As with the other amplifiers on review this month, my listening system included my reworked Philips CD-50 and my buffered-passive preamp. All line-level gear was plugged into an Audio Express NoiseTrapper Plus. Speakers were the Spica Angeluses and Thiel CS 1.2s. Interconnect was Straight Wire Maestro, with 8' runs of both Maestro and Cardas Hexlink Five speaker cable. Whereas the Maestro sounded smoother and more natural, the Cardas gave a brighter presentation that was welcome on some CDs, annoying on most. As I felt the overall sound to be more neutral with the…
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Sidebar 3: Measurements
All the measurements were made after each amplifier had been preconditioned by running it at one-third full power into 8 ohms for an hour. This thermally stresses the amp to the maximum, though none of the models tested overheated. The Muse and Counterpoint heatsinks, however, did get too hot to touch. Compared with the VTL Tiny Triode, the Muse has a somewhat restricted low-bass response, as can be seen from fig.1. However, 1dB down at 28Hz could give the Muse's bass a tight rather than lightweight character. Certainly CG found the Muse's bass to be AOK quality-…
"I've got the world on a string, sitting on the rainbow
Got the string around my finger, what a life, Mama, I'm in love.
Life's a beautiful thing, as long as I hold the string
I'd be a silly so-and-so if I should ever let you go."—Ted Koehler
Got the string around my finger, what a life, Mama, I'm in love.
Life's a beautiful thing, as long as I hold the string
I'd be a silly so-and-so if I should ever let you go."—Ted Koehler
I was basking in Classic Records' reissue of the Louis Armstrong Verve classic I've Got the World on a String (Verve/Classic MB-4035), and it occurred to me how well this album—or even its title alone—captured the essence of the Well Tempered Reference turntable/tonearm combination.
Since their debut in the mid-'80s, Well…
When fitted with the Benz-Micro or Grado, the Well Tempered Reference had a big, dynamic, musically engaging sound. After spending the early part of one evening reading and listening to CDs, I dropped John Mellencamp's The Lonesome Jubilee (Mercury 832 465-1) on the WT and cued up "Cherry Bomb." The first rimshot had me grinning, and about three notes in, the phrase "It don't mean a think if it ain't got that swing" popped into my head—to which I appended, "and this thing really swings!"
The Reference's performance excelled in several respects. One was really obvious: its stability. This…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Belt-driven turntable with integral record clamp, filament-bearing, viscous-damped tonearm, and standalone AC synchronous motor assembly. Adjustments: speed selection (331/3 or 45rpm), alignment, tracking force, VTA, azimuth, damping, and antiskating.
Dimensions: Turntable/tonearm: 19" W (430mm) by 7" H (130mm) by 15.25" (390mm) D. Motor assembly: 5" (130mm) diameter by 4.5" (115mm) H, fits into cutout in turntable base. Net weight: 57 lbs turntable, 7 lbs motor assembly.
Serial number of unit reviewed: 0446.
Price: $5495 (1999); no longer…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog front-ends: VPI TNT IV turntable with JMW Memorial 12" tonearm; Immedia RPM-2 turntable and tonearm; Grado The Reference, Micro-Benz LO4, Clearaudio Gamma Gold cartridges.
Digital front-ends: Ultech UCD-100, CAL CL-15 CD players; Denon DVD-3000 DVD player.
Preamplification: Sonic Frontiers Phono 1 phono stage and Line 3 preamplifier, VAC CPA1 Mk.II preamplifier.
Power amplifiers: Sonic Frontiers Power 3, Mark Levinson No.20.6, and VTL Ichiban monoblocks, VAC Renaissance 70/70.
Loudspeakers: Thiel CS7.2, Genesis 200, Magnepan 1.6 Q/R,…
Just after I agreed to review the Accuphase M-2000 monoblocks, importer Arturo Manzano began urging me to take the Accuphase PS-1200 Clean Power Supply as well.
"Arturo, who's gonna pay $27k for a pair of monoblocks, then another $8200 for a power conditioner?"
He looked at me as if I was making a bad joke. I often do.
"That's a trick question, right, J-10? Uh...all of them?"
That gave me something to think about. If occasionally you wonder just who in the world is buying this ultra-ultra stuff, consider that there must be enough of them to keep these…
So—getting beyond the lighter, slightly less punchy bass that my spoiled self has become accustomed to, I nevertheless found much to enjoy in "Use Me" 's superb acoustic bass intro. It was rich, deep, satisfying, and involving, the full harmonics not sounding so vibrant as to muddy the waters. In general, with a wide variety of material, the basso profundo always sounded under control, finely turned and intricate, never bloated or excessive: not bombastic, but subtle.
The profile of the typical M-2000 owner will likely include an appreciation of nuance, elegance, and style—most…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid-state monoblock power amplifier with analog output level meter featuring logarithmic scale (–60dB to 3dB and directly in watts). Continuous average output power, 20Hz–20kHz: 250W into 8 ohms (24dBW), 500W into 4 ohms (24dBW), 1000W into 2 ohms (24dBW). THD: 0.05% with 2 ohm load, 0.03% with 4–16 ohm load. Intermodulation distortion: 0.003%. Frequency response: at rated continuous average output, 20Hz–20kHz, +0/–0.2dB; at 1W output, 0.5Hz–160kHz, +0/–30dB. Voltage gain: 28.0dB. Damping factor: 400. Input impedance, balanced: 40k ohms unbalanced…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog source: La Luce turntable with SpJ tonearm; Koetsu Rosewood Signature Platinum, Forsell Air Force One, van den Hul Grasshopper IV Gold, Clearaudio Insider phono cartridges.
Digital sources: dCS 972 D/D converter, dCS Elgar DAC at 24-bit/192kHz; Burmester 969, Forsell Air Reference CD transports.
Preamplification: Mark Levinson No.32, BAT VK50SE, Burmester 808 Mk.V.
Power amplifiers: Linn Klimax Solo 500, Forsell Statement, McIntosh M2000.
Loudspeakers: JMlab Utopia.
Cables: Interconnects: Cardas Golden Reference. Speaker cables:…