But a decade later here I still am, and Modjeski is still producing his own Music Reference brand of electronics and marketing computer-matched tubes sold under the RAM Tube name—not that both of us aren't also doing…
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In his "Manufacturer's Comment" in response to my review of the original Music Reference RM-200 power amplifier in the April 2002 issue, designer Roger Modjeski admitted that being a manufacturer was not his first choice. "Frankly, I'd rather consult than produce," he claimed. "I'd rather be making a living doing stand-up comedy," I said to myself after reading his comment.
JA's measurements of the various taps' total harmonic distortion plus noise vs frequency indicated that "When its output transformer is matched to or less than the load, the RM-200 offers superbly low distortion from the upper bass through the midrange to the mid-treble. With lower-impedance loads, the distortion rises significantly with the degree of mismatch between the output tap and the load."
So choosing the optimal tap should take into account your speakers' nominal impedance as well as the lowest impedance they dip to. My Wilson Audio MAXX 3s dip down to 3.4 ohms at around 20Hz…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Stereo power amplifier with solid-state input stage and tubed driver and output stages. Tube complement: two 6BQ7, four KT88. Output transformer taps: 8, 4, 2, 1 ohm. Output power: 100Wpc (20dBW) into 8 ohms. Frequency response: 6Hz–20kHz, ±0.5dB; 2Hz–60kHz, ±3dB. Bandwidths: 13Hz–65kHz (half power), 20Hz–35kHz (full power). Harmonic distortion: <0.5% at 1kHz/100W. Signal/noise: not specified. Input sensitivity: 1.1V (full output). Input impedance: 15k ohms (one leg driven), 30k ohms (balanced).
Dimensions: 17.25" (440mm) W by 7" (180mm) H by…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Continuum Audio Labs Caliburn, Cobra, & Castellon turntable, tonearm, & stand; Graham Engineering Phantom II tonearm; Ortofon A90, Haniwa HCTR01, Miyajima Labs Kansui cartridges.
Digital Sources: Playback Designs MPS-5 SACD/CD player/DAC, BPT-modified Alesis Masterlink hard-disk recorder, Sooloos music server, Pure Music software.
Preamplification: Ypsilon VPS-100 phono preamplifier & PST-100 Mk.II line preamplifier.
Power Amplifiers: MBL 9011 monoblocks, Musical Fidelity Titan.
Loudspeakers: Wilson Audio…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used Stereophile's loan sample of the top-of-the-line Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It" and www.ap.com) to measure the RM-200 Mk.II. Before performing any tests, I checked that the output tubes were all correctly biased. However, the left channel's bias couldn't be optimized and the distortion in that channel was 100 times higher than in the right. I performed a number of tests on the correctly operating right channel while awaiting word from Music Reference's Roger Modjeski. It turned out that each output tube is protected by a…
Mirror to Mirror's Here You Leave Today—one of my favorite records of the year.
In the January 2012 issue of Stereophile, I list my 15 favorite records of the year (p.52). Here is an expanded, slightly more detailed list.
SM’s FAVORITE RECORDS OF 2011
1. Gang Gang Dance: Eye Contact (LP, 4AD CAD 3107)
I can hear everything. It’s everything time.
The record opens with those few words, the band nodding at this digital age of file-sharing and rapid access: Any musical style is just a few clicks away from the curious musician or music lover…
I veer away from ruminating on war and peace in my Slate column today, to run down my list of Best 10 Jazz Albums for 2011. My piece over there includes hyperlinks to 30-second sound clips (the maximum that copyright law allows), but here's the list (the more devoted of you readers will notice that I've written in this space about all of them over the past year).
Best New Albums:
SONNY ROLLINS, Road Trips, Vol.1 (Doxy).
WORLD SAXOPHONE QUARTET, Yes We Can (Jazzwerkstatt).
DAN WEISS & POINT OF DEPARTURE, Snuck Out (Sunnyside).
MEDESKI, SCOFIELD, MARTIN & WOOD,…
Sonus Faber is celebrating the launch of their Aida loudspeaker ($120,000/pair) with a series of dealer events beginning this weekend.
Saturday, December 10, 6–9pm: See and hear the Aida at LMC Home Entertainment (15507 North Scottsdale Road) in Scottsdale, Arizona. RSVP: aida@lmche.com.
Wednesday, December 14, 6pm: See and hear the Aida at Stereo Exchange (627 Broadway) in New York City. RSVP: (212) 505-1111.
Friday, December 16, 6–9pm: See and hear the Aida at The Sound Experience (233 South Federal Highway) in Boca Raton, Florida. RSVP: (561) 391-7868.
Roy Hall has his famous Music Hall MMF (Make Money Fast) turntables made for him in the Czech Republic.
Roy has also long been associated with Epos Limited, since a chap named Robin Marshall started the company in 1983. Their first product was the ES-14 loudspeaker, followed by the smaller ES-11. Both were largish, stand-mounted models, and both offered a lively, expressive, unstuffy sound. The speakers have always been fun to listen to, even if they lacked—and still lack—the refinement of some far more expensive speakers.
I was thinking of what Bill Conrad told me last month:…
Robert J. Reina, December 2011 (Vol.34 No.12):
Roy Hall of Music Hall Audio, US importer of Epos loudspeakers, called me a while back to tell me about Epos's new Epic line: three affordable speakers positioned to provide greater performance for the money than Epos's more expensive M models. Designer Mike Creek's design goal for the Epics was to reduce the cosmetic costs of the cabinets, and thus free up more of the speaker's manufacturing costs to be dedicated to sound quality.
Of the three Epics, Hall suggested I review the middle model, the Epic 2 bookshelf, which, at $799/…