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Try "Things Ain't What They Used to Be" and "Sophisticated Lady." Mr. Brown's bass has to be heard at this high level of playback to believe that it can ever sound that good. This AAD disc, originally produced by Norman Granz, was mastered from the original master tapes by Doug Sax at the Mastering Lab using all-tube electronics. It was lovely to hear two grand masters, Duke and Brown, tickle each other musically, so light in their touch, so musical in their ways. If you get the album, dig the hat the Duke's wearing! (He's really Dude Ellington!)
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Dual-mono, tubed, line-level preamplifier with separate power supply. Inputs: 3 single-ended, 1 tape loop on RCAs. Outputs: 1 set each balanced, single-ended. TKD stepped potentiometers and built-in remote on/off for Lamm Industries power amplifiers. Choke-filtered hybrid design: tube rectification, solid-state output. Tube complement: one 12AX7/ECC83 voltage regulator, one 6C19P voltage regulator, one 5651A voltage reference, two 12AX3 rectifiers. Maximum voltage gain: 14.87dB ±0.2dB. Input sensitivity: 135mV RMS. Frequency response: 20Hz-20kHz, +0…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog source: Forsell Air Force One turntable and tonearm, van den Hul Grasshopper IV GLA cartridge.
Digital source: Accuphase DP-100 SACD transport, Accuphase DC-101 SACD processor, Linn Sondek CD12 CD player, dCS 972 and Purcell D/D converters, dCS Elgar Plus D/A processor.
Preamplifiers: Mark Levinson No.32 Reference, BAT VK-50SE, Conrad-Johnson 16LS.
Power amplifiers: Krell FPB 350MC and Linn Klimax Solo 500 monoblocks, Forsell Statement.
Loudspeakers: JMlab Utopia.
Cables: Digital: XLO The Limited, RCA and AES/EBU. Interconnect:…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
All measurements were made through the Lamm L2 preamplifier's Direct inputs (which bypass the input switching) and at both the balanced and unbalanced outputs. The input impedance was a reasonably high 42.4k ohms. The maximum unbalanced voltage gain was a moderate 8.83dB, this increasing by the expected 6dB, to 14.84dB, at the balanced outputs.
The absolute polarity was preserved from both sets of outputs with the front-panel switch set to "0 degrees," confirming that the XLR jacks are wired with pin 2 hot. Setting the polarity switch to "180 degrees"…
Levels of intermodulation distortion were also extremely low. Fig.5 shows the spectrum of the unbalanced output driving an equal mix of 19kHz and 20kHz tones into 100k ohms. The only apparent modulation product is the difference tone at 1kHz, this lying at -80dB (0.01%). This was virtually unchanged into 10k ohms (not shown), which is about the lowest typical power-amplifier input impedance the L2 is likely to see—though it did rise to -54dB (0.2%) into the punishing 1k ohm load (fig.6). But from the balanced outputs at 10V, the intermodulation spectrum was one of the cleanest I have ever…
In 1960 the high-fidelity field was in a period of stasis. The hi-fi boom was starting to crest out, and there were three magazines for audiophiles: High Fidelity, Stereo Review, and Audio. The first two were (and still are) little more than vehicles for their advertising, more dedicated to promoting their advertisers' wares than in advancing the state of the art. Audio was more into equipment testing than either of the mass-hi-fi magazines, but it too was contributing to the stagnation by listening to its test results rather than to the components.
In the early 1960s, an angry young…
This is the story of the tiger wagging its tail. It is also the story of a tail trying to wag its tiger...
We've all noticed that the computer industry, not content with conquering business, industry, and Hollywood, has set its sights on the final frontier: the average family home. Don't think for a moment that the computer moguls are hoping you'll buy a TV with computerlike enhancements. The real goal is for everyone to buy a computer (or three) to watch TV on. In fact, PCs exceeded shipments of TVs in the third quarter of 1996, and have now invaded 40% of US households.
What…
What I wanted to talk about briefly this month is the new Apogee Duetta, the baby of this speaker family. This particular baby will cost you the rather grown-up figure of $2300/pair; over here in the UK it costs a demonic £3300/pair, roughly double.
We got off to a bad start with the Duettas. Ricardo Franassovici, of UK importer Absolute Sounds, thoughtfully decided to help me unpack and set them up, but on doing so discovered that the screws for mounting the rear of the baseplate were missing. impatient to hear what they sounded like, he stood them up on their vestigial fixed stands,…
Anthony H. Cordesman reviewed the Duetta in September 1986 (Vol.9 No.7):
I normally like to listen for several weeks before commenting on a new product, particularly one that I feel breaks as much new ground as the Apogee Duetta II. Anyone who remembers the one time High Fidelity ever heard an audio product that sounded truly different, and praised it as such, will probably remember that the product the magazine praised as redefining the state of the art was the Bose 901. At the same time, the Duetta II breaks so much new ground, and is so obviously a superb speaker system, that it…
The bass characteristics of the Duetta II may well allow it to outperform the Scintilla and larger Apogee in most real-world listening rooms, and allow you to keep the room interaction, inevitable with dipole speaker designs, under exceptional control. This makes the Duetta II comparatively easy to place, provided that you obey the manufacturer's instructions and keep it 3-4' from the rear wall. Closer placement may also work quite well, but will almost inevitably reinforce some part of the deep bass at the cost of reducing other bass.
Mid and Upper Bass: The mid and upper bass are…