Sidebar 3: Measurements The Legend Starlet is about as basic an integrated amplifier as you can imagine: three inputs, a selector switch, and a volume control. There's no tape loop, so it wasn't possible to distinguish in the measurements between the active preamplifier section's contribution and that of the power-amp section. The significance of this will become apparent.
Maximum voltage gain into 8 ohms was lower than usual at 38.33dB; a sensible design choice, in my opinion, given that almost all preamps have too much gain for the power amps with which they'll be used. With…
Legend states in its literature that the Starlet's measured performance will be worse than that of a "$100 RadioShack amplifier." This was certainly the case when I examined the amplifier's levels of distortion. The literature implies that the Starlet's higher-than-usual THD number was deliberate and "contributes to the perception of power." But when you look at fig.3, which shows the percentage of THD+noise plotted against frequency at 2.83V into a variety of loads, including a simulated loudspeaker, it is difficult, for me at least, to sympathize with this design approach. Levels of THD…
Second-harmonic distortion is surprisingly euphonic; the ear can tolerate reasonably high levels of it, due to psychoacoustic masking and the fact that the second harmonic has a musically consonant octave relationship with the fundamental tone. But the same bent transfer function that gives rise to the harmonic distortion, if too bent will also produce high levels of intermodulation distortion, which is subjectively far more damaging to music. Fig.7 shows the spectrum of the Starlet's output while it struggles to reproduce a 1:1 mix of 19 and 20kHz tones at an indicated 6W into 4 ohms, just…
Sidebar 4: Manufacturer's Comment Editor: Thank you for reviewing the Legend Starlet [in December 2000]. John Atkinson was exactly right about the testing result. When we put the Stereophile review sample of the Starlet on our test bench, we discovered that the preamp tube (the 5814A) was badly degraded, which did indeed make the Starlet a distortion machine. After we replaced it with a new 5814A tube, it worked beautifully again. We would like to send you a proper working unit to test again.—Ray Leung, Product Consultant, Legend Audio Design
THE SUBDUDES: Miracle Mule
Back Porch 70876-18410-2-2 (CD). 2004. Subdudes, Freddy Koella, prods.; Warren Dewey, eng. AAD? TT: 52:13
Performance *****
Sonics ***½
Reunions are touchy things. Sometimes it's almost instantly obvious—no names here, but you know who they are—that it would have been better had a band stayed apart and allowed history to remember them fondly.
In the case of the Subdudes—a talented band that, after five albums, broke up in 1997—a reunion was a decidedly good thing. Dedicated to making heady, original music that touched most of the essential…
It may come as a surprise to relative newcomers to the field of audio, but some loudspeaker manufacturers are manufacturers in only a limited sense. They buy drivers, off-the-shelf or custom-built, from companies like VIFA, SEAS, Focal, etc.; cabinets from a woodworking shop; and crossovers from an electronics subcontractor. While the system design will have taken place in-house, actual manufacturing is restricted to assembling the components, perhaps tweaking the crossover, and final QC. Even some highly successful loudspeaker manufacturers use this approach, which can work well as long as…
Despite all these changes, which represent substantial costs in development time as well as materials, the price of the Studio/100 v.2 is only $100 higher than its predecessor's—a testament to Paradigm's vertical integration of manufacturing. The cosmetic changes themselves should not be dismissed too lightly. My impression of Paradigm's speakers has been that they may offer good sound for the money, but the look is pretty utilitarian. The Studio/100 v.2, and other speakers in the new Reference Series, change that. Although you couldn't mistake the Studio/100 v.2's wood finish (rosenut…
The Studio/100 v.2's bass performance was also first-rate: extended and powerful, the quality of the bass approaching that of the $7995/pair Dunlavy SC-IV/A, which has dual 10" woofers in a much larger cabinet. The Studio/100 v.2 had no trouble coping with my usual bass test pieces. The synthesizer note at the beginning of track 7 of Mickey Hart's Planet Drum (Rykodisc RC-10206) energized the air most convincingly, and bass drums had proper weight. My listening room's acoustics seem to interact in unpredictable ways with speakers that have extended bass response: with some (eg, the…
Sidebar 1: Specifications Description: Three-way, four-driver, floorstanding, reflex-loaded loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" aluminum-dome tweeter, 6.5" mica-polymer-dome midrange, two 8.5" filled polypropylene-cone woofers. Crossover frequencies (slopes): 250Hz (second-order), 2kHz (third-order). Frequency response: 39Hz-22kHz, ±2dB on-axis; 39Hz-20kHz, ±2dB, 30 degrees off-axis. Low-frequency extension (DIN): 25Hz. Sensitivity: 88dB/2.83V/m anechoic, 91dB in-room. Impedance: 8 ohms compatible. Recommended amplifier power: 15-350W. Maximum input power: 210W (typical program source, clipping…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment Analog source: Linn LP12 turntable (fully updated), Ittok tonearm, AudioQuest AQ-7000nsx cartridge.
Digital source: PS Audio Lambda II transport, Muse Two Ninety-Six digital processor, Illuminati Orchid digital link.
Preamplifier: Convergent Audio Technology SL-1 Ultimate.
Power amplifiers: Bryston 9B-ST, Thule PA250B, Balanced Audio Technology VK-60.
Cables: Interconnects: Nordost Quattro Fil, TARA Labs The Two. Speaker cables: Nordost S.P.M. Reference, TARA Labs The Two. AC cord: TARA Labs Decade.
Accessories: Argent RoomLenses (5), PS…
