as it reproduced
thunderous ex-
plosions with
sufficient force
to send pressure
waves rippling
across the slab
floor of the TPV
Audio Lab. Simi-
larly, the system
made the eerie
ping and whirr of bullet ricochets
sound so immediate and intense
that I felt an involuntary urge to take
cover. This system offers more than
enough dynamic headroom to deliver
the goods in moderately large rooms.
On music, the DARTS 525 sys-
tem sounded clean, transparent and
authoritative, teasing out the subtle
timbres of individual instruments and
voices, and handling large and small-
scale dynamic shifts with grace.
These qualities combined synergisti-
cally as I listened to the Oue/Min-
nesota performance of the finale of
Respighi’s
Pines of Rome
[
30th Anni-
versary Sampler
, Reference Record-
ings]. This passage is famous for the
way its orchestration and dynamics
build in intensity toward a thunder-
ous crescendo—a crescendo the
DARTS system captured beautifully.
My only criticisms of the system are
minor. First, the DARTS system is not
the last word in 3D imaging because
its main speakers occasionally draw
too much attention to themselves
on hard, upper midrange/treble
transients. Second, the system can
on some material sound a little too
bright, though I know it measures
very well. This issue could easily be
addressed, I think, if Phase Technol-
ogy adopts the new upper midrange
“contour control” that Audyssey Lab-
oratories recently developed for use
in its standalone room EQ products.
Phase Technology’s DARTS system
is a superb performer that offers good
value for the money and provides an
eye-opening glimpse at what I think
will prove to be the future of loud-
speaker system design. The greatest
beauty of the system, though, is that
it works for multiple listeners at once,
creating—as one Absolute Multimedia
staff member put, “a giant sweet-spot
that seems to be
everywhere
.”
TPV
technology focus focus:
Phase Technology
Poor
Good
Excellent
1
0
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Poor
Good
Excellent
1
0
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Poor
Good
Excellent
1
0
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
DP-2000 amplifier
DCB-112S subwoofer
TPV
|
March 2007
44
Manufacturer Information
Phase Technology
(888) 742-7385
phasetech.com
