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That technique will also lessen the severity of tics and pops on mono records, because it increases the amplitude of the music signal relative to, and separate from, the noise. Also, keep in mind that, on a mono LP, dirt and damage exist as vertical groove "modulations" (of the unintentional sort): They're the only things, apart from warps, that will move the stylus and generator up and down. In a two-channel groove, the only other time you see a purely vertical modulation is with left- and right-channel signals that are equal in frequency and amplitude but out of phase with each other.…
Walking through the circus that was WCES '95 was like undergoing total neural-synaptic overload. I felt hard-pressed to just keep my head above water separating good sound from bad. Trying to piece together a coherent picture of the show, I jotted down the components in the best systems that I'd heard, and a few items popped up with astonishing regularity. One of these was Audio Research's single-chassis CD player, the CD-1.
Well, I thought, ARC probably sent a lot of them out to exhibitors—after all, it's cheaper than separates. But then I started getting feedback from totally…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: CD player with remote control and digital outputs. Optical pickup: 3-beam LDGU with holographic diffraction light pen. Laser: GaAlAs semiconductor, 780nm wavelength, 0.5mW maximum output. Servo: Digitally controlled low-inertia linear positioning actuator. Jitter reduction: High-stability crystal-controlled reclocking for all outputs. Analog outputs: balanced on XLR jacks, unbalanced on RCA jacks. Digital outputs: one S/PDIF on RCA jack, one AES/EBU on XLR jack, one AT&T ST-Type optical, one TosLink optical. Output impedance: 350 ohms balanced,…
Sidebar 2: Measurements
The CD-1's maximum output level was 2.08V from the unbalanced jacks, 4.15V from the balanced. Output impedance measured a moderate 330 ohms (balanced) and 165 ohms (unbalanced). DC levels were unmeasurable, and the CD-1 doesn't invert absolute polarity.
Fig.1 is the CD-1's frequency response and de-emphasis error. The 0.8dB rolloff at 20kHz is greater than what we measure in most CD players and digital processors, and may be on the threshold of audibility as a slight reduction in top-octave air. The lower pair of traces in fig.1 shows a positive de-…
Thomas J. Norton wrote about the CD-1 in November 1996 (Vol.19 No.11):
By a lucky coincidence, we had a new sample of the Audio Research CD-1 CD player on hand, awaiting a Follow-Up by Wes Phillips. Since the ARC is directly competitive with the Sony CDP-XA7ES in price, a comparison of the two machines was a no-brainer.
The most obvious difference between the two players was the Sony's richer, fuller sound. On Dead Can Dance's Into the Labyrinth (4AD 45384-2)—beautifully recorded in a natural church acoustic—the CD-1 was a little brighter and more obviously detailed on top, the…
THE MAVERICKS: Trampoline
MCA MCAD-70018A (HDCD). 1998. Raul Malo, Don Cook, prods. AAD? TT: 57:50
Performance *****
Sonics *****
MCA MCAD-70018A (HDCD). 1998. Raul Malo, Don Cook, prods. AAD? TT: 57:50
Performance *****
Sonics *****
Once upon a time there was a band from South Florida who wore cowboy garb and had a singer of Cuban ancestry who sounded a lot like Roy Orbison. Soon the big boys from Nashville came down and signed this band up. Everyone was so happy—this li'l ol' multicultural act was going up to Tennessee to squeeze into the country-music mold and make lots of money.
Trouble was, the band had a different ending to their fairy tale in mind.…
The Canadian audio industry has been mounting a challenge to other high-end manufacturers over the past few years. Ask any audiophile about Canadian audio manufacturers and chances are that he or she will have no trouble rattling off a string of respected names—Classé, Museatex, Sonic Frontiers, Mirage, PSB, Paradigm, Energy. And Bryston.
Bryston may be the most senior of the bunch. Founded in the early '60s, it has been manufacturing continuously ever since, exporting a good proportion of its wares to the US. Unlike most high-end manufacturers, however, it targets the…
Resisting the strong temptation to hitch ol' Betsy to the sleigh and wassail Stereophile's neighbors, I switched to something a bit more summery—the terrific new orchestral soundtrack from Jurassic Park (MCA MCAD-10859). It begins with three powerful drum strokes (use caution with this if your loudspeakers lack power-handling capability in the deep bass). The drum strokes were powerful and solid through the Brystons, definitely on the full side of neutral but not unnaturally so. The drums were also placed at a convincing depth. Later in the recording the full orchestra enters, and there was…
Sidebar 1: 7B Specifications
Description: Solid-state monoblock power amplifier. Class of operation: AB2. Balanced and unbalanced inputs. Rated power output: 500W continuous sinewave power into 8 ohms (27dBW), 800W continuous sinewave power into 4 ohms (26dBW). Distortion: less than 0.01%, 20Hz-20kHz at 500W, IM or THD. Rated slew rate: greater than 60V/µs, parallel mode, 120V/µs, series mode. Sensitivity: 1V for full output. Rated input impedance: 10k ohms. Rated full-power bandwidth: 1Hz-100kHz. Damping factor: over 300 at 20Hz, ref. 8 ohms.
Dimensions: 19" W by 5.25" H by 15.5" D.…
Sidebar 2: 7B Measurements
Following its one-hour, 1/3-power preconditioning, the Bryston 7B was hot all over—heatsinks, top, back, and front panel. Too hot to touch comfortably for more than an instant, it nevertheless continued to operate without malfunctioning. I should point out that this preconditioning test is a worst-case operating mode for a class-B output stage. In normal use, the 7Bs ran cool enough that you could leave a hand on them all day long.
As noted above, the Bryston 7B is actually two different amps, depending on whether it's hooked up in its series or…