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Classé CA-200 stereo power amplifier Review System

Sidebar 2: Review System

I did not have a Classé preamp available; instead, I used two basic setups: direct coupling to a Krell KPS-20i/l CD player, and balanced and normal drive from a Krell KRC-HR preamp. Further control was provided by a Conrad-Johnson PFR and a Premier Fourteen.

In addition to the KPS-20i/l, signal sources included Class&#233's own combination of transport and DAC 1 decoder, as well as an Audio Synthesis DAX-2. LP support came from my trusty Linn LP12/Lingo/Naim ARO/Koetsu setup, while cables were by Siltech and van den Hul.

Speakers used with the…

Classé CA-200 stereo power amplifier Measurements

Sidebar 3: MEASUREMENTS

My 240V–rated example of the CA-200 happily delivered a neat 270Wpc into 8 ohms (24.3dBW) for program-related duty cycles driven by the UK's nominal 240V power (the actual voltage was 242V). Singly driven flat-out into 8 ohms continuous, the just-clip level was 250W (24dBW), a nice 50W reserve on the manufacturer's specification. The small loss (0.3dB) when both channels were operated together indicates a generously specified power transformer.

Protection systems precluded continuous measurement into low impedances and with difficult input frequencies; I…

Recording of January 2007: <I>Endlesswire</I>

THE WHO: Endlesswire
Universal Republic 0251709260 (CD). 2006. Pete Townshend, prod.; Myles Clarke, Bob Pridden, Sean Witt, engs. AAD. TT: 52:46
Performance ****
Sonics *****

To be a staunch Who fan is to be a long-suffering fan of Pete Townshend, a man whose occasional transgressions include soldiering on with the Who following the demise of Keith Moon, and then again after John Entwistle's death. Time has proven the former strategy an artistic disaster, and nowadays you won't find too many champions of the Kenny Jones–era Who (take 1981's Face Dances or 1982's It's Hard—…

Cocktail Parties, Wedding Parties, Recording Sessions

It's called the "Cocktail Party Effect." You may be immersed in the middle of a crowd of audiophiles all talking at once, but when someone says something that catches your attention, such as your name, you can focus on the sound of that person's voice and exclude the babble. The noise suppression can be 9–15dB; ie, the sound being concentrated on seems to be three to four times louder than the ambient noise, according to Wikipedia. The exact mechanism of the Cocktail Party Effect is not known, but it is conjectured that it has something to do with the binaural nature of human hearing: the…

McIntosh MC 275 Commemorative power amplifier

The McIntosh MC 275 power amplifier has been born yet again. It's the Count Dracula of power amps. It refuses to stay dead. Introduced in 1961, the Mac 275, in its original hardwired edition, was produced until 1970. This was the amp I desired while in college but couldn't afford. I remember the Mac 275 fondly—rather like girlfriends from my college years.

The MC 275 sold for $444—"Fair Trade minimum retail price," according to a Mac price list effective December 15, 1963. (Thank you, Ron Cornelius, product manager and field training manager of McIntosh Laboratory.) That was…

McIntosh MC 275 Commemorative power amplifier Page 2

At the time—I'm talking 1993—the boys from Binghamton told me that this amplifier was for old time's sake—a one-off, Corderman's tribute to the late Gow. McIntosh Lab's real business, I was told, was solid-state. The Commemorative was meant to recall the original, not necessarily improve on it.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the bank. The MC 275 sold out fast. When the limited edition was over—identified by the plaque—a non-limited edition followed. McIntosh began to take tubes seriously. Again.

The MC 2000 and MC 2102 followed, and the MC 275 was once again consigned…

McIntosh MC 275 Commemorative power amplifier Specifications

Sidebar: Specifications

Description: Two-channel, tubed power amplifier with unbalanced and balanced input jacks. Tube Compliment: (3) 12AX7, (4)12AT7, (4) KT-88/6550. Rated output power: 75Wpc into 4/8/16 ohms, 20Hz–20kHz. S/N ratio: 100dB A-weighted. Frequency Response: 20Hz–20kHz, +0/–0.5dB, 10Hz–70kHz, +0/–3dB. Sensitivity: 1.2V unbalanced, 2.5V balanced. Maximum THD from 250mW to rated power: 0.5%. Maximum Intermodulation Distortion if instantaneous peak output per channel does not exceed twice the rated output, for any combination of frequencies, 20Hz–20kHz, with both channels…

John Dawson: Inventing The Future—Properly

"This won't be a short job," says Arcam's president, John Dawson (footnote 1). He's talking about the challenge of engineering the next generation of Arcam home-theater products to embrace the new high-resolution video formats. It's possibly the biggest technical challenge English company Arcam has faced since, almost exactly 30 years ago, Dawson and his original business partner, Chris Evans, launched their first product—an unpretentious, 35W hi-fi amplifier called the A&R Cambridge A60.

It was Dawson's own personal combination of technical know-how and commercial enthusiasm that…

John Dawson: Inventing The Future—Properly Page 2

There are bound to be issues in how BD+ and AACS, which is supposed to stand independently, interact with each other. There is much FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) and misinformation going around about this at the moment, and this will become clear only when everything is finally published in at least some sort of public domain. It's potentially a big can of worms.

Is the system needlessly complicated? I suspect it is! I saw a lovely piece on one of the websites the other day which said, "For God's sake, with all this interactivity, and getting the director's comments in multiple…

Listening #49

Here's something that's difficult to visualize but nonetheless true: If you attempt to isolate from their environment the working bits of a record player—the main bearing, platter, tonearm, and cartridge—by means of an elastic drive belt and a suspended subchassis of the usual sort, you'll create almost as many problems as you solve.

If your suspension system is designed correctly, then the fragile relationship between cartridge stylus and record groove will be less vulnerable to certain kinds of interference; additionally, the soft drive belt may indeed filter out some of the noise…