That column certainly brought the Beethoven worshippers out of the woodwork. Look, I revere Beethoven, and I stand by what I wrote in the July issue: There can be little doubt, in terms of his impact on the course that Western music would follow, that Beethoven was the most important composer. But "most important" in terms of music history is not the same thing as the composer whose…
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My "As We See It" in the July 2011 issue seems to have touched a nerve. At the AXPONA NYC audio show last June, more than one person stopped me in a corridor to take issue with what they thought I'd written.
Revised for 2012, the Stereophile Buyer’s Guide is now on newsstands. In its 188 pages, you’ll find the complete specs and prices for over 4500 audio components—everything from turntables, tonearms, and cartridges to amplification, digital components, loudspeakers, headphones, and cables. The Guide also includes an index to manufacturers on the Web to help you locate the products you’re most interested in.
Editorial assistant, Ariel Bitran, was largely responsible for hunting down and collecting the data that makes up the Guide. He says, “Whether you’re looking for a…
Lately, I’ve been listening almost exclusively to CDs and CD players. It hasn’t been bad at all. In our December issue, I’ll talk about the Emotiva ERC-2 CD player ($449); in January, I’ll compare the Emotiva to Michael Lavorgna’s longtime digital reference, the original Sony Playstation 1 (typically $15–$75, used); and, in February, I’ll listen to NAD’s C 515BEE ($300), the disc-spinning counterpart to that company’s awesome C 316BEE integrated amplifier.
It’s been the perfect time for me to listen to CD players because my old band, The Multi-Purpose Solution, is reuniting to play a…
The Random House Dictionary of the English Language defines "myriad," derived from a Greek word meaning "ten thousand," as "a very great number of persons or things." British and unabashedly ambitious, Myryad Systems has set itself myriad design goals for its M-series stereo components: audiophile performance, real-world pricing, convenience, circuit simplicity, common remote-control function, and physical beauty.
Myryad's designer and technical director, Chris Evans, highlighted the MT 100 stereo FM tuner during a press conference at the 1999 International Consumer Electronic Show.…
Eight of the stations received were very strong, had no multipath, and provided complete tuner quieting: classical, WQXR (96.3) and WNYC (93.9); jazz, WBGO (88.3) and WCWP (88.1); classic rock, WXRX (92.3); standard rock, WNEW (102.7); multiethnic/reggae, WNWK (105.9) and WFUV (90.7); and easy listening, WCTO (94.3). I also tuned in Michael Fremer's favorite East Orange, New Jersey station, WFMU (91.1).
The MT 100 provided easy, intuitive tuning. I simply tapped on the remote's Preset button after I'd loaded the frequencies of my favorite stations into the MT 100's memory. While the MT…
Sidebar 1: Associated Equipment
Tuners: Day-Sequerra FM Reference Classic, Rotel RH-10, Magnum Dynalab MD 108, Model 205 Sleuth RF amplifier.
Antenna: Nine-element Yagi Channel Master Stereo Probe 9 (12.5dB gain), rotor-mounted to chimney 25' above ground. Feed: 75 ohm Channel Master 9540 low-loss coaxial cable.
Analog source: Linn Sondek LP12 turntable, Lingo power supply, Ittok tonearm, Spectral moving-coil cartridge.
Digital source: Krell MD-1 CD transport, Adcom GDA-700 D/A processor.
Preamplification: Krell KBL, Mark Levinson ML-7A with L-2 phono section, Duntech MX…
Sidebar 2: Specifications
Description: Solid-state, remote-controllable, digitally synthesized FM stereo tuner with digital frequency display and one IF bandwidth. Tuning range: 87.5–108.0MHz. Display tuning range: 87.70–108.30MHz. De-emphasis: 75µ;s. Number of presets: 29. IHF usable sensitivity: 1.5µV mono, 20µV stereo for 50dB quieting. Capture ratio: not given. Alternate-channel selectivity: 70dB. THD at 1kHz, 100% modulation: 0.1% mono, 0.2% stereo. Frequency response: 20Hz–15kHz, !X0.5dB. Stereo separation at 1kHz: 45dB. Image rejection: 88dB. IF rejection: 100dB. SCA rejection:…
I should begin this review by confessing that I've never been a fan of subwoofers. Most subwoofer systems I've heard have been plagued by a familiar litany of sonic horrors: poor integration between subwoofer and main speakers, boom, bloat, tubbiness, slowness, excessive LF output, and an overall presentation that constantly reminds the listener he is hearing a big cone moving. To me, subwoofers often sound detached from the music, providing an accompanying thump that bears little relationship to the sound from the main speakers. Rather than revealing the music's harmonic underpinnings,…
Sidebar 1: RH's Review System
Associated electronics were the VTL 225W Deluxe monoblock power amplifiers and an Audio Research SP-11 Mk.II preamplifier. Analog source was a Well-Tempered Turntable and tonearm, fitted with the superb AudioQuest AQ 7000 cartridge, stepped up with the Expressive Technologies SU-1 transformer and connected with Expressive's IC-1 interconnects. The turntable and most of the electronics were supported by the excellent Merrill Stable Table.
The digital front end varied over the auditioning, including at one time or another the Wadia WT-3200 and Esoteric…
Sidebar 2: Measurements
Starting with the high-pass electronics, I measured the crossover slopes with different personality cards. Fig.1 shows the slopes with the Hales System Two Signature (52Hz rated) and the Rush Monument 2 (100Hz rated) cards. Interchannel crosstalk in the high-pass electronics, shown in fig.2, was fairly good, measuring about 60dB up to 10kHz, decreasing slightly to 55dB at 20kHz. I repeated the crosstalk measurements without a personality card (and its ribbon connecting cable) in the circuit. The card and ribbon cable didn't degrade the channel isolation.
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