Solid State Power Amp Reviews

Analog: Fully dressed Linn LP12 (Lingo, Trampolin, Cirkus), Ittok, AudioQuest AQ7000nsx.
Digital: PS Audio Lambda transport, PS UltraLink processor, AudioQuest OptiLink Pro 2 ST datalink.
Amplification: my own Convergent Audio Technology SL-1 Signature preamp and a borrowed Krell KRC. A pair of Bryston 7B monoblocks (the non-THX version)—amplifiers whose sound I'm quite familiar with—served as a reference. I operated the Brystons in the parallel mode.
Interconnects: TARA Labs RSC Master and Purist Audio Design Colossus Mk.II (5m lengths for the preamp-to-amp connection). Speaker cables: 8' bi-wire sets of TARA Labs RSC, Purist Audio Colossus Mk.II, and Dunlavy Audio Labs Z-8.
Accessories: My listening room has two dedicated AC lines; digital components were plugged into a Tice Series II Power Block. As the CAT SL-1 has its own Power-Block–like isolation transformer and further AC conditioning is not recommended, I plugged it directly into an AC outlet. I did my initial listening via the Krell KRC with "untreated" AC, but I later found that it sounded better plugged into the Tice Power Block. (The CAT sounds better straight.)
Speakers were Dunlavy Audio Labs SC-IVs (reviewed in April 1994)—they're sensitive by audiophile standards (91dB/W/m), have very even impedance and electrical phase characteristics, but are somewhat demanding of current.—Robert Deutsch