輸出。再來是位於中央的四個濾波電容，容量 47,000uF，這是能量儲存水庫，就近供應功率晶體所需。可不要小看這四個 濾波電容，520 在 8歐姆負載時輸出 125瓦，4歐姆負載可以輸出 250瓦，到了2歐姆負載時更可以輸出 500瓦，阻抗降低一半，功率提升一倍，一點都不打折扣，可見其供電充足。

濾波電容旁邊有多組穩壓線路林立，顯然 520 每級放大都很注重穩壓。 功率晶體則是鎖在厚厚的鋁板上，與散熱片連接。放眼線路板上都是傳統穿孔元件，可見520 的設計者還是服膺 老派經典設計原則，難怪聲音聽起來 寬鬆厚實。

聆聽這套前後級的場地在我家開放式大空間，搭配的數位訊源是他家 540 Digital Player，喇叭則用了二對，一對是 AER Momentum，另一對是 ELAC FS 507 VX-Jet。

無論是搭配 ELAC 或 AER，音質都很好，沙沙聲特別美，擦弦質感又真實。但是搭配 Pioneer S-1ex就沒那麼好，無論是鋼琴或小提琴的光澤都稍暗些，活力顯得不足。其實這也在意 料之中，因為 520 的聲音本來就屬於比 較內斂，需要搭配比較活潑，高頻光澤比較強的喇叭。

不會!不會!不會!

老實說，這套前後級的評論可以用簡單幾個字就可以寫完，那就是: 音質醇美，聲音溫和寬鬆，聽起來既美又舒服，讓人忍不住會一直將音樂聽下去。或許您會擔心，這樣的聲音特質會不會導致速度反應慢? 解析力是 否不夠? 音樂活生感會不會死板? 我的答案是:不會!不會!不會!

到底這套前後級的音質是怎麼迷人法? 在此我先不用什麼發燒片，就拿單聲道錄音為例。我用卡拉絲那張 「Puccini Arias & Duets」(EMI 7243 5 62795 20)，這張CD 的原始錄音時 間是1954、1955與1958年，我要聽的不是錄音的音效，而是卡拉絲嗓音 音質。一句話: 520、501 把卡拉絲嗓音的美質唱出來了，那是如綢緞般滑 潤的嗓音，沒有尖銳，沒有乾澀，不 會削瘦，不會緊繃，反而是豐潤、有 水分、飽滿與寬鬆的嗓音，這樣的嗓 音說明了這套 Soulution 前、後級音質之美。

接下來是二張比較發燒的: Jennifer Warnes 的「Famous Blue Raincoat」與 Anne Bisson 的「Blue Mind」。這二位歌手的嗓音明顯不同，但都顯出讓人分泌腦啡的美質， 嗓音中沒有一絲雜質，沒有一點沙粒，簡直就像上好的巧克力融化之後那麼的醇美與柔潤，芬芳撲鼻。除了 二位女歌手的嗓音之美之外，伴奏樂 器的音質也很美。例如 Famous Blue Raincoat 那首的伴奏弦樂音質就美得讓 人想要親撫它們，而 Blue Mind 的鋼琴 音質之美也讓人懷疑是否加了蜂蜜?

小提琴還是美

假若您覺得這樣還不足以讓您體會 Soulution 前後級的音質之美，我再拿出 James Ehnes 所演奏的「Homage」 來說明小提琴的音質。這張 CD 從第 22 軌開始就是以諸多名琴演奏同一樂段，讓我們可以分辨不同名琴的音質 音色表現。從第一首開始，這套前後 級就展現出很美的小提琴音質，高頻段完全不會飆出去，即使拉到很高把位，都可以聽出擴大機把小提琴高音拉回去，營造出內斂又具有木頭味的 美聲。至於嘶嘶沙沙的細微擦弦聲更是豐富極了，拉到較低把位時從來沒有斷過，真是引人入勝。

