Phase Technology PC-3.5 Loudspeakers · 2018-01-14 · On the 3rd cut of Norah Jones’ Come Away...
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In Good Company My first experience with Phase Technology was at my local high audio boutique in back Buffalo, NY, around 15 years ago, a time when my audio jour- ney had begun. Phase Tech had just come out with the 3.1 model which used two Rigid Polymer Foam woof- ers, a predecessor of the current speaker system under review. Impressed with their audio sound scape then, the 3.1s were at the top of my list but my budget didn’t allow for a purchase of five matched 3.1s to complete a home theatre. Having recently visited one of the lo- cal hi-end brick and mortar stores, I noticed the Pre- mier Collection (PC) PC-3.5 in the main demo room which had looked familiar. Immediately following my first audition I had to hear the PC-3.5 in my system so immediately contacted the company and requested a review sample with that being the basis of the evalua- tion. Phase Technology, a subsidiary of United Speaker Systems®, has been in the loudspeaker busi- ness for over 50 years. Phase Technology is one of the few loudspeaker companies that are fully integrated, building almost all speaker components in house in- cluding the drivers, crossovers, and cabinets. To main- tain the highest quality standards in the manufacturing process, each speaker system undergoes twelve quality control and stringent frequency response tests prior to shipment. Phase Tech is also a leader in speaker technology with the following speaker design patents to their credit: • Soft dome tweeter • Flat piston woofer • Self-damping woofer voice coil • Manufacturing process for solid, flat piston drivers • Silicone-injected drivers for resonance damping • Basket-less woofer/midrange driver mounting system • Speaker frame housing and clamp assembly for wall or ceiling mounts and method • Wall mounted speaker enclosure Phase Technology PC-3.5 Loudspeakers Listening in Absolute Phase 1
Transcript of Phase Technology PC-3.5 Loudspeakers · 2018-01-14 · On the 3rd cut of Norah Jones’ Come Away...
In Good Company MyfirstexperiencewithPhaseTechnologywasatmylocalhighaudioboutiqueinbackBuffalo,NY,around15yearsago,atimewhenmyaudiojour-neyhadbegun.PhaseTechhadjustcomeoutwiththe3.1modelwhichusedtwoRigidPolymerFoamwoof-ers,apredecessorofthecurrentspeakersystemunderreview.Impressedwiththeiraudiosoundscapethen,the3.1swereatthetopofmylistbutmybudgetdidn’tallowforapurchaseoffivematched3.1stocompleteahometheatre.Havingrecentlyvisitedoneofthelo-calhi-endbrickandmortarstores,InoticedthePre-mierCollection(PC)PC-3.5inthemaindemoroomwhichhadlookedfamiliar.ImmediatelyfollowingmyfirstauditionIhadtohearthePC-3.5inmysystemsoimmediatelycontactedthecompanyandrequestedareviewsamplewiththatbeingthebasisoftheevalua-tion.
PhaseTechnology,asubsidiaryofUnitedSpeakerSystems®,hasbeenintheloudspeakerbusi-nessforover50years.PhaseTechnologyisoneofthefewloudspeakercompaniesthatarefullyintegrated,buildingalmostallspeakercomponentsinhousein-cludingthedrivers,crossovers,andcabinets.Tomain-tainthehighestqualitystandardsinthemanufacturingprocess,eachspeakersystemundergoestwelvequalitycontrolandstringentfrequencyresponsetestspriortoshipment.PhaseTechisalsoaleaderinspeakertechnologywiththefollowingspeakerdesignpatentstotheircredit:
•Softdometweeter•Flatpistonwoofer•Self-dampingwoofervoicecoil•Manufacturingprocessforsolid,flatpistondrivers•Silicone-injecteddriversforresonancedamping•Basket-lesswoofer/midrangedrivermounting system•Speakerframehousingandclampassemblyforwallorceilingmountsandmethod•Wallmountedspeakerenclosure
PhaseTechnologyPC-3.5LoudspeakersListeninginAbsolutePhase
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MusicianIIIMk2amplifier,EscalanteDesignPinyonsmonitorswiththeEscalanteDesignUintasubwoofer(repletewiththematchingEscalanteDesignHoodoostands¾filledwithStarSoundMicro-Bearingcon-ductiveSteelFill)CablesareallOmegaMikroMa-casserEbonyDigitalActivebetweentheNoaPhys-icsMPandTacT2.2x,OmegaMikroPlanarAnalogPlanarbetweentheTact2.2xandSpectronMusicianIIIMk2,OmegaMikroPlanarAnalogVIbetweentheTacT2.2xandUintasubwoofer,andOmegaMikroPlanarActivepowercablespoweringallcomponents.Forthereview,theTacT2.2xpreampwasruninthe2.0modeandtheUintasubwooferwasdisconnectedfromthesystemallowingthePC-3.5andtheEscalanteDesignPinyonstorunfullrange.Ihaveoneofthemorechallengingroomstypicalofafamilyroomwithacouch,loveseatandcoffeetablearearugcenteredonahardwoodfloor.Mylisteningareais14.5’wide,hasa9’ceiling,andanopenbackwallto1500sqftoflivingarea.
