Dance-off!
So, both the AudioQuest and Signal Cable interconnects outperformed the less ambitious RadioShack interconnects—no surprise there. How did they compare against one another?
I turned to Prefuse 73's The Only She Chapters (LP, Warp WARPLP208) and cued up "The Only Hand to Hold," a…
Here's a list of some of the records I purchased for Natalie's party. I highly recommend them all. Thanks to Other Music, and especially Daniel, for helping make the party a success.
Egyptrixx, Bible Eyes (LP, Night Slugs NSLP001)
FaltyDL, You Stand Uncertain (LP, Planet Mu ZIQ286)
Sylvi Foster, If Are You . . . (LP, CitiTrax CITI003)
Gang Gang Dance, Eye Contact (LP, 4AD CAD3107)
Kode9 & the Spaceape, Black Sun (LP, Hyperdub HYPLP002)
Matthew Dear, Slowdance (EP, Ghostly International Gi-135)
Maria Minerva, "Noble…
AudioQuest, 2621 White Road, Irvine, CA 92614. Tel: (949) 585-0111. Fax: (949) 585-0333. Web: www.audioquest.com.
Giant-Killer Cables, 98 Cowes Road, Newport, Isle of Wight PO30 5TP, England, UK. E-mail: alister@giantkillercables.com. Web: www.giantkillercables.com.
Signal HiFi, Inc., PO Box 38, Roslyn Heights, NY 11577-0038. Tel: (917) 957-8505. Web: www.signalcable.com.
Violinist Jenny Scheinman is back at Manhattan’s Village Vanguard this week with the quartet she calls Mischief & Mayhem, and judging from the two times I've seen them (the first a year ago, the second last night), I'd say this is one of the great raucous jazz-fusion bands of our time. Go see them. A splendid time is guaranteed for all.
By "jazz-fusion," I mean not just jazz + rock (though there is plenty of that, thanks to the presence of Wilco's Nels Cline on electric guitar) but jazz + all manner of genres, styles, and moods. Scheinman (whom I've been…
The No.532H is the latest model in a product line that spans four decades and has given us 76 different audio products. Mark Levinson Audio Systems (MLAS) opened for business in 1972 in an industrial park in…
H-series amps are CE-certified so they can be sold in Europe. This requires a rear-panel power switch to disconnect the supervisory power supply from the AC mains without having to unplug the amplifier. Other rear-panel features include single-ended RCA and balanced XLR inputs, and…
Description: Solid-state, dual-mono power amplifier. Inputs: 1 pair unbalanced (RCA), 1 pair balanced (XLR). Outputs: 2 pairs of binding posts. Output power at 0.5% distortion into 8 ohms: 300Wpc RMS, 20Hz–20kHz (24.8dBW). Frequency response at 300Wpc: 10Hz–20kHz, ±0.5dB. Input impedance: 60k ohms balanced, 30k ohms unbalanced. Voltage gain: 26.8dB. Output impedance: 0.05 ohm, 20Hz–20kHz. Input sensitivity: 130mV for 2.83V output, 2.25V input for full output. Signal/Noise Ratio: >85dB ref. 2.83V RMS. Power consumption at 1/8 power: 3W standby, 85W idle, 475W…
Analog Sources: Linn Sondek LP12 turntable with Lingo power supply and Ittok tonearm; Spectral moving-coil cartridge; Day-Sequerra Reference Signature FM tuner.
Digital Sources: Bryston BDP-1 digital file player, Bryston BCD-1 CD player; Bryston BDA-1 D/A converter.
Preamplifier: Bryston BP-26.
Power Amplifiers: Mark Levinson No.334, No.27.5, ML-2.
Loudspeakers: Snell A7 Illusion & Phantom B7, Quad ESL-989.
Cables: Digital: Bryston, Hosa Technology AES/EBU; Wireworld Starlight coaxial S/PDIF. Interconnect: Mark Levinson Silver, Red…
To perform the measurements on the Mark Levinson No.532H, 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 testing the No.532H, I ran it at one-third power into 8 ohms for an hour, which maximally stresses a class-A/B amplifier's ability to shed waste heat. At the end of this preconditioning period the No.532H's top panel was warm, at 108°F (42.2°C), though the exposed tops of the internal heatsinks measured 168°F (75.5°C). This amplifier needs plenty of…