Stand Loudspeaker Reviews

The companion loudspeaker to Denon's">http://www.stereophile.com/thefifthelement/the_fifth_element_57">Denon's RCD-CX1 SACD/CD receiver is the SC-CX303 ($1200/pair). The SC-CX303 is a ported two-way with a 1" soft-dome tweeter and a 5" carbon-fiber–cone woofer. Denon claims a sensitivity of 86dB and an impedance of 6 ohms. Instead of a formal frequency response, Denon instead gives an unreferenced figure for frequency extension that, at 35Hz–60kHz, is neither helpful nor credible.

Two years ago, I embarked on a series of reviews of mostly state-of-the-art, mostly full-range floorstanding speakers: the Sonus">http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/1207sonus">Sonus Faber Cremona Elipsa (December 2007), KEF">http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/208kef">KEF Reference 207/2 (February 2008), PSB">http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/408psb">PSB Synchrony One (April 2008), Magico">http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/508mag">Magico V3 (May 2008), Avalon">http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/708ava">Avalon NP Evolution 2.0 and Epos">http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/708ava/index1.html">Epos M16i (July 2008), Esoteric">http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/808eso">Esoteric MG-20 (August 2008), Dynaudio">http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/dynaudio_sapphire_loudspea… Sapphire (January 2009), and Revel">http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/608revel/index6.html">Revel Ultima Salon2 (March 2009). I had intended to intersperse those reports with coverage of some high-performance minispeakers, but for various reasons that never happened, so in the next few issues I'll be making up that lost ground, beginning with a promising contender from the UK, the Spendor SA1.

Audiophile societies are frequently sources of interesting new equipment to review. Recently, trolling New York's Audiophile Society, I discovered a tremendous buzz about the Onix Reference 1 Mk.II, an affordable bookshelf speaker from AV123. Founded by Audio Alchemy cofounder Mark Schifter, AV123 is a Colorado-based manufacturer and retailer that specializes in affordable audio gear, mostly speakers and electronics, which it sells exclusively over the Internet with a 30-day money-back guarantee. AV123's factories in China and Colombia design, manufacture, and distribute speakers under the brand names Onix, X-Series, and Rocket, and, I am told, also make speakers for a number of other companies. If the name Onix rings a bell, this former UK brand has long been known for its dedication to making affordable audio gear. AV123 bought Onix from the Rogers speaker company more than 10 years ago.