從 22 軌開始就是不同名琴的演奏，雖然每把琴的差異不大，但這套前後級都能夠清楚的分辨，顯然對音質、 音色的辨識能力很強。此外，每把名琴的音質之美很難用文字去區別，總 之聽起來都讓人很舒服就是了。如果音質不美，大腦就不會告訴我「舒服」的感覺。

再來，這套前後級聽小提琴跟鋼琴真的是太棒了，由這二樣樂器，亦可 窺知其他樂器的音質表現。當我聽穆特演奏的貝多芬小提琴奏鳴曲「春」 時，發現 520、501 的小提琴位細微的抖音波動特別清楚，這代表這套前後級的細微強弱變化能力很棒。此外， 鋼琴規模感大，泛音豐富，聽起來特別的「輝煌」。老實說很難解釋「輝煌」是什麼意思，或許可以說是光澤明亮又溫暖，音粒凝聚又爽朗。

驅動力與控制力一樣優異

音質美的擴大機，會不會沒有低 頻控制力與驅動力呢? 當然不會!當 我聽 Leonard Cohen 「Ten New Songs」 以及「Famous Blue Raincoat」時， 501 的低頻驅動力、彈性與控制力讓 人「受不了」。受不了? 很難聽嗎? 不! 太誘人了! 那低頻不是笨重死沉的厚實，也不是擁有強烈衝擊性的厚實，而是擁有靈動活力厚實，不僅量 足，寬厚，還帶著很棒的彈性，尤其是「Famous Blue Raincoat」的第二 首 Bird on a Wire ，以及第三首 Famous Blue Raincoat 、第四首 Joan Of Arc ，那是完全沒有侵略性、非常溫柔的 Q彈低頻，包括腳踩大鼓的噗噗聲都那麼有彈性，收束那麼快。我明明知道真正的腳踩大鼓沒有這麼 Q彈的表現，但寧可被騙，錄音師泡製音效的功夫實在太高明了!

告訴您，當我用這二張 CD 聽過 ELAC FS 507 VX-Jet、AER Momentum 時，每對喇叭的低頻段表現都是這般誘人。尤其是 E L A C，老實說我沒聽過 這麼好聽的 E L A C 喇叭，不僅音質美， 其他「音響二十要」表現也都那麼的全面與平衡。我必須說: 以前真的低估 E L A C 喇叭的表現能力了。不過話說回來，不可能有人會用 Soulution 前後級去搭 E L A C 這對喇叭，所以說了也是白說。

樂器與人聲寬鬆大器

再來我要說這套前後級的另一項優點，那就是樂器形體或線條都不會瘦瘦的，只要是管樂器就會有圓潤的形體，只要是人聲就可以聽到寬鬆大器的身形，即使是弦樂，也可以聽到弦樂的圓潤聲線，而不是細細乾乾緊緊的一條「線」，這樣的特質讓人聽起音樂好像沐浴在寬鬆的聲波下，渾身舒暢。其實這就是寬鬆，無所不在的寬鬆，好像一部大馬力汽車在高速公 路上急馳，又快又穩。

或許您會以為寬鬆大器的形體代表著音像模糊，像暈開的水墨。錯!  這套擴大機的音像凝聚乾淨，像聽 Leonard Cohen 的嗓音時，它們表現出來的就是高度乾淨的嗓音，音像清楚凝聚，輪廓邊緣沒有一絲模糊。另外 聽 Jennifer Warnes 以及 Anne Bisson 的嗓音也是如此。

沒有壓力，只有享受

寫到此處，我不想再寫下去了，因為我的腦子裡都被美妙的音質占滿，會讓人產生快感的腦啡不停泊泊冒出，其他「音響二十要」 表現又是那麼的自然，隱於無形。 聽 Soulution 520 前級、501 後級的過程是如此的沒有壓力，沒有負擔，只有 享受，夫復何求?

