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So another SSI has come and gone. On the downside, the trade-only day was slow, a surprising number of SSI stalwarts—Legacy, Luxman, Vivid, Reference 3a, Ocellia, AvantGarde, and Antique Sound Lab among them—were missing in action, and the blue-wig thing is getting kind of old. On the up side, there was good traffic on the consumer days, the food and drink were great—even on-site at the Hilton—and the Coup de Foudre party was a blast (thank you, Graeme, Jennifer, et al). I was genuinely impressed by several new products, especially the Michael Tang tonearm, AudioQuest Dragonfly USB DAC, LM…
Divine Ricochet is a three-part music series made to accompany John Chamberlain: Choices, on view through May 13 at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. The series takes its name from Chamberlain’s 1991 work, a large and colorful, mangled assortment of painted and chromium-plated steel.
The series kicks off on Friday, April 13, with performances by Grouper (Liz Harris) and Julianna Barwick. Two weeks later, on Friday, April 27, Cold Cave is scheduled to perform. The series concludes on Thursday, May 10, with what is sure to be a stirring performance by Zola Jesus, accompanied by JG…
The late Bill Monroe may have been the father of bluegrass music, but it was the distinctive banjo playing of Earl Scruggs that most listeners came to recognize as the voice of an entire style. Scruggs, who died on March 28 at the age of 88, left an indelible imprint on American music, influencing virtually ever player of the five-string banjo to follow.
Born in January of 1924 to a farming family in Shelby, North Carolina, Earl Scruggs began playing banjo at the age of four. A shy, introverted boy, he devoted countless hours to perfecting his right-hand technique, eventually hitting upon…
Unique circumstances conspired to make the March 15 US debut of Raidho's handsome 2.1, 2.5-way floorstanding loudspeaker ($28,000/pair) at AudioVision San Francisco an unusual event. Despite ample planning on everyone's part, US Customs, which has never been known for putting audiophiles first, held up delivery of Raidho's new babies until the afternoon of the demo. Did they perhaps think that the "Raid" in Raidho was code for a terrorist plot?
Due to this unforeseeable snafu, what a very full house of eager audiophiles heard was not the Raidho 2.1 in all its glory, but a literally out-of…
When a manufacturer sets out to design and build a product, be it in high-end audio or any other field, the final retail price is usually a prime consideration. Parts and assembly are only part of the equation; there also must be enough buyers to amortize the design and development costs. If the product is to be a flagship model—something a company hopes will give a lift to its entire line—engineers will sometimes throw caution to the winds, designing a product without thought to its ultimate price, which is only set after the design is complete. When Madrigal Audio Laboratories set out to…
With the C.E.C. TL 1 transport driving it through the Kimber AGDL coaxial digital link, the No.35 quickly set a new standard for digital playback in my reference system. Its midrange was clear and immediate, yet in no way forward or pushy in the way that digital playback can sometimes be. Its top end was subtle; perhaps just a bit soft at times (a characteristic which I would later find to be largely attributable to the C.E.C. transport), but never lacking in detail. Its bass was full, deep, and detailed. Its soundstage was lively and revealing in both width and depth. And its dynamic range…
We still had a No.30 on hand, so a comparison merely required prying it away from Robert Harley. Not easy—I'd already separated him from the No.31 for the duration of this review—but necessary. With both processors in my listening room, both driven by Levinson's own transport, the games began. It was humbling to realize that it probably cost less to build the Stereophile listening room itself than it would cost to purchase these three Levinson pieces.
Before I could begin, however, another problem raised its shaggy head: which digital cable to use. The obvious choice seemed to be to…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Digital/analog processor. Conversion and filtration: 20-bit, 8x-oversampling. Input sampling rates: 32kHz, 44.1kHz, 48kHz. Inputs: two AES/EBU, two S/PDIF, one ST coaxial, two EIAJ optical. Outputs: RCA (unbalanced) and XLR (balanced). Frequency response: 10Hz–20kHz +0dB, –0.2dB. Total harmonic distortion: 0.003% at 1kHz, A-weighted. IM distortion (SMPTE IMD): <0.005%. Output impedance: <6 ohms.
Dimensions: 19.325" (491mm) W by 5.63" (142mm) H by 15.625" (397mm) D. Weight: 50 lbs (22.7kg).
Serial number of tested unit: 1217.
Price…
Sidebar 2: Review System
While the No.35 was auditioned over a period of several months with a variety of associated equipment, the bulk of the final listening was done in a system consisting of a Rowland Consummate preamplifier, Krell KSA-250 power amplifier, and WATT/Puppy loudspeakers.
Interconnects were Kimber AGDL coaxial digital link between transport and processor, TARA Labs Master RSC interconnect from No.35 to preamp, and Cardas Hexlink from preamp to power amp. TARA Labs RSC performed the loudspeaker cable duties. All of the interconnects named were unbalanced;…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The Mark Levinson No.35 has outputs of 2.067V (L) and 2.069V (R), unbalanced, when decoding a 1kHz, 0dB (full-scale) sinewave. The corresponding balanced output levels are 4.134V (L) and 4.139V (R). The latter is exactly the expected 6dB increase over the unbalanced mode. The output impedance was very low, measuring 6.5 ohms in the unbalanced mode (using the voltage-drop method). This is effectively to the specification, within the margin of error. As a result, the No.35 will have no problem driving long or capacitative cables. It should also work well with a…