The front of the PP looks like a typical integrated amp: large volume knob; input buttons; Bass, Treble, and Balance controls; Mute,…
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With the Music Player, T+A also sent along the Power Plant integrated amplifier ($2700). The Power Plant (PP) looks almost identical to the MP, and the two comprise a handsome, fully functional audio system in a single modest stack. To make this even easier, you connect the two at their rear panels with a supplied RJ-12 cable (T+A calls this the E Link), which coordinates their functions and allows the MP and PP to be operated with a single remote control.
Sidebar: Specifications
Description: Two-channel, remote-controlled, solid-state integrated amplifier with PWM output stage, 5 line-level inputs, headphone output, and optional MM/MC phono module. Maximum output power: 140Wpc into 8 ohms (dBW); 240Wpc into 4 ohms (dBW). Frequency response: 1Hz–60kHz±3dB. Total harmonic distortion: <0.005%. Intermodulation distortion: <0.005%. Channel separation: >80dB. Input sensitivity: 250mV. Input impedance: 20k ohms. Output impedance. 50 ohms (headphones).
Dimensions: 17.6" (440mm) W by 4.7" (120mm) H by 15.6" (390mm) D. Weight: 26.4 lbs…
This whole thing started up again when I tried to improve the phono-input section of my main system—not to enhance its performance (although you might expect that to happen), but to provide a fairer, more flexible context for evaluating new cartridges.
The technical reason: Taken in isolation, even the small collection of phono cartridges that I own—Miyabi 47, Rega Elys, Grace F9E, Denon DL-103, and EMT OFD 25—represent a pretty wide range of resistive-loading requirements. The low-impedance Miyabi 47 and the high-impedance Denon DL-103, for example, couldn't be more different from one…
Sidebar: Specifications
Description: A pair of flexible Y-adapters, each having two phono sockets at one end and a single phono plug at the other, supplied with five pairs of color-coded resistive plugs: 10, 20, 50, 100, and 200 ohms.
Price: $49. Sold direct.
Manufacturer: DB Systems, PO Box 460, 214 Main Street, Rindge, NH 03461. Tel: (603) 899-5121. Web: www.dbsystemsaudio.com.
There's an old Russian folktale about a farmer who goes to a fair. He buys a bread roll from a vendor. He eats it, but he's still hungry. So he buys and eats another roll, and then another. Still hungry. Next, he buys a donut from a different vendor. At last, he's no longer hungry. The farmer then says to himself, "I wasted the money I spent on the rolls—I should have just bought the donut first!"
This story illustrates a problem with the way most of us buy stereo equipment: If only we could know in advance what we would end up being happy with, we'd save a lot of the money we spend…
Is anyone in this economy shopping for a four-box, rack-swallowing, two-channel SACD/CD player contending for the state of the art and costing $79,996? dCS is betting that its Scarlatti will attract a small crowd of those wealthy music enthusiasts who, in any economy, reliably pony up for the best. For the rest of us, the Scarlatti will be a spectator sport.
While ease of use is one of digital audio's greatest selling points, "simplicity" is not the Scarlatti's middle name. Although this ultra-complex system, including the optional new Upsampler ($12,999), has more menu choices…
Much has happened in the six years since my review of dCS's Verdi-Purcell-Elgar. dCS has greatly upgraded its products' appearance, to give the Scarlatti stack a more uniform and graceful look; their attractiveness speaks for itself. The external build quality has been improved, and, of course, the price has doubled almost exactly, from $33,985 to $67,997 (not including the Upsampler). I hate when that happens, but previous dCS systems always had the feel of expensive works-in-progress; the Scarlatti stakes a stable, finished claim to the state of the art.
I started my evaluation by…
Though it definitely sounded richer and breathed more easily when run in balanced mode, the dCS Scarlatti was easily the most satisfying SACD player I've heard.
Cary on
Cary Audio Design's impressive-sounding CD 306 Professional SACD player ($8000) that John Atkinson reviewed in November 2008 was available, so I did some comparisons with that. The Cary sounded "fast," exciting, slightly forward, and a bit "etchy" and mechanical. Good as it was, it was no match for the Scarlatti's harmonically richer, more dimensional, microdynamically superior, more relaxed, more detailed sound.…
I also have the LP, CD, and HRx DVD-R versions of Reference Recordings' collection of overtures by Malcolm Arnold, performed by the composer and the London Philharmonic (RR-48, RR-48 CD, and RR-48 HRx). The LP was sourced from an analog tape, the DDD CD from a Sony PCM 701ES D/A converter (16/44.1) modified by Keith Johnson, and the 24/176 HRx DVD-R from the analog tape. The CD sounded hard, bright, and glassy, even on the Scarlatti. Turn it up and your ears bleed. Even downconverted to 24/96, the HRx DVD played on a computer via the Scarlatti's USB input sounded full, rich, delicate,…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
dCS Scarlatti Upsampling SACD/CD Transport: Drawer-loading, dual-laser SACD/CD transport with DSD datastream output via IEEE1394 FireWire interface. Digital outputs: 2 AES/EBU (XLR); 1 BNC, 1 TosLink optical S/PDIF (both RCA); 2 BNC for single S/PDIF-2; 2 each IEEE1394 digital (dCS-encrypted DSD), SDIF-2 BNC. Word clock In/Out, SUC multipin connector for RS-232 control. Includes Philips Pronto 9400 remote control, BNC cable, IEEE1394 cable.
Dimensions: 20.2" (513mm) W by 5.5" (140mm) H by 16.7" (424mm) D. Weight: 43.2 lbs (19.6kg).
Serial Number Of Unit…