Analog Sources: Simon Yorke S7, Nottingham Audio Deco turntables; Immedia RPM-2, Graham 2.2, Nottingham Ace-Anna tonearms; Lyra Titan, Lyra Helikon, Lyra Dorian mono, London Jubilee cartridges.
Digital Sources: Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista SACD player; Alesis Masterlink CD-R/HD recorder.
Preamplification: Manley Steelhead, Aesthetix Rhea, Musical Fidelity kW phono preamplifiers; Musical Fidelity kWp, Aesthetix Calypso preamplifiers.
Power amplifiers: Musical Fidelity kW, Audio Valve Baldur.
Loudspeakers: Wilson Audio Specialties MAXX2, Cabasse…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Michael Fremer returned to the Phantom in January 2006 (Vol.29 No.1):
In order to let me evaluate the Continuum Caliburn independent of the Cobra, Continuum made an adapter plate that allowed Graham Engineering's Phantom B-44 tonearm to be mounted opposite the Cobra. Continuum has the utmost respect for Bob Graham and his arm, considering it among the best out there.
Direct comparisons using the same cartridge told me that these are two of the finest tonearms I have ever heard. The Graham was slightly more reserved and grounded, the Cobra a bit more airy and effusive.
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Michael Fremer wrote about the Phantom B-44 II in October 2009 (Vol. 32 No.10):
Bob Graham has been refining his tonearm since it first appeared in prototype form as the McIntosh Excalibur, back in the 1980s. As reported by Ken Kessler in his terrific book McIntosh "...for the love of music...," Graham, then at MIT and independently developing his tonearm, was introduced to McIntosh's Gordon Gow, who was in Massachusetts visiting area audio retailers. Gow was sufficiently impressed to fund further development and help Graham patent his design. However, a hitch in the accompanying McIntosh…
"Happy is he who gets to know the reasons for things."
—Virgil
In February 2000, a physicist at Bell Labs announced that he had succeeded in creating molecular-scale transistors. Imagine!
The researcher in question, one Jan Hendrik Schön, produced hundreds of pages of graphs and other data that appeared to support his claim, some of which were submitted for publication in Science. Virtually overnight, as these things go, Science's readers hailed the work as a genuine breakthrough in the field of nanophysics.
But there was a problem: When fellow researchers…
Listen twice, boast once
Granted, this isn't Psychology Today, and I haven't the remotest idea why some people (footnote 3) are driven to prevent others from enjoying audio in their own harmless ways, any more than I can explain why some people bring the same crusader fixation to such disparate fields as dietary supplements, tropical fish, and religion. It simply appears that, no matter how socially inert the sin, there will never be a shortage of people whose sole pleasure is in haranguing the sinners. Not punishing, mind you. Not rehabilitating. Just amusing themselves with public…
Granted, this isn't Psychology Today, and I haven't the remotest idea why some people (footnote 3) are driven to prevent others from enjoying audio in their own harmless ways, any more than I can explain why some people bring the same crusader fixation to such disparate fields as dietary supplements, tropical fish, and religion. It simply appears that, no matter how socially inert the sin, there will never be a shortage of people whose sole pleasure is in haranguing the sinners. Not punishing, mind you. Not rehabilitating. Just amusing themselves with public…
Still burning in my bank of childhood memories are misty images of the glowing green lettering on the McIntosh tube preamps and tuners that populated the windows of the audio stores that once lined lower Manhattan's Cortlandt Street. Leonard's and most of those other retailers are long gone—as are most of the audio brands that shared their windows with McIntosh, and that once symbolized the might of American innovation and manufacturing. Even the World Trade Center, the controversial complex that replaced Cortlandt Street's "Radio Row," where the hi-fi industry was born, is tragically gone…
Among the Setup features are input-level trim, so that the volume doesn't "jump" between inputs; a Pass Thru mode for use in a multichannel sound or home theater system; adjustments for the fluorescent display and meter brightness; input title reassignment (for instance, if you have a DVD player plugged into the Aux input, you can change that input's label to read "DVD"). And, of course, in Setup mode you can change MM capacitance and MC resistive loading. You can even set the C1000 for mono operation, via the Setup menu or the remote control. Actually, there are two remote controls: a…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
C1000T: tube preamplifier. Tube complement: eight 12AX7. Frequency response: 10Hz–20kHz, +0/–0.5dB. THD: 0.08%, 20Hz–20kHz (no level quoted). Signal/noise ratios: high level: 93dB (ref. 2.5V output unbalanced, 5V balanced); phono, 80dB(ref. 10mV input, MM; 1mV input, MC). Maximum output: 8V RMS single-ended, 16V RMS balanced. Output impedance: 220 ohms. Maximum input levels: 5V single-ended, 10V balanced, high level; 50mV (MM), 5mV (MC), phono. Sensitivity, high level, for 2.5V output: 450mV (high level), 4.5mV (MM), 0.45mV (MC).
Serial Number Of Unit…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Continuum Audio Labs Caliburn turntable; Continuum Cobra, Graham Phantom tonearms; Lyra Titan (stereo & mono), Miyabi/47 Labs cartridges.
Digital Sources: Musical Fidelity kW SACD player, Alesis Masterlink BPT-modified hard-disk recorder.
Preamplification: Manley Steelhead, Blue Amp 42, PS Audio GCPH, Oracle Temple phono preamplifiers.
Power Amplifiers: Musical Fidelity kW, mbl 9007 monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Wilson MAXX 2, Merlin VSM.
Cables: Phono: CrystalConnect Piccolo. Interconnect: Acrolink 6100, Shunyata Research…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I performed full sets of measurements on both McIntosh preamplifiers, for both balanced and unbalanced operation, but the two units turned out to be electrically so similar that I've combined my comments on both into a single sidebar.
The phono stages, of course, are unbalanced only; I examined their behavior at each preamp's Processor Out jacks. The MM stages of the C1000P and C1000T are noninverting and offered a voltage gain of 40.1dB and an input impedance of 47k ohms across most of the audioband, the latter dropping inconsequentially to 42.5k ohms at…