Introduction Wilson Audio is a name that needs little formal introduction. In business for over 20 years, creator of the WATT/Puppy - AudioRevolution.com’s 1999 Speaker and Product of the Year - Wilson Audio is the company behind the new entry-level CUB II loudspeaker. Few companies over the decades have sustained Wilson Audio’s high measure of success and respect within the audio industry. At first glance, the Wilson CUB’s look is pretty darn basic. They resemble fairly typical mini-monitors. That is, of course, if you are looking at them from across a room. The finish on the CUBs, as with all Wilson loudspeakers, is second to none. Wilson calls this their WilsonGloss finish. For those who haven’t seen WilsonGloss at close range, we’re talking pure art. This article and the photos here couldn’t begin to do justice to the finish on the CUBs. I recently had the opportunity to visit the Wilson factory in Provo, Utah, and ...

Introduction Dynaudio, normally known for high-end hand crafted loudspeakers, has moved into the neighborhood where more of us live. The Audience 40s are a bookshelf size system priced at a fairly comfortable $699.00. For more than 20 years Dynaudio has been manufacturing some of the highest quality loudspeakers in the world. Each and every loudspeaker is custom built with Danish craftsmanship and care. All units must pass 86 quality control tests, including a final examination by computer supported measurements, which are stored along with the speaker's serial number. Dynaudio has always been synonymous with high performance and quality, the Audience 40 is no exception. The physical dimensions of each enclosure is: 170 x 282 x246mm (W x H x L). The interior includes a 15cm polypropylene woofer which employs the patented Dynacoil 75mm pure aluminum wire voice coil. The Dynacoil technique produces a stable voice coil that is resistant to warping and other problems associated with voice ...

Introduction The Evett and Shaw Elan ($2,200) with the matching Flatte 50 amplifier ($2,000) is the first system on the market dedicate to high performance sound for your desktop environment. Most audio/video enthusiasts spend far more time at work then they do in the sweet spot of their high performance audio/video systems at home. With the tremendous success of MP3 audio and the proliferation of CD-ROM and DVD drives in personal computers, we are automatically outfitted with a front end for music to empower us in our personal workspaces. The Evett and Shaw Elan The Evett and Shaw Elan is the best-sounding, truly small, nearfield loudspeaker I have heard to date. When I say truly small, I mean these suckers are tiny at 10 inches tall by five inches wide and 11 inches deep. The Evett and Shaw Elans create sound through a 3.25-inch-wide, full- range speaker driver. A second driver that is slightly larger is installed ...

Introduction A huge sound in a small package solidly sums up the performance of the Monitor Audio Silver 4 speakers ($849 a pair) and ASW 210 subwoofer ($999). The small 15.5-inch by eight-inch main speakers, coupled with the 200-watt self-powered subwoofer, were a welcome surprise. Sat/sub speaker systems are a dime a dozen these days and that’s what a lot of them are worth. Just as in my past experiences with Monitor Audio products, I was not disappointed in the least. The patented cone material for all drivers, C-CAM (Ceramic Coated Aluminum Magnesium alloy), is light and rigid. The Silver 4’s are a two-way design, front-ported, with a 6.5-inch mid-bass driver and a gold dome tweeter. There are two sets of sturdy, gold-plated binding posts on each speaker for bi-wiring. The subwoofer is outfitted with two 10-inch drivers, one downfiring and the other forward-firing. While the Silver 4’s are small and capable of sitting comfortably on ...