Imagine the best of both worlds. Some people would like to buy a Mercedes Benz made in the U.S.A. Two new models of MB Quart loudspeakers realize that proposition. Quart assembles key components from Germany in the U.S. into American-made cabinets. You hear quality sound at an affordable price.
Quart realized it was becoming harder to compete in America with German-built speakers. No matter how pleasing the sound, most people don`t want to pay the exchange rate penalty between the dollar and the deutsche mark, as well as the cost of shipping large boxes across the Atlantic. Thus were born the American-built Quart One and Quart Two. The Quart One is a smaller, less expensive speaker at $380 a pair. The Quart Two, which we review in this column, is a larger model priced at $500 a pair.
Neither looks as impressive as a Mercedes. They are black rectangular boxes, lacking the spectacular woodwork and finishes for which Quart is famous. However, Quart did not skimp on the sound. The smaller Quart One at $380 a pair is the other new model now made in the U.S.
The Quart Two is a floor-standing speaker just under a yard high, and smaller in circumference than an LP jacket. It comes finished in matte black on all sides, with a black cloth grille. Inside the box are a 6.5-inch woofer and a 1-inch dome tweeter, functioning in what is known as a bass reflex design. This design allows air to move in and out of the cabinet through a tuned port to amplify the bass acoustically.
The Quart Two reproduces the distinctive Quart sound. This is a very solid sound, with an exceptional stereo image and accurate reproduction of voices. It also accentuates the treble, causing some recordings to sound overly bright.
Most speaker companies contentedly design speakers that recreate a natural spread of sound between left and right. With a good speaker, such as the Quart Two, stereo is more than just the space between left and right speakers. The Quart Two recreates a three-dimensional image. This means on orchestral recordings the strings are in front, the winds behind them, and the percussion at the rear. On a good recording this image never floats or varies; the Quarts keep it just the way it would be in concert.
These speakers retain their clarity even at the softest levels. If you live in an apartment you will appreciate this attribute. Or at least your neighbors will appreciate this. The sound retains its musicality, even at a whisper.
The Quart Two reproduces ample, well-defined bass. The timpani and the double-bass never become a muddy blur of sound. If the sound is on the recording, the Quart Two will punch you in the guts.
The Quart Two emphasizes the faults of poorly recorded CDs. If the disc contains excess treble these speakers will drill your ears with it. Normally, the brightness of the Quart Two reproduces an inoffensive crisp, clear sound from most recordings. Unlike some bright speakers, irritation does not increase with prolonged listening to the Quart Two.
An exemplary recording with which to audition the Quart Two is the Koss Classics recording of Beethoven`s Symphony No. 9 with Zdenek Macal conducting the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. The richness and depth of the recording show the Quart Two in its best light, or sound, as the case may be. The Quart Two costs $500 per pair, which is $100 less than Quart`s least expensive German-built bookshelf-size model. Don`t worry about the ordinary black cabinets. After listening awhile they seem to disappear.
– Shizuio Takano, JVC auditor and former vice president, died Jan. 19 at his home in Japan. Takano is acknowledged throughout the world as the ”father of VHS.” Beginning in the late 1960s, he pushed JVC to design a home video taping system, which became VHS. So the next time you pop a tape in your VCR, you can thank the 36-year effort in video of Shizuio Takano.
