Analog sources: VPI TNT Mk.IV, Rega Planar 3 turntables; Immedia, Syrinx PU-3 tonearms; Koetsu Urushi, Clearaudio Aurum Beta S cartridges.
Digital sources: California Audio Labs Icon Mk.II Power Boss, Creek CD53 Mk.II CD players.
Preamplification: Vendetta Research SCP-2D phono stage, Audible Illusions Modulus L1 line stage.
Power amplifier: Audio Research VT100 Mk.II.
Integrated amplifiers: Creek 5350SE, JoLida JD-101A.
Cables: Interconnect: MIT MI-350 CVTwin Terminator, MIT MI-330SG, MIT Terminator 2. Speaker: Acarian Systems Black…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The little Mission m71 is quite sensitive, 2.83V raising a B-weighted SPL of 88.5dB(B) at 1m. It is also moderately easy to drive, with an impedance (fig.1) that drops to just below 4 ohms in the lower midrange and an electrical phase angle that exceeds 30 degrees only when the impedance magnitude is fairly high. The saddle at 58Hz in the magnitude trace indicates the tuning of the rear-facing port.
Fig.1 Mission m71, electrical impedance (solid) and phase (dashed). (2 ohms/vertical div.)
Although it won't be seen at the scale this graph…
The crossover appears to use symmetrical second-order acoustic slopes, and the woofer's out-of-band behavior is well-controlled. There is a lack of midrange energy apparent, and perhaps a very slight rising trend in the treble—BJR said that "A slight highlighting of this range manifested itself in different ways, depending on the recording." Although the treble rise is balanced by a similar rise in the upper bass, it should be noted that this is almost entirely due to the nearfield measurement technique's assumption of a half-sphere acoustic environment. The m71's -6dB point compared with…
"Sony. Sony. No Baloney."
I bought into that for a series of Sony clock radios, TVs, and VCRs, but I've never bought a Sony audio product. (Well, years ago I did buy a Sony receiver for my daughter...) Sony always seemed too mass-market and non-specialist to stir my audiophile passions.
Lately, however, Sony has staunchly promoted Super Audio CD as the perfectionist's medium for uncompromised music reproduction, and has supported that perfectionism with the impressive SCD-1 and SCD-777ES SACD players. At the Home Entertainment 2001 Show last May, Sony presented what I'm…
If you have only two speakers/channels, then you default to two-channel and use the two-channel analog outputs and/or, for CDs, the digital output. You can set the XA777ES to use the six-channel jacks for two-channel SACD if you have a subwoofer, but this won't work for CD—speaker/bass management is accomplished by a newly developed DSD-DSP LSI chip, through which passes only DSD (not PCM) signals. Moreover, in this mode, the XA777ES can't divert its multiple DACs to the stereo analog outputs, and you can't enjoy the advantages of the paralleled DACs through your main speakers.
Sony docs…
Switching over to two-channel SACDs—or, indeed, switching from the CD to the SACD layer of hybrid discs—was similarly edifying. There's no question in my mind that the resolving power and ease of reproduction presented by the SACD layer is easily detected with the SCD-XA777ES. I found that Opus3's Test CD-4 SACD (CD19420) and DMP's Multichannel Reference CD (SACD-16) offered demonstrations of this on every track. My favorite example is Duke Ellington's "Black Beauty" on the Opus3 disc, from Tomas Ornberg's Blue Five featuring Kenny Davern. The CD version is very nice and, probably, familiar…
After listening to the Berlioz disc, which I found sonically impressive but musically unfulfilling, I was much more fascinated by Benjamin Zander and the Philharmonia Orchestra's new recording of Mahler's Symphony 5 (Telarc 2SACD-60569). This ain't your father's Mahler 5; it's nervous and unsettled, and even the Adagietto never seems to find ease enough to take a full breath. So, while I might not return to it for pure satisfaction as frequently as to other Mahler 5s, it communicates with an intensity made possible by a superb multichannel presentation that absorbs me in the experience more…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Multichannel SACD/CD player with dual-laser pickups and full remote control. Six-channel analog output (RCA) for multichannel, two analog outputs (RCA) with paralleled DACs for two-channel stereo. Bass management with level/balance control for SACD only. Two digital filter characteristics and two digital outputs (optical Toslink, electrical RCA) for CD replay only. Frequency ranges: 2Hz-20kHz (CD); 2Hz-100kHz, SACD. Frequency response: -3dB at 50kHz, SACD. Dynamic ranges: >108dB SACD, >100dB CD. THD: <0.0012% SACD, <0.0018% CD. Wow and…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Stereo System:
Sources: Heybrook TT2/SME III/Ortofon SME30H, California Audio Labs CL-20 and Meridian 800 DVD/CD players, Meridian 508-24 CD player, Mark Levinson No.360 D/A processor.
Preamps: Sonic Frontiers Line-3, Audiolab 8000PPA phono stage, TacT RCS 2.0 Digital EQ/Room Correction.
Power Amps: Bel Canto EVo 200.2 (monoblock pair), McCormack DNA-1 (with SMc Rev.A modifications), Sonic Frontiers Power-3.
Loudspeakers: Revel Ultima Studio.
Cables: Power Cords: PS Audio Lab Cables. DAC-preamp interconnects: AudioQuest Anaconda Balanced…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The measurements were all performed from the SCD-XA777ES's front left and right output jacks, which benefit from the paralleled DAC chips. The Sony's maximum output level from SACD was 2.02V, which was a little higher (0.26dB) than from CD. Be warned: This will be audible in A/B comparisons, and will favor the hi-rez format. The output impedance was a low 110 ohms across most of the audioband, rising inconsequentially to 132 ohms, and the player preserved absolute polarity. Error correction was superb—the Sony played the Pierre Verany test CD without glitches to…