search
It was a total gas to listen through the Halcro to such highly complex sound collages as Manu Chao's Esperanza (CD, Virgin 10321 21), Future Sound of London's The Papua New Guinea Translations (UK CD, Jumpin' and Pumpin' CD TOT52), and Porcupine Tree's Voyage 34: The Complete Trip (UK CD, Delirium DELEC CD074). Such recordings are painstakingly constructed assemblages of multiple interlocking layers. When a component cuts through the murk as thoroughly as did the dm10, not only the details themselves but the spatial, timbral, and temporal relationships of all of those details come together…
Sidebar 1: Steel Cage Death Match, or Four Front Ends Considered
During the period I was reviewing the Halcro dm10, VTL TL-7.5 Reference, and BAT VK-51 SE preamplifiers, John Atkinson decided it would be enlightening to have me listen to these state-of-the-art contenders in comparison to the venerable Mark Levinson No.32 Reference (reviewed by Jonathan Scull in January 2000). How, we wondered, would the new boys stand up when compared not only with each other, but also with a long-term resident of Class A of "Recommended Components"? So, over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, I did just…
Sidebar 2: Specifications
Description: Full-function preamplifier with remote control and switch-mode power supply. Inputs: 3 unbalanced (RCAs), 3 balanced (XLRs) (both conventional voltage mode); 1 current mode (RCAs). Phono input has variable phono capacitance and load resistance. Outputs: 2 pairs unbalanced (RCAs), bridgeable and 2 pairs balanced (XLRs), bridgeable, both conventional voltage mode; 2 pairs current mode (RCAs), 1 pair for unbridged connection, the other pair used in bridged mode; 1 pair tape output (RCAs); ¼" stereo headphone jack. 6-pin XLR for control data. Maximum…
Sidebar 3: Associated Equipment
Analog source: SOTA Cosmos Series III turntable, Graham 2.2 tonearm, Dynavector XV-1S cartridge.
Digital sources: Esoteric DV-50 universal digital player, Classé Omega CD/SACD player.
Preamplification: Manley Labs Steelhead, Aesthetix Io Signature phono stages.
Power amplifiers: Lamm ML1.1, VTL MB-450 Signature, Halcro dm58, McIntosh C501 monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Focal-JMlab Nova Utopia Be, Legacy Audio Focus 20/20.
Cables: Phono: Hovland Music Groove 2. Interconnect: Acoustic Zen Silver Reference & Matrix Reference, Nordost Valhalla,…
Sidebar 4: Measurements
It's rare to find ground-lift switches in consumer audio equipment, much though they are needed, but the Halcro dm10 is one such component. Arranging the grounding between my Audio Precision System One to get the lowest noise was therefore a relatively simple business, without me having to reach for a "cheater" AC adapter. I also used the dm10's supplied Shunyata AC cord. (Note that I was only able to measure the dm10 in conventional voltage mode. I also didn't test the headphone jack, which I will do in a Follow-up.)
I first tested the dm10's phono stage.…
In recent years, computer modeling, finite-element analysis, and laser interferometry have brought about a huge increase in our knowledge about what makes the moving-coil loudspeaker drive-unit work. Nevertheless, it has remained fundamentally unchanged since it was invented by Rice and Kellogg more than 60 years ago. That doesn't mean that it hasn't been refined considerably; in this review I examine the performance of a design whose drive-unit technology has been taken to the limit of what is currently possible, the B&W Silver Signature.
To celebrate its 25th anniversary in 1991,…
The massive matching single-pillar stands are made from Welsh Cambrian slate, this a dense, relatively inert material. With its Bird's-Eye Maple veneered enclosure, yellow woofer cone, silver bullet tweeter and port trim, the Silver Signature is, to my eyes at least, a stunningly beautiful loudspeaker.
Vibrations
The slate stands are massive, but not completely free from vibration, acoustically. Using a stethoscope, I could hear a "hooty" sound on the base plate and pillar sides when music was playing. Whether this was related to a slight midrange congestion I noticed, I don't know…
So sometimes I didn't resist it; the speakers went surprisingly loud in my relatively modest-sized room before they, the amplifier, and my ears all crapped out. Don't get me wrong—the Silver Signature is still a small two-way design. It's physically impossible for it to convey the true sense of live music's scale, the feeling of unlimited dynamics possessed by cost-no-object, size-no-object designs. The Silver Signatures' soundstage may be apparently unlimited in terms of resolution, but it is still perfection in miniature. Nevertheless, the big bass blasts at the start of "The Hit" and…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way, stand-mounted, reflex-loaded loudspeaker with Matrix cabinet construction, remote crossover, and all-silver wiring. Drive-units: 1" (25mm) metal-dome tweeter, 7" (170mm) woven-Kevlar cone woofer. Measured crossover frequency: 4.2kHz. Electrical crossover slopes: 2nd-order low-pass, 12dB/octave; 3rd-order high-pass, 18dB/octave. Frequency response: 100Hz-15kHz ±1.5dB, 1/3-octave-weighted; 35Hz-22kHz, -3dB in typical listening room. Channel matching: typically within 0.25dB. Sensitivity: 88dB/W/m (2.83V). Nominal impedance: 8 ohms (minimum 5.…
Sidebar 2: System context
Power amplifiers used to drive the B&Ws were either a pair of Mark Levinson No.20.6 monoblocks or a YBA 2 HC, while the preamplifier was variously the Melos SHA-1 headphone amplifier used as a line-stage, the YBA 2, the Classé Six Mk.II, the remote-controlled Mark Levinson No.38, or the very promising McCormack TLC-1 buffered passive control unit. A Mod Squad Phono Drive EPS amplified LP signals from a Linn Sondek/Cirkus/Trampolin/Lingo/Ekos/Arkiv setup sitting on an ArchiDee table. Digital source was a Mark Levinson No.30 driven by a Mark Levinson No.31…