Furthermore, this review addresses a complaint often directed against reviews and reviewers: that we rarely spend enough time with a component to gain a properly balanced, long-term perspective. While a couple of…
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Ten years ago, I'd probably have got pretty good odds from industry insiders on a bet that Stereophile would still be reviewing phono cartridges into the new millennium. Linn's Arkiv B may not be a brand-new design—I heard my first sample in mid-1997—but phono-cartridge technology is about as stable as anything in hi-fi today. This Stereophile review is long overdue.
Getting the bottom end right
I suspect I've remained loyal to Linn cartridges over the years because I've always found them superior to the competition through the bass region. For me, at least, music builds from the foundation of the bass, and getting the bottom end as tight and coherent as possible is more important than worrying about the midband and top end. Linn's three-point headshell mount undoubtedly helps, and is one advantage that Linn holds over other high-end rivals. (To my knowledge, only Rega has emulated this, in a moving-magnet design.)
I suspect I've remained loyal to Linn cartridges over the years because I've always found them superior to the competition through the bass region. For me, at least, music builds from the foundation of the bass, and getting the bottom end as tight and coherent as possible is more important than worrying about the midband and top end. Linn's three-point headshell mount undoubtedly helps, and is one advantage that Linn holds over other high-end rivals. (To my knowledge, only Rega has emulated this, in a moving-magnet design.)
When I changed from the Arkiv…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Low-output moving-coil cartridge. Stylus: line contact. Recommended tracking force: 1.8-2.0gm. Pin connection type: flying wire. Recommended load: >50 ohms. Separation at 1kHz: >30dB. Channel balance at 1kHz: ±0.5dB. Output at 1kHz (3.45cm/s): 400µV. Recommended tonearm: rigid, medium mass.
Weight: 7.4gm.
Serial numbers of units reviewed: 5166, 5675.
Price: $2200. Approximate number of dealers: 100.
Manufacturer: Linn Products Ltd., Floors Road, Waterfoot, Glasgow G76 0EP, Scotland, UK. Tel: (44) 141-307-7777. Fax: (44) 141-644-4262…
Sidebar2 : Associated Equipment
Analog source: Linn Sondek LP12 turntable, Ekos tonearm, Lingo power supply, Linto phono preamp; Linn Sondek LP12 turntable, Naim ARO tonearm, Armageddon power supply, Naim Prefix phono preamp; Rega Planar 9 turntable.
Preamplification: Naim NAC52 preamplifier; Lavardin IT integrated amplifier.
Power amplifiers: Naim NAP135 monoblocks, Mana Stealth MA-1.
Loudspeakers: Rehdeko RK175, JMlab Mezzo Utopia, Wilson Benesch A.C.T. One, Spendor BC1, and a hundred or so others.
Accessories: Support furniture by Mana, Townsend, Sound Organisation.—Paul…
Thanks to all the "Fine Tuners" out there who filled the room early on Sunday morning at the Home Entertainment 2001 Show in May for my "Fine Tunes Clinic." And thanks to Victor Tiscareno of Audio Prism/Red Rose Music for the "technical stiffening." I applaud all your intelligent curiosity, questions, and tales of woe and success. Let's do it again.
My e-mail bag has been fairly stuffed recently with all kinds of interesting and slightly bizarre tweaks, all which I'll eventually discuss. This month, it's lasers.
Lasers can be very useful in lining up speakers to best effect in…
"When it comes to video, most audiophiles are insufferable snobs."—J. Gordon Holt, 1984
"If your magazine doesn't give coverage to video products, it's finished." If I heard one high-end audio personality at the recent Las Vegas Winter CES tell me that Stereophile should start devoting more space to video and home theater, I heard fifty.
And with good reason: Although the "marriage of audio and video" has been a much-touted factoid in the past, the last two years have breathed life into it. The statistics may show that audio separates purchases are falling (footnote 1), but audio…
Although audiophiles may muster little enthusiasm for the home-theater-driven audio marketplace of the 21st century, its prerequisites have inspired manufacturers to cram as wide a range of flexible programming features into as highly resolved a set of performance packages as possible. Thus we're now witnessing a new generation of exceptionally musical electronics with high-end performance targeted at two-channel enthusiasts, but all primped and prepped for integration into an expanded audio-video rig.
It's just such a systems approach that Arcam used in their attempt to satisfy…
Quiet as it's Kept
I could readily appreciate the appeal of the Arcam A85's programming features, though they were largely irrelevant to this two-channel devotee's enjoyment of the sound. Still, I messed around a bit with the basic control functions, accessed by pushing the remote's Select button. The A85's tone controls were subtle and transparent: Bass added a touch of impact to the sound without exciting any ultra-low-bass colorations or upper-bass murk, while Treble contributed extra presence; only in its most cranked position did I perceive an increase in brightness.
I could readily appreciate the appeal of the Arcam A85's programming features, though they were largely irrelevant to this two-channel devotee's enjoyment of the sound. Still, I messed around a bit with the basic control functions, accessed by pushing the remote's Select button. The A85's tone controls were subtle and transparent: Bass added a touch of impact to the sound without exciting any ultra-low-bass colorations or upper-bass murk, while Treble contributed extra presence; only in its most cranked position did I perceive an increase in brightness.
The more…
However, the A85's ease and smoothness were intoxicating in their own way. Politeness shouldn't be mistaken for reticence; for all its prissiness with small gestures, this DiVA never demurred in the face of large-scale crescendos and demands for sudden bursts of power. It was telling how well the A85 sorted out all the little textural and percussive nuances of Jascha Heifetz's bowing while maintaining the distinction between his dynamic foreground presence and that of the supporting orchestra on the superb new JVC XRCD remastering of the famous 1950s RCA Red Seal recording of Tchaikovsky's…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Remote-controlled integrated amplifier. Inputs: 7 line-level: 2 Tape In/Rec Out (one can double as a VCR or second audio tape source), Power In/Pre Out, optional MM/MC cartridge module. Voltage selector and trigger out. Two sets of speaker terminals configured to British Federation of Audio standards. Power output: 85Wpc continuous average power into 8 ohms (19.3dBW), both channels driven. Frequency response: 20Hz-20kHz, ±0.25dB. Distortion (80% power at 1kHz): 0.005%. Nominal preamp output level and output impedance: 700mV; ±3 ohms. Line and tape…