Description: Solid-state monoblock power amplifier with class-D output stage. Input: single-ended RCA or balanced XLR. Output: one set WBT 5-way safety binding posts. Power Output: >500W into 8 ohms (27.8dBW), >1000W into 4 ohms (27.8dBW). Minimum Load: 2 ohms. Voltage gain: 27dB (single ended or balanced input). Peak Output Current: 45A. Frequency Response: 20Hz–20kHz, ±0.5dB all loads. THD+N: 0.007% 1W, 1KHz, 4 ohms. IMD (CCIF): 0.0007%, 1W, 14:15KHz, 4 ohms. Output noise: 90µV RMS A-weighted, 10Hz–20kHz. Damping factor: >1000. Output Impedance at…
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Sidebar 2: Measurements
Since he wrote about them in his March 2009 "Music in the Round" column, Kalman Rubinson has been using as his reference power amplifiers Bel Canto's e.One Ref1000 Mk.2 class-D monoblocks ($5990/pair). Like the original Ref1000, which KR wrote about in November 2006, the Mk.2 (now called Ref1000M) uses Bang & Olufsen's 1000ASP ICEpower modules, but with improvements in mechanical damping, parts selection, and filtering of the residual switching noise present at the amplifier's output. With the Bel Cantos driving his B&W 802D speakers, Kal found the…
Sinatra Jobim: The Complete Reprise Recordings
Concord CRE-32026 (CD). 2010. Sonny Burke, orig. prod.; Lee Herschberg, orig eng.; Hal Gaba, reissue exec. prod.; Charles Pignone, reissue prod.; Larry Walsh, reissue eng.; Dan Hersch, 24-bit remastering. AAD. TT: 58:23
Performance ****
Sonics ****
Concord CRE-32026 (CD). 2010. Sonny Burke, orig. prod.; Lee Herschberg, orig eng.; Hal Gaba, reissue exec. prod.; Charles Pignone, reissue prod.; Larry Walsh, reissue eng.; Dan Hersch, 24-bit remastering. AAD. TT: 58:23
Performance ****
Sonics ****
"Kill the album. Kill the sucker."
Guess who?
Could those words have come from anyone but America's greatest ring-a-ding-ding wannabe gangster, Francis Albert Sinatra? In Sinatra lore, that was what he said to pull the plug on the second of two records he made with…
A funny thing happened at the symphony the other night. A concert by the great Berlin Philharmonic sounded like lousy hi-fi.
It was as if art were imitating bad technology. Ensconced in orchestra seats T1 and T3, designated "Prime Orchestra" in San Francisco's Davies Symphony Hall, I and longtime audio consultant and dealer Tim Marutani were befuddled by what we heard. For all their vaunted superiority, the Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, sounded like a dim, disordered mess. Highs were flat and lifeless, the midrange was muddled, and the deep double basses sounded so…
Over the years that I've been reviewing hi-fi, I've had my share of loudspeakers that drew comments from everyone who visited during the audition period. Some of those comments were about the speakers' appearance—most often about their size—and some were about how good they sounded. Vivid's G1Giya loudspeaker ($65,000/pair), its narrow-baffled, swirling cochlear shape molded from fiber-reinforced composite, elicited more comments of both types than has any other speaker I've reviewed.
This started even before I got them into my living room, as Philip O'Hanlon, of Vivid importer…
The crossover frequencies are 220, 880, and 3500Hz. "As far as the filter order is concerned," says Dickie, "we use Linkwitz-Riley fourth-order acoustic responses; that is to say that the overall responses of each driver and crossover combination are fourth-order. Now, since most drivers have a natural second-order rolloff at their lower end and often a first or second at the top end, this means the electrical network order might only need to be second- or third-order."
Set vivid, detailed goals
Other than accessing their bottom-mounted, biwirable speaker terminals—a two-person job…
"Suite de Caravan," from Jon Hassell's Fascinoma (Water Lily Acoustics, 24/88 FLAC download, HDtracks), sounded amazing through the G1s. I've listened to this track on CD for years, and expected this hi-rez download to sound atmospheric and timbrally alive. What I didn't anticipate was how huge the acoustic space it took place in must have been. A duet between trumpeter Hassell and pianist Jacky Terrasson, it created, through the Vivids, a soundstage that stretched from wall to wall, floor to ceiling, and behind the speakers to some point beyond my front wall. It was, perhaps, the most…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Four-way, five-driver floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive-units (all Tapered tube–loaded, all proprietary to Vivid Audio): 1" (26mm) D26 aluminum-dome tweeter, 2" (50mm) D50 aluminum-dome midrange cone, 4.9" (125mm) C125S aluminum-cone mid-bass driver, two vented, 11" (279mm) C225 aluminum-cone woofers. Crossover: acoustic Linkwitz-Riley, fourth-order. Crossover frequencies: 220, 880, 3.5kHz. Sensitivity: 91dB/2.83V RMS/m, on axis. Impedance: 6 ohms nominal, 4 ohms minimum, low reactance. Frequency range: 23Hz–44kHz, –6dB. Frequency response: 30Hz–…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP, Luxman DU80 universal disc players; Apple Mac mini 2.5GHz laptop with 250GB LaCie hard drive & 2TB Infrant Technologies NAS; Ayre Acoustics QB-9, Bel Canto USB Link 24/96 USB–S/PDIF converter, Bel Canto e.One DAC3/VBS D/A converters.
Preamplifiers: Aesthetix Calypso SE, Ayre Acoustics K-1xe, Luxman C800f.
Power Amplifiers: Luxman B100f, Parasound Halo JC 1 monoblocks; Aesthetix Atlas, Balanced Audio Technology VK-55SE.
Loudspeakers: Thiel CS3.7.
Cables: USB: EntreQ Discover. Interconnect: Shunyata…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
Other than the in-room and nearfield measurements, for which I used an Earthworks QTC-40 microphone, I measured the Vivid G1Giya with DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone. Wes Phillips mentions the fact that the domes of both 50mm upper-midrange units had been damaged late in his auditioning. This occurred after I had performed the in-room measurements but before I took any of the other readings. Vivid sent two replacements, but one of those arrived damaged, apparently at the hands of US customs. Stephen Mejias and I therefore replaced the…