Brent Butterworth

Tech2
AudioTool — the Ultimate Audio App for Android
Brent Butterworth  |  Jul 11, 2011

I haven’t tried every audio-oriented app for Android phones, but I’ve tried a bunch. Not surprisingly, the one I like best by far costs $6.99, which for an Android app is a truly Rolls Royce price. Yet it’s also the most insane deal of all time for DIY audio measurement software.

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Tech2
Veho 360BT — a Bluetooth Bargain
Brent Butterworth  |  Jul 11, 2011

If you’re carrying a smartphone, you’re carrying one potent little entertainment system. It has two weaknesses, though: the tiny screen and the fact that most people tether themselves to the device with a set of headphones.

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Tech2
Deepest Bass Ever?
Brent Butterworth  |  Jul 11, 2011

We’ve received a few inquiries from readers about a music track I’ve mentioned in recent subwoofer reviews. Considering that I’ve described the piece in question as having “the most intense low bass I’ve ever heard,” this interest isn’t surprising.

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Tech2
The World’s Cheapest Speaker
Brent Butterworth  |  Jul 06, 2011

We finally have a victor in the consumer electronics industry’s long-running race to the bottom: the Dayton B652. How much less expensive can a two-way speaker get than $34.50 per pair? That’s the price Parts Express currently demands for the B652.

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Tech2
Attack of the Megasub
Brent Butterworth  |  Jul 06, 2011

While on a swing through Vancouver this week to check out the vintage audio scene, I stopped by to say hi to the guys at Vancouver Audio Speaker Clinic, an old-school speaker repair shop of the type I haven’t seen since I was a kid in the 1970s trying to resurrect the shredded speakers from my

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Review: Thiel Audio SCS4T Tower Speakers
Brent Butterworth  |  Jun 16, 2011

TEST BENCH

Frequency response (at 2 meters)
51 Hz to 20 kHz ±4.2 dB

Sensitivity (SPL at 1 meter with 2.8 volts of pink-noise input)
86 dB

Impedance (minimum/nominal)
2.8/4 ohms

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Review: Cambridge Audio Minx 215 Speaker System
Brent Butterworth  |  Jun 16, 2011

TEST BENCH

Frequency response (at 1 meter)
• satellite 166 Hz to 20 kHz ±8.6 dB
• subwoofer 38 to 130 kHz ±3 dB

Sensitivity (SPL at 1 meter with 2.8 volts of pink-noise input)
• satellite 90 dB


Impedance (minimum/nominal)
• satellite 5.3/9 ohms

Bass output, subwoofer (CEA-2010 standard)
• Ultra-low bass (20-31.5 Hz): NA
• Low bass (40-63 Hz): 90.5 dB

Bass limits, satellite
• 100 Hz at 65.3 dB

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Subwoofer Reviews
Review: SVS SB13-Plus Subwoofer
Brent Butterworth  |  Jun 16, 2011

I would never do what SVS did with its new subwoofer, the SB13-Plus. The company originally sent me a review sample last fall, but despite the fact that it sounded (and measured) great, SVS asked me to hold the review while its engineers tweaked the sub’s Sledge STA-1000D amplifier. It took months for the new amplifier to arrive.

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New Products
Hi-Fi Returns to L.A.
Brent Butterworth  |  Jun 06, 2011

We seem to be going through a mini-renaissance in the hallowed tradition of the American hi-fi show, what with this year's burgeoning crop of existing shows and welcome upstarts. Yet Southern California audiophiles, despite living in what some would consider the nexus of the audio industry, haven't been treated to a good show for years.

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Test Report: SVS SB13-Plus Subwoofer
Brent Butterworth  |  Jun 04, 2011

I would never do what SVS did with its new subwoofer, the SB13-Plus. The company originally sent me a review sample last fall, but then asked me to hold the review. How come? Because the engineers tweaked the sub’s Sledge STA-1000D amplifier. It took months for the new amplifier to arrive. That’s months of revenue lost for the sake of slightly better sound.

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