Sidebar: List of the Month
Regrets? I've had a few. Ten, to be precise. Here are the five products I used to own that I most regret selling or giving away, followed by the five products I've borrowed from manufacturers that I most regret giving back. They're listed in alphabetical order; pressed to choose one, I'd say the Mac hurts worst.
1) Advent 300 stereo receiver
2) Conrad-Johnson PV-2ar preamplifier
3) McIntosh MR-66 monophonic tuner
4) Naim Armageddon isolation transformer
5) Naim Nait integrated amplifier
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1) Audio Note Ongaku integrated…
Jack English reviewed the No.30 in July 1992 (Vol.15 No.7):
In the beginning of the digital age, many reviewers abandoned ship. They listened to the first generation of digital equipment, compared it with their optimized analog systems, and concluded that digital was hopelessly flawed. They carried the analog banner high with seemingly justified righteous indignation, criticizing all things digital at every opportunity. Meanwhile, records rapidly became an endangered species, and audiophiles found themselves in a box: If we wanted anything new, it was going to be digital. If we wouldn't…
Thomas J. Norton wrote about the No.30 in November 1993 (Vol.16 No.11):
How does the new Mark Levinson No.35 compare with its slightly senior, somewhat more sophisticated, and much more expensive older brother, the No.30? The latter has not lacked for well-earned accolades extolling its superb performance but in no way restrained by its wallet-numbing, precedent-bursting price and sheer physical presence. Not that the No.35 is exactly shy and retiring in appearance; but the latter's smaller size and single-chassis construction conspire to make it just a bit less awe-inspiring.
We…
I'm running sound at a new DIY venue in Brooklyn called The LAB, and occasionally I snag some good tunes. Here's a sample…
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Kashka is a Canadian synth-pop duo formed by vocalist/lyricist Kat Burns and synth programmer and multi-instrumentalist James Bunton. The pair arrived by way of Toronto with stacks of keyboards, drum machines, and a laptop. After a show of reverb-drenched harmonies and airy synth patches, Kat handed me a purple colored tape of their most recent album Vichada. A tape? I didn't quite understand.
Luckily, I still had a General Electric Model #3-…
JA compared the No.30.5 and Sonic Frontiers SFD-2 Mk.II in March 1995 (Vol.18 No.3):
My system consisted of B&W Silver Signatures driven by a pair of Mark Levinson No.20.6 monoblock power amplifiers; the preamplifier was first the Sonic Frontiers SFL-2, then the remote-controlled Mark Levinson No.38S. The digital source was a Mark Levinson No.31 transport connected to the processor via either Madrigal AES/EBU cable or ASM Labs' Mamba ST-optical cable. For reference purposes, I had the original SFD-2 and the Mark Levinson No.30.5. All analog connections were balanced, using AudioQuest'…
Robert Harley on the No.30.5 HDCD in April 1995 (Vol.18 No.4):
For more than three years, the Mark Levinson No.30 Reference Digital Processor has been the standard against which other processors have been judged. In addition to serving as a reference at Stereophile—both JA and JE have purchased samples—countless competing manufacturers mention their products' performance in relation to that of the No.30. I can't tell you how many times I've heard the boast "It's as good as the No.30." Few products have enjoyed such a universally acknowledged position of sonic superiority, beautiful build…
Sidebar: HDCD & Peak Problems
An interesting aspect of the PMD100 HDCD decoder/filter is that it attenuates all signals by 1dB to reduce the audible effects of the clipping present on many CDs. Mastering engineers set the levels on the digital master (which end up on the CD) as high as possible for two reasons: to get the maximum loudness on the disc, and to avoid throwing away any resolution. Setting the levels so that the loudest peak reaches 6dB below full-scale digital is identical to losing one bit of resolution.
In this quest for maximum level, engineers can set the…
For many years, when the Stereophile crew journeyed to Las Vegas to cover the Consumer Electronics Show, we stayed at what eventually became the Hyatt Place. Not only was it smoke and slot machine-free, quiet, and equipped to serve breakfast gratis, but it was also located just a block from the CES "high performance" exhibits in the Alexis Park and the "alternative" T.H.E. Show in the St. Tropez, and a shuttle bus ride from the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC). It was an ideal place to sleep, work, and recoup in... until CES shifted its "high performance" exhibits to the Venetian Hotel on…
Robert Deutsch had yet to make his appearance, fresh from performing in two musicals in Canada, when I snapped this photo of some of Stereophile's CES team stressing the show account and plotting our on-line coverage at the Mirage's classy BLT Burger. Pictured, L–R, are John Atkinson, Jon Iverson, Stephen Mejias, and Audiostream.com's Michael Lavorgna.
CES Unveiled, scheduled from 4:00–7:00 p.m. on the day before the Press Day, is an event that provides a preview of CES, giving exhibitors a chance to have press coverage before CES proper opens, and, similarly, allows attending members of the press to get an early start on their CES coverage. It's a kind of mini- (or micro-) CES, with products mostly on static display, and, given its size (small booths in a hotel ballroom) it cannot be representative of the giant entity that is CES. Still, for most of the CES press, CES Unveiled is the only game in town during that time, so you might as well…
