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RE: Okay, a serious, non-obtuse, Stereophile (the clue) review thread

Hello everyone,

I developed the clue loudspeaker for Sjöfn HiFi.

I thought I would jump in here and hopefully add some clarity relative to the rather negative outcome of the recent Stereophile review by Herb Reichert and John Atkinson.

To start, we weren’t looking for the reviewer “to help out the manufacturer as an unpaid consultant…” or to have the review be “…a collaborative effort,” as suggested by Mr. Atkinson. In fact just the opposite; we merely wanted to help the reviewer be able to realize the full capability of the clue, as he, and other Stereophile reviewers had heard them perform at the audio shows, and then it is our gamble to leave the subjective evaluation to his ears, a gamble that we are willing to take if we know our speaker is operating at full capability, which we would hope is what the magazine wants and what the customer would want from the magazine.

The written instructions define the interface with two room boundaries and the relationship to the listener, in a rather precise manner, and in the majority of cases, the set up instruction is adequate to reach the potential of the loudspeaker.

But, many rooms have unpredictable acoustical attributes, including at least four additional boundaries, of various forms, that impact the performance. In some environments, the setup may require additional adjustment beyond what we specify in the basic instructions, so, we offer additional support to all our customers, and reviewers :-) to help them achieve the best outcome.

That help was offered up front to Mr. Reichert, and that is why we were rather surprised in reading the review after knowing that Mr. Reichert and at least two other Stereophile reviewers had heard the clue perform at the audio shows (in very difficult room acoustics) and in all cases were very impressed as we illustrated in a few example quotations of their impressions in our manufacturer’s reply. In fact some of the statements were actually in direct conflict with the findings of the review. The fact that what was heard at the shows didn’t line up with the Mr. Reichert’s review experience made us wonder why he wasn’t curious enough to give us a call.

That said, from what Mr. Reichert expressed as this experience in his listening room is actually a pretty accurate assessment of what one would hear if the clue was not fully optimized for effective coupling to the room boundaries. So, I would not challenge the astuteness of Mr. Reichert’s listening abilities, but only the fact that unfortunately he stopped short of getting the speakers to their full potential in his room; which again, we would have been glad to help work through that exercise.

Lastly, I would like to clear up part of the measurement results.

First, when we first sent in the clue for test, it was our understanding that it was going to be reviewed without measurements, so we didn’t think to alert the Stereophile that the clue, due to its unusual design for a specific use-model, may require, either a different measurement approach or alternatively, a different interpretation of some of the measurements.

I believe that most of Mr. Atkinson’s measurements were very accurate, as usual, but there were a few data points that were not effectively coordinated with the unique aspects of the clue design and use-model.

Regarding the nearfield low frequency measurement, JA mentioned in the review, and in one of his posts in this forum; “The nearfield measurement technique I use is an exact simulation of the speaker's behavior when used adjacent to an infinite boundary, ie, exactly the condition required by the Sjofn.”
As good as JA’s intentions may have been, unfortunately, this statement is not true. He is correct that his nearfield measurement technique duplicates a single infinite boundary, or “half-space”, but that is not the environment the clue is designed for or placed in, per the instructions. The bass alignment of the clue depends on the frequency dependent, sequential gain that results from placement that invokes a half-space to quarter-space, eighth-space, etc., with the associated gain steps at the appropriate frequencies. A near field measurement only provides the first half-space gain-step, and therefore does not show all the realized LF gain. Think of the front-wall as the equivalent of an infinite half-space, and the 90-degree bend at the floor boundary shifting the environment to a quarter-space environment at a lower frequency, providing additional gain. That is why the coupling to the front-wall and height off the floor are given as exact placements, to have those first two gain steps occur at the correct frequencies.
When effectively coupled to the room, the low frequency response is elevated to reference level, operating essentially flat from ≤ 35Hz to at least the Schroeder frequency of the room.

In terms of the high frequency response, one will find from the use-model instructions that the zero-degree tweeter axis is not the listening axis. At the actual oblique-angle listening axis, one will find the top two octaves to measure very smooth and extended, corresponding to Mr. Reichert’s stated subjective experience. In fact, one can actually observe in JA’s measurements, that by looking the lateral response family, just off zero-axis the response comes up to fill in the hole that one sees on the tweeter axis.

I will stop here, as I’m concerned I’ve already hi-jacked more space than I should, but hopefully the above explains some of the review issues, which I feel are more about misunderstandings than shortcomings of the reviewers or the speakers themselves.

I’m glad to answer any questions anyone might have.

All the best,

- Jim Croft

Croft Acoustical



Edits: 01/01/15
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