First, as a teenager, riding around in cars, slugging Strohs beer out of warm 16 ounce cans and trying to sweet talk teenage girls out of their tube tops---ahhh, the Dazed and Confused Seventies--I owned and in the case of his self–titled 1975 debut record, loved, yes, loved in my own…
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To write intelligibly about the experience of seeing Ted Nugent sitting in with the Les Paul Trio—let me repeat that—Ted Nugent sitting in with the Les Paul Trio at The Iridium Jazz Club on Broadway and 51st Street just off Times Square on Monday May 16, I need to first explain two bits of context.
I won't debate here how to make a turntable's platter go around. Choose your favorite: belt vs direct drive, idler wheel vs belt, spring-windup vs wind power, whatever. As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing to debate. Each of these technologies has its pluses and minuses, but none can produce CD's accuracy of speed and inherent freedom from wow and flutter.
Despite that, you'll never convince me that CDs produce music that sounds better or more lifelike than LPs, or that CDs even come close to communicating music's ability to evoke emotions from listeners, or the sensation that you've…
In designing his direct-drive system, Helmut Brinkmann chose to flip the direct-drive paradigm and go with a 22-lb, "resonance-optimized," aluminum-alloy platter and a relatively low-torque motor that takes about 12 seconds to get the platter up to 33.33rpm. Brinkmann claims that, once set in motion, the massive platter requires but a small electronic "nudge" to maintain accurate speed; thereafter, the ultra-low-friction bearing requires very little energy to maintain correct speed. Brinkmann also claims that the heavy platter and the close-proximity coil array's overlapping magnetic fields…
It was immediately obvious that the TZ-9 can't be all things to all listeners. While it proved capable of producing an impressive sound with most rock and classical organ recordings, where its deep bass, excellent sense of dynamics, and neutral high-frequency balance helped communicate the music's vitality, orchestral recordings didn't fare as well. I couldn't escape a rather nasal coloration in the lower midrange that most affected the sound of naturally miked violins, lending them a "hooded" quality. Voices, too, were a little nasal, but male spoken voice was more affected by a boomy…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way, reflex-loaded, floor-standing loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" hard-dome ("Ceramic-Graphite") tweeter, 3" hard-dome ("Ceramic-Graphite") midrange unit, two 9.5" pulp-cone woofers. Crossover frequencies: 600Hz, 4kHz. Frequency range: 20Hz–40kHz. Sensitivity: 91dB/W/m (2.83V). Nominal impedance: 4 ohms. Amplifier requirements: 60–300W.
Dimensions: 48.75" (1238mm) H by 14.5" (370mm) W by 20.75" (425mm) D. Weight: 143.25 lbs (65kg) each.
Price: $4000/pair (1989); no longer availabe (2010). Approximate number of dealers: 50.
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Sidebar 2: Review System
Power amplification was provided by a Krell KSA-50 power amplifier, and the speakers were bi-wired with AudioQuest Clear speaker cable to the mid/tweeter, and with Monster M1 speaker cable. (Bi-wiring with the unwieldy Clear cable was not possible due to the limited clearance around the terminal posts.) The preamplifier was my usual combination of the Mod Squad Line Drive Deluxe AGT and Vendetta Research SCP2 phono preamp, the TZ-9s' high sensitivity proving a good match with this combination. The Linn LK1/LK280 pre-/power combination reviewed in this issue also…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
Looking at the way the TZ-9's impedance changes with frequency (fig.1), the LF enclosure-resonance peak lies at 47Hz, with the tuning of the ports revealed by the impedance minimum half an octave lower at 32Hz. The speaker would best be characterized as a 4-ohm design. The sensitivity was high, at around 91dB for a 2.83V input (measured using a 1/3-octave pink-noise band centered on 1kHz). The TZ-9 will go very loud with moderately powerful amplifiers (as long as they have no difficulty driving 4-ohm loads).
Fig.1 Pioneer TZ-9, electrical impedance…
Thomas J. Norton reviewed the Krell KRC phono module in March 1994 (Vol.17 No.3):
In the January 1994 Stereophile I reviewed the $6300 Krell KRC remote-control preamplifier as a line-stage–only device. While most preamps these days do not come standard with a phono stage (sad but true, according to manufacturers I've surveyed), most do make some provision for customers who still value analog reproduction.
Such is the case with the KRC. For an extra $500 (a reasonable price for this option among today's high-end preamps), the KRC owner may obtain the KRC Phono Module at any time.…
Sidebar: Measurements
The measurements presented here for the KRC Phono Module phono preamplifier were performed with a 47k ohm load in the MM configuration, and a 250 ohm load in the MC position (the latter chosen because it's 10 times the 25 ohm source impedance of our Audio Precision test set). In accordance with our normal practice, all phono-stage measurements were taken at the KRC's tape outputs. For logistical reasons, and because two KRCs with phono modules were available, the unit measured was not the one auditioned. However, the MC RIAA frequency response and overload margin…
Sidebar 3: RH's 1990 System
The reference system used to audition the four loudspeakers reviewed here includes the VTL 225W Deluxe monoblock and Krell KSA 200 amplifiers, driven by a Theta DSPro Basic digital processor through the passive Electronic Visionary Systems Stepped Attenuator. The analog front end was a Well-Tempered Turntable and tonearm fitted with a Sumiko Boron vdH cartridge. Phono preamplification was provided by the Precision Audio outboard phono module, connected to the passive attenuator. The phono preamp has enough gain for the moving-coil Sumiko and is able to drive…