The boxed set of Michael Tilson Thomas conducting the San Francisco Symphony in their cycle of the symphonies of Gustav Mahler, pressed on 180gm virgin vinyl in a limited edition of 1000 copies, is in its final phase of preproduction. Complete with, on a bonus 45rpm disc, a…
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"We did this for audiophiles, really," says the San Francisco Symphony's general manager, John Kieser. "Our distributors around the world have been telling us that it would be terrific if our Mahler series were available as a complete set on vinyl. This is a major endeavor, in that we're talking about 22 LPs."
I first became interested in Jolida’s glass-enclosed, cube-shaped integrated amplifier when I saw the cute, little thing at the 2008 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest. I wasn’t even drunk. I was, in fact, completely sober. I mean, look at it. It’s so adorable! And then I heard it.
I was impressed by how far its 10W could go without stressing out too much, even when partnered to a pair of 88dB loudspeakers. How might the amp sound when mated to something more efficient?
Jolida’s Michael Allen told me that the amp was geared toward a younger audience—besides being cute and…
STRAUSS: Also Sprach Zarathustra, Don Juan
Herbert Blomstedt, Staatskapelle Dresden
Denon CD-2259 (CD only). Claus Struben, eng.; Takashi Baba, prod. DDD. TT: 51:07
Herbert Blomstedt, Staatskapelle Dresden
Denon CD-2259 (CD only). Claus Struben, eng.; Takashi Baba, prod. DDD. TT: 51:07
STRAUSS: Also Sprach Zarathustra, Tod und Verklärung
André Previn, Vienna Philharmonic
Telarc CD-80167 (CD only). Jack Renner, eng.; James Mallinson, prod. DDD. TT: 61:35
These are two very fine discs. Both convey to perfection the full weight of Richard Strauss's opulent orchestration for Zarathustra without the slightest hint of distortion, despite the huge dynamic range both employ. Both have the…
It seems to me that it should be possible to make a perfectly jitter-free CD transport without resorting to elaborate, expensive mechanical structures. This idealized transport would ignore all mechanical considerations of disc playback—vibration damping and isolation, for example—and simply put a jitter-free electrical driver at the transport output. If such a circuit could be made, it wouldn't care about how bad the signal recovered from the disc was (provided the recovered data were error-free). The circuit would just output a perfect, jitter-free S/PDIF signal. The result would be the…
The Data Basic had a clean, open, and very dynamic character. The transport's clarity, excellent bass, and transparent soundstage were very much like that of the Lambda. Starting with the bass, the Data Basic had a full, robust, and well-defined bass presentation. Bass drum had a nice solidity, acoustic bass was warm and round, and the presentation had a good sense of weight. The Data Basic's bass tended to be a little leaner, tighter, and better defined than the Lambda's, although both were similarly impressive. The Lambda seemed to have a little more extension at the very bottom end,…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: CD transport with remote control. Drive mechanism: Philips CDM9 Pro. Outputs: one coaxial on RCA jack, one AES/EBU; ST and Theta's Single Mode optical output are optional.
Dimensions: 17" W by 3.25" H by 15" D. Weight: 18.5 lbs.
Price: $1750 (1994); no longer available (2010). ST-type optical adds $300, Theta's Single Mode optical output adds $800. Approximate number of dealers: 65. Warranty: 3 years parts and labor, 1 year on drive mechanism.
Manufacturer: Theta Digital Corporation, Agoura Hills, CA 91301 (1994); 1749 Chapin Road,…
Sidebar 2: System
I listened to the Data Basic driving the PS Audio UltraLink, Adcom GDA-600, Meridian 263, and Mark Levinson No.35 processors. The processors fed an Audio Research LS5 preamp, which drove Audio Research's VT-150 tubed monoblocks. Loudspeakers were Thiel CS3.6es, connected by 8' runs of AudioQuest Sterling. Interconnects included AudioQuest Diamond, Monster Cable Sigma, and Expressive Technologies IC-1.—Robert Harley
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The Data Basic's S/PDIF jitter measured from the RCA jack was very low, measuring 30 picoseconds with an input signal of all zeros, 36ps with a full-scale 1kHz sinewave, and 123ps when outputting a –90dB, 1kHz sinewave (footnote 1). Fig.1 shows the jitter spectrum with these three test signals. With music (fig.2), the Data Basic's jitter was 71ps (a very quiet passage—the first 30 seconds from Sheffield's recording of The Firebird Suite) and 42ps (with full-scale music).
Fig.1 Theta Data Basic, jitter in coaxial S/PDIF data signal, 20Hz–50kHz,…
Although, historically, Asian high-performance loudspeakers have not had much impact in the US (with the possible exception of the Yamaha NS1000), it is obvious from recent events that that situation might change. Some Japanese manufacturers are determinedly attempting in 1989 to scale the high-end heights. Onkyo, for example, launched an entire range under the Precise brandname, designed by that most idiosyncratic of talented Californian engineers, Keith Johnson, while Yamaha has licensed the Swedish ACE-Bass technology to produce loudspeakers that extend amazingly low in the bass for their…
At 200,000 tracks, maybe so—but it only occupies 800GB, so he's using compression. My meager 12,000 track library eats a little over 200GB, using ALC.