My front end consists of the VPI HW19 Mk.III turntable with the Eminent Technology Model 2 tonearm and an AudioQuest 404i-L cartridge. Pandora interconnect from TARA Labs carries LP information to the preamp. I've been using the Conrad-Johnson PV9 as my reference, and was also fortunate to be able to borrow a Classé Audio DR-6. With the SP14, the PV9, and the DR-6 on hand, I felt I would get a good handle on what the sound of these $3000 preamps would be in my system. My CD source is the CAL Tempest II SE, again connected with Pandora interconnect. The Quicksilver KT88…
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Sidebar 3: Measurements
As there was only a short time available to do some measurements before this review had to be set in type, I therefore concentrated on a small number of parameters that Guy's auditioning suggested might be important. Guy had found the C-J PV9 to present a rather wider soundstage than the SP14. Accordingly, I looked at channel separation of the ARC unit.
Fig.1 shows the crosstalk from the left into the right channel, measured at the main right output with a 1V input signal applied to the left CD input. (The right input was loaded with 25 ohms, the…
So many things in this world are designed for convenience, not for excellence. That's all right if you have a choice, but it becomes a problem when products designed for convenience become universal standards and are thus foisted on everyone—including enthusiasts, who must then live with a product aimed at the lowest common denominator.
The digital interface between CD transports and digital processors is a perfect example of this dilemma. The Sony/Philips Digital Interface Format (S/PDIF) standard was designed so that connecting two digital products required only one cable. This…
The DT-10 is both gorgeous to look at and built like a tank. Internal layout and build quality are first-rate. The only problem I had was an occasional failure to play a track when it was selected from the direct-access number panel.
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The DT-10 quickly established itself as a topflight transport, particularly when driving the Krell Reference 64 processor. Its sonic characteristics were well suited to the Krell processor, forming a synergistic match. The Reference 64's strengths—pace and rhythm in particular—were enhanced when mated with the DT-10.
The DT-10's bottom end…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: CD transport with remote control. Digital outputs: coaxial on RCA jack, AES/EBU on XLR jack, TosLink optical, ST-type optical. Additional output: custom "Time Sync" output transmits clock to Krell transport separately from audio. Transport mechanism: modified Philips CDM-4 Pro controlled by Krell software.
Dimensions: 19" W by 3.5" H by 14" D. Weight: 21 lbs net, 35 lbs shipping.
Price: $7900 (1994); no longer available (2010). Approximate number of dealers: 55. Warranty: 5 years parts and labor on electronics, 3 years parts and labor on…
Sidebar 2: Ancillary equipment
While in my listening room, the DT-10 drove the Krell Reference 64, Sonic Frontiers SFD-2, and Mark Levinson No.30 digital processors. The Reference 64 was an ideal match for the DT-10; this combination, connected with the separate Time Sync clock, allowed both products to achieve their optimum levels of performance. Other transports on hand for comparison were the similarly priced Mark Levinson No.31 ($8500) and the much less expensive PS Audio Lambda ($1695).
Loudspeakers were Thiel CS3.6es, driven by a Krell KSA-300S power amplifier via 8' runs…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
This is the first CD-transport review to include a measurements section: We can now measure how much jitter appears in a transport's digital output using the UltraAnalog jitter analyzer described in the October and November 1993 issues of Stereophile. For comparison measurements on other products, see the November '93 feature story.
Fig.1 shows the DT-10's jitter (from the AES/EBU output) with three test signals: digital silence (solid trace), a –90dB, 1kHz sinewave (heavy dashed trace), and a full-scale, 1kHz sinewave (lightly dotted trace). The RMS…
On newsstands now, right beside the December 2010 issue of Stereophile, you should find the 2011 Stereophile Buyer’s Guide. In its 164 pages, you will find technical specifications and prices for over 4500 audio components. That includes everything from the speed accuracy of a Rega turntable to the full-power bandwidth of Audio Research’s latest integrated amplifier to the frequency response of a Wilson loudspeaker to whether NuForce sells speaker wire. (They do.)
Yes, the 2011 Stereophile Buyer’s Guide includes detailed listings for: LP Playback (cartridges, phono preamps, tonearms,…
Music Matters Jazz—the L.A.-based audiophile label that reissues classic Blue Note titles, each on twin slabs of thick, quiet vinyl, mastered at 45 rpm and eased into gorgeous gatefold packages—keeps churning them out.
One of their latest, and greatest, is Andrew Hill’s Point of Departure, a jaw-dropper from 1964 that sounds as fresh as tomorrow.
Hill, 33 at the time (he died in 2007, active till the end), was a precisely adventurous pianist and one of the most inventive composers of that transition era, pushing metric rhythms and chord-based harmonies right up to the edge…