轉載自 “音響論壇297期”

發佈於

獨一無二，難以超越 Soulution 530

低頻層次豁然開朗，動態對比輕鬆的拉開，交響樂各聲部清晰可辨，卻又圓融的合為一體，這是只有大型音響系統才能 重現的大編制規模感與開放感，卻在530這部綜合擴大機身上實現了！

文 | 陶忠豪

 

雖然 Hi End 音響高價化的趨勢已成定局，萬元美金起跳的器材早已比比皆是，但是當我聽到 Soulution 530 綜合擴大機的定價高達200萬台幣時，還是驚訝到難以置信。怎麼會有人如此不切實際，設計出這麼一款價位跟自家前後級相差無幾，而且體積巨大的像個小茶几的的綜合擴大機呢？

追求極致重播的夢想家

合理推測，會設計出這樣一款擴大機的人，肯定是充滿野心的冒險家，但是這與我認識的 Soulution 總裁 Cyrill Hammer 卻又大不相同。Cyrill可能是我所見過最謙虛又溫文儒雅的音響公司老闆了，他畢業於歐洲頂尖洛桑理工學院，還學過好幾年的鋼琴，要是換作其他音響業務，一定早就大肆宣揚，恨不得讓所有人都知道，但是如果不是我在某一次專訪不經意問到，Cyril l根本決口不提，就算那次說了，也只是輕描淡寫，謙稱自己不夠專業。這樣一位謙謙君子，怎麼會做出 Soulution 這些不論體積、價格與聲音表現都充滿氣勢與魄力的頂尖音響器材呢？

在總編去年八月前往 Soulution 原廠的採訪中，我才知道 Cyrill 的本業原來是這麼有規模的馬達製造廠，不但擁有全自動生產線，而且有能力製造各種特殊馬達，從小家電到汽車大廠都是他們的客戶。照理說，這樣一家公司根本不需要靠製造音響賺錢，事實上也的確如此。Cyrill 與另一位合夥人 Roland Manz 在 2000 年創立Soulution，但是第一款產品前後砍掉重練了三次，直到六年後才正式推出。本篇介紹的 530 綜合擴大機 2011 年就在慕尼黑音響展發表，結果隔了快三年才正式量產，只因為 Cyrill 對前級線路還不滿意。音響界恐怕找不到第二間像Soulution這般不急著賺錢，不斷改良產品直到滿意為止的廠家了。簡單的說，Cyrill 根本就是拿自家馬達廠賺的錢，來實現自己追求極致音樂重播的夢想。

完整前後級的合體

從這個角度來看 Soulution，我們就比較可以理解這家公司的想法了。他們並不是不切實際，而是根本不用擔心實際上賺不賺錢。追求極致表現，才是 Cyrill 創立 Soulution 的目標，在音響界恐怕也只有 Soulution 才會不管市場接受度到底如何，也要不計成本做出像530這樣沒有任何妥協的綜合擴大機。一般人或許覺得 530 是瘋狂之作，但是對 Cyrill 來說，如果他們做出來的只是跟大家差不多的擴大機，那才是沒有意義的事。要做，就要做真正與眾不同、無法超越的產品，從裡到外都要將市面上其他綜合擴大機遠遠拋在腦後，這就是 530 存在的價值。

到底我們該如何看待 530 這樣一款難以定位的產品呢？或許我們不該把它看做綜合擴大機，而是要用前、後級組合的標準來檢視。事實上，Soulution 的確就是把自家 5系列的 520 前級與兩部 501 單聲道後級完完整整放到一個機箱中。對消費者來說，或許有人會覺得直接購買 520 與 501 不就好了，但是如果你不玩器材、不想在許多前後級之間搭來換去，同時又想追求極致重播表現，而且預算不是問題，那麼 530 將是最好的擴大機解決方案。

獨家交換式電源技術

從線路設計分析， 我們也可看出 Soulution 與眾不同、勇於挑戰傳統的獨到見解。首先，許多音響迷對交換式電源一直抱有成見，認為這是廉價的作法，噪訊太高，而且聲音不夠好。不過530卻大膽採用了交換式電源線路，這麼做絕非為了省錢，因為 530 所使用的交換式電源，其實就是新一代 701/711 旗艦後級所配備的獨家技術，等級非但沒有降低，反而與旗艦同步進化。

