In 1984, just after the first CD player made its way to America, I remember hearing about a small British company which modified Philips CD-100 machines to make them sound better. This idea created quite a stir and was looked at somewhat askance by the majority of a populace who were convinced the CD medium and players were perfect. "But how can you make something that's already perfect better?" I can still hear them saying. This sentiment was echoed by the mainstream audio press, a key factor in the Compact Disc's…
search
Robert Harley reviewed the Meridian 203 in November 1990 (Vol.13 No.11):
I am hopeful that Bitstream technology, properly implemented, will improve digital playback's musicality and is not just a way of saving money. It has many theoretical advantages over multi-bit converters, but its ultimate ability to compete with state-of-the-art R-2R ladder converters like the UltraAnalog DAC20400 (described in my review of the Stax DAC-X1t in August) remains to be seen. I once got hold of an internal Philips memo that explicitly said Bitstream technology was for low-end CD players and portable or rack-system CD players, while the conventional TDA1541 DAC and SAA7220…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz ±0.2dB. Distortion: <0.004%. Noise: <94dB. Conversion: Bitstream, PDM, differential time-aligned mode, 256x-oversampling, 2 bits, passive filtering. Precision: 16 bits. Source sampling frequency: 32kHz–48kHz. Inputs: IEC958, 75 ohm coaxial, EIAJ optical. Analog Output: RCA jacks, 2V fixed. Output impedance: 12 ohms. Display: Power, Lock, and EQ (de-emphasis) indicators.
Dimensions: 6.3" W by 3.9" H by 12.6" D. Weight: 4 lbs.
Finish: black textured enamel and glass.
Price: $990 (1990)l no longer available…
Sidebar 2: Review System
The playback system included Hales System Two Signature loudspeakers driven by VTL 225W monoblocks. All processors under audition were connected to the Electronic Visionary Systems Stepped Attenuator by identical 3" runs of Music Metre interconnect, and Expressive Technologies IC-1 connected the Stepped Attenuator to the VTLs. Level matching was performed by measuring the voltage at the power amplifier when playing the –20dB, 1kHz tone from the Stereophile Test CD and finding the difference in the number of attenuation steps between processors. I was able to get…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The 203's output level when decoding a full-scale 1kHz sinewave was 2.358V (left channel) and 2.346V (right), slightly higher (1.4dB) than the 2V standard and Meridian's specification. Frequency response (fig.1) was flat, but with some very small amplitude irregularities (passband ripple) above 1kHz. However, these are sufficiently low in amplitude to be inaudible. De-emphasis error (fig.2) revealed a 0.3dB negative error at 4kHz, correcting at 8kHz, then another 0.3dB negative error at 16kHz.
Fig.1 Meridian 203, frequency response at –12dBFS into…
MAHLER: Symphony 8
Barbara Kubiak, Izabela Klosinska, Marta Boberska, sopranos; Jadwiga Rappé, Ewa Marciniec, altos; Timothy Bentch, tenor; Wojtek Drabowicz, baritone; Piotr Nowacki, bass; Warsaw National Philharmonic Choir & Orchestra, Polish Radio Choir in Krakow, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University Choir, Warsaw Boys Choir; Antoni Wit, conductor
Naxos 8.550533-34 (2 CDs). 2006. Andrzej Sasin, Aleksandra Nagorko, prods. DDD. TT: 80:51
Performance *****
Sonics *****
Barbara Kubiak, Izabela Klosinska, Marta Boberska, sopranos; Jadwiga Rappé, Ewa Marciniec, altos; Timothy Bentch, tenor; Wojtek Drabowicz, baritone; Piotr Nowacki, bass; Warsaw National Philharmonic Choir & Orchestra, Polish Radio Choir in Krakow, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University Choir, Warsaw Boys Choir; Antoni Wit, conductor
Naxos 8.550533-34 (2 CDs). 2006. Andrzej Sasin, Aleksandra Nagorko, prods. DDD. TT: 80:51
Performance *****
Sonics *****
In addition to being a bargain and a wonderful performance, this is the most aurally stunning…
MAHLER: Symphony 8
Barbara Kubiak, Izabela Klosinska, Marta Boberska, sopranos; Jadwiga Rappé, Ewa Marciniec, altos; Timothy Bentch, tenor; Wojtek Drabowicz, baritone; Piotr Nowacki, bass; Warsaw National Philharmonic Choir & Orchestra, Polish Radio Choir in Krakow, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University Choir, Warsaw Boys Choir; Antoni Wit, conductor
Naxos 8.550533-34 (2 CDs). 2006. Andrzej Sasin, Aleksandra Nagorko, prods. DDD. TT: 80:51
Performance *****
Sonics *****
Barbara Kubiak, Izabela Klosinska, Marta Boberska, sopranos; Jadwiga Rappé, Ewa Marciniec, altos; Timothy Bentch, tenor; Wojtek Drabowicz, baritone; Piotr Nowacki, bass; Warsaw National Philharmonic Choir & Orchestra, Polish Radio Choir in Krakow, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University Choir, Warsaw Boys Choir; Antoni Wit, conductor
Naxos 8.550533-34 (2 CDs). 2006. Andrzej Sasin, Aleksandra Nagorko, prods. DDD. TT: 80:51
Performance *****
Sonics *****
In addition to being a bargain and a wonderful performance, this is the most aurally stunning…
High-end audio is not a rational construct. It is a sensory experience that leads to emotional engagement. In slightly different words: High-end audio is not about a concept, but about the experience of having our emotions engaged. The difference between reading about a high-end audio system and hearing great recordings played on one is almost as big as the difference between reading a love poem and falling in love.
That's why I believe well-intentioned proposals to "save high-end audio" by using print advertising to "give people an idea of what a high-end audio system can do for them"…
Record playback could have been designed to go from the inside out instead of the other way around. With most pieces of music ending louder than they started, doesn't it make more sense to end the side at the widest circumference, longest wavelength, least congested part of the groove spiral? Compact discs read from the center hole out, and they don't even have to.
Life, too, would be better if it ran that way. You'd begin existence old and feeble, knowing everything, and just get younger. You'd still wind up near the end crawling on all fours, gurgling and eating baby food, but soon…
Well-recorded, simply miked orchestral music produced dramatic front-to-back layering and pinpoint lateral delineation of individual instruments and whole orchestral sections that often exceeded what I normally hear in a concert hall, but the information had clearly been picked up by the microphones. Rather than being a distraction, the enhanced spatial resolution proved an engaging listening enhancement.
During the month or so the Quatros were in my system, the finest, most simply miked live recordings in my collection found their way to the front of my "must listen" list in short order…