Analog Sources: VPI TNT IV, Rega Planar 3 turntables; Immedia, Syrinx PU-3 tonearms; Koetsu Urushi, Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood cartridges.
Digital Sources: Lector CDP-7T, Creek Destiny CD players.
Preamplification: Vendetta Research SCP-2D, Creek Destiny phono stages; Audio Valve Eclipse line stage.
Power Amplifier: Audio Research Reference 75.
Integrated Amplifier: Creek Destiny.
Loudspeakers: Dynaudio Excite X12, Epos M5i, Monitor Silver RX6.
Cables: Interconnect (all MIT): Magnum M3, MI-350 CVTwin Terminator, MI-330SG Terminator.…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: VPI TNT IV, Rega Planar 3 turntables; Immedia, Syrinx PU-3 tonearms; Koetsu Urushi, Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood cartridges.
Digital Sources: Lector CDP-7T, Creek Destiny CD players.
Preamplification: Vendetta Research SCP-2D, Creek Destiny phono stages; Audio Valve Eclipse line stage.
Power Amplifier: Audio Research Reference 75.
Integrated Amplifier: Creek Destiny.
Loudspeakers: Dynaudio Excite X12, Epos M5i, Monitor Silver RX6.
Cables: Interconnect (all MIT): Magnum M3, MI-350 CVTwin Terminator, MI-330SG Terminator.…
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-7TCD players.
Preamplification: Creek Destiny, Vendetta Research SCP-2D phono stages; Audio Research Reference 5 SE, Audio Valve Eclipse, Nagra Jazz, VTL 5.5 II Signature line stages.
Power Amplifier: Audio Research Reference 110.
Integrated Amplifier: Creek Destiny.
Loudspeakers: Dynaudio Excite X12, Epos M15i, Monitor Silver RX6, Nola Viper…
Every once in a great while I find a recording of a particular piece of music that moves me in a special way when played through a certain piece of equipment. With the Creek, it was the Adagio of Beethoven's Piano Sonata 3, as performed by Robert Silverman in his recent 10-CD boxed set of the complete Sonatas (Orpheum Masters KSP830, engineered by John Atkinson). In the right hands, this deceptively simple, almost minimalist Haydnesque work is open to a broad range of interpretation, despite the fact that it probably requires the least amount of technical prowess of any Beethoven composition…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: VPI TNT IV turntable, Immedia RPM tonearm, Koetsu Urushi cartridge; Rega Planar 3 turntable, Syrinx PU-3 tonearm, Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood & Aurum Beta S cartridges.
Digital Sources: California Audio Labs Icon Mk.II Power Boss, Cayin CD-50T, Creek Destiny, Creek CD53 Mk.II, Lector CDP-7T CD players; Pioneer DV-333 DVD player.
Preamplification: Vendetta Research SCP-2D phono stage, Audio Valve Eklipse line stage.
Power Amplifier: Audio Research VT100 Mk.II.
Integrated Amplifiers: Creek Destiny, Creek 5350SE.
Loudspeakers:…
The final piece of the TGI/Mordaunt-Short/Epos jigsaw puzzle (see previous story) seems to have fallen into place, with the news that Mike Creek (of the UK's Creek Audio) is purchasing the Epos loudspeaker brand, effective March 1.
The saga began last fall, when the TGI Group (Tannoy Goodmans International) announced that it was planning to close its Mordaunt-Short/Epos operation within the next three months. However, between Christmas and the New Year came the announcement that M-S/Epos had been purchased by the Audio Partnership, a British manufacturing/sourcing operation that includes…
Epos and Creek have long been associated—Epos loudspeakers seemed to work particularly well with Creek electronics—but the connection became more solidified in 2014, when Mike Creek acquired total control of Epos and appointed his son, Luke, to be the Epos brand director. The first result of this change of ownership is the new Epos K-Series, which importer Roy Hall describes as being more "lifestyle-oriented."
The series includes the stand-mounted K1, the K2 floorstander, and—introduced at CES 2015—another floorstander: the K3 ($2395/pair), shown in the photo. Active models are in the…
Destiny plug-in MM phono stage, January 2008 (Vol.31 No.1):
When I reviewed the Destiny integrated amplifier in January 2007, Creek Audio had not yet released that model's plug-in moving-magnet and moving-coil phono-stage boards, now available for $500 each. I've since received the MM board and have put it through my usual battery of tests. As you'd expect from the price, these plug-in boards are more elaborate and complex than those available with other Creek products.
The MM board uses a split-rail (±15V) power supply with twice the usual number of pins, to allow for separate…
Those who’ve read my reviews will already know how much musical pleasure my vintage Creek 4330 integrated amp has given me. On the first day of CES I got to relax and listen to the legendary Mike Creek show and tell about the Evolution 50CD ($1695) which is really a high-end DAC with a built in transport. It can handle a total of six digital sources, including CD, and it has two digital outputs plus a Creek RC bus.
I stood fascinated while Mike showed me every tiny component in the new EVO 100A integrated amp ($2195) which uses a clever class-G output stage to increase power to 100Wpc…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
After a one-hour preconditioning period at one-third power into 8 ohms, the Creek 5350SE's internal heatsinks were too hot to touch, and I could feel a convection current of hot air rising from them. The output was in correct polarity, and the maximum voltage gain into 8 ohms was a sensible 33.8dB for line-level inputs. The phono section (internally connected to the Aux RCAs) offered another 40.5dB of gain, appropriate for MM cartridges. The phono input's impedance was 46.1k ohms, the line inputs' a lower 13.7k ohms (both figures measured at 1kHz). The selected…