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Krell KAV-300<I>cd</I> CD player Measurements

Sidebar 3: Measurements

I measured the Krell's performance from both its balanced and unbalanced outputs. Except where noted, my comments refer to the balanced outputs. With a full-level 1kHz sinewave, its output was 4V from the balanced outputs, 2V from the unbalanced. Channel balance was superb at within 0.01dB. The output impedance was a low 16 ohms from the unbalanced outputs, 32 ohms from the balanced. Absolute polarity was correct from both sets of outputs, the balanced wired with pin 2 hot.

The KAV-300cd's frequency response is shown in fig.1: absolutely flat from 10Hz to…

Krell KAV-300<I>cd</I> CD player Audio Research CD2 Comparison

Wes Phillips compared the Krell with the Audio Research CD2 in April 1998 (Vol.21 No.4):

Comparing the Krell KAV-300cd with the Audio Research CD2, it was déjà vu all over again, to resort to that overworked phrase. The difference in slam was discernible, but the Audio Research certainly didn't sound anemic or deficient, nor did the Krell sound too bass-heavy. The presentations were just different. This doesn't mean that there was nothing to choose among the two. If only it were that easy...

Some will find the Krell more up-front in perspective, preferring the smoothness of the…

The 5th Element #27

What has happened will happen again, and what has been done will be done again, and there is nothing new under the sun.—Ecclesiastes 1:9

The author of Ecclesiastes was a world-weary chap. He beat the existentialists at their own game, and he did it nearly three millennia before they even suited up. (As Mark Twain noted, those dead guys stole all our best ideas.) I think that the reason the author of Ecclesiastes' writing still resonates with so many people is that, over the run of human experience, he ends up being right enough of the time that you can't discount his attitude out of hand…

The 5th Element #27 Page 2

As I said, the Stuart & Sons piano represents a radical rethinking of string coupling—and, it should be obvious, a very complete rethinking. Wayne Stuart has been working to bring his vision to reality for about 20 years. It shows, in both the attention to detail and the sonic results. However, even if I had heard the pianos live, which I have not, it might be difficult to apportion credit for the quality of the sound between the bridge agraffe and the underlying reality that Stuart & Sons pianos are designed and built to the highest standards of craftsmanship, and with jovial, even…

Sellout!?

Alicia Holt, aged 18 months, devours her father's magazine

After much searching of soul and of bank account, we have reached an earth-shattering decision. The Stereophile is going to start taking ads.

Before you throw your hands up in horror and scream "Sellout", though, bear with us for another couple of paragraphs while we explain why this decision on our part need not prompt you to cancel your subscription immediately.

First of all, we are not considering, and neither will we consider, taking ads from manufacturers. There is just too intimate a relationship between a…

Sellout!? Page 2

We have, you will note, made this issue a bit fatter than usual to compensate, somewhat, for its lateness. But please, don't expect an 80-page issue every 3 months. We'll never go back to our original 32-page count, but neither have we any intention of getting involved in an obesity race with our "competitors." We try, most of the time, to make our copy brief and concise rather than sprawly and verbose, and we'll have another 80-page issue only if:

(1) We are deluged with ads, and must add extra text pages to maintain a decent ad/text ratio, or

(2) There is too much to report on…

NAD C370 integrated amplifier

NAD has been out there on the leading edge of entry-level high-end sound long enough that some audiophiles reckon they invented the category. Sure, we should give serious props to the likes of Creek, Rotel, Musical Fidelity, Arcam, Denon, and Parasound, all of which have made significant contributions to the musical aspirations of budget-conscious pilgrims. But I continue to harbor warm feelings about my last extended visit with an NAD component: the inexpensive yet supremely musical L40 CD Receiver, which I reviewed in the June 2000 Stereophile.

The new C370 was designed to…

NAD C370 integrated amplifier Page 2

System, Setup, Space
I did much of my auditioning of the NAD in my wife Mary's heavily carpeted, 12' by 17' by 10' piano studio. The current reference rig in Mary's room is fairly simple but decidedly hi-rez, and tweaked for all it's worth. There's the rich, dynamic-sounding, 85Wpc Musical Fidelity A3 integrated amplifier and its smooth, holographic sister, the A3 CD player. A pair of Synergistic Research Kaleidoscope Phase 2 interconnects (with a Master Power Coupler) link amp and source, both of which are equipped with a truly dramatic enhancement: the JPS Labs Kaptovator power cord…

NAD C370 integrated amplifier Page 3

The Musical Fidelity A3 offered more liquidity and tube-like richness in the same signal chain. The C370's non-intrusive tone controls permitted supple, subtle adjustments without changing the overall tonal balance, though in so doing I became aware of a slight reduction in the retrieval of ambient information, at which the C370 more than held its own with its more expensive integrated brethren.

The C370 held its own so well that I was inspired to reach for Benjamin Zander and the Philharmonia Orchestra's new multichannel hybrid CD/SACD recording of Mahler's Symphony 5 (Telarc 2SACD-…

NAD C370 integrated amplifier Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Description: Remote-controlled integrated amplifier with seven line-level inputs (including two tape in/record out); preamp out/main in, and a second preamp out with up to 12dB attenuation; NAD Link; Soft Clipping and Bridging switches. Output power: 120Wpc (20.8dBW), continuous average power into 8 ohms, both channels driven. IHF dynamic headroom into 8 ohms: 3dB. IHF dynamic power (8, 4, 2 ohms): 210W, 340W, 450W. Frequency response: 20Hz-20kHz, ±0.3dB. THD: 0.03%. S/N Ratio (A-weighted, ref. 1W): 94dB. Damping factor (ref. 8 ohm 1kHz): >150. Preamp output…