Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Sidebar 1: Review System

Equipment used during the auditioning of the Maggies included Mark Levinson No.23.5, Audio Research Classic 60, and YBA 2 HC power amplifiers, hooked up to the speakers with 2m lengths of AudioQuest Dragon or YBA Diamond cable. The main preamplifier used was the French YBA 2, with the latest version of the Mod Squad's Line Drive Deluxe occasionally pressed into service, both feeding the power amplifier via 15' lengths of AudioQuest Lapis unbalanced interconnect.

Source components included a Linn Sondek/Lingo/Ekos/Troika setup sitting on an ArchiDee table to play LPs, a Revox PR99 to play 15ips master tapes, and either the VTL D/A processor driven by a Meridian 602 transport or the Krell SBP-64X/MD1 combination to play CDs.

The trumpet tracks on the Chesky Test CD (JD37) indicated that the sound was both more natural and more palpable with the speakers connected in inverse polarity: ie, with the speaker terminal marked "+" wired to the amplifier ground terminal.—John Atkinson