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It began when I reviewed the MartinLogan Montis loudspeaker (September 2012). The amplifiers I had to drive the pair of them were the PrimaLuna ProLogue Premier integrated ($2999), the Audiopax Mk.II (no longer available; the Mk.III costs $22,000), and the Simaudio Moon Evolution W-7 ($9000). The first two are tubed, with power in the 30–40Wpc range; the solid-state Simaudio puts out 150Wpc. The Audiopax, which sounds great with my Avantgarde Uno Nanos, turned out to be not such a good match for the Montises: weak in dynamics, and too soft sounding. The PrimaLuna and the Simaudio were better…
I'm in favor of saving energy, and I'm all for reducing the unnecessary wear on tubes that occurs when an amp is left on without music being played. The MC275LE's Power Save feature, which turns off the power when there's been no input signal for 30 minutes, addresses these concerns. However, like most tube electronics, the MC275LE needs to warm up before it sounds its best, and the automatic turn-off interrupts the warm-up process. After about an hour of warm-up the sound was more open and dynamic, with a better sense of space. So, unfortunately, Power Save, while good for the environment…
Sidebar: Specifications
Description: Two-channel, tubed stereo (switchable to parallel mono operation) power amplifier. Tube complement: four KT88, three 12AX7A, four 12AT7. Inputs: 1 pair single-ended (RCA), 1 pair balanced (XLR). Loudspeaker outputs: separate gold-plated, 5-way binding posts for 4, 8, and 16 ohms. Preamp output: 1 pair single-ended (RCA). Inputs: 1 pair balanced (XLR), 1 pair single-ended (RCA). Output power: 75Wpc (18.8dBW) into 4, 8, or 16 ohms (stereo), 150W into (21.8dBW) 2, 4, or 8 ohms (mono). Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz, +0/–0.5dB; 10Hz–70kHz, +0/–3dB. Signal…
John Atkinson reviewed the CEntrance DACport LX in October 2012 (Vol.35 No.10):
When I reviewed the original CEntrance DACport USB headphone amplifier in June 2010, I was impressed by what I heard. Driving Sennheiser HD-650 headphones, the DACport's high frequencies sounded silky, with plenty of air apparent and an impressive sense of space. I had used the bus-powered DACport exclusively as a headphone amplifier, but with a suitable adapter cable, the DACport could be used to drive the power amplifier in a regular speaker-based system.
Erick Lichte wrote about using the DACport in…
After filling my speaker stands with kitty litter, the bass warble tones on Stereophile’s Editor’s Choice CD were less boomy from start to finish with greater depth within each warble tone and lower frequencies not heard previously were now audible thanks to a quieter noise floor, but after weeks of warble tones, I needed some real music.
First on the platter was Bob Dylan’s John Wesley Harding which features 3-piece band orchestrations, punchy yet meandering bass lines, and anguished harmonica playing from Mr. Zimmerman. While listening, the bass player’s melodic fills on “All Along the…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Single-box digital-to-analog converter with iPod dock. Formats supported: all PCM-output audio codecs (AIFF, WAV, MP3, etc.). Digital inputs: supports up to 24-bit/96kHz via USB input (galvanically isolated to reduce ground noise from computer's switching power supply); up to 24/192 via optical (2) and coax (2); iPod dock. iPod dock compatibility: iPod Touch (generations 1–2), iPod Classic (80, 120, 160GB only), iPod Nano (generations 2–5). Analog output jacks: left & right RCA. Video outputs: S-video, component (from iPod dock). Output…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: Apple MacBook Pro computer (2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD) running OS 10.6.7, iTunes 10.2.2, Sonic Studio's Amarra Computer Music Player 2.2, Songbird 1.9.3, or XLD; Oppo Digital BDP-83 universal Blu-ray player; Sooloos Music Server (Control 15, 3 TwinStores); Apple iPod Touch (first generation); Benchmark DAC1 USB, Rega DAC digital processors.
Preamplifier: Marantz AV7005 (Pure Direct Mode).
Power Amplifiers: Classé CAM 350 monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: MartinLogan Prodigy & Descent subwoofer (2).
Cables:…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used Stereophile's loan sample of the top-of-the-line Audio Precision SYS2722 system to measure the Peachtree iDac (see www.ap.com and the January 2008 "As We See It"); for some tests, I also used my vintage Audio Precision System One Dual Domain and the Miller Audio Research Jitter Analyzer. As well as driving the iDac with S/PDIF data from the Audio Precision analyzers, I used my iPod Classic 160GB, and a MacBook running Mac OS10.6.8 and Pure Music 1.8, to play test-signal files. I indicate in the text where I found significant measured differences between the…
Late last month, New York City's In Living Stereo underwent two major changes: They made a short move, from a modestly sized storefront to a much larger one—2 Great Jones Street in the East Village—and they went from being a hi-fi shop to being a hi-fi and record shop. On a recent visit to their new digs I was impressed with the latter: While some hi-fi shops limit their music commitment to just a few racks of 200-gram LPs—commendable in and of itself, of course—In Living Stereo has built an entire record loft and filled it with hundreds of well-chosen new and used LPs. (I took it upon myself…
The iconic "McIntosh-blue" meter
Even folks who are not audiophiles know about McIntosh. Well, maybe not know about, but McIntosh’s cool-blue power meters are an image embedded into the subconscious of multitudes of Americans. Although when consumers hear McIntosh they think Apple, when they see those blue meters, they think audio. Images of McIntosh gear speckle American culture, whether in the movies Pillow Talk (1960), 9 ½ Weeks (1986), or As Good as it Gets (1997) or as the official amplification for the Grateful Dead’s (THE American rock band) notorious Wall of Sound, which…