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Henry Azima: How you use op-amps is extremely important. You have to take care, because to make an amplifier with a certain gain with any op-amp, you can do all sorts of things: you can put in stabilization capacitors, you can roll the response off sooner or later; there are even many ways of actually putting the external capacitors and resistors into the circuit. You must be careful in how you arrange the regulated power supplies, etc. I think the op-amps we use are quite excellent: they lend themselves to the neutrality of the sound. To be able to match them in discrete form, you have to…
Henry Azima: Absolutely. In fact, I was talking to another West German reviewer, Franz Schuller, who has reviewed 5000 CDs and has seen every plant in the world; he is probably the world authority on digitally recorded sound. The stories he was telling me were awful. It appears that while many recordings actually released on CD may have started with 15 to 16-bit resolution, when the data were finally put on the disc, the resolution was probably no better than 10-bit. They use third-generation tapes, they use bad printing, they fool around with the mixing, and they just destroy the sound.…
I remember my first experience with headphones. In 1960, I bought a set of Trimm dual 'phones (less than $5) and rewired them for stereo. The experience was remarkable for several reasons. First, it brought the sounds into my head—I was thrilled with the impact. Second, stereo effects, especially with Enoch Light's ping-pong LPs (eg, Provocative Percussion, Command RS800SD), were striking. Third, I could play them really loud without bothering others. Of course, they had no bass, brittle treble, distorted at high levels, and their wire headband and Bakelite earpieces were uncomfortable. My…
The SVS system analyzes the sound radiating from your speakers using in-ear microphones, and processes the sound so that each headphone provides what that ear would have heard from the speakers. The result should be an accurate re-creation of the sound of your audio system through your ears, with all spatial attributes and personal HTRF intact. Note that one can do this calibration in one room and listen elsewhere, effectively taking with you your listening room—or anyone else's—wherever you go. The A8's Head Tracking component compensates for head movements, to ensure that the Chicago…
Even more remarkable was the Realiser's ability to create a two-channel soundstage from two-channel sources. No longer was the CSO clustered inside my head, but arrayed from left to right and, apparently, some 30' behind my main speakers. Coupled with the head-tracking function, which kept the image stably in place when I moved my head, even the phantom center-fill of instruments or soloists remained centered between the (now silent) B&W 802Ds. My wife, a casual listener, was amazed by the Realiser-Stax. "The sound is not coming from the headphones," she exclaimed. "It's out there."…
Sidebar: Recordings In The Round
MAHLER: Songs with Orchestra
Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Rückert-Lieder, selections from Des Knaben Wunderhorn
Susan Graham, mezzo-soprano; Thomas Hampson, baritone; Michael Tilson Thomas, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra
SFSO 821936-0036-2 (SACD/CD)
Will this be the last release in the SFSO's Mahler series? If so, it's a wonderful conclusion, even if it leaves us with less than the full set from Des Knaben Wunderhorn. I ultimately prefer other recordings of each of these works, but I'm happy with Tilson Thomas's all-American team…
The name "Audio Research" will be familiar to many readers of this magazine. It belongs on the list of that select group of manufacturers who continue to offer the audiophile and music lover equipment which enables him or her to truly enjoy the muse. With equipment of this caliber, one is no longer caught up in the anxiety-inducing process of listening to (evaluating) the equipment used in the presentation of the music. Instead, the listener can focus attention on the much more important message uncovered in the music via the performance and conveyed through the network of transducers, cables…
The rear panel of the SP14 is neatly laid out with solid, gold-plated jacks. In traditional ARC manner, the right-channel sockets are above the left-channel ones.
Listening
With the system settled and the preamps cooking, I went about the task of selecting LPs and CDs to use in my evaluation. As I was to find out soon enough, this was not going to be an easy task. It's not that I didn't have enough source material at hand—I did. What I found happening was that with electronics of this caliber, I often sat mesmerized by what I was hearing. My yellow pad remained void of listening…
The Classé did not sound like the solid-state product it is. Quite the contrary, it sounded more "tubey" than the C-J PV9: a dark sound with a light footprint. The PV9 impressed me with its truthfulness. It was not shy in presenting the music (sounding more solid-state than I would have imagined), yet maintained the magic heard through the best tube products. The SP14 transformed my expectations as to what can be achieved in sound reproduction at this price level. It did everything well, combining the positive aspects of the Classé and C-J into one musically involving component. At the same…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Hybrid (tube/FET) stereo preamplifier with one phono input, six line-level inputs, and two tape loops. Specifications: Frequency response: 30Hz–40kHz ±0.3dB (RIAA phono), 5Hz–50kHz ±0.5dB (line). Distortion: less than 0.01% at 2V output. Input impedance: 47k ohms standard, with user-adjustable resistance and capacitance (600pF as supplied) (phono); 50k ohms (line). Output impedance: 250 ohms (main), 1000 ohms (tape-out). Recommended load: 60k–100k ohms in parallel with 100pF (20k ohms minimum and 1000pF maximum). Phono stage gain: 66dB (to main out…