This month, I concentrate on one: from German designer Friedrich Schäfer, the unique and exceptionally fine-sounding ASR Basis Exclusive ($4950), built in Germany and imported by Fanfare International. This two-piece, battery-operated design is…
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"Everybody's gotta get into the act!" Jimmy Durante used to say. That's what's happening with phono preamplifiers—they just keep being built, and I keep getting them for review. Up for evaluation in next month's column are new models from Perreaux, Musical Fidelity, Graham Slee, and a Chinese one, Ming Da. You can bet there'll be more.
Cisco's upcoming reissue of Ian and Sylvia's stunning Northern Journey (Vanguard/Cisco VSD 79154) demonstrated the ASR's strong suits as well as its basic character. I bought the record in 1964, after Vanguard's black "Stereolab" label had given way to orange, and only recently have I found a really clean original. Cisco's reissue, mastered by Kevin Gray and Robert Pincus at AcousTech, beats the original in every way. It retains the original's sparkling brilliance, clarity, and overall acoustic honesty while adding levels of transparency, rhythmic snap, and microdynamic honesty the original…
Sidebar: Specifications
Description: Solid-state phono preamplifier with external battery power supply, balanced (XLR) and unbalanced (RCA) inputs, unbalanced, (RCA) and balanced (XLR) outputs. Frequency response: 3Hz–200kHz, –3dB. RIAA accuracy: <0.5dB, 20Hz–20kHz. Weighted S/N ratio: >68dB, depending on gain (MC). Distortion: <0.01% 5mV–5V into 100 ohms at 1kHz; <0,05%, 20Hz–20kHz. Input impedance: 5–1000 ohms (MC).Input capacitance: adjustable between 100pF and 320pF. Gain: universally adjustable with DIP switches from 32dB to 64dB.
Dimensions: 17" (430mm) W by 14.6" (…
Canadian manufacturers enjoy a special relationship with the US market. Though technically their products are "imports," a high level of trade harmony, plus a common continental location, mean that Canadian designs tend to be equably priced in contrast to those exported to the States from overseas.
Classé Audio, based in Québec, currently offers a sizeable amplifier range, with the output powers more closely spaced than is usual. Krell, for example, offers units that tend to increment the maximum power, hence maximum loudness, in 3dB steps, the idea being that 3dB is the…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-channel solid-state power amplifier. Rated output power: 200Wpc into 8 ohms (23dBW), 400W into 4 ohms (23dBW); wired for mono operation, 700W into 8 ohms (28.45dBW), 1200W into 4 ohms (27.8dBW). Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz, –0.1dB. Input sensitivity: 1.3V for rated output. Input impedance: 75k ohms. Output impedance: 0.017 ohms. Voltage gain: 2902dB. S/N ratio: 135dBr (no reference level quoted). THD+Noise: 0.004% (no reference level quoted). Power consumption: 200W (idle).
Dimensions: 19" W by 7.75" H by 18.5" D. Weight: 60 lbs. Standard…
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 Classé'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…
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…
THE WHO: Endlesswire
Universal Republic 0251709260 (CD). 2006. Pete Townshend, prod.; Myles Clarke, Bob Pridden, Sean Witt, engs. AAD. TT: 52:46
Performance ****
Sonics *****
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—…
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…
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…