為什麼要採用交換式電源呢？Soulution 認為傳統線性電源的電壓會隨著電流輸出變化而波動，但是他們開發的交換式電源供應線路，卻能夠維持電壓穩定，不受喇叭阻抗與電流輸出變化影響。在總編與Cyrill的專訪中提到，關鍵技術在於他們的雙重穩壓技術，一是 Power Factor Correction（PFC）功率因數校正級，一是交換式的Pulse Width Modulation（PWM）控制，在功率因數校正級中還使用了 Dual Phase Interleaved PFC 線路，並且施加了負回授，進一步大幅排除高頻雜訊污染，並且降低總諧波失真。

這種創新的交換式電源到底有什麼好處？不但噪訊與失真更低，而且可以讓擴大機在任何負載下都維持穩定電壓，幾乎無止盡的輸出大電流能量，大幅提升喇叭的控制力。表現在聽感上，Cyrill 曾經與採用線性電源的前代710比較過，結果配備新版交換式電源的 711 全面勝出，低頻更穩定、更精確、更輕鬆，音場也將更寬更深。用實際試聽驗證，我也發現530完全沒有以往交換式電源低頻單薄而缺乏立體感的狀況，即使驅動體積龐大的 Hansen Audio 二當家 The King E2 落地喇叭，530 依然游刃有餘、毫不費力，顯示它的驅動力真的已經完全超越一般綜合擴大機的水準。

令人好奇的是，一般採用交換式電源的擴大機，體積通常可以大幅縮小，但是 530 的機箱為何還是如此巨大呢？深入研究之後，我發現原因有三：一是 530 一共配備了四組 600瓦的交換式電源模組，總容量高達2,400瓦。二是交換式電源雖然不需要傳統線性電源中體積龐大的變壓器，但是 Soulution 的設計卻配備了容量驚人的電容，用以應付瞬間大電流輸出。三是 530 一共設置了九組獨立供電，六組高速穩壓線路，分別供應前級、後級、數位邏輯控制及其他線路使用，徹底避免相互干擾，所以體積實在無法縮小。

測試與聽感並重

530 的失真極低、頻寬極寬、輸出阻抗特低，回轉率極高、阻尼因數更超過10,000，這些優異的數據很容易讓人以為 Soulution 是一家特別重視測試規格，以科學與理論為依歸的廠家。但事實上，這只是 Soulution 的面相之一，他們雖然強調測試，也同樣重視聆聽。就拿負回授的運用來說吧，時下大多數擴大機設計者對負回授都有所保留，認為用多了會造成相位失真，拖慢暫態反應，所以市面上大部分擴大機都只施加了少量局部負回授，幾乎沒聽過有誰使用整體負回授，有些廠家甚至完全不用，將負回授去之而後快。Soulution 則是極少數的例外，它們不但施加了深度的局部負回授，甚至還加了0.1dB 的微量整體負回授。為什麼？因為他們實際試聽比較過，加了微量整體負回授的聲音更好聽，所以他們毅然決定採用，無懼於一般人對負回授的反感。這麼做難道不會產生負面影響嗎？Cyrill 說他們採用了反應速度超快的負回授線路，頻寬高達 1MHz，在這種狀況下，人耳已經無法分辨負回授的負面影響，但是卻能明顯感受到負回授所帶來的諸多優點，包括控制力更好、頻寬更寬、線路更穩定等等。這種超高速、超寬頻線路的設計難度其實非常高，不僅元件必須極度精密，線路的走向也必須非常講究，Soulution 所使用的元件都是特別訂製品，成本之高可想而知。有趣的是，瑞士音響廠家對這種線路似乎特別拿手，Goldmund 就是另一個著名的例子。

