A Follow-Up appeared in Stereophile October 2001, Vol.24 No.10 When Acarian Systems announced an upgrade for my reference Alón Circe loudspeaker (reviewed by Wes Phillips and Jonathan Scull in the May 1999 and April 2000 issues, respectively), I couldn't wait to have the pair I had purchased updated to the latest spec. The Circe upgrade actually incorporates three distinct modifications:
• A new woofer, which, via an improved voice-coil, is designed to provide lower electrical distortion as well as higher power-handling capabilities. (Designer Carl Marchisotto pointed out to me…
Robert J. Reina wrote about the Circe Mk.III in September 2004 (Vol.27 No.9):
I was very impressed with the Mk.II update of my reference Alón by Acarian Systems Circe loudspeaker (Stereophile, October 2001, Vol.24 No.10). Compared with the original Circe, reviewed by Wes Phillips in Vol.22 No.5 and Jonathan Scull in Vol.23 No.4, the Mk.II ($12,000/pair) featured a more rigid cabinet and a lower-distortion woofer. Although I have not been a fan of all of Carl Marchisotto's designs over the years, the Circe Mk.II gave me everything I was looking for in a reference speaker: overall low…
While walking home from the office the other day I passed a gleaming, perfectly detailed Harley-Davidson, lightly customized, as many are these days. I didn't stop and drool, but I couldn't unsnap my eyes from it. As I drew parallel to that hawg, a Ricky Martin look-alike threw his leg over the saddle and thumbed the starter. No, you don't have to be a tattooed, beer-gutted redneck anymore to rear up and slam down on a kick-starter of one of those beasts. These days, it's all done with the push of a button. Dude. Whirr...whirr...whirr...ka-BLAM! The bike didn't so much start as explode…
'Round back, just like the McIntosh MC2000 tube amp (which I reviewed last March), multiple "Autoformer" output taps offer 2, 4, and 8 ohm connections on heavy WBT five-way binding posts with multiple neutral taps so you don't have to make your cables say "ahhh." There's not much clearance between the back panel and the binding posts, so getting a grip on the WBTs can be a little stressful for pudgy audiophile fingers and bad Boomer knees. But the big WBTs, just as are found on the rear of the JMlab Utopias, are large, beautifully made connectors with integral locking mechanisms. Their use,…
How low can you go? "Output distortion is so low," claims McIntosh, "it defies measurement, even with the finest distortion analyzers. At mid-frequencies, 8 ohm load, the distortion meter reads the residual distortion of the test oscillator (0.0002%) with or without the MC1201 in the circuit. This means the amplifier distortion is lower than the analyzer is capable of measuring." The signal is fed to the positive inputs of the balanced differential stages. Feedback from the amplifier outputs is applied to the inputs, and the differential amplifiers drive a balanced Darlington-connected…
Setup
It's funny—sometimes I can drop a component into the system and reach almost immediate sonic harmony. Most of the time, the process is more laborious. I keep three or four preamps around here, several amps and digital front-ends, several families of cables, all of which I've used over the past few years, and the sound of each is a familiar treat. I have a good instinct for what'll work and what won't. In general, I don't feed a high-output-impedance preamplifier (Balanced Audio Technology, Conrad-Johnson) into low-impedance amplifier inputs (Linn, McIntosh). When a component is…
For instant sonic bliss, turn to track 5 of Modern Jazz Quartet (EastWest Japan AMCY1165). That's Jerome Kern's "Yesterdays," followed immediately by "Bags' Groove," another on my all-time hit parade. As Bags beat his vibes, I tapped: "It's thrilling to get this close to the music, to cozy up and feel without effort the 'vision' of the composer or performer playing out before me. That's certainly one of the privileges of being an audiophile, no? I think if more people realized how effectively audiophiles escape by 'levitating into the audiophile zone,' the High End would succeed more widely…
Sidebar 1: Specifications Description: Solid-state monoblock power amplifier with output load impedance terminals for 8, 4, and 2 ohms. Output power: 1200W into 8, 4, or 2 ohms (30.8dBW, 27.8dBW, 24.8dBW, respectively), minimum sinewave continuous average power output rated 20Hz-20kHz. Output RMS voltage: 98V across 8 ohms, 69.3V across 4 ohms, 49V across 2 ohms. THD: 0.005% maximum from 250mW to rated power output. Intermodulation distortion: SMPTE 0.005% maximum if instantaneous peak power output does not exceed twice the output power rating. Dynamic headroom: 2.1dB. Frequency…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment Analog source: Forsell Air Force One turntable, van den Hul Grasshopper Gold cartridge.
Digital source: Linn CD12, dCS 972 and Purcell D/D converters, Elgar Plus D/A processor.
Preamplifiers: Balanced Audio Technology VK-50SE, Mark Levinson No.32 Reference, Conrad-Johnson 16LS.
Power amplifiers: Krell FPB 350MC and Linn Klimax Solo 500 monoblocks, Forsell Statement.
Loudspeakers: JMlab Utopia.
Cables: Digital: XLO The Limited, RCA and AES/EBU. Interconnects: Cardas Golden Reference, TARA The One, Synergistic Research Designer's Reference…
Sidebar 3: Measurements My usual practice is to subject amplifiers to a one-hour preconditioning period at 1/3 power. In the case of the humongous McIntosh MC1201, that meant 400W into 8 ohms from its 8 ohm output transformer tap. (One-third power is chosen because this maximally thermally stresses an amplifier with a class-B output stage.) To my surprise, the MC1201 shut down after 40 minutes or so, its heatsinks too hot to touch. This happened again during the testing. Each time, the MC1201 could be reset once it had cooled down, but this suggests that the amplifier is not recommended…
