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FEBRUARY 2008
I spent a pleasant couple of hours this week visiting with Mark Spielberg.
Mark is involved in both live recording and speaker building. His business is
Spielberg Audio Labs here in the west St. Louis area.
www.spielbergaudio.com.
The reason for my visit stemmed primarily from my interest in hearing his
Monitor II loudspeakers ($850 plus stands). They are a compact two-way
speaker. What makes them and the rest of Mark’s speakers interesting for
me is that he uses ribbon and planar-magnetic drivers for the midranges
and tweeters on all the speakers he builds. The Monitor II uses drivers
from Hi-Vi Research—their model F6 six-inch mid/woofer and RT2
Isodynamic Planar Tweeter. These are relatively expensive drivers, neither
of which I have never heard. From their specifications, the Monitor IIs
appeared to be a real possibility for use in my living room system. They
have the potential to offer the best attributes of both planar and dynamic
drivers—good bass definition with an airy and open top end.
Mark is heavily involved in professional audio and has definite opinions that
come from his experience on the recording end of the audio chain. He is
also a drummer. His basement has been converted into a very impressive
recording studio. I listened to all of his speakers designs while I was there
using some of his recordings as well as some CDs that I had brought.
I was most impressed by his Monitor II Pro speakers, which he does not
list for sale on his web site. These use an Eton ribbon tweeter and a high-
end SEAS Excel mid/woofer. They sounded extremely neutral and
revealing during the short time I had to listen to them. Mark runs these
speakers with his Reference Dual 12 Subwoofers ($2500) and the
integrations of the two is extremely good. The subs sat to the left and
rear of the Monitor II Pros yet never gave away their location. It was only
when they were turned off that their contribution to the overall sound was
obvious. Mark relies on the Monitor II Pros, his Monitor III speakers
($2500), and headphones for mixing his own recordings.
The sound of the Monitor II speakers was very similar to the Pro model but
less ruthlessly revealing and more appropriate for home use. Mark runs
these with his Powered 10 subwoofer ($750). I thought this system also
sounded very good. The drawback for me, unfortunately, was that when
the sub was removed from the system, the Monitor IIs just did not have
adequate bass output of their own. Good as they are, I need some
speakers for the living room that have reasonable bass output without
needing a sub. My budget just will not stretch to adding a sub, I do not
have the room for it, nor do I have the electrical service to set up a system
like this the way I would like to. It’s not the speakers, it’s my room.
Having said that, I am intrigued by the possibilities of using a pair of the
Powered 10 subs in my main system but without their built-in amps. I
think they would work extremely well with my Hafler amp. I am definitely
going to consider them as a possibility for the future.
I greatly appreciate the time Mark spent with me; I learned a lot, and I
really enjoyed talking about audio with him.
I have pretty well decided that I will go with a pair of Magneplanar MG12s in
the living room system barring something exceptionally great turning up
used. I just do not think I will get the sort of sound I want from anything
else in their price range. I have stalled somewhat in ordering them—hoping
that I might find a really great deal on a used pair but that is just not
happening. By the time I pay for shipping (every pair I find is in California
or Boston) I am saving only a couple of hundred dollars or so on any of
the used pairs I have found. That sort of savings just does not offset
having new speakers and a full warranty, at least to my mind. I am even
considering buying them in off-white so they look less obtrusive in the
room. I am going to make a final decision early next week. Dumb as it
sounds, what I dislike about finally getting some new speakers is that I will
be broke immediately. I just know that some incredible deal is going to
turn up as soon as I do not have any money to take advantage of it. I
know how stupid that sounds but that is the way things always seem to
happen.
I have been listening to a CD recently that I think is absolutely outstanding
in every way. It is LAGQ Brazil by the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet (Telarc
CD-80686). Along with stunning guitar playing there are vocals,
percussion, and a flute on a number of the tracks. Everything sounds
utterly natural and superbly clear in a wide and realistically deep sound
stage. It is just a great recording and I do not think you have to be a big
fan of Brazilian music to enjoy it. The CD is recorded in DSD so I assume
there is an SACD as well. I really cannot image this recording actually
sounding better. If, like me, you are constantly getting coupons from
Borders or Barnes & Noble, this would be a great recording to use one of
them on. I had a 30% off coupon so it was just over $13, making it a
pretty good deal to my mind. Click here for a photo.
I meant to mention in the January 2008 article how much I appreciate
hearing from those readers who have contacted me through the web site.
I greatly appreciate your taking the time to let me know what you think
about what I am doing. It means a lot to me that you take the time to
write.
I finally have enough hours on the Cullen Circuits DL3 Stage III Signature
Mod (to give it its full name) of the PS Audio DAC III to finally start doing
some serious listening. I hope to get an article done fairly quickly. My
repaired Audio Symphonies +R preamp is sounding better than ever since
it got its power supply caps replaced and I do not know of anything at this
point that needs any break-in time! I regard 2007 as the Year of the
Break-In since that is all I ever seemed to be doing.
May all of our systems be broken-in without being broken-down. Have a
Happy Valentine’s Day.
