When I reviewed this $200 soundcard for Windows PCs in the January 2010 issue, I concluded that the Xonar Essence STX was by far the least expensive way of turning a PC into a genuine high-resolution audio source that I had encountered. Neither the Essence's resolution nor its low level of noise was compromised by having to operate in the electrically unfriendly environment of a computer chassis. However, I ran into a problem playing files with sample rates of 96 or 192kHz. The card was…
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John Atkinson wrote again about the Xonar Essence STX soundcard in September 2010 (Vol.33 No.9):
Until recently, I have considered LaserVision video discs as a rather dubious medium for serious music reproduction. The only review I had read about it by a critical listener (Harry Pearson in The Absolute Sound) was I singularly unenthusiastic, and since I had not heard one myself, I was inclined to take his word for it.
I feel now that may have been a mistake. I finally got an opportunity to hear some LaserVision discs of classical music reproduced through a good audio system—in my own home. And while I could easily find things to complain about with the microphoning and mixing (all…
In fact, most TV sets in American homes are cheating their viewers of much of the picture quality that's present in the received signal. Color TV receivers have myriad internal adjustments for such things as color tracking (gray scale, when the color is turned off) and convergence (registration of the red, blue, and green images on the screen), and these need periodic touching up if the set is to produce the picture it's capable of. Properly adjusted, many TV receivers can give as accurate color as the best photographic slide films, with enough detail to show individual hairs in a newscaster'…
We crotchety middle-aged (and older) audiophiles frequently sit around and whine about the apparently rising median age of enthusiasts of two-channel audio. "We need to do something to attract the youts to our cause!" one of us will say. (Youts? See Joe Pesci in My Cousin Vinny.)
Well, that's not giving the younger generation enough credit. There is a growing number of young audiophiles, many of them hooked on vinyl. In fact, one of them commissioned this review. When Stereophile's own Stephen Mejias found out that Marantz was producing an attractive integrated amplifier with…
A fairly intense electric jazz group is a good test of an amplifier's ability to render a coherent sonic picture with realistic pacing. The middle section of "Ice Crushing at All Speeds," from my jazz quartet Attention Screen's Live at Otto's Shrunken Head (CD, Stereophile STPH020-2), features a forceful, driving rhythm from drummer Mark Flynn playing his entire kit, juxtaposed against a moaning ostinato bass line by Chris Jones that challenges Flynn's rhythmic statement. It all hung together through the Marantz, just as it did on stage the night we recorded it.
But, you say,…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid-state integrated amplifier with remote control, phono stage, and headphone output. Maximum output power, 20Hz–20kHz: 40Wpc into 8 ohms (16dBW), 55Wpc into 4 ohms (14.4dBW). Frequency response: 10Hz–50kHz, +0dB/–1dB. THD: 0.01%, 20Hz–20kHz, 8 ohms. Input sensitivity: 200mV (line), 2.2mV (MM phono). Input impedance: 20k ohms (line), 47k ohms (MM phono). Signal/noise ratio (IHF-A, ref. 1W into 8 ohms): 83dB (MM phono, 5mV input), 87dB (line, 500mV input).
Dimensions: 17.2" (440mm) W by 4.1" (105mm) H by 14.4" (369mm) D. Weight: 14.7 lbs (6.7kg…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Source: Rega Planar 3 turntable, Syrinx PU-3 tonearm, Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood cartridge.
Digital Source: Lector, Creek Destiny CD players.
Integrated Amplifier: Creek 5350SE.
Loudspeakers: Monitor Audio Silver RS6, Epos M5.
Cables: Interconnect: MIT MI-350 CVTwin Terminator & CVT Terminator 2. Speaker: Acarian Systems Black Orpheus. AC: manufacturers' own.
Accessories: Various by ASC, Bright Star, Simply Physics, Sound Anchor, VPI.—Robert J. Reina
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I examined the Marantz PM5003's measured behavior using Stereophile's loan sample of the 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 is the worst case for an amplifier with a class-B or -AB output stage. At the end of this period, the Marantz's case was warm to the touch and the grille above its internal heatsink was too hot…
John Atkinson returned to the Marantz PM5003 in April 2010 (Vol.33 No.4):
In our January 2010 issue, Robert J. Reina enthused over the sound of this inexpensive 40Wpc integrated amplifier. For just $449.99, you get a relatively solidly constructed amp with remote control, a respectable moving-magnet phono stage, and a headphone output. "The Marantz PM5003 is a stunning achievement," Bob concluded: "an uncolored, revealing, well-built gem with more features than anyone could possibly ask for at the price."1
But a cloud overshadowed an otherwise rave review. When I examined the…
Hang around long enough, and your reward is often to be taken for granted or ignored. Canadian electronics manufacturer Bryston Ltd. has been around since the mid-1970s, and while—if coverage by Stereophile is any indication—the company has hardly been ignored, it's often taken for granted.
That's due, in great part, to Bryston's inherent conservatism in every aspect of the company's public persona. Maybe they do privately cross-dress and throw debauched bashes and hang from chandeliers, but their public face is one of an engineering-centric, low-key, value-oriented organization…