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But I'm getting ahead of myself: The first song I actually listened to through the AW400s was Procol Harum's "Strangers in Space," from the newly reissued (and exceptionally well done) Something Magic (CD, Salvo SALVOCD029). Unrepentant tube snob and digiphobe that I am, I listened through the opening bars of Pete Solley's analog synth sounds, bracing myself for steely highs that didn't come. But I was still unprepared when Gary Brooker's voice entered, dead-center and sounding more whole than I'd ever heard it in my room. I listened on: His breathing was apparent, but neither that nor the…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Push-pull, solid-state, monoblock amplifier. Output power: 400Wpc into 8 ohms (26dBW), 765Wpc into 4 ohms (25.2dBW), 1010Wpc into 2 ohms (24dBW). Frequency response: DC–65kHz, –3dB. Input impedance: 330k ohms. Input sensitivity: 1.6V (adjustable). Output impedance: <0.01 ohm, 20Hz–20kHz. Signal/noise: >84dB unweighted. Total harmonic distortion, 1kHz, –1dB, 8 ohms: <0.007%.
Dimensions: 14.1" (358mm) W by 10.2" (261mm) H by 18.5" (470mm) D. Weight: 55 lbs (25kg).
Serial Numbers Of Units Reviewed: 37090007, 37090011.
Price: $12,…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Thorens TD-124 Mk.II turntable; EMT 997, Thomas Schick tonearms; Shindo SPU, EMT OFD 25 & OFD 65, Miyajima Shilabe cartridges.
Digital Source: Ayre Acoustics QB-9 USB DAC (with Apple iTunes), Sony SCD-777 SACD/CD player.
Preamplification: Auditorium 23 Hommage T1 step-up transformer; Shindo Masseto, Electrocompaniet EC 4.8 preamplifiers.
Power Amplifiers: Shindo Corton-Charlemagne monoblocks, Shindo Haut-Brion, Fi 2A3 Stereo.
Loudspeakers: Audio Note AN-E/SPe HE, Wilson Audio Specialties Sophia 2, Quad ESL.
Cables: USB:…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
To perform the measurements on the Electrocompaniet AW400, I mostly used Stereophile's loan sample of the top-of-the-line Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It" and www.ap.com); for some tests, I also used my vintage Audio Precision System One Dual Domain.
Electrocompaniet refers to the AW400 as a "Class A" amplifier, but the heat signature and the idling power consumption suggests that it uses a conventional class-AB output stage. I preconditioned the Electrocompaniet by running it at one-third power into 8 ohms for 60 minutes…
One more word for unhappy consumers, in any marketplace, who confuse praise for the new with rebuke for the old: 20 years on, I continue to admire the best qualities of my Linn Sondek LP12 turntable (itself not the first LP12 I've owned). I smile to think of all the records I enjoyed during those two decades.
But singing in church is one thing, and burning heretics is quite another: From time to time I'm troubled to wonder if an even greater degree of enjoyment could have been mine, if not for my slavish devotion to the indestructible beat of the flat-Earth doctrine, with its…
That said, I suspect that even the finest platter bearings—a category that includes the ones in both the Garrard 301 and the Thorens TD 124—are the source of at least some noise, given that none are perfectly concentric or perfectly frictionless. And because the metal bearing housings of all such turntables I've seen are directly and rigidly fastened to a metal chassis or frame, then it's a no-brainer: Noise is efficiently conducted throughout the whole of the thing. Thus, to cradle such a turntable in a large and massive but neither lossy nor mechanically lively structure is to give those…
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…