Source components: Krell KPS-20i/l CD player, dCS Elgar D/A processor (both used with and without a control preamplifier). Linn LP12/Lingo turntable, Naim ARO tonearm, van den Hul GLA1V phono cartridge.
Preamplification: Conrad-Johnson ART and P-FR line stages, Conrad-Johnson Premier Fifteen phono preamplifier.
Power amplifiers: Krell FPB600 and FPB650M, Cary CAD805C, Conrad-Johnson Premier Eight A and CAV50, Bel Canto SET 40.
Loudspeakers: Wilson Audio WITT 2, Avantgarde Duo 2, Sonus Faber Electa Amator II, Quad ESL-63, Spendor SP2…
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Sidebar 1: Martin Colloms' Associated Equipment
Sidebar 2: Measurements
During the course of this review the Cary CAD-572SE was loaned back to Cary's UK agent for a local show. Unfortunately it was mishandled during transit, and was returned to me with several broken tubes. After these were replaced, one amplifier showed higher distortion than the other, though there was no significant change in overall sound quality. Channel balance remained almost perfect, while there was no difference in output power. Perhaps the replacement tube wasn't as linear as the first.
The CAD-572SE achieve its rated power with a mildly relaxed 3%…
Robert Deutsch wrote about the CAD-572SE in December 1998 (Vol.21 No.12)
Single-ended triode (SET) amplifiers. Designs from the '30s, using tubes first manufactured in the '30s. Low power, high distortion, restricted frequency range. High output impedance, with consequent variations in frequency response. Oh, and tubes that cost up to $400 each. Gimme a break!
And yet...I thought there might be more to the preference for these amplifiers than just nostalgia. I'd heard some exceptionally good-sounding SET-based systems, and that had intrigued me enough to want to check out an SET…
Sidebar 4: Specifications
Description: Monoblock tube amplifier, with Svetlana 572-3 output triode and a single-ended output stage with 2dB loop negative feedback. Specified output power: 20W into 8 ohms (13dBW). Frequency Response: 15Hz-23kHz, -0.75dB. Measured output impedance: 2.1 ohms at 20Hz; 1.85 ohms, 1kHz; and 1.91 ohms, 20kHz. Measured input impedance: 140k ohms. Measured input sensitivity: 250mV for 1W into 8 ohms; 1.18V for full power.
Dimensions: 5½" W by 7" H by 19" D. Weight: 28 lbs. each.
Serial numbers of units reviewed: Not noted.
Price: $2495/pair (1998).…
Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) is acknowledged as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. She is additionally accorded the rare (especially for a mystic) distinction of recognition as a "Doctor" of the Faith. On a somewhat less exalted level, but perhaps resonating even more clearly with the truth of common human experience, Teresa (who had Jewish ancestry; why is that not surprising?) is credited with coining the phrase "Be careful what you pray for, you might get it."
Even before the Wilson Benesch Discovery loudspeakers I wrote about in my January column had cleared customs, Teresa of…
But there is—unquestionably—something there. If your system has high enough resolving power, you'll hear it, even from across the room. Once you hear it, you can't ignore it. Unlike Gould's humming, this artifact is not part of the gestalt of the original artistic event. So be careful what you pray for.
With the help of colleagues—one in particular—in the professional audio community, I have come up with a non-disprovable hypothesis that appears to explain this phenomenon. But first, an update on the system.
Increasing the Magnification
Siltech USA's Bob Dragounis, himself…
Sidebar: The Master-tape Experience
As far as I can tell, those who fetishize master tapes usually haven't had much hands-on experience with them. The problem isn't so much last-minute fixes as it is undocumented and forgotten last-minute fixes. Case in point, if memory serves: The tempo change and key modulation in the instrumental segment of Eric Clapton's "Layla" are not "on the master tape." A consensus developed at the LP mastering session that the song was too long and dragged a bit. Simple fix: At that point, speed up the (analog) tape while cutting the LP lacquer. You get a key…
"The Sonus Faber Cremona is the finest cabinet-built speaker I have heard for under $10,000/pair," wrote the usually reticent Sam Tellig in the January 2003 Stereophile. "Bravissimo...Molto, molto bene" he added to his paean of praise for the Italian speaker manufacturer's founder and chief engineer, Franco Serblin.
So I just had to take a listen for myself to this relatively inexpensive ($7495/pair), smaller descendant of the $22,000/pair Amati Homage, which had been Michael Fremer's reference at the end of the 1990s; and of the $10,000/pair Guarneri Homage, which had impressed Martin…
All my initial auditioning and John Hunter's adjustments were done using the Musical Fidelity kW monoblocks, which had sounded so magnificent with the Revel Ultima Studios I was listening to immediately prior to installing the Cremonas. However, the Sonus Fabers seemed more sensitive than normal to amplifier choice. The kWs exhibited the same iron control, sonic transparency, and impressive dynamics with the Cremonas, but the system balance tended a little toward the threadbare side of things.
Changing to my long-term reference, the Mark Levinson No.33H monoblocks, resulted in a sound…
Sidebar 1: JA's Associated Equipment
Analog source: Linn Sondek LP12-Cirkus-Trampolin-Lingo-Ekos-Arkiv LP player on a Sound Organisation table.
Digital sources: Mark Levinson No.31.5 CD transport; Mark Levinson No.30.6, Benchmark DAC 1 D/A processors; dCS 972 upsampler; Technics DVD-A10 DVD-Audio player; Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista SACD player; Mark Levinson No.390S CD player; Apple 15" Titanium PowerBook with iTunes and Metric Halo MIO 2882 digital interface.
Preamplification: Linn Linto, Sutherland PhD phono preamps; Mark Levinson No.380S line preamp; Z-Systems rdp-1 digital…