"Oh Baby, pass the butter"—Brak (Space Ghost)
In the last year, a bunch of amps have come through my house—integrated and power, solid-state and tubed—and I've learned a lot from listening to each of them. The main lesson has been that anyone who thinks all amps sound the same is inexperienced, unobservant, philosophically brainwashed, deaf, or crazy. During the Pass Labs INT-150's ($7150) stay at my house, it cohabitated with three other amps: the Rogue M180 tube monoblocks ($5495/pair), the Simaudio Moon i3.3 ($3300–$4000, depending on options), and Pass Labs' own XA30.5 ($5500),…
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Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid-state integrated amplifier with remote control. Volume control: 63dB range in increments of 1dB. Inputs: 2 XLR/RCA, 3 RCA only. Voltage gain: 26dB. Frequency range: 1.5Hz–60kHz. Power output: 150Wpc into 8 ohms (21.8dBW). Maximum output voltage: ±35V. Distortion at 1kHz, full power: 1%. Input impedance: 30k ohms balanced, 20k ohms single-ended. Damping factor: 150. Output noise <300µV. Power consumption: 225W.
Dimensions: 19" (490mm) W by 7" (180mm) H by 19" (490mm) D. Weight: 67 lbs (30.5kg).
Serial Number Of Unit Reviewed: 22624.…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: Theta Miles (S/PDIF output), Bel Canto CD2 (with VBS1 power supply) CD players; Benchmark DAC1 & DAC1 HDR, Bel Canto DAC 3.5VB, CEntrance DACport D/A converters; Sony Vaio laptop computer.
Power Amplifiers: Pass Labs Aleph 3 & XA30.5, Rogue Audio M180 monoblocks.
Integrated Amplifier: Simaudio Moon i3.3.
Loudspeakers: Revel Performa F30.
Cables: Digital: Kimber BiFocal X, Stereovox HDVX coaxial, Wireworld Gold Starlight AES/EBU, Silver Sonic D-110 AES/EBU. Interconnect: Sain Line Systems Pure Balanced & Pure.…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
To perform the measurements on the Pass Labs INT-150, 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). Before doing the testing, I ran the INT-150 at one-third its rated power for 60 minutes, which thermally is the worst case for an amplifier with a class-A/B output stage. At the end of that period, the heatsinks along the chassis sides were way too hot to touch. This amplifier needs plenty of ventilation.
The maximum gain at 1kHz was basically to specification, at…
Last night, I listened to Mississippi Records’s latest Abner Jay release, Last Ole Ministrel Man, a lovingly packaged 10”, three songs on each side, rawer than winter in New York City.
I listened over and over while reading Jack Teague’s wonderful liner notes, telling his story of how he got to know Abner Jay, how he got scolded by Abner Jay, how he got to mow the man’s lawn one hot summer day, how he got to rub lotion on the man’s dry legs when the man was finally confined to a hospital bed, getting ready to leave this world.
I just kept flipping the record over and…
In November 2009, I took part in an intriguing comparison between live and recorded sound. I first recorded a live piano recital in 24-bit/96kHz digital, then allowed the audience to immediately hear the recording in the same room. (See my February 2010 thoughts on the comparison here.) For playback, I used two of the mono Esoteric D-01VU D/A converters locked to the ultra-high-precision Esoteric G-0Rb "atomic" master clock. I was very impressed by the sound of this cost-no-object digital system, so when I visited the Japanese company's room at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show and saw their…
During the review period, Soundkeeper Recordings' Barry Diament sent me his new release Equinox, from drummer Markus Schwartz and Lakou Brooklyn (CD, Soundkeeper SR1002). This naturally miked recording of acoustic instruments showed off the D-07's good side—its superbly clean midrange, its natural instrumental timbres, its persuasive way with percussion—but also its slight drying-up of the recorded ambience. Paul Beaudry's double bass was also a little less well defined than I would like, particularly in his solo plucked riff at the start of "Yanvalloux."
The D-07's USB input worked…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Multi-input, two-channel D/A processor with optional remote control, digital-domain volume control, two switch-selectable digital reconstruction filters, and switchable upsampling of PCM data to 2x or 4x PCM or DSD. Digital inputs: 2 S/PDIF (2 RCA, 1 TosLink), 1 AES/EBU, USB 1.1, TTL word clock on 75-ohm BNC jack. Digital output: TTL word clock on BNC jack. Sample rates accepted: 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, and 192kHz (S/PDIF, Optical, and AES/EBU); 32, 44.1, 48, and 96kHz (USB); XLR input can receive DSD data from Esoteric P-05 transport. Analog…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: Ayre C-5xeMP universal player; G4 Mac mini running OS10.5.8, iTunes 10, Pure Music 1.6; Shuttle PC with dual-core AMD Athlon processor running Windows 7, Foobar 2000, Adobe Audition 3.0; dCS Debussy, Benchmark DAC1 D/A converters; Halide S/PDIF Bridge USB-S/PDIF converter.
Preamplifier: Simaudio Moon Evolution P-8.
Power Amplifiers: Classé CTM-600 monoblocks, Simaudio Moon Evolution W-7.
Loudspeakers: Harbeth P3ESR, Acapella High Violoncello Mk.II, Gradient Helsinki.
Cables: Digital: Stereovox XV2 electrical S/PDIF, DH Labs…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used Stereophile's loan sample of the top-of-the-line Audio Precision SYS2722 system to perform the measurements on the Esoteric D-07 (see www.ap.com and the January 2008 "As We See It"); for some tests, I also used my Audio Precision System One Dual Domain and the Miller Audio Research Jitter Analyzer. To test the D-07's performance via its USB input, I used my MacBook running OS10.6 and Bias Peak Pro 6 to play WAV files of the various test signals I use.
Apple's USB Prober utility identified the D-07 as being manufactured by "ESOTERIC USB Audio" and…