The GSP Audio Era Gold Mk.V is about twice as expensive as the Perreaux SXV1 and the Musical Fidelity XLPSv3, but it sounded at least 10 times better. It was…
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I don't know Gram Slee from Gram Parsons, or which House he was in at Harry Potter's Hogwarts School, but let me tell you: If you'd just been listening to a bunch of budget phono preamps, as I had, then came upon the GSP Audio Era Gold Mk.V, you'd think someone had switched out not just the phono preamp but your entire system. You might think you were listening to a different pressing or a different cartridge. How can this be?
Sidebar: Contacts
Luxman, 1-3-1, Shin-Yokohama Kouhoku-ku, Yokohama 222-0033, Japan. Tel: 81 (45) 47-0-6980. Web: www.luxman.co.jp. US distributor: On a Higher Note, PO Box 698, San Juan Capistrano, CA 92693. Tel: (949) 488-3004. Fax: (949) 488-3284. Web: www.onahighernote.com.
Behringer, Music Group Services USA, Inc., 18912 N. Creek Parkway, Suite 200, Bothell, WA 98011. Tel: (425) 672-0816. Fax: (425) 673-7647. Web: www.behringer.com.
After writing my very favorable review of Marantz's PM5003 integrated amplifier ($449.99) for the January 2010 issue, I began to fantasize about how it might be packaged with other components to create a dynamite entry-level system for about $1000 (excluding cables). A good place to start, I felt, was the companion model to the PM5003, Marantz's own CD5003 CD player. Since then, both have been replaced with new models, respectively the PM5004 and CD5004, so I sought out review samples of both. (To read how the PM5004 compares with the PM5003, see my "Follow-Up" on the Marantz PM5004…
I finally got to meet Roy Hall of Music Hall. I, along with many of you, have been recently delighting in his colorful and off-color manufacturer’s comments in the pages of Stereophile. New to the stable of products Roy distributes is Creek’s Wyndsor phono preamplifier ($2495). This is a fully adjustable phono preamp with all of the settings available as you scroll through the on-screen menus. The preamp is powered by an external power supply and has just started shipping.
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Music Hall Ikura record player; Rega Planar 3 turntable; Syrinx PU-3 tonearm; Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood, Ortofon 2M Blue phono cartridges.
Integrated Amplifier: Creek Destiny.
Loudspeakers: Dynaudio Excite X14, Emotiva Airmotiv 4S, Epos Elan 10.
Headphones: Grado SR125.
Cables: Interconnect (all MIT): MI-350 CVTwin Terminator, MI-330SG Terminator. Speaker: Acarian Systems Black Orpheus, Accent Speaker Technology Blue Thunder. AC: manufacturers' own.
Accessories: Various by ASC, Bright Star, Celestion, Echo Busters,…
Sam Tellig wrote about the Sequel II in September 1989 (Vol.12 No.9):
Act I, Scene One
"Finished version, I promise."
Gayle Sanders was reassuring the press about the $35k Statement at last summer's CES.
MartinLogan seems to run through revisions rather rapidly. For instance, no sooner had I settled in with the Sequel (which itself had undergone some major changes since first being introduced) than M/L announced the Sequel II. Drat! All those listening notes for naught.
Not quite. The original Sequels and the new Sequel IIs have much in common—sound as well…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Rega Research Planar 3, VPI TNT IV turntables; Immedia, Syrinx PU-3 tonearms; Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood, Koetsu Urushi cartridges.
Digital Sources: Creek Destiny, Lector CDP-7T CD players.
Preamplification: Vendetta Research SCP-2D phono stage, Audio Valve Eklipse line stage.
Power Amplifier: Audio Research Reference 75.
Loudspeakers: Dynaudio Excite X14, Epos Elan 10.
Cables: Interconnect (all MIT): Magnum M3, MI-350 CVTwin Terminator, MI-330SG Terminator. Speaker: Accent Speaker Technology Blue Thunder.
Accessories…
A tradition at HE SHows is the "bazaar: in one of the hotel's ballrooms, where record companies and accessory manufacturers do a brisk business. Here, Marcia Martin of Reference Recordings shows off their latest release Serenade, a recording of the same vocal group, the Turtle Creek Chorale, as in their best-selling Rutter's Requiem CD.
My room constraints discouraged further experimentation; the following comments should be considered in the context of what I was able to achieve in my difficult room.
Sound: woofer or dog?
The quality of the PW-1's bass response overall was excellent, its fairly uniform character blending fairly seamlessly with the Petites' own mid- and upper-bass response. The bass response of the entire system was now extended from its original lower limit of 60Hz to a solid 35Hz, with some reduced output at 32Hz. Overall, the frequency response was clean, uncolored, and smooth, with no peaks or…
As a music teacher, I can think of no better learning experience than what trumpeter Donald Byrd did in the early 1970s for a group of his music students. To quote the band's current website, "Byrd envisioned taking active students at Howard University in Washington, DC, on a real-world field trip which would expose them to ins and outs of the music business."
Leveraging his music-business connections and salting the adventure with his own compositions, Byrd set his students up as a funky musical act to, in his own words, "bridge the gap between academia and the real world." The…