Description: Digital/analog converter kit. Digital inputs: coaxial on RCA jack, optical on TosLink jack. Analog output: one stereo unbalanced output on RCA jacks. Maximum output voltage: 1.969V. Frequency response: DC–20kHz, +0dB, –0.25dB. S/N ratio: 105dB unweighted. Crosstalk: <100dB, 20Hz–20kHz. THD+noise: <0.01%.
Dimensions: 9.5" W by 2" H by 7" D. Weight: 4.5 lbs.
Serial numbers of units reviewed: 9437L0011, 94390064.
Price: $449 (1995); no longer available (2009). Approximate number of dealers: factory-direct only. Warranty: 2 years parts and…
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Sidebar 3: Specifications
Until the Recording Industry Association of America hit the headlines in recent years with its antipiracy campaign, the initials RIAA meant one thing to seasoned audiophiles: the vinyl-disc equalization characteristic introduced in the 1950s to standardize what had previously been an anarchy of different EQs. Three decades later, as CD gained ascendance, a large proportion of audiophiles still knew what RIAA equalization was, and a good number of them had some idea or better of what the RIAA EQ curve looked like, and why it was applied.
But that was a generation ago. In the interim…
In the summer 1978 issue of Stereo, technical editor Edward J. Foster wrote of the IEC revision: "What point is there in paying literally thousands of dollars for a stereo system capable of response to below 40Hz and then blowing it all on a sloppy subsonic filter?...The record-warp problem will not be solved by changes in equalization. It will be solved by changes in manufacturing technique and in improved quality control. Flat records can be made; it just takes a bit longer and costs a bit more." While in the "News and Views" section of High Fidelity, under the title "Phono Equalization:…
This is only the first of a host of objections that can be raised against incorporating the "Neumann correction" in RIAA replay circuits. A second, already raised in these pages by John Atkinson (footnote 12), is that ultrasonic frequencies from record clicks will be less effectively suppressed. But the most telling criticism of the "Neumann correction," as described, is that its core assumption is wrong. The claim of a 3.18µs pole being added to the record EQ of Neumann cutters is inaccurate. Moreover, a detailed investigation of record cutting and replay shows the entire situation to be…
Sidebar: The Neumann 4th pole (sic)
Using the phrase "4th pole" to describe the addition of a further time constant to curtail the RIAA record EQ at ultrasonic frequencies is a misnomer. Talk of poles takes us into what will be unfamiliar territory for many Stereophile readers, so a brief—and necessarily simplified—explanation is given here.
Filter circuits are described by a mathematical equation called a transfer function, which in general form is a ratio of two polynomials (ie, power series) in a variable denoted s (s=jw, where w is angular frequency (2PIf) and j is the square…
Threshold is one of the longest-surviving high-end audio companies. Founded in the 1970s by Nelson Pass and René Besne, it was acquired by a large, publicly traded corporation in 1988. This had both positive and negative results in that Threshold was then able to expand its activities, adding the cost-effective Forté line of products, but energies were drained away from cutting-edge design. Besne left the company in 1991, while Pass resigned in 1992 to pursue other interests. (These blossomed into the Pass Aleph 0 amplifier reviewed by DO in March '95, Vol.18 No.3.)
Threshold's…
The Tape Output source selector on the remote has an ergonomic problem. Instead of having a button for each output source, you have to cycle through all of them to get to the one you want. For example, if you want Bal.1 and are set on Bal.2, you have to scroll through nine other source choices (one choice is "Tape Out Off") to get back to Bal.1. This is a major drag if you want to use one of your tape outputs as the signal feed to your surround-sound processor. Every time you change main input sources, you have to then cycle through the tape output choices to get that source into your…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Remote-controlled line-stage preamplifier. Maximum gain: 18dB. Output impedance: 150 ohms balanced, 49 ohms unbalanced. Input impedance: 10k ohms unbalanced, 20k ohms balanced. Frequency response: DC–100kHz ±0.05dB. Distortion: <0.002%. Signal/noise ratio: –118dB. Maximum output: 24V RMS. Sensitivity: 350mV for 3V output at 1kHz.
Dimensions: 17.6" W by 14" D by 3.5" H (preamp); 8.75" W by 12" D by 4" H (power-supply).
Serial numbers of units reviewed: 11389 (preamp), 11379 (power supply).
Prices: $5250 in black, $5350 in "silver pewter" (…
Sidebar 2: System
Analog sources in my large room included the Fanfare FT-1 and Magnum Dynalab Etude tuners; VPI TNT Jr. turntable with Power Line Conditioner, tripod pulley system, and an outboard flywheel on a Bright Star base mounted with the Graham 1.5-T and Clearaudio/Souther TQ-1 tonearms. The VPI HW-19 Mk.IV with Stand-Alone Motor Assembly on a Bright Star J-7 base mounted with a Clearaudio/Souther TQ-1 resides in my small room. Cartridges included the van den Hul MC-1 Super, Dynavector XX-1L low-output MC, Benz L04, Fidelity Research/van den Hul FR-1, Denon 103/van den Hul, and a…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
A full set of measurements was run on the Threshold T2 in its balanced mode, with selected measurements repeated in the unbalanced configuration. Unless otherwise noted, the results below are for the balanced mode.
The output impedance of the T2 at its line outputs measured 314 ohms (70 ohms unbalanced). Its (line) input impedance measured 10.6k ohms (just a little less unbalanced at 10.2k ohms). The above figures are for the left channel at the maximum setting of the gain control; the right-channel results were not significantly different, nor were the…