I have a problem with dimensions, with how the actual size of an object never matches up to its image in my mind’s eye. My most recent example of this kind of failure is the safe that’s taking up far too much room in my garage.
I’ve been in the market for a new fire safe for some time. I already have a fire safe made by SentrySafe, but it’s so small and so light that it provides hardly a modicum of security. I imagine a hypothetical burglar could open it with a battery-powered grinder while running down the street with the safe under one arm.
The Thorpe household is tightly ensconced in the middle class. We have no cash worth worrying about. No gold bullion. I do have a nice watch that sits in the punky little safe, and a couple of pieces of jewelry I inherited from my mother, but nothing that my house insurance wouldn’t cover if we were burgled. No guns—this is Canada, and we don’t really do that. Nothing that couldn’t be replaced, other than the hard copies of my family tree that a now-passed relative put significant work into creating. The usual passports, documents, that sort of thing.
I recently saw a nice vintage Mosler safe for sale for very cheap on Kijiji (Canada’s version of Craigslist), and without giving it much thought, I contacted the seller and pulled the trigger. He told me that the safe is rather heavy and suggested that I have him deliver it for a small fee, and so it went. The seller was clear about the dimensions of the safe, but, relating directly to the topic of this editorial, I didn’t give it too much thought.
Delivery day came, and as the lift gate of the truck lowered, I realized my mistake. The safe was about 30″ wide, essentially the size of a washing machine. It was also obviously very heavy. “How heavy would you say this thing is?” I asked.
“I’m guessing around 800 pounds,” he responded. “But it’s on wheels, so we can maneuver it wherever you want. I took the door off to make it easier; the door weighs about 150 pounds on its own.” Oh my.
I had imagined the safe would be about half its actual size. Marcia was not pleased. She took one look at it and rolled her eyes. She doesn’t do that often. With much help from neighbor Rob and SoundStage! publisher Doug Schneider, who happened to be passing through Toronto that day, I got the thing situated in the garage. I’m having some shelves cut for it, and it’ll be nice once I get it finished up, I guess. But holy hell, it’s far too large for my needs.
“What does this have to do with audio?” I hear you asking. Well, it’s that dimensions thing. Several times over the past few years, I’ve accepted speakers into my review system that were too large for my space. These ranged from just a touch too large right through to what am I going to do here? Two cases in point being the Klipsch La Scala and the Borresen X6, off the top of my head.
And now, the PMC MB2 SE. I knew the MB2 is a large speaker. I knew its dimensions and its weight (128 pounds). “I’m sure it’ll all work out,” my id predicted. My lizard brain never considers logistics or consequences.
Ever the helpful neighbor, Rob had agreed to break the speakers in while I finished up some other reviews. Once we’d got the speakers situated in Rob’s large, cathedral-ceilinged main floor, we had some real fun playing hard rock and metal at near-concert levels. Rob was thrilled, and I was enjoying the speakers vicariously through him.
At the same time, though, I was thinking to myself, What the hell did I do? I just bought another safe. The MB2s would just about fit in my room in terms of dimensions. However, I could hear them loading up the bass on Rob’s main floor. I’d guess his space is around 700 square feet, but with the cathedral ceiling and two open staircases, it acts like a much larger room.
Rob could see that I was a little preoccupied and asked me what I was thinking. After I explained my concerns, he thought about it for a couple of minutes and then turned to me. “Why don’t you review them here? They sound great, fit the room fine, and you have a key. Jing and I are gone all day, and neither of us would mind if you come in here to listen and write.” After a couple of seconds, he continued with a smile. “And that means I get to listen to them for longer. Everybody wins. You could make this your second listening room.”
It was an attractive idea. My listening room is somewhat small, and despite the fact that it absorbs bass like a champion, I’m always listening around large low-frequency modes. A larger room meant that I could review larger speakers without having to engage my own mental notch filter. I could see that having the ability to extend my listening space into this much larger environment would open up a whole bunch of other opportunities.
