Audiophilepure

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“The radiator works the same as a port,” explained Klipsch’s principal engineer, Roy Delgado, a 30-year veteran of Klipsch Audio Technologies who initially worked under Paul W. Klipsch himself. “Because of the smaller air volume of the box, the drone (aka passive radiator) offers the advantage of allowing us to adjust compliance. If it’s done right, the drone extends the bottom end. Basically you’re creating a Helmholtz resonator. You cause the air to resonate at a certain frequency and that extends the bottom end. A drone does the same thing.”

At a time when the US is experiencing an outbreak of measles, the Forte III remains au courant by having—you guessed it—Mumps. Literally named for the swollen salivary glands they sort of resemble, Roy Delgado’s patented Mumps are curved 1″ ridges that round off the interior corners within the throat of the K-703-M midrange horn. The goal, according to Klipsch’s website, is “to improve coverage and control of the key mid-frequency band.”

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“Our test pair arrived in a gloss black, with gloss white and an espresso grain finish also available. No matter which finish you choose, the front and the top face of the speakers are finished in matte black – no doubt a move to keep the cost more reasonable. Two sets of binding posts are available for those wanting to bi-wire, but for the duration of our review, the 700Fs were used with a single pair of speaker cables and the jumpers intact. The quality of the finish on the side panels is as smooth as the $35,000/pair Personas we reviewed previously.

Again, this is where building everything in house is a benefit – the same people doing the cabinets on Paradigm’s top speakers are working on these too. However, it’s more than just the quality of the finish on the outer walls of the cabinet that impress. Looking at the 700Fs very carefully reveals the smoothness of the bevels on the front panel and how cleanly the drivers are mounted. There is no visible hardware. The cabinet corners intersect perfectly. This is the level of quality you demand from a $10k pair of speakers. Not something you expect for this price – a definite bonus to qualityphiles. These are speakers that you will be very proud to own.

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“Also, while the Formation ecosystem may not rely on your own home’s network to remain functioning, that doesn’t save it from the occasional drop out with respect to some connections–specifically Bluetooth. During my month-long audition of the Formation Duo and Formation Audio, when connected to the Sony display via Bluetooth I endured three drop outs. Sound would suddenly stop transmitting to the speakers, and revert back to the display. That’s three drop outs in the span of one month, give or take. This was easily remedied simply by re-selecting the Formation Duo speakers from the Sony’s Bluetooth devices menu, but nevertheless it did happen. When using the Formation Audio connected to the Vizio P-Series Quantum, I noted only one drop out for a total of four in one month.”

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“That alone is significant enough, but it makes a lot of sense when you actually consider the speaker itself and just what it offers, from its remarkable bandwidth and dynamic range, to its striking appearance and engaging musical qualities. Then there’s the kilowatt of power residing in each bass tower, delivering not just bandwidth but remarkable low-frequency definition and transparency. Finally, there’s the sheer physical reality of the Kodo. Even amongst the world of high-end flagship speakers, this one is big, heavy and loaded with hardware — something that, having unpacked and repacked the review pair (not without help), I can certainly attest to. Factor in all those considerations and it’s hard to disagree with the notion that this is a lot of speaker for the money. How much money? Well, that depends. In the US the Kodo system will set you back a rather weighty $390,000. But in Europe the asking price is considerably less — €260,000 to be exact, a number that makes this enormous, four-cabinet, part-active system just a little more than a pair of Wilson Audio Alexandria XLFs or Focal Grande Utopia III Evos. That’s what leads me to the faintly bizarre conclusion that the Gryphon Kodo actually represents something of a bargain, especially when compared to much of the competition.”

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“Things got genuinely spooky when I put on the Electric Recording Company’s new LP reissue of The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker (Riverside/Electric Recording Company RLP 12-838). It was a promo copy, loaned by a friend, and the sound was recording-studio clear in a way I rarely experience from any home hi-fi. Hooker sang dramatically, swinging for expression between loud and whisper-soft. He strummed at his guitar with that signature John Lee Hooker beat. Intimacy, rhythm, and absolute clarity dominated the experience. Hooker’s singing voice had throat and lungs. His vocal inflections were roller-coaster rides. Wow!”

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“But while they have no difficulties describing the scale of the Saint-Saens piece, nor in defining a convincing and easily understood stage for the performers, these speakers don’t escape the confines of their own beautifully finished cabinets as convincingly as they might. Everything that happens on the stage is explained in full and in detail, but it all seems to happen between the two towers. Stereo focus is impressive, but there’s no getting the information to expand much beyond the speakers no matter how much fiddling with positioning is indulged in. There’s great unity and coherence to the Monitor Audio Gold 200s, but there’s relatively little of the wide-screen element some similarly sized speakers can deliver.

Which simply goes to demonstrate that nothing’s perfect (but we knew that all along anyway, right?), least of all in the world of loudspeakers. And whilst the Gold 200s are short of perfect, just like all their rivals, they demonstrate some real strengths and areas of convincing expertise. As suggested earlier, there’s no ripping up of the Monitor Audio rule-book going on here, let alone the wider Loudspeaker Manual – but in terms of finessing and honing a long-in-the-tooth technology the Gold 200s are an unarguable, categorical success.”