Measuring the behavior of a speaker as large and heavy as the Focal Maestro Utopia III is problematic. Ultimately, I had to perform the acoustic measurements with the speaker in my listening room. Even though I maneuvered one of the Maestros as far as I could from the sidewalls and fired it along one of the room's diagonals, in order to push back room reflections as far as possible in time after the arrival of the speaker's direct sound at the microphone, the results don't have as much resolution in the midrange as I would have liked, or as I routinely achieve…
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YSAE KREISLER BACH
J.S. Bach: Partita No.2, BWV 1004, Kreisler: Recitativo & Scherzo, Op.6, Ysaÿe: Sonata, Op.27 No.2
Arturo Delmoni, violin
Water Lily Acoustics WLA-WS-07 (LP), WLA-WS-07-CD (CD). Kavichandran Alexander, eng., prod. AAA/AAD. Subsequently released on CD as John Marks Records CD JMR 14G (footnote 1). TT: 48:03
J.S. Bach: Partita No.2, BWV 1004, Kreisler: Recitativo & Scherzo, Op.6, Ysaÿe: Sonata, Op.27 No.2
Arturo Delmoni, violin
Water Lily Acoustics WLA-WS-07 (LP), WLA-WS-07-CD (CD). Kavichandran Alexander, eng., prod. AAA/AAD. Subsequently released on CD as John Marks Records CD JMR 14G (footnote 1). TT: 48:03
This recording ought to come with a pedigree. In fact, the first spread of the CD booklet practically is a pedigree. This is blueblood audiophilia all the way. People listed as being involved, one way or another, include Tim de Paravicini, Jason…
Snickering was heard from the major consumer electronics purveyors when California Audio Labs came out with the original Tempest, their first CD player using tube output stages. But not from the audiophile community. It was, all things considered, an inevitable product; I'm certainly not the only one who wondered—before the emergence of California Audio Labs—who would be the first to build such a unit. The obvious candidates were Audio Research or Conrad-Johnson. But those companies apparently read the audio tea-leaves and, perhaps perceiving the early high-end hostility toward the new…
My initial sample of the Tempest emitted a loud mechanical buzz, which turned out to originate in one of the transformers on the main chassis. It also sounded off with a loud thumping noise when playing a disc. A return to CAL resulted in a quick fix to the transformer; they never could find what caused the transport noise. In any event, elves must have repaired it en route; the noise has not recurred.
Sound Quality
If a CD player can be said to define the standard in any particular area, the Tempest II certainly does that through the vital midrange. This is the heart of the…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-chassis CD player with tubed output stage. Tube complement: 6 6DJ8s. D/A conversion: 16-bit 4x oversampling. Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz –0.05dB. S/N ratio: 105dB. THD: 0.03% (at 1kHz).
Dimensions: Player, 19" W by 5.5" H by 12.25" D. Power supply, same. Weight: 22 lbs (player), 22 lbs (power supply).
Price: $2995 (1988); no longer available (2010). Approximate number of dealers: 70 (1988).
Manufacturer: California Audio Labs, Garden Grove, CA 92641 (1988); Sensory Science Corporation, a division of SONICblue Inc., Santa Clara, CA (…
Sidebar 2: Review System
My auditions of the Tempest II were conducted hard on the heels of the Marantz CD-94 review and used the same system: Klyne SK-5A preamp, Motif MS100 power amp, B&W 801 Matrix loudspeakers on Sound Anchor stands with Monster Cable M-1000 interconnects and M-1 loudspeaker cable.—Thomas J. Norton
In a way, you could say that Meridian started the now epidemic practice of modifying stock CD players (usually of the Philips-Magnavox species). The original Meridian player, the MCD, was a reworking of the first-generation Philips and was praised by J. Gordon Holt in these pages in his 1985 review (Vol.8 No.2). The Meridian Pro (Vol.8 No.6) won similar plaudits, and is still to be seen lurking in JA's system. And the original 207 was well-received by MC in Vol.10 No.3.
The latter was designed around the Philips 14-bit, 4x oversampling technique (as the earlier Meridian players had been…
The manual supplied with the Meridian is thorough, but fails to explain the function of several of the six LEDs configured in two columns in the center of the display panel. The first indicates the selection of CD absolute-phase reversal. Below that is a display indication which lights up on selection of any of the special display modes. Repeat play selection is indicated by the third LED. The second column gives unique information not provided by most players. The top light (EQ) indicates if the disc was recorded with pre-emphasis (used in a distinct minority of recordings, if my…
Perhaps more than any other characteristic, the 207 excelled in the ability to extract a natural sense of the performing soundspace from the best CDs. I've used (and referred to) Two Gentlemen Folk (Telarc CD-84401) frequently in the past. The two audience sing-alongs on this recording ("The Leaving of Liverpool" and "Waltzing Matilda," footnote 4) are good indicators of depth and ambience. Through the 207, the audience on both of these selections was spread wide and deep behind the soloists. This is an artifact, of course; the audience should actually be positioned around and behind the…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid-state CD player with integral line-level preamplifier. Phono stage (moving-coil/moving-magnet) optional. D/A Conversion: 16-bit, 4x oversampling. Frequency response: unspecified. S/N: greater than 90dB. THD: less than 0.004%.
Dimensions: Transport and control unit, each 6.3" W by 3.9" H by 12.6" D. Weight: 18 lbs.
Price: $1990. Phono stage: $250 (option). 209 remote: $150 (option), 1988; no longer available, 2010. Approximate number of dealers: 55.
Manufacturer: Boothroyd Stuart Ltd., Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire UK. Imported by…