I thanked Rob for the offer and told him I’d think it through. That evening, I continued to turn the idea over in my head. The more I considered it, the sweeter Rob’s offer seemed. This whole My Audiophile Neighborhood thing was working really well for Rob, Ron, and me. We all knew our roles, and many hands did, in fact, make for light work. And the result seems reasonably popular—giving previews of upcoming review products, publishing unboxing photos, and showing review gear in real-world spaces.
So why not go for it? I couldn’t think of any negatives. I’ve spent a ton of time over at Rob’s place, listening and photographing for the Neighborhood articles, so I know the sound of his room and am comfortable with his setup. The only thing that gave me pause was the source and amplification chain. I’d set Rob up with a Chromecast Audio dongle, which fed Ron’s old Meridian 566 DAC, then into the Kinki Studio EX‑M1+, a fairly high‑end solution. Rob was very happy with it, especially considering it had been parachuted into his life without expense or effort on his part.
It’s a damn good front end, but it’s not up to Ultra standards. If I was going to actively review a pair of speakers with the pedigree of the MB2 SEs, I would definitely need to step it up. That pissy little Chromecast Audio with its jerry-rigged optical output would not cut it. Nor would that Meridian DAC from the last century.
Before you get all high-and-mighty on me, yes, I realize that the Chromecast Audio outputs a bit-perfect signal, and the Meridian is still a hot number on the dance floor. But this is SoundStage! Ultra, and we cover top-end, bleeding-edge products. We aren’t a vintage-audio publication. So I’d need to make some changes. I’d need to round up some equipment that matches the PMC speakers. It was also imperative that the end result be useful, usable, and aesthetically pleasing to Rob and Jing, given that I’d be using their house.
Middle of last year I helped out another of our neighbors, couple Quentin and Laurielle, build up a system to replace their Sonos speakers, which Quentin had grown to loathe. We ended up dropping in a pair of DALI Rubikore 6 speakers and an NAD M10 V3 streaming integrated amplifier. Quentin and Laurielle couldn’t have been happier, and I was extremely impressed by both the DALIs and by the feature-loaded M10 V3, as well as with the resultant sound quality.
I’ve heard the big DALI Kore speakers being spanked by NAD Masters-series amplification on several occasions, and I’ve always been impressed with the sound. Further, I’ve found the BluOS streaming software that’s built into NADs to be easy to use and rock-solid, so it should work great for Rob and Jing. It’s important to keep the neighbors happy, and ever since Rob checked out the room-correction software in my new WiiM Amp Ultra, he’s been harping on about how he’d like to try it out in his house. The NAD M66 in particular is armed with Dirac Live Room Correction, so that should give him something to play with after work.
I put in a call to Jason Zidle, premium audio brand manager at Lenbrook International, the parent company of NAD and the North American distributor of DALI, proposing a loan of an M66 streaming preamp and at least one M23 V2 stereo amplifier. Note my usage of at least one. In several of Lenbrook’s show systems they’ve used two M23s strapped to mono to drive the big DALI Kores, so what the hell—why not shoot for the moon?
I have no doubt whatsoever that the combination of the M66 and M23 V2 will form the base of a rock-solid system with which to evaluate the big PMCs. These NAD components aren’t exclusive, they’re not boutique, but what they are is impeccably engineered, made by a company that’s been producing amplification components for nearly 55 years now. On the basis of performance, I couldn’t ask for anything better.
All this happened just before I was due to fly to Tampa, Florida, to cover the Florida International Audio Expo. I already have the green light from Zidle. Nothing has shipped yet—Lenbrook is processing my request, and I’m not sure how many M23 V2 power amps they’ll send me. Given that PMC claims the MB2 is 90dB efficient and presents an 8‑ohm load, I think one amp would be more than enough. But please, please don’t tell Zidle that.
. . . Jason Thorpe
jasont@soundstagenetwork.com
