Following Mikey Fremer's favorable review of the PMC DB1i bookshelf loudspeaker in the December 2009 issue, Messrs. Fremer and Atkinson asked that I give the DB1i ($1929/pair) a listen to hear how it compared with other affordable bookshelf models I've recently auditioned. For the most part I agree with Mikey's findings. "The PMC DB1i is a cannily designed, musically satisfying minimonitor," he concluded, adding "along with a response that was subjectively smooth for such a small two-way, the DB1i was among the least…
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Robert J. Reina wrote about the PMC DB1i in April 2010 (Vol.33 No.4):
Sidebar: Bob Reina's Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: VPI TNT IV, Rega Planar 3 turntables; Immedia RPM, Syrinx PU-3 tonearms; Koetsu Urushi, Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood cartridges.
Digital Sources: Lector CDP-7T, Creek Destiny CD players.
Preamplification: Vendetta Research SCP-2D phono stage, Audio Valve Eclipse line stage.
Power Amplifier: Audio Research Reference 110.
Integrated Amplifier: Creek Destiny.
Loudspeakers: Dynaudio Excite X12, Linn Majik 109.
Cables: Interconnect (all MIT): Magnum M3, MI-350 CVTwin Terminator, MI-330SG Terminator. Speaker: Acarian…
Stereophile is happy to start off another year, only one issue behind our published schedule. For most magazine subscribers, this would seem a confession of weakness; underground aficionados will, however, know what I'm talking about. We did in fact publish eight issues last year, but the first one happened to be Volume 6, Number 6 (the last issue in that volume), so that puts us still one behind. Ambitiously, I predict we'll get out nine (count them, 9) issues in 1985 and catch up with our schedule.
Without a doubt, 1984 has been Stereophile's most successful year. We reviewed 114 major…
DEBBIE HARRY: Def, Dumb and Blonde
Sire/Red Eye/Reprise 9 25938-1 (LP), -2 (CD). George Tutko, Mike O'Hara, engs.; Mike Chapman, prod. AAA/AAD. TT: 63:57
Sire/Red Eye/Reprise 9 25938-1 (LP), -2 (CD). George Tutko, Mike O'Hara, engs.; Mike Chapman, prod. AAA/AAD. TT: 63:57
It's all too easy to see Debbie Harry reprising the Gloria Swanson role in Sunset Boulevard, or rehearsing a real-life remake of Nick Lowe's macabre obit to Marie Provost, a reclusive silent film star who outlived her moment in the sun and ended up a snack for her penned-in pooch ("Marie Provost," 16 All-Time Lowes, Demon Fiend CD20). Which raises the issue of comebacks, and the difference between the talent of a creative artist as…
When it comes to video, most audiophiles are insufferable snobs. These normally reasonable people, who are among the first to admit that great sound in a motion picture theater makes a great film much more enjoyable, nonetheless. scoff at the very idea of augmenting their own sound with images, or of trying to create the kind of audio-visual experience in their home that they routinely enjoy at the cinema. Doing that involves video, which they equate with TV, which they equate with LCD (footnote 1) dross. This is unfortunate, because visuals can enhance good sound, and good sound can do…
A freelance reviewer's workload is erratic. On the odd occasion one might have a few moments' respite, while at other times the coincidence of multiple deadlines for copy results in several weeks of panic. As I write this missive I have just completed one such overload period covering so much equipment that I thought that it would be worthwhile to look back and take stock at the audio in the past decade (footnote 1).
First I will look at CD and the results which are now coming in for the new generation of low-bit, high-oversampling players and comparisons with their established multi-bit…
When I first laid eyes on the Paravicini M100A monoblock power amplifiers at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2001, an audiophile in the room squinted at my badge and cried out, "Hey, J-10, these amps have your name written all over 'em!"
I had to admit that it sure looked that way: $35,000/pair, vertical orientation, gorgeous art deco faceplates, two old-fashioned–looking meters per side, and 100W to boot.
I sidled up to Dan Meinwald of EAR USA, said Hello, shook designer Tim de Paravicini's hand, sat down for a listen (using Paravicini's matching transformer-coupled…
A distinguishing feature of the M100A is its transformer coupling at the output. (The only other solid-state amps I'm aware of that use this topology are some of the McIntoshes.) The documentation explains that this "offers advantages to the designer who can produce suitably high-quality transformers. Tim de Paravicini, probably the leading authority on audioband transformers, is such a designer." It's good to believe in oneself, no?
The other salient feature of the M100A is that it's single-ended, "a configuration which is seldom used in transistor amplifiers." TdP goes on to explain…
Electricity? I wondered. Poor Man's Balanced Electrical Running (two different phases of positive, footnote 1) was noisy on the M100As, with boatloads of RFI. Running both amps into one Cardas star-wired power extender with Synergistic Research Designer's Reference Master Couplers2 power cords into one of our isolated 30-amp sockets quieted things down enormously. Curious.
But however the electrical supply was configured, no matter which power cord I tried, the M100As still sounded lean and underpowered. So I began to play with preamps. I got the best results (but wildly different…
In due course, the report came back from Mr. Meinwald: "Jonathan, the amps were victims of excessive handling." Oh, the bad jokes that beckon! Rowan Atkinson muzzled! Meinwald gamely ticked off the lurid details: "Well, these were the first production pair, and they'd been all over Germany, then back to the UK. There converted to 110V operation and shipped to me in California. I took them to and from Las Vegas CES, then, following a short break, it was off to New York for Home Entertainment 2001 in May, where they worked flawlessly."
The plan had been to schlep them from HE2001 down to…