Reference Theater Series IPS-1 Listening Tests
CD: Dianne Reeves Never Too Far
You may have noticed this CD pop up in several of my most
recent reviews. There is good reason for
my repetitiveness here. Many of the
tracks in this CD are an awesome test for a system's bass response and
accuracy. The bass track in Track #2 “Never
Too Far” will sound muddy on an improperly set up or mediocre system. I must have listened to this track 100 times
when tuning my reference system's subwoofers - all four of which run in mono,
cross over at 80Hz and are equalized through Audyssey MultEQ Pro. Turning off my two Velodyne DD-15 subs to do
a strict two-channel evaluation, I listened to the track again with only the
subs in my T30-LSE system handling the bass which were powered by the
Earthquake XJ-600R digital amplifiers. When I switched over to the IPS-1 in bi-amp
mode to power my T-30LSE system, I was awed by how much snappier and articulate
the upper bass response became. Some of
this was a result of me limiting the RBH subs' output to 80Hz, so I defeated
the Audyssey correction and bass management and redid the comparison. Overall I still felt the less powerful
Emotiva amp was driving the subs in my reference speakers more accurately than
the Earthquake digital amplifier. With
the IPS-1, the bass response was amazingly tight and retained excellent decay
properties I didn’t hear when running the subs on the digital amp setup.
When I switched over to the IPS-1, I was awed by how much snappier and articulate the upper bass response became.
The tonal balance was slightly more forward on the IPS-1 then it was when the amps in my Denon AVR-5805 were powering the top end of my speakers but it wasn’t annoying or shrill sounding. I found the IPS-1 displayed excellent stereo separation portraying Dianne’s powerful vocals dead center as they should be. The drums had a nice pop to them while the saxophones exhibited a nice bite giving you that “live” feeling. The soundstage was very expansive making me feel the “never to far…" chants from the backing vocals where emanating from my side channels despite I was only listening in two-channel playback. The IPS-1 maintained a very clean composure even when driven to LOUDER than comfortable listening levels in my 6,000uF Auralex acoustically treated listening room sitting 15ft away from my speakers.
CD: Harry Connick – When Harry Met Sally
Track #2 “Love
is Here to Stay” sounded fabulous with the IPS-1 powering my speakers. The brass instruments had a very airy feel to
them while the cymbal hits were reproduced in a very 3-dimensional listening
plane. The IPS-1 conveyed a soundstage
several feet back from the plane of my reference speakers similar to the very
best amplification I have tested them with.
The IPS-1 reproduced a very distinct sound to the strings in the bass of Track #9 “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off”. The piano sounded very real, containing all of the harmonics typically only heard in live un-amplified performances or reproduced on only the finest speaker systems in an acoustically neutral listening room powered by superb amplification. Near the end of this track was a solo between the bassist and drummer. The sound of the metal brush on the cymbals buttressed by the bass notes was so real sounding, it was scary. Closing my eyes, I felt as if I were in a small jazz bar listening to the real deal. Imagine that, Harry was right there performing just for me – very cool.
Track #2 “Jamaica Jamaica” revealed that the IPS-1
was reproducing its excellent stereo imaging characteristics. Bass was tight and well-extended. It was obvious to me that, despite the rather
modest power ratings bestowed upon the IPS-1, it liked to be driven hard. No matter how I tried to abuse this
amplifier, it never sounded ragged as some amplifiers of this design class and
budget I have heard. Track #6 “Ballering” guitarist
Chieli Minucci really demonstrates what a fabulous guitarist he is. All of
the great percussion work of George Jinda strumming alongside with Chieli was
both a sonic delight and musical marvel.
Come to think of it, while my intentions where only to sample a few
songs on this CD to test out the IPS-1, I found about an hour later, I had nearly
listened to the whole disc.
SACD: Patricia Barber – Modern Cool
What good is critical music evaluation without
testing out some high resolution source material such as one of my trusty
Patricia Barber SACDs? Modern Cool is a superb sounding SACD
that in my opinion every jazz lover should add to their collection. Track #7 “Company” is a reference track I use
to separate REAL speakers from wimpy
ones. The same can be said with upstream
electronics, particularly amplification.
When listening to this track, I closed my eyes to attempt to place where
all of the instruments were coming from.
The trumpets were dead center (thanks to the magnificent imaging
capabilities of my reference speakers).
They came at you crystal clear with a bit more of a bite to them then I
recalled using the amplifiers in my Denon AVR-5805. The snare drums had plenty of snap to them
and seemed to be emanating around and behind the speakers. Cymbal crashes were effortless and well delineated. Listening to the drum solo and twanging of
the bass with my eyes closed gave me that “better
than being there” experience placing me right in front of the drum kit in a
cozy jazz cellar. All I was missing was
a brandy Sniffer and a fine Cuban (cigar that is). The IPS-1 had no problems being pushed hard
on this song and the dual 10”s in my RBH T-30LSE’s loved the workout.
