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In the March 2008 Stereophile (Vol.31 No.3), I wrote favorably about the A-50T integrated amplifier from the Chinese company Cayin Audio. I was very impressed with its sound, appearance, and construction quality for the price: $1295. This positive experience led me to look into what other products Cayin's importer, VAS Industries, distributes here. More often than not, when a keen ear imports an interesting product into the US, that ear has also heard the good sounds of other products, as attested by the diverse product lines of distributors such as Music Hall and Sumiko. It turns out that…
The V2M also effortlessly reproduced wide dynamic swings without smearing or obvious compression, behaving in this regard much more like a large floorstander than like a bookshelf speaker. The forceful dynamic swings of the spectacular Tchaikovsky symphony recording were reproduced in a precisely linear and organic fashion (from my notes: "the boom, the drama!"). The Kraftwerk track also produced an effortless sense of slam, aided by the speaker's ability to produce realistic bass transients (I'm curious to see John Atkinson's measurements of the V2M's low-frequency performance), which shook…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way, reflex-loaded, stand-mounted loudspeaker. Drive-units: 2.34" (60mm) by 0.56" (14.5mm) by 0.01mm aluminum ribbon tweeter, 5.2" (130mm) carbon-fiber/Kevlar-cone woofer. Crossover frequency: 2.5kHz. Frequency range: 50Hz–40kHz. Sensitivity: 87dB/2.83V/m. Impedance: 8 ohms nominal, 6.4 ohms minimum. Recommended amplification: 50–200W.
Dimensions: 14.6" (370mm) H by 8.1" (205mm) W by 12.2" (309mm) D. Weight: 28 lbs (12.8kg).
Serial Numbers Of Units Reviewed: 0095 (both).
Price: $1890/pair. Approximate number of dealers: 48.
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Source: Rega Planar 3 and VPI TNT turntables, Syrinx PU-3 and Immedia RPM tonearms, Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood & Aurum Beta S cartridges.
Digital Source: Creek Destiny CD player.
Integrated Amplifiers: Creek Destiny & Creek 5350SE, Simaudio Moon i-1.
Loudspeakers: Amphion Helium2, Epos M16, Monitor Audio Silver RS6.
Cables: Interconnect (all MIT): Magnum M3, MI-350 CVTwin Terminator, MI-330SG Terminator. Speaker: Acarian Systems Black Orpheus.
Accessories: Various by ASC, Bright Star, Celestion, Echo Busters, Salamander Designs…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The Aurum Cantus V2M's voltage sensitivity came in at an estimated 84dB(B)/2.83V/m, significantly lower than both average and specified. Alleviating the speaker's needs for volts, however, is the fact that its impedance magnitude remains above 8 ohms at almost all frequencies, and that the electrical phase angle is generally low (fig.1). Though the impedance traces are free from the discontinuities that would suggest the presence of cabinet resonances, investigating the panels' vibrational behavior with a plastic-tape accelerometer did uncover some modes (fig.2).…
WYNTON MARSALIS: Tune In Tomorrow (soundtrack)
Wynton Marsalis, trumpet; Alvin Batiste, Dr. Michael White, clarinet; Wes Anderson, Harvey Estrin, alto sax; Todd Williams, tenor & soprano sax, clarinet; Joe Temperley, baritone sax; Herb Harris, tenor sax; Wycliffe Gordon, trombone; Marcus Roberts, piano; Warren Bernhardt, Lucky Peterson, organ; Reginald Veal, bass; Herlin Riley, drums; Johnny Adams, Shirley Horn, vocals
Columbia CK 47044 (CD only). Tim Geelan, eng.; Steve Epstein, Delfeayo Marsalis, prods. DDD. TT: 63:37
Wynton Marsalis, trumpet; Alvin Batiste, Dr. Michael White, clarinet; Wes Anderson, Harvey Estrin, alto sax; Todd Williams, tenor & soprano sax, clarinet; Joe Temperley, baritone sax; Herb Harris, tenor sax; Wycliffe Gordon, trombone; Marcus Roberts, piano; Warren Bernhardt, Lucky Peterson, organ; Reginald Veal, bass; Herlin Riley, drums; Johnny Adams, Shirley Horn, vocals
Columbia CK 47044 (CD only). Tim Geelan, eng.; Steve Epstein, Delfeayo Marsalis, prods. DDD. TT: 63:37
The Rethinking of Wynton Marsalis: Part XVIII Designer…
During a century of development of the phonograph, dozens of different things have been considered crucial to its performance: lack of bearing noise, lack of motor noise, freedom from runout error in the platter, high moment of inertia in same, immunity to all manner of unwanted vibration, and so forth. But now I wonder if the most important factor of all hasn't been overlooked, or at least misunderestimated, throughout much of that time: Could it be that motor torque is more critical than any of us imagined?
Empirical evidence has been piling up in my little corner for a year…
Adams called his turntable the Voyd and brought it to market, where it was greeted with enthusiastic reviews—especially from the excellent Hi-Fi Answers, then under the editorial direction of Stereophile's Keith Howard—and brisk sales. By 1986, the Voyd had also impressed Peter Qvortrup, soon to found and serve as managing director of Audio Note UK. Qvortrup not only preferred the Voyd to all other turntables, he was sufficiently impressed with Adams' engineering skills that he eventually hired him to design certain archetypal Audio Note products, including the original Oto integrated…
Over the years, I have become increasingly impressed by the quality of the audio engineering emanating from Simaudio, which next year celebrates its 30th anniversary. In a world where the US facilities of some well-known audio brands have been reduced to a design office coupled to a warehouse for storing product manufactured overseas, this Montreal-based manufacturer, in order to keep full control over quality and hence reliability, does as much manufacturing as possible in-house, including metalwork, some printed circuit-board stuffing, and assembly. (See my photo essay starting here.)…
As was Kal with the P-8, I was impressed by the P-7's jet-black backgrounds. This really is a quiet preamplifier, an essential attribute for a component that needs to step out of the way of the music. As a result, such sonic subtleties as the interplay between the voices and the warmly reverberant acoustic of London's Temple Church at the hushed entrance of the voices in Morten Lauridsen's O magnum mysterium (SACD, Hyperion SACDA67449) were laid gloriously apparent. This recording, performed by the mixed voices of Polyphony, sounds very different from my own recording of the work with…