Solid State Power Amp Reviews

Sidebar 1: Associated Equipment

Loudspeakers used to audition the Counterpoint were Mirage M-7sis, Dunlavy SC-IVs, and Energy Veritas v2.8s. Amplifiers on hand for comparisons were the Krell KSA-300S and McCormack DNA-0.5. Program source was a Krell KPS-20i CD player used as a transport, feeding a Mark Levinson No.35 D/A converter through a Kimber AGDL digital coaxial cable.

Unbalanced TARA Labs Master RSC connected the Levinson converter to a Rowland Consummate preamp. Preamp-to-power-amp interconnects were alternately Monster M1500s and Cardas Hexlink Five Series, and loudspeaker cables were either Monster M1.5s or Straight Wire Virtuoso Platinums. The Mirages and the Dunlavys were bi-wired; the Energys were either bi-wired with the Straight Wire cables, or tri-wired with the Monsters.—Thomas J. Norton