The Audio Physic Scorpio has a high specified sensitivity of 91dB/W/m. However, measured on its tweeter axis without the grille, the speaker appeared to have just above average voltage sensitivity, at an estimated 88.5dB(B)/2.83V/m. Its impedance (fig.1) stays between 4 and 6 ohms over most of the audioband, with a minimum value of 3.6 ohms at 93.5Hz. There is also a combination of 5.2 ohms and a –41° electrical phase angle at 78Hz, which might be taxing for optimistically specified power amplifiers, given that many kinds of music tend to have a lot of energy at…
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Where does one start with the Moscode 401HR? With its design, which marries a tube driver stage to a MOSFET power output? Or perhaps with its designer, George Kaye, who refined Julius Futterman's OTL amplifier circuits before creating New York Audio Labs' original hybrid amplifier, the Moscode 300, in 1984?
Perhaps the most logical place to start is with the 401's "HR" designation, which honors the late Harvey "Gizmo" Rosenberg, a true audio original: champion of the Futterman OTL legacy, founder of New York Audio Labs, and patron and inspiration for George Kaye's forays into…
And I hate to say this, after telling you to make a ritual of installing the darn thing, but it's going to take about 40 hours for the 401HR to run in and start sounding its best. Don't worry—it sounds special from the get-go, just not as good as it's going to.
Heat the beat and the rest'll turn sweet
George Kaye knows his amp. Effortless ain't the half of it. When I pressed Play on Manu Katché's Neighborhood (CD, ECM 1896), Marcin Wasilewski's piano leapt out of the Dynaudio Special Twenty-Five loudspeakers. No, leapt isn't quite the word, but neither is thundered or roared or…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-channel, solid-state power amplifier with tubed input stage. Tube complement: choice of 6H30Pi, 6GU7, 6DJ8, 6922, 6FQ7, 5814, 7730, or 12AU7 (2 each). Tubes supplied: two 6H30Pi, two 6GU7. Maximum output power: 200Wpc into 8 ohms (23dBW), +300W into 4 ohms (21.8dBW), both channels operating. Voltage gain (tube dependent): ca 30–33dB. THD at full output (tube dependent; value with 6H30pi for V101 & 201): <0.15% at full power. Input impedance: 100k ohms. Noise (inputs shorted): <1mV. Power requirements: ca 120W at idle (1A), ca 960W at…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Source: Ayre C5-xe universal player.
Preamplifier: Conrad-Johnson CT5.
Power Amplifier: Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 300.
Loudspeakers: Dynaudio Special Twenty-Five, Thiel CS2.4.
Cables: Interconnect: Shunyata Research Aries, Stereovox Colibri. Speaker: Shunyata Research Lyra, Stereovox Firebird. AC: Shunyata Research Anaconda & Orion.
Accessories: Audience adeptResponse power conditioner, Shunyata Research Hydra power-distribution system; OSAR Selway/Magruder equipment racks; Ayre Myrtle Wood Blocks.—Wes Phillips
Sidebar 3: Measurements
Our review sample of the Moscode 401HR was fitted with 6H30Pi and 6GU7 tubes. I preconditioned the amplifier by running it for 60 minutes at 67Wpc (one-third the specified power) with both channels driven into 8 ohms. With the amplifier cold, the THD+noise was 0.049%; this rose very slightly to 0.06% with the amplifier fully warmed up. By the end of the preconditioning period the shielded heatsinks were too hot to touch, but the chassis temperature was acceptably low at around 50°C.
The amplifier preserved absolute polarity (ie, was noninverting) and…
You've heard it said that the early bird catches the worm, which is all well and good if you like worms. If you're more interested in music, you might want to follow the lead of Roy Gandy instead: He's the managing director of Rega Research, a 331/3-year-old audio company that was the very last of its kind to enter the CD market. Rega's first CD player, the Planet of 1996, was a success in virtually every way.
The world has moved on since then, for better and for worse: better in the sense that digital sound has continued to improve, worse in the sense that the major corporations…
As far as the control interface is concerned, the Apollo provides only one small surprise: After a disc is loaded and the transport door closes, the player doesn't respond to further user input for about eight seconds, during which time "INITIALISING" (spelled, or rather spelt, just so) remained on the display. I could, and often did, press the start button repeatedly, but the Apollo ignored me until it was ready. The culprit, if you want to call it that, is the new Cambridge-sourced chipset and its attendant surplus of memory: Each time the user loads a new disc, the Apollo reads the whole…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Single-box CD player. Formats supported: CD, CD-R, MP3, WMA. Digital output jacks: RCA, optical. Analog output jacks: RCA. Maximum output level: 2.0V RMS. Power consumption: 12W.
Dimensions: 17" (435mm) W by 3.9" (100mm) H by 10.5" (270mm) D. Weight: 8 lbs (3.64kg).
Serial Number Of Unit Reviewed: 036792.
Price: $995. Approximate number of dealers: 115.
Manufacturer: Rega Research Ltd., 119 Park Street, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex SS0 7PD, England, UK. Tel: (44) 1702-333071. Web: www.rega.co.uk. US distributor: The Sound Organisation, 11140…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Linn LP12 turntable with Naim Armageddon power supply; Naim Aro tonearm; Miyabi 47, Linn Akiva, Brinkmann/EMT cartridges; Tamura TKS-83 moving-coil step-up transformer.
Digital Sources: Naim CD5x, Ayre CX-7e CD players; Sony SCD-777ES SACD/CD player.
Preamplifiers: Linn Linto phono preamplifier; Audio Note M3 Phono, Naim NAC 32.5 preamplifier.
Power Amplifiers: Lamm ML2.1 monoblocks, Yamamoto A-08, Naim NAP 110.
Loudspeakers: Quad ESL-989, Audio Note AN-E Lexus Signature, Lowther PMM6a drivers in modified Medallion horns.
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