值得一提的是，Cyrill 並不堅持他們調出的聲音就是唯一正確的聲音，他認為許多人可能會喜歡沒有施加整體負回授的聲音，因為那比較像管機的特質，聲音比較軟，但控制力較差，衝擊性也比較弱。只不過這並非他們要的聲音。所以最後他們決定不去迎合大多數人的偏好，而是要調出屬於 Soulution 的聲音風格。在Hi End器材聲音同質性越來越高的當下，Soulution 這種擇善固執，不受主流觀點左右的態度實在令人激賞。

用厚銅片取代機內配線

Soulution 的另一個設計特點，是大量採用厚銅片取代機內配線，不但用來分配電源，也用來傳輸訊號。這種作法的好處有三：一是厚銅片的阻抗比機內配線低，有助於提升阻尼因數，加強擴大機對喇叭的控制力。二是厚銅片的電流耐受力更好，更符合 Soulution 的大電流輸出特性。三是銅是最好的熱導體，有助於元件散熱。這種設計有沒有缺點呢？Cyrill 坦言厚銅片的雜訊屏蔽能力可能不及一般機內配線，不過聽感上的優點遠大於這個小缺陷，所以他們還是決定採用。這又是 Soulution 聽感優先於測試規格的另一個證明。

15∼20瓦內純A類運作

前面提到 530 內含完整的520前級與兩部 501 單聲道後級，在龐大的機箱中， Soulution 設計了三層框架來安置這些線路，最上層是前級，中間是兩部後級，空間最大的下層則是電源供應線路。每層都有厚鋁板隔間避免相互干擾，確保雜訊屏蔽能力與分體式前後級相同。前、後級線路板以最短訊號路徑連接，則更能發揮 Soulution 超高速線路的理念，這恐怕是分體式前、後級所難以取代的優勢。

線路設計方面，530 配備級進式音量控制線路，特選高精度、低噪訊金屬皮膜電阻衰減訊號，能以 1dB為一級，進行 74級的音量調整。為了避免切換電阻時的突波傷害放大線路，特別另設一個 PGA（Programmable Gain Amplifier）線路負責切換工作，只要實際使用，就可以感受到Soulution在細節上的講究，這絕對是我所使用過操作手感最滑順、最精緻的音量控制了，光是轉動音量旋鈕，就能讓人感受到無可比擬的精密感與高級感。

後級部分，530 採 AB類放大，電壓放大級的工作頻寬高達 80MHz，電流放大則分為三級，確保每一級都在最佳線性範圍內運作，每聲道配備五對 bipolar 功率晶體，八歐姆負載下輸出125瓦，二歐姆時可倍增至 500瓦。特別的是 Soulution 的擴大機都配備靜態電流管理技術，在剛開機時自動調高靜態電流，讓線路快速達到適當的工作溫度，之後則隨時偵測，讓工作溫度保持恆定。Soulution的靜態電流調得很大，在15∼20瓦內是以純A類狀態運作，不過機箱溫度並不會太燙手。

最後值得一提的是 530 的外觀，所有 Soulution 的產品造型都是由 Cyrill 的好友、慕尼黑藝術學院教授 Urs Greutmann 操刀設計，機箱雖然特別龐大，但是外觀卻極簡素雅，看不到任何張牙舞爪的散熱片，僅靠面板上比例與位置恰到好處的顯示幕、按鍵與旋鈕，就營造出優雅而精緻的不凡氣質，贏得紅點設計大獎絕非偶然。 530 雖然是 Soulution 唯一一款綜合擴大機，但機箱體積卻是最大的，長寬比例非常特殊，像是一個正方體，與任何音響器材都不相同，在極大（機箱）與極小（螢幕、按鍵與旋鈕）之間取得了絕妙的平衡，將 Soulution 的工業設計美學發揮到了極致。如果以藝術品的角度檢視，我認為 530 應該是 Soulution 最值得收藏的一件藝術精品。