Forthereview,Iusedthe24”tallEscalanteDesignHoodoostandstocomparemyreferencestandmountedloudspeakertothestandmountedPhaseTechPC-3.5s.Iremovedthefrontspeakergrilleonbothspeakerstoyieldthemostcoherentsound.Aftersomeexperimentation,IfoundthatthePC-3.5ssoundedtheirbestinthesamelocationthatthePinyonresided.PC-3.5srequiredatleast100hourbreak-inperiodtosoundtheirbest.
Results
Letmestartbysayingthisisthemostdif-ficultreviewIhavecompletedsofar;thePC-3.5sunexpectedlybestedmyreferenceinsomeimportantperformanceareas.Iwasimpressedatfirstbythespeaker’sabilitytoimagewithinthetightsoundspaceofmyfamilyroom.Onthe3rdcutofNorahJones’ComeAwaywithMeCDentitledColdColdHeart(BlueNoteRecords),thesizeandimageofthepianowasaccuratelyportrayedwithinthesoundstage.Incomparisontootherbookshelvespeakerswhichtendtosoftentheimagebycomparison,thePC-3.5offeredrazorsharpimaging.Formostrecordingsonthisal-bum,itwaseasytooutlinetheacousticspaceinwhichtherecordingsessionwasconducted.
ThePC-3.5isoneofsixspeakerswithinthePremierCollectionline.Consistingoftwo6.5”flatpistonwoofers,softdomemidrange,softdometweeter,andrearport,thePC-3.5operatesasathreewayspeakerwiththewoofers/midrangecrossedoverat800Hzandthemidrange/tweetercrossedoverat3kHz.MidrangeandtweeteraremountedontheirownseparatebaffleallowingeitherverticalorhorizontalplacementwithjustthelooseningfourAllenheadscrewsandrotatingthebaffleassembly.ThemostuniquedesignfeaturesofthePC-3.5includetheAbso-lutePhase™crossoverandsolidpistondriverwhichbothworktogethertoenhanceperformance.TheAbsolutePhasecrossoverdesignensuresthattheinte-grationoftwomatingdriversandcrossoverfilterareacousticallyandelectronicallyphasecoherent.Wow…IthoughtIwasphasecoherent.Theotherproprie-tarydesignfeatureisthesolidpistonflatdriversmadefromRigidPolymerFoam®(RPF®).Beinglessthanhalfthemassofaconventionalconical-shapeddia-phragm,theRPFdriverisacousticallyopaqueinthatinternalreflectionswithinthespeakerenclosurearenottransmittedtofrontconewaveandnon-resonantthroughoutthedriver’soperatingfrequencyrange.TheflatsurfaceRPFdriverissaidtoallowthesoundwavestobeginatthesamesurfaceasthemidrangeandtweeterresultinginthebesttimealignment.Thepartsqualityofthecrossoverisalsonotable:consist-ingofair-coreinductorsandelectrolyticcapacitorswithmultiplesizebypasscaps.Validationofthesedesignfeaturesinmyreviewingsystemwillbecom-ingshortly.
Removingthespeakersfromtheirboxeswasdifficult.Thespeakerswerewellpackedwiththefoamfittingextremelytightinthebox.Ithoughttomyselfifthespeakersaremadetosuchatighttoleranceasthefitofthefoamtotheboxthenwemighthaveareallyhighqualityspeakerhere.AfterremovingthePC-3.5fromtheirwellpackagedboxes,IfoundtheglossblackfitandfinishofthePC-3.5tobetopnotchandnotconsistentwithcompetingspeakersinthispricedrange.Thewifelovedthem.
