Added to the Archives This Week
Kal Rubinson gets in shape for some heavy lifting to review the B&W">http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/600/">B&W Signature 800 loudspeaker. "The Signature 800 is part of B&W's Prestige line, which represents the best that B&W can do with present loudspeaker technology," reports Kal, who watched with anticipation as a team of four hefted the 275-pound beauties into place.
If you think the name Viola Audio Laboratories sounds familiar, wait 'til you hear the names behind it: Tom Colangelo, Paul Jayson, and Tony DiSalvo—all former officers at Cello. Viola, working out of Cello's former New Haven facilities, is now producing a complete line of electronics, from the $18,000 modular Spiritu preamp to the $12,000 Bravo Double Set monoblock amplifier. The company also manufactures audio cables and a modular loudspeaker, the $18,000/pair Allegro, as well as an $18,000 subwoofer, the Basso. The system certainly is elegant-looking, and it sounded impressively coherent in a small hotel room—and that was with both the Allegro's bass module and subwoofer disconnected!