Chord's Choral Blu offers a surprisingly large number of output options for a CD transport. To examine what it did, I connected its data output to the digital input of the RME soundcard fitted to my PC and looked at the data in the digital domain using Adobe Audition and RME's DIGICheck program. Fig.1 shows the statistics of the Blu's output data while it was set to upsample those data to 88.2kHz and increase the word length to 24 bits. The test signal was 16-bit "digital black" on a test CD. DIGICheck indicates that bits 1–16 are indeed permanent zero, shown by…
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Sidebar 3: Measurements
I sometimes do crazy things to experience live music. In my late teens I met a woman—a friend of a friend of my girlfriend—who was a flautist attending the Mannes School of Music in New York City. She was a classic New Yorker, from a classic New York family. Though apparently demure and retiring, she had fearlessly ridden the city subways since childhood, taking the Broadway line at any hour of day or night (her stop was Dyckman Street, above 200th). All of her parents' money and energy, such as it was, had gone into their daughter's musical career, and I was so inspired by this level of…
For a hobby based on science and technology, audiophilia has more than its share of unscientific elements. That's not necessarily a bad thing; not all of those elements are obvious snake oil, and there's more than science to creating—or re-creating—a musical experience. Still, for the more technical-minded it's a little disconcerting that even the most basic distinctions, such as why two CD players sound different from each other, are hard to explain using technical measurements and simple scientific concepts.
So it's reassuring to now and then review a product whose mechanism…
But we get along well, and I like our new digs. I love the view, the good restaurants, the excellent bakery just down the street. But the stereo now occupies the apartment's main living space, which is adjacent to the single bedroom (our son sleeps there). This puts some restrictions on the stereo's use. I can't listen seriously while dinner is being prepared—too many clanking pots. I can't listen above minimal volumes late at night. And I can't fill the room—at least, not permanently—with eight objects that, in shape and scale, resemble those obelisk thingies floating around in 2001: A…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Acoustic absorbers built from "double-density" rigid fiberglass with limp membrane, powder-coated steel frame, and sound-transparent fabric cover. Absorption specs depend on placement. With corner placement, they absorb 6.07 Sabins at 63Hz, 14.72 Sabins at 80Hz, 13.79 Sabins at100Hz, 19.40 Sabins at 125Hz, 14.81 Sabins at 160Hz, 13.60 Sabins at 250Hz, and 12 Sabins at 250Hz.
Dimensions: 57" (1450mm) H by 24" (610mm) W by 41/4" (110mm) D. Weight: 28 lbs (13kg).
Finishes: black, wheat, gray, (off-)white.
Serial Numbers Of Units Reviewed: None…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Rega P7 turntable with RB-700 tonearm, Rega Bias 2, Elys, Elys 2, and Exact (old and new versions) cartridges.
Digital Sources: Marantz SA-15S10 and Marantz SA8001 SACD players, Benchmark DAC-1 D/A processor.
Preamplification: Balanced Audio Technology VK-52SE line preamplifier, Whest PS.20 and Rega Fono (MM) phono stages.
Integrated Amplifier: Arcam A75 Plus.
Loudspeakers: Vandersteen 2Ce Signature, Mackie HR824 and Event SP8 powered, nearfield studio monitors on cheap-but-rigid metal stands.
Cables: Interconnects: Chord…
I'm not sure what motivated me to read the owner's manual for the Audio Valve Eclipse, but I'm glad I did: As it turns out, this line-level preamplifier has at least one distinctive feature that I would have missed otherwise.
First, a few basics: Audio Valve was founded by Helmut Becker, a German guitarist and music enthusiast who began building amplifiers 40 years ago, at age 15, and who has spent the greater portion of his professional life building audio electronics and medical equipment. Herr Becker and his wife, Heike, operate Audio Valve in Kalletal, a municipality in the Lippe…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Tubed, line-level, stereo preamplifier. Tube complement: four 12AU7A. Inputs: 7 on RCA jacks. Outputs: 2 unbalanced on RCAs, one unbalanced on XLRs. Maximum output level: 15V. Output impedance: 300 ohms. Voltage gain: 15–26dB (see text). Harmonic distortion: 0.2% at 1V. Bandwidth: 4Hz–45kHz. Absolute Polarity: Non-inverting.
Dimensions: 16.3" (420mm) W by 4.5" (130mm) H by 13" (320mm) D. Weight: 44 lbs (20kg).
Finishes: black; add $400 for silver.
Serial Number Of Unit Reviewed: 110207US.
Price: $4200. Approximate number of dealers: 8.…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Linn LP12 turntable with Naim Armageddon power supply; Naim Aro tonearm; Miyabi 47, Lyra Helikon Mono cartridges.
Digital Sources: Sony SCD-777ES SACD/CD player, Naim CD555 CD player.
Preamplification: Tamura TKS-83, VAS MC-One, Auditorium 23 step-up transformers; Fi, Shindo Aurieges, Shindo Masseto preamplifiers.
Power Amplifiers: Lamm ML2.1, Quad II monoblocks; Fi 2A3 Stereo, Shindo Montille.
Loudspeakers: Audio Note AN-E Lexus Signature, Quad ESL.
Cables: Interconnect: Audio Note AN-Vx, Nordost Heimdall, Shindo Silver.…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I performed all my measurements using the CD1 input. I didn't measure the Audio Valve Eclipse from its XLR jacks, however. As explained in the manual, these are not true balanced outputs; instead, they are unbalanced, paralleling the output on the RCA jacks on pin 2, with pin 3 connected to ground. The preamplifier's maximum voltage gain from the CD1 input was a modest 7.15dB, with the unity-gain setting of the volume control at 4:00. The gains from the other inputs ranged from 5.15dB, CD2 to 15.9dB, tuner and tape. It looks as if the different input sensitivities…