July 31, 2012

  • XLO Reference Type 5, Part 10

    Ah, summer 1992.  One late afternoon/early evening, while I was waiting for the Hokubei Mainichi to print, one of my co-workers, who was into heavy metal, showed me the new album from Saigon Kick, The Lizard.  Knowing anything heavy metal during this time of shitty grunge was eye opening.  I gawked, "Saigon Kick?  Are you serious?!"

    I did the route, came back to the printing press, borrowed The Lizard, and took it home for the weekend.  KJ came over that night.  We listened to The Lizard, and discovered that, for a heavy metal album, it showed a lot of variety.  Perhaps best-known is the ballad, "Love Is On The Way."  I swear, when KJ and I heard that song, optimism filled the air.  I really thought that, not only would we get back together again, but that this time around, we'd have a more solid, stable, long-lasting relationship.  Within the general public, "Love Is On The Way" took a while to become popular.  During the Fall '92 quarter, when I was back at UC Santa Cruz, "Love Is On The Way" actually got some play on MTV, and became a Top 20 hit.

    Kind of like The Lizard, the original XLO Reference Type 5 was accused of "skewing all over the place."  I have concluded that that perception was due to the Ref Type 5's (a) clean overall sound, (b) quick and slick transients, and (c) freedom from bloat, and (d) lack of inherent softness to cushion the blow.  In other words, the Ref Type 5 had enough spoken truth, to reveal the wide variety in audiophiles' systems.

    So in order to break down further the Ref Type 5's true personality, let us take a bi-wire speaker, and run the cable to the individual tweeter and woofer posts.

    The Hokubei Mainichi was produced in the upstairs main floors.  So let us start with running the Ref Type 5 to the tweeter.  Unlike most audiophile cables, the Ref Type 5 is fast up top.  Yet, there's no smearing or added sizzle.  However, this quickness, coupled with a lack of burnished sheen, can make the treble sound hard, especially when a cymbal is whacked rally hard.  If a recording itself is out of control, look out.  Yet, if you use the stereotypical audio system, rolled off up top, that's what the Ref Type 5 will reveal.

    The Hokubei Mainichi printing press was down low in the basement.  Yet, the space was large enough, that sounds weren't boomy.  So in honor of the old Hokubei Mainichi printing press, let's stick the XLO Ref Type 5 down low on the woofer post. 

    In the mid-90s, while hanging out at Ultimate Sound, I overheard several customers comment that the Ref Type 5 seemed to "tighten down on the woofer."  Yes, the Ref Type 5's bass register is tight, tight, tight.  It is a nice cure for systems which are too full and bloated down low.  If you have been complaining about your speakers' lack of grip down low, the Ref Type 5 can help.  Many listeners find themselves tightening their gut, because the bass is so tight, detailed, and fast.  My friend Margaret lamented, "Too bad it can't make my butt leaner and tighter!"

    Man, I really wonder what the Ref Type 5's extraordinarily grippy bottom end could have done for speakers in need of bass tightening, such as the ProAc Response One SC, PSB Silver Stratus i, Sonus Faber Grand Piano Home, and Totem Forest.  Heck, imagine what the Ref Type 5 could have done on the woofer section of the Martin Logan Aerius i.  Perhaps that would have made the woofer catch up to the super-fast electrostatic panel, enabling even better driver integration.