從小電視到大螢幕

實際試聽在本地總代理傑富的試聽室中進行，這個空間不但開闊，而且挑高將近五米，聆聽位置後方是一整面的落地玻璃，低頻量感不足的系統，在這裡將面臨重大考驗，很難撐起音樂的規模與氣勢。傑富準備了兩對喇叭進行搭配，一開始先用 Peak Consult 的 InCognito X 落地喇叭開場，許多人可能不知道這個品牌是傑富代理，在台灣知名度實在不高，不過在同價位帶的喇叭中，這款丹麥手工製造的喇叭其實是很超值的選擇，箱體由厚實的 HDF 板與胡桃實木構成，單支就重達七十公斤，唯一要注意的是那只向Audio Technology訂製的七吋中低音單體並不好對付，不過用530驅動，InCognito X 的實力似乎輕而易舉的完全釋放，小提琴鮮度極高，光澤感充足，大提琴中頻豐厚，低頻密度極高，即使在這個大空間中，平台鋼琴的規模感也能真實再現。

正當我已經滿足於這樣的表現時，傑富老闆羅先生告訴我，Peak Consult 只是熱身，一旁待命的 Hansen Audio The King E2 喇叭才是這次的參考喇叭。這是Hansen Audio 的二號旗艦，我曾經在許多場合聽過這款喇叭的表現，通常都是用Soulution 的 7系列頂級系統驅動，這次用 530 搭配，聲音表現有辦法與高一階的 7系列相提並論嗎？實際聽聽看吧，剛開聲的一瞬間，我就被嚇了一大跳，因為與前一套系統相較，聲音表現的提升幅度實在太明顯了，彷彿從家中客廳的小電視換成了國賓戲院的大螢幕，不論音場寬深、低頻層次或動態對比都頓時展開。後來查了資料，我才知道5系列與7系列的線路架構是完全一致的，唯一的差別是7系列的功率更大，持續大電流輸出的能力更強。以 The King E2 喇叭來說，顯然用 530 就足夠讓它盡情施展身手了！

輕鬆、開放、活生

接下來我連續聽了幾張小提琴錄音。播放羅西尼的「弦樂奏鳴曲」（Decca 470 447-2），與我以往經驗中偏向濃郁的弦樂表現不同，530的小提琴音色較為鮮明靈活，濃膩感一掃而空，隨處洋溢著纖細柔軟滑順的美妙琴音質感，就像在大寒流裡裹著最輕盈、柔軟而溫暖的頂級羽絨被一般幸福無比。強奏動態輕鬆的拉開，齊奏線條絲絲分明，就連以往不曾注意到的細微表情也完全浮現。再聽Amadeus弦樂四重奏在1974年錄製的莫札特嬉遊曲KV136（DG 423 300-2），琴音纖細鮮活卻毫不緊繃刺耳，演奏暢快奔放卻毫不急躁。聽史特勞斯的小提琴奏鳴曲（Chandos CHAN8417），小提琴抒情慢板以往只讓我覺得質純溫潤，但是530又再一次提煉出了鮮度極高、活生感強烈的琴音。聽Denes Zsigmondy演奏的帕格尼尼小提琴奏鳴曲（Tuxedo TUXCD1082），琴音能量雖然強勁，但是卻依然有著醇美的質感。

從小提琴的重播表現，我已經可以大致掌握 530 的聲音特質，它的中高頻雖然鮮明，卻絕不會與單薄冷硬畫上等號，而是有著緻密柔軟的質感。它的細節極度豐富，而且解析力極強。中高頻的反應速度極快而靈活，可以非常輕鬆自然的呈現小提琴揉音的微妙起伏，即使是最微弱的運弓轉折及尾韻延伸都能清晰呈現，而且最強與最弱音之間的動態對比拉的極大。這種輕鬆感、開放感與活生感，都是讓音樂重播逼近於真實不可或缺的重要特質。

