John Coltrane's Settin' the Pace (CD, JVCXR-020202) put a big tenor sax in the center of my room, spitting overtones at the…
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As a CD player, the Polyhymnia impressed me from the get-go. Chickasaw County Child: The Artistry of Bobbie Gentry (CD, Shout! DK-32278) was a revelation. Joan Osborn said that Gentry's voice is to women's voices as Sophia Loren's curves were to women's bodies: the epitome. The Polyhymnia captured that hyper-femaleness, setting it within baroque soundscapes that had width, height, and, most of all, depth. The bottom end was impressive, as was the top-end sparkle.
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Universal disc player with remote control. Formats supported: CD and MP3 discs, DVD-V, DVD-A, and SACD discs in two- and multichannel formats. Analog outputs: RCA (1 pair), balanced XLR (1 pair); optional analog output module includes 4 pairs of RCA jacks for surround-sound and subwoofer outputs. Digital outputs: S/PDIF (BNC). Video outputs: composite (BNC), component (3 BNC), S-VHS. Conversion type: 24-bit. Reconstruction filter: passive, third-order. Maximum output level: 2V RMS. Frequency range: not specified. Power consumption: 23W typical, 50W…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Source: Ayre C-5xe universal player.
Preamplifiers: Ayre K-1xe, Conrad-Johnson ACT2, Krell Evolution 202.
Power Amplifiers: Krell Evolution 600, Portal Paladin.
Loudspeakers: Dynaudio Confidence C-1, Wilson Audio Specialties WATT/Puppy 8.
Cables: Interconnect: Shunyata Research Aries & Antares, Krell CAST. Speaker: Shunyata Research Lyra.
Accessories: Ayre L-5xe line filter; Furutech eTP-609 distribution box; APC APCS15 AC line conditioner; Furutech RDP panels, RealTraps Mini & Mondo Traps.—Wes Phillips
Sidebar 3: Measurements
After connecting the Muse Polyhymnia to a TV monitor, to make sure it was set up optimally and that such features as Dynamic Range Compression (DRC) were set to "Off," I tested it from its balanced and unbalanced output jacks. At 1.99V, the maximum output at 1kHz from DVD-Audio and CD was very close to the CD standard's 2V, although, unusually, it was identical from the balanced and unbalanced outputs. The maximum level for SACD was significantly lower, at 1.68V. This 1.5dB difference will invalidate any non–level-compensated comparisons among the three media.…
In the ongoing debacle that has been the introduction and promotion of high-resolution digital audio and the record industry's struggles to engage the public's interest in it, two recent events stand out.
One was Sony's decision, in 2006, to limit to one day a week the production of hybrid SACD/CDs at its Terre Haute, Indiana pressing plant, which had opened with much fanfare in May 2003. That forced ABKCO Records to replace its catalog of Rolling Stones hybrids, perhaps the best-selling SACD/CDs ever released, with "Red Book" CD editions. According to ABKCO, the company had…
Ditto the explanation for the DSD settings of "Normal (factory default)" and "Direct." The manual says that the "Normal (factory default)" setting outputs DSD "after processing," while "Direct" outputs the audio signal "without running it through the processor." You're given no idea what selecting either option means in terms of sound—an unacceptable "explanation," in my opinion. Buyers, especially those less technically adept and/or experienced, deserve better documentation.
Pressing the FIR button on the front panel automatically upconverts the "Red Book" bitword resolution of all…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Multichannel, audio-only SACD/CD/DVD-Audio/DVD-Video player with choice of 8x oversampling FIR and upsampling RDOT low-pass digital filters, PCM-to-DSD (1-bit, 64x) upsampling. Digital audio outputs: coaxial, optical/TosLink. Analog audio output: dedicated 2-channel outputs (balanced, XLR, and unbalanced, RCA), plus multichannel RCA outputs. Maximum output level at 1kHz: 2.2V RMS, unbalanced and unbalanced. Output impedance: not specified. Frequency range: 5Hz–88kHz (DVD-A). Signal/noise ratio: 130dB. Dynamic range: 107dB. THD: 0.002%.
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Continuum Audio Labs Caliburn turntable & Cobra tonearm; Graham Phantom tonearm; Lyra Titan, Air Tight PC-1, Koetsu Vermillion cartridges.
Digital Sources: Musical Fidelity kW DM25 DAC & CD transport, Musical Fidelity kW SACD player, BPT-modified Alesis Masterlink hard-disk recorder.
Preamplification: Manley Steelhead, Einstein Turntable's Choice phono preamplifiers; darTZeel NHB-18NS preamplifier.
Power Amplifiers: Musical Fidelity kW and Supercharger 550K monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Wilson Audio Specialties MAXX 2.
…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I tested the Esoteric SA-60 from its dedicated two-channel L and R output jacks using Sony's provisional Test SACD, as well as CD-Rs and DVD-Rs with the necessary test signals that I'd burned myself. The processing was set to "FIR" for the CD and DVD tests, unless stated otherwise. Tested with the Pierre Verany Test CD, the SA-60 had excellent error correction, if not quite to the standard set by the Marantz and Muse players also reviewed in this issue. It produced an audible glitch at the start of track 34, which has 2mm gaps in its data spiral, but played the…
Is it my imagination, or has the low-power tube movement of the last 15 years gone hand in hand with a renewed interest in moving-coil step-up transformers? Trannies remain misunderstood or ignored by most of the audio press—requests for review samples continue to be met with genial shock, rather like tourism in the Budapest of the 1990s—but enthusiasm for the practice seems only to grow. That leaves me to wonder: Did the unquestioning use of active pre-preamps for so many years grow out of the same bad attitude that gave us all those awful-sounding high-power amps and low-sensitivity…