Analog source: VPI HR-X turntable & JMR tonearm, Grado Statement Reference cartridge.
Digital source: Burmester 001, Cary Audio Design CD-303/200, Wadia 830 and 861 CD players.
Preamplifier: VAC CPA1 Mk.III, Placette Remote Volume Control.
Power amplifiers: VTL Ichiban, Mark Levinson No.20.6 monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Thiel CS6.
Cables: Nirvana S-X Ltd., Audience Au24 & PowerChords, Kimber Kable AGTC.
Accessories: Merrill equipment rack; Bright Star, SSC, Finite Elemente Cera-ball, AudioQuest isolation products; Nordost ECO3, Disc…
search
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The Primare D30.2 had excellent error-correction, the intentional gaps in the data spiral on the Pierre Verany Test CD not leading to audible glitches until they were 2.4mm in length—way better than is required by the CD Standard. The maximum output level from the unbalanced output jacks was 1.35dB higher than the CD standard's 2V RMS, at 2.34V. As expected, this exactly doubled from the balanced jacks, and neither output inverted signal polarity. (The XLRs are wired with pin 2 "hot.") The output impedance was to specification across the audioband, at 98 ohms…
Simaudio has been doing well in the middle of the high-end market, providing products such as their Moon i-5 integrated amplifier (reviewed by Chip Stern in July 2002), which offers a glimpse of high-quality sound at an affordable price. That's not to say that the Canadian manufacturer neglects the cost-no-object market: the two-box, $5700, Simaudio Moon Eclipse CD player impressed the heck out of Brian Damkroger when he reviewed it for Stereophile in April 2001 (with a Follow-Up in April 2003). So when Simaudio's Lionel Goodfield offered me their Moon Equinox player ($2000) for inclusion…
Comparisons
My first comparison was with the Benchmark DAC1 D/A processor ($975), which has become my reference for affordable digital playback since I wrote about it in the May 2004 issue. I drove the Benchmark with the Moon's S/PDIF output and, using the input Level Offset function of my Levinson No.380S preamp, was able to match levels to within 0.1dB at 1kHz. Playing Mary Chapin Carpenter's "Grand Central Station," the difference was relatively easy to hear, at least until I inverted polarity for the Canadian player (see the "Measurements" Sidebar). Even so, I felt that the…
My first comparison was with the Benchmark DAC1 D/A processor ($975), which has become my reference for affordable digital playback since I wrote about it in the May 2004 issue. I drove the Benchmark with the Moon's S/PDIF output and, using the input Level Offset function of my Levinson No.380S preamp, was able to match levels to within 0.1dB at 1kHz. Playing Mary Chapin Carpenter's "Grand Central Station," the difference was relatively easy to hear, at least until I inverted polarity for the Canadian player (see the "Measurements" Sidebar). Even so, I felt that the…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Remote-controlled CD player with one set of single-ended analog outputs (RCA), one S/PDIF digital output (RCA). Maximum output level: 2V. Frequency response: 20Hz-20kHz, -0.3dB; 2Hz-72kHz, -3dB. Channel separation: >109dB. Signal/noise: >108dB ref. 0dBFS. THD: <0.001% at 1kHz, 0dBFS (A-weighted). IMD: <0.005%. Slew rate: 50V/µs. Low-level linearity: <1dB to below -110dBFS. Intrinsic jitter: <50ps RMS. Output impedance: 100 ohms. Power consumption: 8W at idle.
Dimensions: 17" (435mm) W by 4.25" (110mm) H by 14" (360mm) D.…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: Benchmark DAC1 D/A processor, Arcam FMJ CD33 CD player, Toshiba SD-3950 DVD-Video player.
Preamplifier: Mark Levinson No.380S.
Power amplifiers: Mark Levinson No.33H monoblocks, Halcro dm38.
Loudspeakers: Revel Ultima Studio.
Cables: Datalink: Kimber Illuminations Orchid AES/EBU, DH Labs Silver Sonic S/PDIF. Interconnect: AudioQuest Cheetah, Madrigal CZ Gel-1 (balanced); DiMarzio, AudioQuest Lapis (unbalanced). Speaker: AudioQuest Kilimanjaro. AC: Synergistic Research Designer's Reference2, PS Audio Lab Cable.
Accessories:…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The Moon Equinox inverted absolute polarity, something that needs to be allowed for in comparisons with other players. Its maximum output level at 1kHz was both to specification and conformed with the "Red Book" Standard at 2.01V RMS, while its output impedance was a usefully low 99 ohms. Error correction was superb, the player coping with gaps in the data spiral up to 1mm without any audible glitches. Only on track 32 on the Pierre Verany test CD, which has 1.5mm gaps, did it stumble.
The Equinox's frequency response was flat within the audioband, with a…
A committed audio equipment reviewer operates at the front line of audio subjectivity. Working on behalf of a readership made up of consumers thirsting for independent, informed opinion and advice, a reviewer is commissioned by the editor of a magazine to produce reports with a technical and subjective content on a wide range of available audio products. These reviews must be both fair and completed at short notice on a relatively small budget.
How is it possible to do this successfully, when a similar task undertaken by an industrial laboratory or test house would take five times as…
Errors in frequency response of only marginally greater amplitude may impart subjective alterations in timbre or tonal balance. The sense of "immediacy"—the sensation of proximity to the performers—may also be affected. Perspective—the feeling of front-to-back distance in the soundstage—is a related parameter. Other effects include the feeling of transparency in the reproduced sound. Loudspeaker designers become keenly aware of these subjective effects, which may be deliberately or otherwise hidden within the normal tolerances of the amplitude/frequency responses of a nominally well-designed…
If it is accepted that such effects exist, it is our duty as engineers and scientists to understand and control them to our advantage.
The High End
If any sense is to be made of it, then true high-quality audio, the "High End," must be set apart from the audio business as a whole. Quality audio is a relatively small, specialist industry composed mainly of companies run by enthusiasts who in the main believe in what they're doing, namely the advancement of the fidelity of reproduced sound. Yet this industry is founded on a solid scientific base, melding mechanics, acoustics, and…