News

Home theater may be the electronic industry's golden goose, but, contrary to nasty rumors, standalone audio is sailing along proudly, as demonstrated by several recently released products.

Just a few months after debuting the well-conceived and well-received Halo line of two-channel separates, San Francisco–based Parasound has launched a high-end monoblock amplifier commissioned from legendary designer John Curl and his CTC Builders group (with Carl Thompson and Bob Crump). The powerful JC 1 is "among the most transparent, dynamic, and sonically neutral solid-state amplifiers in audio history," according to a late-August announcement. The new amplifier is capable of 400W into an 8 ohm load, 800W into 4 ohms, and 1200W into 2 ohms. Operating in pure class-A mode up to 25W, the JC 1 kicks into class-AB only when dynamic peaks or sustained bass passages demand.

Despite this enormous power capability, the JC 1 is fanless, for silent operation. Curl's massive power supply feeds complementary JFET input and MOSFET driver stages, which control nine pairs of high-current bipolar output transistors. The JC 1 represents "the culmination of 13 years of Curl's ongoing evolution of Parasound power amplifier topologies," said Parasound president Richard Schram. "The sound quality and power capabilities of this amplifier are breathtaking." The JC 1 shares the sleek silver look of Halo components, and is priced at an astoundingly low $3000. Schram says the JC 1 will "stand up favorably to any component available at any price."

PS Audio's Paul McGowan may take exception to that comment. His company's September newsletter crows about PSA's HCA-2 amplifier having achieved a Class A rating in Stereophile's October "Recommended Components" issue, in which Sam Tellig showers praise on what PSA describes as "the lowest-priced and coolest-running power amplifier in the entire Class A Stereophile rating." There may be an amplifier showdown in the works here. (Kal Rubinson's full review of the HCA-2, complete with measurements from John Atkinson, is scheduled to run in the December issue of Stereophile.)

Without good loudspeakers, big amplifiers are just heavy metal sculptures. PBN Audio has risen to the challenge with the Montana EPX, a new, compact, full-range design with the company's characteristic D'Appolito tweeter-midrange configuration, but with four woofers that take the bass down cleanly to below 20Hz. Two woofers are hidden inside the cabinet, aiding the two on the front baffle. Looking like a stouter cousin of the Montana EPS—it's slightly more than 4' tall and tips the scale at 150 lbs—the EPX has a target price of $10,000/pair in any standard finish. Stereophile veteran reviewer and deadpan comedian Lonnie Brownell and I were able to audition a prototype pair in San Diego recently; they sounded very promising. LB is back in action after enduring two surgeries to correct a debilitating case of "surfer's ear," an ailment that is no joke.

The audiophile press and the audiophile public have been clamoring for a high-end universal disc player that might obviate the notion of a "format war" between Super Audio CD and DVD-Audio—or between two-channel and multichannel playback. The $1200 Pioneer DV-47A was the first serious all-format disc player; now Marantz has introduced the DV8300, which seems to offer everything movie and music fans could want: excellent video specs and functionality, two-channel and multichannel analog audio outputs, optical and coaxial digital outputs, and the ability to handle every current optical disc format, including standard "Red Book" CD, DVD-Video, VCD, MP3-encoded CD, CD-R, CD-RW, CD+RW, and two-channel and multichannel DVD-A and SACD. Videophobes note: The DV8300 can play audio recordings without the need for an onscreen menu.

If you've been curious about comparing high-resolution formats, or reluctant to commit to one or the other, Marantz may have solved your problem. The DV8300—and similar players to follow—will allow you to make software purchases on artistic merits rather than technical limitations. I heard the DV8300 recently in the home of a friend, who coupled it to McIntosh's top-rung home-theater receiver driving the latest edition of Red Rose Rosebud speakers. Drive-by appraisal: two thumbs up.

Less-is-More Dept.: If you're still solidly in two-channel land—most audiophiles are—I can strongly recommend a new preamp from the UK's Tom Evans Audio Design. The Vibe is a minimalist creation: five stereo inputs, two parallel outputs, plus record out, with only a selector knob and a manually operated volume control (a small-increment parallel stepped attenuator) on its front panel. The outboard power supply has no on/off switch; the $5200 Vibe is intended to be left on all the time.

The Vibe's somewhat diminutive chassis is all acrylic, bucking the received engineering wisdom that audio components should be metal boxes to block the effects of radiated electrical fields. Evans, whose Groove and Microgroove phono preamplifiers are also housed in acrylic, reportedly believes that designers who still use metal are "lost"—metal resonates at audible frequencies and conducts the very currents it is intended to suppress. I've been using the Vibe in my system for two months, and it's been a revelation: effortless extension at both frequency extremes, with an astounding ability to reveal inner detail and rhythmic nuance, and the best bass articulation I have ever heard. Adding this component elevated my system from being merely "very good" to among the best I've ever encountered. I don't believe it can get much better.

Los Angeles–based audio consultant Ed Sheftel says part of the Vibe's secret is Evans' use of his Lithos voltage regulators, a proprietary technology that grew out of work he did for the British military. In developing his phono preamps, Evans determined that, as long as regulators were noisier than the quietest passages of recorded music, no further progress in circuit topology was possible. Hence the Lithos, which is "five decimal points more accurate, 53 times faster, and 1000 times quieter" than standard devices, Sheftel informed me. I can't vouch for the measurements, but I can verify that every bit of music I've heard through the Vibe is infused with a heart-rending degree of emotion and naturalism, totally free from the fatiguing quality that seems to infect almost all electronic reproduction. The Vibe might well be a breakthrough product for music lovers.