Sidebar 3: Measurements
The first sample of the Wadia 2000 Digital Decoding Computer was bench-tested before shipment to Arnis Balgalvis for review. I measured extraordinarily poor low-level linearity, clearly indicating a malfunctioning unit. When the DAC board was returned to Wadia, they discovered that the linearity adjustments (a small hex-bolt on each DAC) had apparently worked themselves loose in transit. Wadia realigned the DACs and returned the board.
One can verify that the alignment screws are in their factory-set positions by looking at the drop of red sealant on the…
Sidebar 4: JA Measures (& Listens)
Robert Harley describes his experiences with the Wadia 2000 above, during which I was an interested bystander. But when he asked if I could bring my digital-storage oscilloscope to the lab to look at the Wadia's low-level waveforms, I thought of a better plan. "No problem, Bob, send the Wadia 'round to my place and I'll look at it there."
And maybe—heh-heh-heh—do a little listening!
Of course, I didn't have the Teac transport so highly praised by Arnie in his review. But I have to say that when driven by the digital output of the…
There was a time, very recently in terms of human history, when high fidelity promised to free the music lover from the constraints of the concert hall and the local repertoire, allowing him to choose at his whim any orchestra in the world playing any work he desired under the baton of any conductor he preferred. "All the pleasure of concert-hall listening, in the comfort of your home," was the way one display advertisement painted this musical utopia which, only 20 years ago, seemed right around the corner.
Three years previously, the stereo LP disc had broken through what appeared to be…
I had an experience at last summer's CES in Chicago that bordered on the religious. I heard the legendary $42,000 Wilson WAMM system.
Apart from the fact that designer Dave Wilson chose not to play any symphonic or operatic music, explaining that "there aren't any really good recordings of that sort"—note that, Keith Johnson!—the reproduction was by far the most realistic I have ever heard. Wilson was playing copies of some of his analog master tapes, the most sonically impressive of which was a short segment of his wife Sheryl-Lee's soprano voice with pipe-organ accompaniment, done in a…
Now that audio technology seems to be on the verge of being able to do anything asked of it, it seems only fitting to wonder about what we should be asking it to do. We probably all agree that high fidelity should yield a felicitous reproduction of music, but felicitous to what? Should a system give an accurate replica of what is on the disc, or of the original musical sounds?
Most perfectionists feel that accurate reproduction of the recorded sound, whether this be good, bad or indifferent, is the ultimate goal of high fidelity. (Call it audio if you wish, but fidelity is still the name…
The American computer industry was a little shaken up to learn recently that the Japanese micro manufacturers had gotten together and standardized their component interconnections so that any Japanese computer will (supposedly) plug into any Japanese printer, modem, or competing computer, and work right off the bat. Anybody who has tried to fire up an Apple computer with a Diablo (Xerox) printer will appreciate what the Japanese move means in terms of compatibility. It means "For no-hassle interconnections, buy Japanese."
This isn't the first time others have fait accompli'd a standard…
Miscellaneous Problems
Audio Interconnect Connections: Power-amplifier inputs should never be spaced more than 5" apart. Many high-performance audio interconnects are permanently paired, with links that prevent their end plugs from being separated by more than a certain amount. And regardless of the configuration of the two amplifier channels—whether they have common or separate power supplies, for example—there is no compelling reason why their inputs need be placed more than 5" apart.
Phono-cartridge pins: Let's, for heaven's sake, standardize the diameter of phono-cartridge…
JBL was founded 60 years ago, by Jim Lansing. Its history has been amply detailed in the book The JBL Story: 60 Years of Audio Innovation, by the late John Eargle's (JBL Professional, 2006). Although it is primarily known for its pro-audio loudspeakers, the Californian company has offered a steady stream of high-performance domestic loudspeakers to the home market, including the 1971 Paragon, the L100 bookshelf speaker, and the JBL 250Ti floorstander, all of which remained in JBL's catalog for 20 years. In 1990, JBL produced the Project K2 S9500 flagship speaker for the Japanese high-end…
The horn module is packed separately from the bass enclosure—JBL is concerned that the bulky horn might be damaged or snapped off in shipping—but the cartons contained everything I needed to put them together: for each speaker, one short and two long Allen-head bolts, an Allen-head screwdriver, a logo plate, a rubber hole plug for the rear horn-mounting bolt, and four metal coasters to protect wooden floors from the speaker's spiked feet. Following the manual, I cradled the horn module with its horn lying along my forearm, and connected its signal line's plug into the jack atop the bass…
The 1400 Array featured an impressive accuracy of midrange timbre. It allowed me to hear subtle differences among individual members of choirs, as well as differentiate the characteristic reediness of different orchestral wind instruments. It was easy to appreciate the vocal registers of different singers in the all-male Turtle Creek Chorale in John Rutter's Lord, Make Me an Instrument of Thy Peace, from Requiem (CD, Reference RR-57CD). José Carreras's clear tenor in the Kyrie from Ariel Ramirez's Misa Criolla, in the recording led by José Luis Ocejo (CD, Philips, 420 955-2), sounded…
