After I reviewed the "S" revision of the previous top-of-the-line Mark Levinson preamplifier, the No.380 (Stereophile, November 1997, Vol.20 No.11), I bought the review sample. Naturally, therefore, I was interested in hearing how the $14,950 No.32 Reference stacked up against the $6495 No.380S. So I arranged to use the review sample of the No.32 for a few weeks before it needed to be sent to Jonathan's Manhattan loft. I left the preamp warming up for two days before I did any serious listening, and the…
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John Atkinson compared the No.380S with the No.32 in January 2000 (Vol.23 No.1):
Sidebar: Contact Info
Manufacturer: Madrigal Audio Laboratories, Inc., 2081 South Main Street, P.O. Box 781, Middletown, CT 06457. Tel: (860) 346-0896. Fax: (860) 346-1540. Web: www.madrigal.com .
Paul Kelly (pkell4@earthlink.net) recently sent me a most interesting e-mail titled "Cones, Stones, & Groans." I'll share it with you now, as I gave "Sean" (bigfoot1@corecomm.net) a chance to expound on cones and how they work under equipment in the February "Fine Tunes." After reading through all the "Fine Tunes" archived on the Stereophile website (I thank him for his positive remarks), Paul wrote:
"A few observations: Almost everything finally resolves itself to simple physics, which ultimately govern the universe. Unfortunately, we all know a great many things that are actually…
The word chancellor derives, believe it or not, from the Italian word for wooden latticework, cancelli. In the church architecture of sixth-century Rome, a latticework screen demarcated an area near the altar where deacons or priests would stand, waiting to assist the principal celebrant as needed. In English, this area became known as the chancel. In consequence, a trusted assistant came to be known as a chancellor. In the High Middle Ages, that title was given to the cleric who would correspond on behalf of and maintain the archives for an important churchman, such as a bishop.
After…
In addition to its aforementioned virtues, the Brinkmann is a very quiet amplifier, in terms of both lack of transistor rush at idle and retrieval of low-level musical detail. That is as good a place as any to start an investigation of its technical individualities.
In theory, designing an integrated amplifier rather than separate pre- and power amplifiers allows the designer freedom to dictate all the relevant parameters of the interaction between the line stage and the power amplifier. However, in practice, the result is often not much different than if the designer had merely smooshed…
The case as a whole is another new departure. The selector and volume knobs are on the front panel, which is approximately one standard rack-unit in height. Also on the front panel are the headphone jack and a single button that disables the speaker outputs while enabling the headphone amplifier.
The amplifier as a whole is two rack-units high, though the only internal component that is fully that tall is the toroidal power transformer. Brinkmann's idiosyncratic solution is to surround the power transformer with its own circular enclosure, which extends through the bottom of the case and…
This month, "Fine Tunes" offers a grab-bag of useful and inexpensive tips for the impecunious tweaker searching for better sound.
First up, a technique I used in the early 1990s, when all my equipment was on Arcici SuperStructure racks and isolation shelves. I was reminded of it recently when I stubbed my toe on a screw head sticking up about 1/8" from the floor (Ouch!), and by an e-mail that arrived the very same day from Robert Stein of Ultra Systems/The Cable Company. Talk about serendipity!
Mr. Stein: "I was fielding a question from an audiophile with a thick carpet and…
When I interviewed recording engineer Roy Halee (Simon and Garfunkel, The Byrds, The Lovin' Spoonful, etc.) at his home in Connecticut back in 1991, he pointed to his pair of monolithic Infinity IRS loudspeakers and said, "When I want to listen for pleasure, I listen to those." He then pointed to a pair of early-edition Wilson Audio Specialties WATT/Puppys in a second system set up in the corner of his large listening room. "When I want to hear what's on a recording I've made, I listen to those." It was obvious: Halee respected the Wilsons, but he loved the Infinitys. Not surprising, since…
Before the WATT 7, all WATTs were made of ceramic-filled methacrylic. The 7 is made of M material, which is made of multiple layers of nonsynthetic pulp and mineral-based material. Each layer is hard on its surface and soft in the center. "M" has more uniform particle size throughout compared to MDF; the result is a material claimed to be both harder and better damped than MDF or methacrylic.
Wilson told me that M transmits about 10dB less noise when excited than methacrylic, resulting in far less "group delay jitter" than the previous cabinet. The new material's hardness better matches…
Couple the detailed, slightly crystalline, but not etched top end with the subtle warmth below, and you have a recipe for a speaker that would seem to be more about love than respect, more about pleasure than analytical accuracy. Yet the choices made by Wilson and whoever else worked on the 7's voicing were so masterfully applied that I didn't notice them unless I went looking for them. (You have to make peace with whatever speaker ends up in your room. If you can't hear through it now, count on doing so eventually.)
The WATT/Puppy 7s produced an enormous sonic picture in my room, with…