Kent Johnson
January 30, 2008
I spent a pleasant couple of hours this week visiting with Mark Spielberg.
Mark is involved in both live recording and speaker building. His business is
Spielberg Audio Labs here in the west St. Louis area.
www.spielbergaudio.com.
The reason for my visit stemmed primarily from my interest in hearing his
Monitor II loudspeakers ($850 plus stands). They are a compact two-way
speaker. What makes them and the rest of Mark’s speakers interesting for
me is that he uses ribbon and planar-magnetic drivers for the midranges
and tweeters on all the speakers he builds. The Monitor II uses drivers
from Hi-Vi Research—their model F6 six-inch mid/woofer and RT2
Isodynamic Planar Tweeter. These are relatively expensive drivers, neither
of which I have never heard. From their specifications, the Monitor IIs
appeared to be a real possibility for use in my living room system. They
have the potential to offer the best attributes of both planar and dynamic
drivers—good bass definition with an airy and open top end.
Mark is heavily involved in professional audio and has definite opinions that
come from his experience on the recording end of the audio chain. He is
also a drummer. His basement has been converted into a very impressive
recording studio. I listened to all of his speakers designs while I was there
using some of his recordings as well as some CDs that I had brought.
I was most impressed by his Monitor II Pro speakers, which he does not
list for sale on his web site. These use an Eton ribbon tweeter and a high-
end SEAS Excel mid/woofer. They sounded extremely neutral and
revealing during the short time I had to listen to them. Mark runs these
speakers with his Reference Dual 12 Subwoofers ($2500) and the
integrations of the two is extremely good. The subs sat to the left and
rear of the Monitor II Pros yet never gave away their location. It was only
when they were turned off that their contribution to the overall sound was
obvious. Mark relies on the Monitor II Pros, his Monitor III speakers
($2500), and headphones for mixing his own recordings.
The sound of the Monitor II speakers was very similar to the Pro model but
less ruthlessly revealing and more appropriate for home use. Mark runs
these with his Powered 10 subwoofer ($750). I thought this system also
sounded very good. The drawback for me, unfortunately, was that when
the sub was removed from the system, the Monitor IIs just did not have
adequate bass output of their own. Good as they are, I need some
speakers for the living room that have reasonable bass output without
needing a sub. My budget just will not stretch to adding a sub, I do not
have the room for it, nor do I have the electrical service to set up a system
like this the way I would like to. It’s not the speakers, it’s my room.
Having said that, I am intrigued by the possibilities of using a pair of the
Powered 10 subs in my main system but without their built-in amps. I
think they would work extremely well with my Hafler amp. I am definitely
going to consider them as a possibility for the future.
I greatly appreciate the time Mark spent with me; I learned a lot, and I
really enjoyed talking about audio with him.
I have pretty well decided that I will go with a pair of Magneplanar MG12s in
the living room system barring something exceptionally great turning up
used. I just do not think I will get the sort of sound I want from anything
else in their price range. I have stalled somewhat in ordering them—hoping
that I might find a really great deal on a used pair but that is just not
happening. By the time I pay for shipping (every pair I find is in California
or Boston) I am saving only a couple of hundred dollars or so on any of
the used pairs I have found. That sort of savings just does not offset
having new speakers and a full warranty, at least to my mind. I am even
considering buying them in off-white so they look less obtrusive in the
room. I am going to make a final decision early next week. Dumb as it
sounds, what I dislike about finally getting some new speakers is that I will
be broke immediately. I just know that some incredible deal is going to
turn up as soon as I do not have any money to take advantage of it. I
know how stupid that sounds but that is the way things always seem to
happen.
I have been listening to a CD recently that I think is absolutely outstanding
in every way. It is LAGQ Brazil by the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet (Telarc
CD-80686). Along with stunning guitar playing there are vocals,
percussion, and a flute on a number of the tracks. Everything sounds
utterly natural and superbly clear in a wide and realistically deep sound
stage. It is just a great recording and I do not think you have to be a big
fan of Brazilian music to enjoy it. The CD is recorded in DSD so I assume
there is an SACD as well. I really cannot image this recording actually
sounding better. If, like me, you are constantly getting coupons from
Borders or Barnes & Noble, this would be a great recording to use one of
them on. I had a 30% off coupon so it was just over $13, making it a
pretty good deal to my mind. Click here for a photo.
I meant to mention in the January 2008 article how much I appreciate
hearing from those readers who have contacted me through the web site.
I greatly appreciate your taking the time to let me know what you think
about what I am doing. It means a lot to me that you take the time to
write.
I finally have enough hours on the Cullen Circuits DL3 Stage III Signature
Mod (to give it its full name) of the PS Audio DAC III to finally start doing
some serious listening. I hope to get an article done fairly quickly. My
repaired Audio Symphonies +R preamp is sounding better than ever since
it got its power supply caps replaced and I do not know of anything at this
point that needs any break-in time! I regard 2007 as the Year of the
Break-In since that is all I ever seemed to be doing.
May all of our systems be broken-in without being broken-down. Have a
Happy Valentine’s Day.
Kent Johnson
January 30, 2008