Reggae
Ziggy Marley "Keep My Faith"
"Keep My Faith" uses a large variety of drums, making it an interesting track. In a normal car audio system, much of the bass originating from these drums will be played by the subwoofer. It's important, however, for a component system to be plenty capable of reproducing most of the fundamental tones of this track on its own merits. A system capable of doing so is more likely to allow for a lower crossover point between the subwoofer and midbass, which can have a profound effect on localizing instruments in a song. And like any audiophile, we want our bass to originate from the same location as the rest of the music.
No doubt bass is a priority, but this song has plenty of other distinguishing traits to listen for. Toward the track's beginning, a harmonica and shaker should be easy to discern-and they were, yet the resolution of the beads within the shaker wasn't as good as I've come to expect for this price category. Vocally, both Marley and his backup singers were presented with a solid, lifelike performance with good stability across the soundstage. It was also noteworthy that the backups had a nice sense of width about them, which seems to be one of this system's stellar traits.
Then came the drums. Sadly, there was a definite lack of fundamental notes. This deficiency affected my ability to easily distinguish the location of the left and right bongos throughout the song. Instead of localizing at 10 and two, they were originating closer to 11 and one. With the introduction of the big drum and the kick drum, lack of bass was more apparent. All that was audible were the skin tones. Too bad, because the Studio 16 was pretty darn good in mostly every other aspect.
Score: 7/10
Jazz
Pat Coil "Road Less Travelled"
Pat Coil has been a longtime favorite of mine. His compositions are often fairly elaborate, as is the fast-paced "Road Less Travelled." While it falls short of symphony status, it's easy to get lost in this track with such an array of overlapping instruments that includes a piano, percussions, bongos, electric guitar, acoustic guitar and a horn, while also having to contend with the vocal chorus and chants.
At full stride, the Genesis did a fine job delineating through this track. Instruments and vocals appeared to stay in their place while the Studio 16 managed to keep the stage width to a maximum, never narrowing with complexity or volume. For the most part, the system's reproduction was linear, keeping composed at the crossover point. The overall tonal characteristics of each instrument were pleasing, while the chorus and chants came through as good as I've heard. But the Studio 16 wasn't fault-free. For instance, the kick drum was almost nonexistent and the fundamental tones of the bongos were missing, making them difficult to locate. Add a little volume and the high-hats sounded a bit bright and splashy, making them stand out amongst the other instruments. I was also concerned with the system's integrity at moderate volume levels, as the otherwise linear response tended to break up in the midrange. I can't help to wonder if this is related to the "controlled flexure" design of the mid/high-frequency driver and the way the center dome decouples from the cone at higher power.
Overall, I was pleased with the system's generally composed nature on this track, but with more gusto in the bass, this system could be brought to a whole new level.
Score: 8/10