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I couldn't characterize the Primo's sound as "warm" or "…
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The overall sound was harmonically rich without turning overripe. Attacks were surprisingly lightning-fast and ultraclean for an all-tube product. But sustain was where the magic lived: sounds just sailed generously on and on, their full harmonic envelope unfurled, slowly decaying into the sunset of background ambience before finally, cleanly disappearing altogether. Musical events effortlessly appeared, lingered, and dissolved, one after the other, meeting along the way no grain, glaze, or grit-induced resistance.
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Tubed, two-channel line preamplifier. Tube complement: 14 ECC81. Frequency response: 5Hz–50kHz, –0.5dB. Maximum output: 32V RMS. Output impedance: 600 ohms. Input impedance: 150k ohms, line inputs center-tapped. THD+noise, 20Hz–20kHz: <0.005% typical. Signal/noise: >105dB (no reference level quoted). Input sensitivity (full output): 8V. Overload margin: 30dB. Channel separation: 105dB.
Dimensions: 18.8" (483mm) W by 5.9" (150mm) H by 16" (410mm) D. Weight: 37 lbs (16.8kg).
Finishes: Silver, Black.
Serial Number Of Unit Reviewed:…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Continuum Audio Labs Caliburn, Cobra, Castellon turntable, tonearm, stand, Graham Engineering Phantom II tonearm; Montegiro Lusso turntable, SME 309 & DaVinci Nobile tonearms; Lyra Titan i, Transfiguration Orpheus, Ortofon A90, MySonic Eminence EX cartridges.
Digital Sources: Camelot Technology Round Table DVD player with digital input Anagram Technologies DAC, BPT-modified Alesis Masterlink hard-disk recorder, Sooloos music server.
Preamplification: Manley Steelhead, Einstein Turntable's Choice, Boulder 1008, AMR PH77 phono…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I 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) to examine the Musical Fidelity AMS Primo's measured behavior; for some tests, I also used my vintage Audio Precision System One Dual Domain.
For both balanced input to balanced output and unbalanced input to unbalanced output with the Primo's Gain switch operative, the maximum voltage gain was a sensible 12.5dB. (The Gain switch added exactly 6dB to the level of unbalanced sources, to match balanced ones.) The unity…
Besides my 20th wedding anniversary and the 15th anniversary of Listener magazine's first issue, this year marks the 25th anniversary of Roksan Audio Ltd., easily one of the most innovative design and manufacturing firms in British audio. Before Roksan came upon the scene in 1985, none of us had ever seen a loudspeaker whose tweeter was isolated from its surroundings by a sprung suspension. Or a commercial phono preamplifier designed to fit inside a turntable, just a centimeter away from the tonearm base. And who among us could have guessed that the Linn LP12's hegemony—among flat-earthers,…
Because of all that, and because the K2's handset emits an audible beep when any of its buttons is pushed—an unpleasant distraction, especially when trying to find the right volume level during a quiet musical passage—there came a time during the review period when I simply pretended that the K2's remote control did not exist.
Listening
With every loudspeaker I had on hand, the Kandy K2 distinguished itself as a clear, big-sounding, rhythmically accomplished amp with a slightly—a darn near imperceptibly—rounded-off top end. That bit of softness, coupled with its nearly complete lack…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid-state integrated amplifier with 3.5mm headphone output. Inputs: 5 line-level (including tape), 1 phono (MM). Maximum output power: 125Wpc into 8 ohms (21dBW), 190Wpc into 4 ohms (19.8dBW), both channels driven. Frequency response: <3Hz–>100kHz, –3dB. Line and phono input impedance: 47k ohms. Line input sensitivity: 470mV at maximum output. Signal/noise ratio: 100dBA (line, ref/ 470mV input). Harmonic distortion: <0.005% at 1kHz (8 ohms, no power level specified). Damping factor: >110 (8 ohms).
Dimensions: 16.9" (432mm) W by 4" (…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Thorens TD-124 Mk.II, Bauer Audio dps turntables; EMT 997, Thomas Schick, Naim Aro tonearms; Shindo SPU, Ortofon SPU 90th Anniversary, Miyabi 47 cartridges.
Digital Sources: Sony SCD-777ES SACD/CD player, Ayre Acoustics QB-9 USB DAC (with Apple iTunes).
Preamplification: Auditorium 23 Hommage T1, K&K Audio step-up transformers; Shindo Masseto, Tempo Electric Arthur Loesch 1.1 preamplifiers.
Power Amplifiers: Shindo Haut-Brion & Corton-Charlemagne.
Loudspeakers: Audio Note AN-E/SPe HE, Wilson Audio Specialties Sasha W/P,…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I examined the Roksan Kandy K2's measured behavior using mainly 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.
Before I test an amplifier, I run it for 60 minutes at one-third its specified power into 8 ohms. Thermally, this worst case for an amplifier with a class-B or -AB output stage taxes its heatsinks' ability to dissipate waste heat. The Kandy K2's top panel got too hot to touch after…
Nineteen days after J. Gordon Holt died, my daughter and I drove west on NY Route 20, passing lawn sale after lawn sale on our way to the supermarket in Richfield Springs. Each sale promised a pleasant waste of time on that hot afternoon, but only one caught my eye: There, among the Avon bottles and the 8-track tape cartridges, were two large bookshelf loudspeakers, dressed in walnut veneer and light-colored fabric grilles. AR 3s, I thought. Or maybe Large Advents. "They'll still be there when we come back this way," I said, stupidly.
Two years earlier I'd driven past a tag sale…