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My thirst for vinyl can be blind and wild. I know this when I find myself dashing through the midday sun, from the Stereophile office and up Madison Avenue, into Grand Central Station, onto the 6 train to Astor Place, and into my favorite record shop, Other Music, like a man in lust or love or, worse yet, possessed wholly by need. But unlike some of my more dogmatic friends and colleagues, I have no real problem with the Compact Disc. It's just that CDs often lack a certain intangible charm, the ability to make my heart race.
I did all of my listening with an NAD C 316BEE integrated amplifier, PSB Alpha B1 loudspeakers, and AudioQuest Rocket 33 loudspeakers cables and Sidewinder interconnects. The Emotiva and NAD sat on shelves in my PolyCrystal equipment rack, plugged into a Furutech e-TP60 power conditioner, itself plugged into a Furutech GTX wall receptacle via an AudioQuest NRG X-3 power cord. As always, I listened only to awesome music.
Awesome music
Summvs (CD, Raster-Noton R-N132) is the fifth and final installment in the stirring and lovely Virus series of recordings from electronic composers…
I set out on a fishing trip but returned less than an hour later, empty-handed. You asked me, reasonably enough, "What happened?"
"I spent a half-hour digging in the garden for worms, but couldn't find any."
"You could have driven to Mr. Zetterstrum's farm, knocked on his door, asked his permission, and spent a few hours overturning the cowflops in his pasture. I'm sure you would have found one or two worms that way."
"You're right. I guess I didn't want to go fishing that badly."
So it goes today, as I take my first, tentative look at the world of direct-drive…
With its 13" platter and its thickly lacquered, 4"-tall wooden plinth, the DP-A100 looks decidedly more serious than most of its recent stablemates. And according to Jeff Talmadge, Denon's director of product development, the servo for the new model is the same one used in the classic DP-80. All in all, the DP-A100 was the rare contemporary turntable that looked at home sitting next to my own vintage Garrards and Thorenses.
The DP-A100 was also the rare deck that confounded my efforts at dissection: I never succeeded in removing its bottom cover, so I can only assume that its big plinth…
For anyone who's been around the audiophile block a few times, Conrad-Johnson Design is a brand that needs no introduction. My first acquaintance with Conrad-Johnson was before I began writing for Stereophile (more than two decades ago—time sure flies fast when you're having fun!). I was in the market for a new preamp, having become convinced that my Dayton Wright SPS Mk.II was the weak link in my system, and had narrowed my choices to two similarly priced products: a solid-state model made by PS Audio (I'm not sure of the model number), and the tubed Conrad-Johnson PV-2ar. They were carried…
Now everything was fine, and remained so—until what was to be my last listening session with the LP125Ms. I turned on the system, and as soon as the amps came on there was a loud noise, like a persistent cough, from the left speaker. The noise subsided within a minute or so, but when I played a CD it was immediately apparent that something was wrong. There was now a marked channel imbalance, the left being much weaker than the right, and the sound took on a phasey quality. Switching interconnects between channels made no difference, so the problem was not with the signal source. Once again…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Tubed monoblock power amplifier. Tube complement: one M8080, one 6922, four 6550. Maximum output power: 125W into 4 ohms (21dBW), 30Hz–15kHz, at <1.0 % THD (also available connected for 8 or 16 ohm loads). Sensitivity: 900mV for rated power. Frequency response at 10W: 20Hz–20kHz, ±0.25dB. Hum & noise: 102dB below rated power. Input impedance: 100k ohms.
Dimensions: 19" (487mm) W by 6.38" (164mm) H by 16" (410mm) D. Weight: 47 lbs (21.4kg).
Serial Numbers Of Units Reviewed: 5851017, 5851018, listening; 5851047, measuring.
Price: $…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Source: Ayre Acoustics CX-7eMP CD player.
Preamplifiers: Simaudio Moon Evolution P-7, Convergent Audio Technology SL-1 Renaissance.
Power Amplifiers: Simaudio Moon Evolution W-7, Audiopax Model 88 monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Avantgarde Uno Nano, Monitor Audio Platinum PL200.
Cables: Interconnect, speaker, AC: Nordost Valhalla.
Accessories: PS Audio Power Plant Premier power conditioner, Arcici Suspense Rack, PolyCrystal amplifier stands, Furutech RD-2 CD demagnetizer.—Robert Deutsch
Sidebar 3: Measurements
To take these 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). The sample shipped to me for measurement had its output transformer set for an 8 ohm load. Before performing any tests, I made sure the output tubes were all correctly biased, using the top-panel LEDs. The LP125M's voltage gain into 8 ohms was higher than the norm, at 31.2dB, and the amplifier preserved absolute polarity (ie, was non-inverting). The input impedance was to specification, at close to…
The very first amplifier I bought was a Harman Kardon PC-200, aka The Prelude. It was a 10Wpc integrated, but I chose it over the competition for some of the same reasons that the HK 990 has appealed to me. Almost all amps back in the1960s had a plain cake-pan chassis with tubes, capacitors, and transformers studding the top. Integrated amps had the standard four knobs on the front for input selection, volume, bass, and treble. The HK PC-200 had an enclosed black chassis cage that formed a graceful cowl over the brushed-copper front panel and the six matte-black knobs: for Input selection (…