SystemSet-up
MyreviewingsystemincludestheNovaPhys-icsMemoryPlayertransport,PioneerBDP-09FDBlu-rayplayer,TacTAudio2.2xRoomCorrectionpreampwithMauimodsfullenchiladamodification,Spectron 2
Listeningtotheopeningtrack,ThatLone-someSongbyJamieJohnson(MercuryNashville),thesoundofthebellextendedwellpastthebackwallofmylisteningareaandwithneverendingdecay.SoundstagingofthePC-3.5sascomparedtomyrefer-encewasmorebehindandtothesides.However,myreferencespeakersystemwhichlistedoverthreetimesthecost(backin2004),disappearedbetterandmoreaccuratelylocatedJamieJohnson’svoiceintheverti-calplane.Inshort,theyperformedmorelikeasinglepointsource.ComparingwhatIheardinmylisteningroomtothatofmylocalhi-endshopwhichwasnearlytwiceaswide,thePC-3.5sdon’tsoundquiteasgoodasmyreferencebuttheymostcertainlyimageandsoundstagebetterinalargerroom.
IwasalsoimpressedwiththelowermidrangeperformanceofthePC-3.5;inparticularthefrequencyrangeofmalevocalsandthelowerfrequenciesofwoodwindsandbrass.HavingasoninhighschoolbandandcomparingthesoundofhissaxophonetothePC-3.5playingwoodwindinstrumentsallowedmetoappreciatetheclarity,tone,andsenseofbloominthisspectrumonthePC-3.5.Comparedtomyreference,Ifoundtheclarityofthetrebleanduppermidrangetobemoreresolvingandhavinggreaterfrequencyexten-sionbutlessforgivingofbrightrecordings.Therewasalsoconsiderablecontentinthelowend(below100Hz)exhibitedonthePC-3.5atthestartofcut4onJackJohnson,In Between Dreams(UniversalRecords)whichwasmuchmorethanonewouldexpectfromamonitorofitssize.IntermsofshearlowerbassoutputthePC-3.5bestedmyreferencehandsdown.Truemusicalbassdefinitionwasnotable,thoughnot
quitetotheextentIhaveexperiencedfrommyTalonKhorusXMKII(12”wooferx2)Iownedafewyearsago. Ididcomparebothspeakerswhileviewingthemovie,TheCuriousCaseofBenjaminButton(WarnerBrothersPictures)usingmyPioneerBDP-09FDBlu-rayplayerasthesource.Theclarityandspatialchar-acterofthemidrangewasshowninspadesmakingthePC-3.5myfirstchoiceforhometheatre.ThevoiceofBenjaminButtonasplayedbyBradPitthadalifelikepresencewhichwasmorebelievableandcaptivatingonthePC-3.5.
BottomLine
InmydiscussionwithKenHecht,thePremierCol-lectionlineisaimedattheaudiophilewhowantsthe“biggestbangforthebuck”whereeveryounceofperformanceissqueezedoutofthedesignforarea-sonableprice.ThePhaseTechnologyPC-3.5deliveredonthispromise,noquestion.Ifyou’relookingforaspeakersystemupto$4000,IwouldhavethePC-3.5onyourshortlistforaudition.Insomeways,itoutperformedmyreferenceandcertainlycompareswithspeakersystemscostingtwotothreetimesmore.
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Specifications:
Tweeter:1”softdome,variableaxisMidrange:1.5”softdomemidrangeWoofer:Two6.5”RPFflat-pistons,midbassFrequencyResponse:36Hz-22kHzCrossoverFrequencies:800Hz(24dB/Octave)and3.5kHz(24dB/Octave)NominalImpedance:4OhmsRecommendedAmplifierPower:20-250WattsInputs:bi-wireableSensivity:91dBCabinetDesign:BassReflexFinishes:Blackgloss,NaturalcherryDimensions:22”(L)x77/8”(W)x125/16”(D)Weight(InPounds):38lbseachWarranty:10yeartransferablePrice:$1,000each
Address:Website:www.Phasetech.com
PhaseTechnology6400YoungermanCircleJacksonville,[email protected]
Phone:(888)742-7385
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