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The fault for the second problem was mine and mine alone. Before experimenting with the various chassis-to-plinth mounting arrangements as described above, I had already established, with precision, the location of the OMA armboard. As happens with virtually any TD 124 installation, the exact position of the turntable as a whole, vis-à-vis the plinth, was subject to minute changes while using the four height-adjustment knobs—but this time, with the tonearm rigidly fastened to the plinth instead of the turntable, doing so completely trashed my arm-alignment settings. I had to start all over…
This massive, two-box beauty from Denmark costs $60,000, and I wish I could tell you it wasn't really better in most ways than the already outlandishly priced and sonically superb Boulder 2008. I can't.
No one spends this kind of money on a phono preamp unless its appearance and functionality are commensurate with its sound, and in the MP-P201 they are—even if there's only the RIAA curve, and no Mono button. However, what will get wealthy enthusiasts to drain $60k from their bank accounts will be the Vitus's unmistakably astonishing sound. Plug it in, play it, and compare it with…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-chassis, solid-state phono preamplifier with 14 choices of voltage gain, 46dB–86dB, for both balanced and single-ended inputs and 18 choices of input impedance, from 100 to 47k ohms.
Dimensions: Not noted.
serial number of review sample: VA090097, power supply; VA090096, preamplifier.
Price: $60,000.
Manufacturer: Vitus Audio, AVA Group A/S, Sandgaardsvej 31, DK-7400 Herning, Denmark. Tel: (45) 9626-8046. Fax: (45) 9626-8045. Web: www.vitusaudio.com. US distributor: Silent Source, 5570 North Forty Place, Dallas, TX 75252. Tel: (972)…
Sidebar 2: Measurements
I measured the Vitus MP-P201 (serial nos.: VA090097, power supply; VA090096, preamplifier) with Stereophile's loan sample of the Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It" and www.ap.com). The Vitus's front-panel pushbuttons offer 14 choices of voltage gain for both its balanced and single-ended inputs, ranging from 86dB at "125µV" to 46dB at "10mV." The measured gains were the same for both inputs, and were all about 10dB higher than usual for the nominal cartridge sensitivity. For example, setting the sensitivity to "5mV," which is the…
Stereophile's founder, the late J. Gordon Holt, always had a thing for horn loudspeakers, feeling that these archaic beasts offered a "jump factor" that could never be rivaled by conventional, direct-radiating designs. A horn drastically increases the efficiency with which electrical power is converted into acoustic power, which means that for a given sound-pressure level, a smaller amplifier can be used compared with a direct-radiator, and that all distortions, both electrical and mechanical, can theoretically be much lower. Yet outside of a small circle of enthusiasts, horns never got much…
The crossover between the tweeter and midrange horn is set to 5kHz; that between the midrange and woofers is 800Hz. Electrical connection to the speaker is via a pair of five-way binding posts on top of the internal shelf behind the tweeter module. Flying leads emerging from the woofer enclosure connect to binding posts on the bottom surface of the midrange module; another pair of leads terminated in an RCA plug connects the tweeter in parallel with the main drive.
The Acapella High Violoncello II is superbly finished. The woofer cabinet is finished in piano-gloss black or white, and…
This transparency held for differences in equipment as well as in recordings. I had the Acapellas in the system when I was preparing Michael Fremer's review of the Pure Vinyl and Pure Music programs for the August issue, and after installing Pure Music on my Mac mini, the reduction in treble grain and increased palpability of imaging resulting from operating Pure Music in Memory Play mode rather than streaming the data from the external hard drive via FireWire were readily audible. And with this resolving power, perhaps because the tweeters are AC-powered, the system always sounded cleaner…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way, sealed-cabinet, floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive-units: horn-loaded, AC-powered, ionic plasma tweeter with its own class-A amplifier; horn-loaded, 2" soft-dome midrange unit; two 11" treated paper-cone woofers in separate enclosure with one internal 11" treated paper-cone woofer. Tweeter sensitivity: 1.5V. Tweeter amplifier input impedance: 600 ohms. Tweeter high-pass filter slope: 12dB/octave. Crossover frequencies: 800Hz, 5kHz. Frequency range: 26Hz–40kHz. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms. Sensitivity: 93dB/2.83V/m. Recommended amplification…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP universal player; Simaudio Moon Evolution 750D CD player; dCS Puccini SACD player & USB-input D/A converter with Apple Mac mini running Pure Music and for media storage.
Preamplifier: Simaudio Moon Evolution P-8.
Power Amplifiers: Classé CTM-600 monoblocks, Simaudio Moon Evolution W-7, Balanced Audio Technology VK-55SE.
Integrated Amplifier: Audio Research VSi60.
Cables: Digital: Kimber Illuminations Orchid AES/EBU, Stereovox CV2 electrical S/PDIF, Belkin USB. Interconnect (balanced): AudioQuest Wild…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Acapella's frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 for the nearfield and spatially averaged room responses. As with the Focal Maestro Utopia that I reviewed in the July 2010 issue, the sheer bulk of the High Violoncello II precluded my being able to take it outside and place it on a high stand for the acoustic measurements. I therefore performed those measurements in my listening room, firing the speaker along one of the room's diagonals to move the sidewall…