search

Recording of August 1989: Mahler: <I>Das Lied von der Erde</I>

MAHLER: Das Lied von der Erde
James King, tenor; Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone; Vienna Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein
London (CD only). Gordon Parry, eng.; John Culshaw, prod. AAD. TT: 66:32

Just a reminder that, after a long absence from the catalog, this remarkable 1966 performance of Das Lied is back in print. The only performance available with a baritone instead of an alto, this remains the most affecting I have heard. Bernstein evokes from the VPO a primeval, brooding darkness that I've heard from no one else, and Fischer-Dieskau emotes as if born to sing the "…

Book Review: <I>Backstory in Blue</I>

Backstory in Blue: Ellington at Newport '56
by John Fass Morton, foreword by Jonathan Yardley. Rutgers University Press, 2008. Hardcover, 336 pages, 107 B&W photos. $34.95.

Not long after midnight on Saturday/Sunday night, July 7/8, 1956, it became apparent to those in the know that 57-year-old Duke Ellington's daring bid to revive his failing career by playing the closing set of the third Newport Jazz Festival had failed. The concert was supposed to have ended at midnight, and some people were already heading for the exits.

Yet moments later, Ellington's band was…

Music in the Round #44

When I started out on my multichannel mission in 2000, it was with an all-digital Meridian system that relied on lossy, compressed sources like the original Dolby Digital and DTS formats, or on synthesized surround based on Dolby Pro-Logic or Meridian's own TriField. With the appearance of first SACD and DVD-Audio and then Blu-ray, discrete lossless multichannel recordings became available, but there was no way to output those signals in digital form for interconnection to other components for playback or further manipulation. Most audiophiles, me included, already had analog preamps and…

Music in the Round #44 Page 2

Why do I prefer HDMI to the analog configuration? First, because the issues of level, delay, and bass management just go away with the transmission of digital signals to the processor, and decent preamp-processors offer many options not seen in disc players, such as multiple outputs and configurations for subwoofers (see my report on Krell's Evolution 707 Reference surround-sound pre-pro below). Second, because a single HDMI cable is neater and simpler. I have closets full of unemployed interconnects.

But if all is done right, there is nothing the analog interconnection scheme can do…

Music in the Round #44 Page 3

I used HDMI for audio and video connection to the Oppo BDP-83 and my cable box. I connected the audio-only Sony XA-5400ES SACD/CD player with HDMI and balanced XLR, and, just for kicks, the Oppo with six RCA cables to the 707's multichannel analog inputs. Analog inputs can be used as a pure analog path, the Krell contributing only the volume control and output stage; but these inputs can also be digitized, affording use of bass management and other processing. At the output, I connected my Bryston 9B-SST five-channel power amplifier to the RCA outputs, and later via the balanced XLRs. Since…

Krell KSA-300S power amplifier

It was a dark and stormy night. A biting, cold wind cut through Sam's skimpy jacket; ice crystals clung tenaciously to his bushy moustache. As he approached his front door, visions of a toasty-warm, Krell-heated listening room softened the chill. He could feel the glow already; his Krell amp had been on all day, awaiting his return.

As he entered his listening room, Sam recoiled in horror.

Psycho-esque strings crashed into the silence of his imagination as the chill of the room hit him. On the floor between the loudspeakers was not his trusty Krell KSA-250, but a new KSA-300S…

Krell KSA-300S power amplifier Page 2

A remote control is provided to either shut down the entire amplifier or shut off the dancing plateau lights for those bothered by them. (The blue power-on light cannot be shut off without powering-down the amplifier.) While this simple, two-button remote seems superfluous, the ability to check the plateau indicators, then shut them off again, might be useful.

The other aspects of the KSA-300S's design are more conventional, though by no means conventionally executed. The amplifier is direct-coupled; there are no capacitors in the signal path. Instead, electronic servos are used to…

Krell KSA-300S power amplifier Page 3

Everything came together with the KSA-300S in the reproduction of "On the Boardwalk" from Rickie Lee Jones's Girl At Her Volcano (Japanese Warner Bros. CD WPCP-3710). The 300S's superbly smooth yet detailed high end was tied to a punchy bottom end and stunning dynamic range. But I came nowhere near to using the Krell's maximum power output. While peeling myself off the listening room's back wall, I noted that only the second-level plateau indicator lights on the front panel had illuminated—indicative of, at best, half power output.

I could tell something special was happening in my…

Krell KSA-300S power amplifier Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Description: Solid-state stereo power amplifier. Power rating: 300Wpc into 8 ohms, doubles with each halving of load impedance down to 1 ohm (24.8dBW). Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz, +0.0dB, –0.1dB; 1Hz–150kHz, +0.0dB, –3dB. Distortion: <0.1% at 1kHz, <0.3% at 20kHz, full power. Slew rate: 100V/µs. Input sensitivity: 2.5V rms. Gain: 25.5dB. Damping factor: >120. S/N ratio: 110dB. Input impedance: 47k ohms. Power consumption, idle: 130W.
Dimensions: 19" W by 8.5" H by 24" D. Weight: 185 lbs (net).
Serial numbers of samples tested: 34-40334 &…

Krell KSA-300S power amplifier Measurements

Sidebar 2: Measurements

Following the 1/3-power, one-hour preconditioning test, the KSA-300S's heatsinks were hot, though not too hot to touch. Interestingly, though it was driving only 100W into 8 ohms during this test, the bias level 3 lights came on. This was somewhat surprising, since the owner's manual indicates approximately 75% rated power for this bias level (225W into 8 ohms). Checking the precise point at which the bias-level lights illuminated, I obtained approximately 100mW for level 1 (113mW left, 97mW right), 17W for level 2, 84W for level 3, and 253W for level 4. (There…