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Idiosyncratic subjectivity

Editor: I am a newcomer to the fascinating, esoteric, and totally liberating world of audio perfection. Where else could one find such carefree disregard for practical considerations? But this should not mean idiosyncratic subjectivity.

The review of the Audio Research SP9 preamplifier in the November issue of Stereophile seems an anomaly. It raises serious questions of whether your reviews can be trusted. In light of Terry Dorn's manufacturer's comment, I am puzzled why you published…

The politics of reviews

Editor: Vol.10 No.8, in particular Alvin Gold's column and the Audio Research SP9 review, raised some questions that I hope you can answer.

Mr. Gold presented the "political" nature of reviewing and the audio business. During his discussion of personalities, philosophies, and priorities, I began to focus on the latter, especially in regard to how a piece of equipment gets to be reviewed. What procedures are involved? And, how are good relations maintained if a subsequent review of another product by…

Is it possible to get outstanding sound from a preamplifier which costs under two grand? In today's high-end arena, cream-of-the-crop preamps sell for two, three, even four times that amount. You can easily spend two kilobucks on cables—or a cartridge! It wasn't too many years ago that you could assemble an entire system for not much more than $2000 and get credible, if not outstanding, sound. Today the stakes have changed. Thanks to publications such as Audiomart, it's still possible to assemble a fine system using…

For example, on "Climbing," from avant-garde Minnesota guitarist Steve Tibbets' Safe Journey album (…

Picture, if you will, two photographic enlargements, both of which…

To confirm my impressions I ran the CD through a passive…

From China With Love: It's comforting to assume a certain degree of continuity in life—we make decisions and act on impulses derived from our understanding of process and prediction in the natural world. Repeatability rules. Without it, we would hesitate to take that last step off a ladder or board an airplane. It's disconcerting, therefore, to think that an innocuous change would cause us to rethink our expectations of that which is and will be.

Consider the case of the Audio Research SP9 Mk.II, wherein…

My listening venue has changed radically since my last review. A move into an apartment has forced me to turn an 11' by 14' bedroom into a listening room. The 7?' ceiling and thick, wall-to-wall carpeting have created a more intimate and revealing environment in which to listen. I sit in the near field, 7' away from the Acoustat Twos, which are placed 3' out from the short wall and 18" from the side walls, toed-in slightly. My Quicksilver amps (100k ohm input impedance) sit side by side on a VPI isolation platform between the speakers and connected to…

Output impedances and line- and phono-stage gains measured pretty much according to the specification, with the CD input gain measuring a sensible 8dB rather than 20dB with the volume control wide open. Fig.1 shows the SP9's line-stage frequency response with the balance control centered. Flat within the audio band, there is a slight 0.5dB rolloff at 20kHz. Via the phono stage, the response was somewhat unflat (fig.2), with a slight treble shelf and a depressed bass region. This departure from strict neutrality doesn't correlate with Guy Lemcoe's…

Description: hybrid (tube/FET) stereo preamplifier with one phono input, six line-level inputs, and two tape loops. Frequency response: 30Hz-40kHz ±0.3dB (RIAA phono), 5Hz-50kHz ±0.5dB (line). Distortion: 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), 850 ohms (tape-out). Recommended load: 60k-100k ohms in parallel with 100pF (20k ohms minimum and 1000pF maximum). Phono stage gain: 67dB to main out, 46dB to tape-out. Phono…