Doug was an early champion of tube electronics and a vociferous critic of digital audio. In fact, he once distributed T-shirts with the inscription "Stop…
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Doug Sax is undoubtedly one of the most controversial and outspoken figures in audio. As co-founder, with Lincoln Mayorga, of Sheffield Lab, Doug pioneered the first modern direct-to-disc recording. His perfectionist methods may be controversial, but the results certainly are not: Sheffield Lab recordings are nearly universally praised by the audiophile community, while the Billboard Hot 100 always features at least one Sax-cut disc.
Harley: Is it similar to your modified Sony PCM-1610 at The Mastering Lab?
Sax: What we have is highly modified, but we haven't gone the whole route. There will be some point where you need a separate chassis and your own architecture so you can do exactly what you want. But there are enormous efforts going on, mostly by American companies, on the A/D side.
Harley: Is there is anything intrinsically wrong sonically with storing music as ones and zeros, or do you think the problems are in the implementation of current technology?
Sax: The latter.
Harley: Do you…
Harley: Theoretically, the digital recording medium has no effect on the sound quality provided there are no uncorrected errors. Do you believe different digital tape transports have different sonic characteristics?
Sax: They do. I don't know why. I don't use Sony decks. I can tell you that any Sony video deck will kill the sound. I've discussed it with Sony and they were about as interested in hearing it as you are in buying New York City for three trillion dollars. They said, "We'll do something about it—go away." I did and they didn't. But it's a major, major factor in degradation.…
And immediately he said "that's because you've been used to hearing the soft transformers of tubes." I said, "Forget about that malarkey. I play in an orchestra. I stand next to a violinist warming up every day. And that is atrocious. Get your McIntosh 60 out. I can't believe you're buying this terrible sound." He said "That's history. That's yesterday's technology." And in a period of three or four years, everything was solid-state. McIntosh couldn't sell an amplifier. They had the best amplifier and didn't think the new stuff was any good, but they couldn't get dealers to even stock them…
Sidebar: The Mastering Lab
Located for 21 years in the heart of Hollywood, The Mastering Lab is the oldest independent disc-mastering facility in Southern California. The rows of gold and platinum albums lining the lobby walls attest to both the room's longevity and its creative excellence.
Designed, built, and operated by Doug Sax, The Mastering Lab is somewhat of a maverick among disc-mastering rooms, reflecting Doug's single-minded (and often controversial) zeal for musical accuracy. Indeed, the facility is the very embodiment of his audio philosophy: Nearly every piece of…
Just as the Trappist Monks of Digital Audio are once again grabbing at the bellpulls to ring the death knell of analog, another fine piece of gear pops up dedicated exclusively to LP playback: the American Hybrid Technology Phono Stage. To one of the Analog Committed, this is good news. That the unit sounds as wonderful as it does is even better news. Anything else? Pull up a pew, Brother.
Tech Talk
The American Hybrid Technology Phono Stage is a two-box unit; the regulated power supply is attached by an umbilical to the phono stage proper. A few circuit (footnote 1)…
Although the phono stage is extremely neutral, one might characterize the unit as ever-so-slightly solid-state–sounding when directly compared to the CAT, an all-tube design. It's not that Dan Fanny eschews tubes—he's a registered, card-carrying tube guy himself—but he feels that his vision is better served by solid-state. "I want my phono stage to sound like NOTHING!" he told me forcefully and unblinkingly. The double entendres gave me a headache as they whanged around inside my head trying to escape my tightly closed and smiling mouth.
In comparing the AHT's sound to my reference CAT…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Direct-coupled, solid-state phono equalizer/preamplifier. Sensitivity: 100µV. Sensitivity range (for 500mV output at 1kHz): 0.10. Voltage gain: 46–67dB, user-adjustable. Load impedance: user-adjustable. Frequency response: 1Hz–50kHz ±0.2dB. Polarity: non-inverting. THD (signal level not specified): 0.0015%. S/N Ratio (A-weighted, ref. 500mV output): 98dB (MM), 90dB (MC).
Dimensions: 8.25" W by 4" D by 2.5" H (phono stage), 4" W by 6.5" D by 2.75" H inc. feet (power supply).
Serial number of unit reviewed: 0007.
Price: $2500 (1993); no…
Sidebar 2: System
Front End: Forsell Air Force One Mk.I; Grasshopper Gold cartridge; Shun Mook LP clamp; Arcici special short Lead Balloons. Electronics: Convergent Audio Technologies SL-1 Signature preamp; one or two Jadis Defy-7 Mk.II amplifiers. Speakers: tri-wired Avalon Ascent Mk.IIs, updated Avalon internal wiring harness, Avalon-supplied Cardas umbilical between crossover and speakers.
Interconnects; XLO Signature, Wireworld Eclipse, Purist Audio Design Colossus, American Hybrid Technology Ultra Resolution, Mapleshade Omega Mikro, Pure Logic Raj, Reference Line. Speaker…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The measurements presented here for the American Hybrid Technology phono preamplifier were performed with a 47k ohm load in both the moving-coil and moving-magnet configurations. Additional measurements were made with a 100 ohm load resistor in the moving-coil configuration but are not presented here. They were not substantively different, except in one or two areas where our Audio Precision test set's 25 ohm source impedance into the 100 ohm load resistor was suspected of causing loading errors. (The source impedance of typical moving-coil cartridges is far lower…