A sound pressure level of 881/2 dB was measured at 1 me-
ter with a 0-dBW (1 -watt) input. The maximum output level strongly recommend a good subsonic filter in the record -
of the Vector I, both with continuous and with pulsed 300 -
Hz tones, also is a bit above average-quite an achieve-
ment for a system of this physical size. A continuous
sound pressure level of 107 dB was achieved at 1 meter
with an input of 18 dBW (64 watts), for a distortion of less
than 61/4%; above 107 dB, the results were inconsistent.
The lab measured 1141/2 dB SPL with pulses having a peak
power of 251/2 dBW (363 watts) before exceeding the ex-
cursion limits of the driver. At more reasonable sound lev-
els, the THD of the Vector I is lower than average except for
an increase in 80 -Hz second -harmonic content at relatively
low test levels (75 dB SPL).
With the tweeter sensitivity at NORMAL, the on -axis re-
sponse measurement exhibits substantial dips in the
crossover region (1,750 Hz) and again around 4,600 Hz.
Curiously, the dips fill in quite well (to about a 5 -dB hole)
when the tweeter switch is set to INCREASE. Elsewhere,
there is about 4 dB of change in high -frequency level de-
pending on the switch position. The front hemisphere and
omnidirectional response curves, which are more repre-
sentative of perceived sound, do not exhibit this anom-
alous behavior. In fact, the omnidirectional response is
quite smooth: within 4 dB of nominal (85 dB SPL) from
about 45 Hz to 16 kHz.
Bertagni's Biggest "Geostatic"
The Equipment: Bertagni Geostatic D-120 speaker system.
Dimensions: 521/2 by 20 by 33/4 inches; base: 173/4 by 141/2
inches. Price: $549. Warranty: "limited," three years parts
and labor. Manufacturer: Bertagni Electroacoustic Sys-
tems, Inc., 345 Fischer St., Costa Mesa, Calif. 92626.
Comment: For good or ill, Professor Bertagni's fame and
that of his speakers has preceded his product, making it
unusually difficult to approach with an open mind. We find
that listeners' opinions are easily colored by the innovative
principles of the drivers themselves (see Peter W. Mitch-
ell's article in this issue), by the Geostatic name and the
resemblance of the D-120 to an electrostatic panel, and by
the lackluster sound of plastic -foam panel speakers previ-
ously available on the American market. After extensive lis-
tening, we have come to the conclusion that, while there
may be a modicum of meaning in all of these associations,
each is more misleading than it is informative.
The panels are panels and therefore share with electro-
statics some propagation properties. Since they deliver as
much sound to the back as they do head-on, posit,oning
takes some care if the back wave is not to be swallowed up
by overly absorbent materials behind the speaker or, con-
versely, reflected in such a way as to roughen response
(usually caused by the panel's being too close to, and par-
allel with, the wall behind it). Barring obviously poor posi-
tioning choices, however, we did not find the D-120 to be
particularly fussy; many changes produced little or no au-
dible alteration in the sound.
Connections (via bared wires) are made at the back of
the base, to spring -loaded, color -coded posts. Next to
them are a circuit -breaker reset button and two rotary con-
trols: for midrange and highs respectively. (Identify which
is which while you're tightening the two screws that hold
the "foot" plate in place; with the speaker in working posi-
JUNE 1977
To get the best perfcrmance from the Vector I, we'd
playing chain. The system is tuned to a very low frequency,
and the small woofer goes through some wild excursions
without a filter-even when playing relatively unwarped
discs. With the filter switched in, the woofer and drone
cones calm down, and the sound is much cleaner. We'd
also suggest that you experiment with placement. Stood
on the floor, perhaps 10 inches out from the wall and well
away from the room corners, the Vector l's produced a pro-
digious bass output-too much for our tastes, so we pre-
ferred them raised several feet above the floor and moved
out into the room. This reduced the apparent bass but pro-
vided better balance in our listening room. (Our test sam-
ples did not have the optional tilting bases.) We definitely
prefer the tweeter switch in the INCREASE position, with a
slight treble cut in the preamp to avoid excessive bright-
ness.
Set up as we describe, the sound character of the Vector
I is very satisfying. Definition is good, and the stereo imag-
ing is exceptional in both width and depth. Whether this
can definitely be ascribed to the "linear phase coherent"
design we can't say, but we can attest to the superior per-
formance of the Vector I in this regard; more likely than
not, LPC has a lot to do with it.
CIRCLE 134 ON READER -SERVICE CARD
tion, we had to lie flat on the floor to read the identi-
fications.)
The CBS measurements show that the MID gives a total
adjustment range of approximately 6 dB between about 1
and 6 kHz. The HIGH knob has most effect above about 8
kHz, where the adjustment range is similar. The instruc-
tions suggest experimentation (always a good idea), start-
ing with the maximum position of the MID control and half-
way for HIGH. At the end of the experimentation we found
ourselves back at ground zero and left the controls at
these recommended positions for most of our listening.
Bertagni also suggests corner placement if you like em-
phasized bass. Our experiments in this direction led us to
concede that the bass is most natural (if not super -deep)
when the speakers are kept out of the corners.
39