I spent many hours listening intently to my favorite music on the Quad 99 CDP-2. On "I Know Love Is All I Need," from Rodney Crowell's The Houston Kid (CD, Sugar Hill 1065), Crowell's voice rides out front of the intertwined acoustic guitars and brushed drums. It's personal and natural, although you can clearly hear that the drums were slightly compressed to make 'em pop out of the mix a bit. The bass is a shade woolly, but that's the recording—for all its warmth and natural timbre, it isn't audio verité. Of course, when…
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Wes Phillips wrote about the X-Ray in January 2006 (Vol.29 No.1):
Sidebar: Specifications
Description: Single-box CD player.
Dimensions: 8.5" W x 3.9" H x 13.6" D.
Price: $995. Approximate number of dealers: 70.
Manufacturer: Musical Fidelity, Ltd., 15-17 Fulton Road, Wembley, Middlesex HA9 OTF, England, UK. Web: www.musicalfidelity.com. US distributor: Signal Path Imports, 215 Lawton Road, Charlotte, NC 28216. Tel: (704) 391-9337. Fax: (704) 391-9338. Web: www.signalpath.com.
If you spotted an EICO HF-81 at the local Goodwill, you'd think nothing of this plain-Jane integrated amplifier in its nondescript gray case. But if you kept on walking, you would have passed up one of the best-kept audio secrets of all time. The HF-81 hails from hi-fi's pioneer days, before chromed chassis and slick Mac transformers. It isn't ultracool-looking, like early Marantz or McIntosh gear. It doesn't have the nostalgia factor of a Fisher. It's not a supercheap eBay steal like a Stromberg-Carlson or a Heathkit. So what's the deal?
The EICO HF-81 is simply a fantastic-…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Tubed integrated amplifier. Tube complement: four ECC83/12AX7, four EL84/6BQ5, two EZ81. Maximum output power: 14Wpc (11.5dBW) continuous into rated load. Frequency response (at 1W into 8 ohms): 10Hz–100kHz, ±0.5dB. Tone control range: ±15dB at 50Hz and 10kHz. Harmonic distortion: <1% at 8W, 30Hz–10kHz, at 10W, 50Hz–5kHz. IM distortion (60Hz and 6kHz at 4:1): 2% at 14W, 0.05% at 5W. Sensitivity (input for 14W): mag phono 4mV, tape head 2mV, Mic 5mV, Aux and tuners 500mV. Speaker connections: 4, 8, 16, 32 ohms.
Dimensions: 15" (385mm) W by 4¾…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Luxman PD-555 vacuum-holddown, Luxman PD-444 direct-drive turntables; Mayware Formula 4, Dynavector DV-505 tonearms; Koetsu Rosewood, Goldbug Mr. Brier, AudioQuest 7000, Technics 1520 cartridges; Cotter Verion step-up transformer; Otari MX 5050 4-channel, Ampex 44 open-reel tape decks.
Digital Sources: Balanced Audio Technology VK-D5 CD player, Timbre DAC, Audio Alchemy DDS•Pro transport.
Preamplification: Luxman 5C50, Convergent Audio Technology Ultimate preamplifiers; Wright Sound WPP100C, Benz-Micro Series 2 Lukaschek PP-1 phono…
Sidebar 3: Restoring Vintage Hi-Fi Equipment
The EICO HF-81 was restored by Sam Kim at Sam's Audio Labs, in Montreal, Canada. The work done included replacing the output and filtering capacitors and all out-of-tolerance resistors, rebuilding the volume control, rewiring the undercarriage, and resoldering every connection.
Sam Kim's restorations are not the drop-in-and-solder jobs I'm used to. I've replaced coupling and filter caps in many components but have never taken the time to rewire, resolder, and check out the circuit to determine which values of modern-day parts…
Sidebar 4: Measurements
Although it does have 32 and 16 ohm output transformer taps, I measured the EICO HF-81 from its 8 and 4 ohm taps only, feeling that these will be optimal for use with modern speakers such as the mbls PB used for his auditioning. While I like the positive electrical connection terminal strips allow, those on the HF-81 are too close together to accept good spades, such as the Kimbers. I therefore used bare wire wrapped around the screws, but if you do likewise, be careful you don't short the live outputs with stray whiskers of wire.
An unexpected problem…
Ever since the 1960s, when I built a pair of Altec A7 clones, I've had a preference for relatively big speakers. Yes, I was seduced by the Stax F-81 electrostatics because of their incredibly low coloration, but inevitably I felt the need to return to something that would move more air. Regardless of the type of music (I do like the big stuff) or the sound levels, unless the sound has solidity and size, I can't easily suspend disbelief.
I guess that's why Wes Phillips was surprised when I indicated a serious interest in auditioning the Ruark Equinox. But recently I've been impressed by a…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way bass-reflex loudspeaker with integral stand. Drive-units: 1" (25mm) dome tweeter, 6.5" (165mm) cone woofer. Crossover frequency: 2.8kHz (seven elements). Frequency response: 45Hz–20kHz, ±3dB. Nominal impedance: 6 ohms. Sensitivity: 87dB/W/m. Amplifier requirements: 25–150W.
Dimensions: 34½" H by 10" W by 13" D, including stands. Weight: 110 lbs each.
Serial number of pair tested: 16084.
Price: $4000/pair (1997); no longer available (2006). Approximate number of dealers: 12–15.
Manufacturer: Ruark Acoustics Ltd., 59 Tailors Court…
Sidebar 2: Measurements
I estimated the Ruark's B-weighted sensitivity to specification as 87dB/2.83V/m. Its plot of impedance magnitude and phase (fig.1) reveals it to be a moderately easy load to drive. It only drops below 6 ohms, and then only by a little, in the lower midrange and mid-treble. The "saddle" between the low-frequency impedance peaks reveals the speaker's reflex tuning frequency, a moderate 40Hz.
Fig.1 Ruark Equinox, electrical impedance (solid) and phase (dashed) (2 ohms/vertical div.).
Fig.2 shows the individual responses of the tweeter, woofer…