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Reference

Real-Life Measurements

John Atkinson Aug 19, 1995

As mentioned by two readers in this month's "Letters," amplifiers are used to drive loudspeakers but are almost exclusively measured into resistive loads. The reasons for this are twofold: 1) real loudspeakers both produce neighbor-annoying sound levels and tend to break when driven with typical amplifier test signals; and 2) the question as to which "standard" loudspeaker should be used is impossible to answer---at least the conventional resistive loads are consistent and repeatable.

Tube Power Amp Reviews J. Gordon Holt

Audio Research D-250 II Servo power amplifier

J. Gordon Holt Aug 16, 1995

The D-250 is the flagship of Audio Research's power amplifier range and, at 250 watts per channel, is the most powerful all-tube stereo amplifier currently available in the US. Under the circumstances, then, it is not surprising that it should also be one of the heaviest and largest.

Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Apogee Stage & Mini-Grand loudspeakers

Dick Olsher Aug 09, 1995

As Laura Atkinson shuffled into my listening room one evening, she spied the Stage loudspeakers tucked away in the corner. "Hey, Dick, those look like Apogees, but they're kind of small." Rising to the occasion, I responded with: "Honey, I shrunk the Apogees." At roughly 3' tall by 2' wide, the Stage is far from intimidating; it even feels more compact and is certainly much cuter looking than the old Quad ESL. Yet Junior's resemblance to the rest of the Apogee family is unmistakable. The canted baffle, the vertical tweeter/midrange along the inside edge of the baffle, and the pleated aluminum-foil woofer clearly bear the imprint of the larger Caliper and Duetta models. It's almost as though Apogee started shrinking the Duetta until the price tag shrank below two kilobucks.

Budget Component Reviews Integrated Amp Reviews Historical

Naim NAIT integrated amplifier

Robert Harley, Sam Tellig Aug 08, 1995

The $395 NAIT, rated at 20Wpc, is a good-sounding little amp. It's very open and spacious-sounding, but, like the $250 Rotel RA-820BX, sometimes sounds a little hard in the upper registers.

Solid State Power Amp Reviews

Jeff Rowland Design Group Model 2 power amplifier

Robert Deutsch Aug 04, 1995

I remember having a conversation with an audiophile some time ago about the thorny subject of choosing an amplifier. He was convinced, on the basis of an article he had read in Stereo Review, that all amplifiers of a given power rating sound pretty much the same. Although he was sufficiently well off to buy just about anything on the market, he didn't want to waste his money. He chose the amplifier for his system by going through the Audio Annual Directory Issue, calculating the price:watt ratio for each amplifier that was listed, and then bought the amplifier with the lowest price/watt figure that had enough power to drive his speakers. He didn't do any comparative listening and didn't consider buying anything that cost more for the same power, because he knew already that it wouldn't sound any different.

Solid State Power Amp Reviews

Krell KSA-50S power amplifier

John Atkinson Aug 02, 1995

In the fall of 1982, I had just become the Editor of the English magazine Hi-Fi News & Record Review. Hi-fi was in a state of flux. The Compact Disc had just made its debut in Japan, but the British and American launches were six months and a year away, respectively. The Linn orthodoxy prevailed about the role of the source in system performance, but there was no agreement about what was and was not important when it came to enhancing the musical experience. "Objectivists" insisted that amplifiers and even loudspeakers had pretty much reached a design plateau where no further improvement was necessary or even desirable, while "subjectivists" were fragmented. All I was aware of was that my system, based on Celestion SL6 loudspeakers, needed more of an undefinable something.

Historical J. Gordon Holt Solid State Power Amp Reviews

Quad 405 power amplifier

J. Gordon Holt, Sam Tellig Aug 01, 1995

This is something we don't see too often: an entirely new approach to power amplifier design. As Quad points out in its literature for the 405, class-A operation of transistors provides the lowest distortion, but drastically limits the amount of power an output transistor can deliver without overheating. (Most transistor amps use class-AB output operation, in which each of a pair of power transistors handles part of each signal cycle and shuts down during the other part. Imperfect synchronism between the two halves causes the familiar "crossover distortion," which accounts for most solid-state sound. In class-A operation, each output transistor draws current though the entirety of each signal cycle, eliminating the crossover transition but doubling the amount of time current is drawn, and thus tending to cause the transistor to heat up more.)

Solid State Preamp Reviews

YBA 2 preamplifier

John Atkinson Jul 30, 1995

A truly great preamplifier lets everything through, both music and distortion, but with such generosity that neither...is cramped and narrow.—Larry Archibald (footnote 1)

Budget Component Reviews Headphone Reviews

Etymotic Research ER-4S Canal Phone earspeakers

Wes Phillips Jul 30, 1995

The cab's outside, the plane leaves in 50 minutes. Let's see...<A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/530/">HeadRoom Supreme</A>, <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//accessoryreviews/531/">HeadRoom Bag</A>, portable CD player, CDs, Etymotic ER-4S Canal Phones....Oh, yeah—mustn't forget luggage or plane tickets. Guess I'm set to go.

Solid State Preamp Reviews

McCormack Line Drive TLC-1 preamplifier

John Atkinson Jul 24, 1995

A truly great preamplifier lets everything through, both music and distortion, but with such generosity that neither...is cramped and narrow.—Larry Archibald(footnote 1)