低頻量感充沛、控制力一流

接下來我用兩張專輯描述這套系統的鋼琴表現，聽阿格麗希演奏的蕭士塔高維契第一號鋼琴協奏曲（EMI 5 045042)，高音瞬間強奏速度飛快，低音觸鍵厚度飽滿、能量充沛，同時又有著透明的層次感。再聽日本爵士鋼琴手山本剛在三盲鼠錄製的「Midnight Sugar」，高音觸鍵的能量極強、暫態分明，但是卻不會讓人感到壓迫，而是依然能呈現出鋼琴晶瑩鮮明的質感。

低頻表現方面，先用「三輪車」測試（DMP1983），腳踩大鼓的形體比例正確，噗噗聲響量感充沛而飽滿，能量收放毫不拖泥帶水，低頻質感呈現出彈性自然的肌肉感。再聽Adele那首Set Fire to The Rain ，這套系統再次展現出充沛的低頻量感，電子低頻衝擊簡直一大球一大球的湧現，但是低頻形體毫不鬆散，音樂背景中的持續電子低頻線條也依然清晰。最後試聽何訓田「波羅密多」專輯中那首 千江月，大鼓連擊的起落不但快速，而且低頻飽滿紮實，鼓皮質感清晰真實，音場的深度感也非常優異。以上表現都在在證明530不論控制力或驅動力都完全跳脫一般綜合擴大機水準。

人聲方面，聽爵士女歌手 Sheila Jordan 與貝斯手 Cameron Brown 合作的「Celebration」專輯（HighNote HCD7136），Sheila的歌聲在這裡錄得非常直接，用大部分系統聽來都有些乾，但是用 530 搭配 The King E2 聽來，卻呈現出柔軟圓潤的質感，而且還帶有些微甜美的韻味，將原本較為乾澀的嗓音，轉變為更自然而充滿情感的吟唱。

徹底展現交響樂的大氣勢

到底 530 是大馬力豪華轎車，還是靈活刁鑽的小跑車呢？聽加拿大爵士音樂家 Maynard Ferguson 的「Big Bop Nouveau」專輯（Intima 7 73390-2），530 將奔放激昂的大樂隊演奏表現的輕鬆從容，樂曲行進雖然暢快，但是聽來卻毫不急促，以此曲的表現來看，我認為530有著大型豪華轎車的穩定感。再聽Jan Garbarek早期錄製的「The Esoteric Circle」（Freedom FCD41031），這張1976年的專輯錄音非常粗獷直接，530毫不修飾的展現出薩克斯風奔放狂野的吹奏質感。擊鼓低頻量感充足，收放快速，鐃鈸毫不壓抑的盡情揮灑，忠實再現出鮮活燦爛的金屬質感，即使用大音量播放也不壓迫刺耳，徹底呈現這份演奏的瘋狂氛圍。以這張專輯來說，我認為530也具備小跑車的靈活犀利的性能。用530播放大編制交響樂，毫無疑問是這次試聽最令我驚訝的體驗。我曾在許多系統上聽過庫特馬索與紐約愛樂合作的李斯特的「Mazeppa」交響詩（Teldec 903177547-2），奇怪的是大部分系統都表現的有些拘束，但是用530驅動The King E 2喇叭卻完全不同，樂曲的規模感終於得以盡情的施展，音場開闊、層次分明、動態龐大，直到這次我才聽到了此曲應有的面貌。沒想到一部綜合擴大機竟然辦到了許多前後級都無法達到的境界！

獨一無二的存在

530 的確是一款難以定位的產品，形式上它是綜合擴大機，骨子裡卻是完整前、後級的合體，如果你還是不知道該如何看待530，不如讓我們用音樂的表現來評斷吧！它既能表現樂曲中靈活暢快的激昂感，又能穩穩控制住局面，即使大音壓也不失控。它可以展現人聲與小提琴甜美柔軟自然的韻味，也能再現大編制交響樂開闊龐大的規模感。這樣的表現，讓 530 成為真正獨一無二的存在，它既不是綜合擴大機，也不是前後級，而是一部可以忠實詮釋任何音樂類型，再現音樂的生命力，挖掘出音樂內在靈魂與情感的神奇魔法寶箱！

轉載自 “音響論壇 305 期”

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