When Steve Leung, of importer Valve Audio System (VAS) Industries, commissioned the design and manufacture of the SP-10A, he…
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Stereophile has reviewed two integrated amplifiers from Chinese manufacturer Cayin in the past: the A-50T, which I wrote about very positively in March 2008, and the A-300B, which Art Dudley reviewed in February 2007. So when I read about Cayin's $2195 SP-10A integrated amplifier, which has a wood-covered sleeve, just like the old Marantz and McIntosh gear and offers 38 watts of push-pull power, in our coverage of the 2008 CES, I put in on my must-write-about list.
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Tubed integrated amplifier. Tube complement: one 12AX7, two 12AU7, four 6L6GC. Power output: 38Wpc (15.8dBW). Frequency range: 15Hz–35kHz. Total harmonic distortion: <1% at 1kHz. Signal/noise ratio: 85dB. Input sensitivity: 470mV. Input impedance: 100k ohms. Output impedances: 4, 8 ohms. Maximum power consumption: 200W.
Dimensions: 16" (410mm) W by 8" (205mm) H by 13" (330mm) D. Weight: 44 lbs (20kg).
Finishes: Cherry, Walnut, Piano Black.
Serial Number Of Unit Reviewed: 0910009.
Price: $2195. Approximate number of dealers: 25.…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: VPI TNT IV, Rega Planar 3 turntables; Immedia, Syrinx PU-3 tonearms; Koetsu Urushi, Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood cartridges.
Digital Sources: Lector CDP-7T, Creek Destiny CD players.
Preamplification: Vendetta Research SCP-2D, Creek Destiny phono stages; Audio Valve Eclipse line stage.
Power Amplifier: Audio Research Reference 110.
Integrated Amplifier: Creek Destiny.
Loudspeakers: Epos M5i.
Cables: Interconnect (all MIT): Magnum M3, MI-350 CVTwin Terminator, MI-330SG Terminator. Speaker: Acarian Systems Black Orpheus.…
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 Cayin SP-10A amplifier. Because some of the measurements produced anomalous results, I repeated some of the tests with our Audio Precision System One.
With its volume control set to its maximum, the Cayin's voltage gain from its 8 ohm tap was lower than the norm for an integrated amplifier—30.7dB into 8 ohms—and even lower from its 4 ohm tap: 23.8dB into 8 ohms. This won't be an issue with CD players,…
On Valot Kaukaa, Finnish producer Olli Aarni, working as Nuojuva, creates a strange, romantic world of sound. We hear wind and birdsong; crackle and hiss; hints of familiar classical pieces; cello, flute, and violin; whispers and sighs from Rachel Evans of Motion Sickness of Time Travel; and the lovely piano work of Sophie Hutchings, whose 2010 album, Becalmed, was one of my 2011 “Records to Die For.”
The sounds here are gentle, soothing, and soft, rather than aggressive, harsh, and angular. Something about these sounds seems to look into the past, as if turning pages in a photo album or…
The sound of the Stenheim Alumine loudspeaker—its openness, transparency, and freedom from temporal distortions, not to mention its good bass extension for such a small enclosure—reminded me at once of my favorite small loudspeaker from the late 1980s, the Acoustic Energy AE1. On reflection, the comparison is extraordinary: The two products are as different as night and day, the AE1 being a wooden loudspeaker with a metal-cone woofer, the Alumine a metal loudspeaker with a pulp-cone woofer. I suppose one can skin a catfish by moving the knife or by moving the fish.
Yet from there,…
It was easy to find places at which the Stenheims performed well—my review samples wound up about 5' from the wall behind them and a little less than 2' from their respective side walls—but getting them to "disappear" required a bit more trial and error with regard to toe-in angle and distance from the listening area. Ultimately, I wound up aiming the cabinets directly at a single, centered listener, with the listening seat closer to the speakers than is the case with my Audio Note AN-Es, which I place against the front wall.
Listening
Listening to Malcolm Sargent and the London…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way, reflex-loaded dynamic loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (25mm) fabric-dome tweeter, 5" (165mm) fiber-cone mid/woofer. Measured crossover frequency: 2.2kHz. Frequency response: 45Hz–30kHz, –6dB (half-space); 60Hz–30kHz, –6dB (anechoic). Impedance: 8 ohms nominal, 5.8 ohms minimum. Sensitivity: 90dB/2.83V/m. Power handling: 90W RMS, 200W peak. Recommended amplification: 20–200W.
Dimensions: 13" (330mm) H by 9.1" (230mm) W by 10.8" (275mm) D. Weight (without stand): 37.4 lbs (17kg).
Finishes: Dark aluminum; extra-cost options available.…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Garrard 301, Thorens TD 124 turntables; EMT 997, Schick tonearms; Ortofon SPU & Xpression, EMT TSD 15 70th Anniversary & OFD 25 pickup heads.
Digital Sources: Sony SCD-777ES SACD/CD player; Wavelength Proton USB D/A converter; Apple iMac G5 computer running Apple iTunes V.10.2.2, Decibel V.1.0.2.
Preamplification: Auditorium 23 Standard (SPU version), Silvercore One-to-Ten step-up transformers; Shindo Masseto preamplifier.
Power Amplifiers: Shindo Corton-Charlemagne monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Audio Note AN-E/SPe HE.…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured the Stenheim Alumine using DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone. The Alumine's B-weighted sensitivity on its tweeter axis was 89.5dB/2.83V/m, which is both higher than average and within experimental error of the specified 90dB. The Stenheim's plot of impedance magnitude and electrical phase angle (fig.1) suggests that it is an easy speaker to drive, the impedance remaining above 8 ohms for much of the audioband and dropping to 5.5 ohms in the lower midrange. The phase angle is also fairly benign, meaning that, in conjunction with…