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Fig.4 Mark Levinson No.39, balanced mode, departure from linearity (2dB/vertical div., right channel dashed).

Fig.5 Mark Levinson No.39, balanced mode, waveform of undithered 1kHz sinewave at -90.31dBFS (16-bit data).

It was not possible to measure the '39's jitter performance. However, Stereophile has recently acquired a Paul Miller analyser, which will allow us to measure the effects of word-clock jitter in the analog domain. We will look at the '39's performance in a Follow-Up.

Regarding distortion, this was very low. Fig.6 shows the spectrum of the…

In the measurements section that accompanied the original review, I said that I would measure the Levinson's word-clock jitter rejection once I had set up the Miller Audio Research Jitter Analyzer. The results are shown in fig.8, a high-resolution, FFT-derived spectrum of the player's analog output while it decoded data representing a high-level sinewave at exactly one quarter the sample rate (11.025kHz at -6dB) over which had been overlaid the LSB toggling on and off at 229Hz.

Fig.8 Mark Levinson No.39, high-resolution jitter…

The sound in Madison Square Garden was not as loud as I have experienced in the past—the 2004 Prince concert was literally deafening; thank goodness I always take earplugs to concerts—but it was still loud enough to make talking difficult.

"I said, 'I have always marveled at how seamlessly that English folksong "Green Bushes" fits into this song as the coda's bassline.'"

"Whatever," said my wife, "but what on earth does this song mean? I mean, what is 'Pressed Rat's collection of dog legs and feet'?"

"It rhymes with 'amplified heat,'" I said, stalling for…

Oh, the shame, the humiliation of it all. My family! My friends! My job! (Not necessarily in that order...)

If you point your browser to "Fine Tunes #41," you'll find posted for perusal, free of charge, my November 2001 column. If you then click on "Letters" at the bottom of the page, you'll find additional correspondence sent in about keeping cats from munching your speaker cables (also covered in that month's column), and rather pointed thoughts on the Armor All tweak…

To say that Bob Dylan has been on a roll for the last four years has now officially become a gross understatement. Ever since the now-60-year-old music icon and producer Daniel Lanois managed to right yet another down period in his career with 1997's Time Out of Mind, easily his most coherent artistic statement since the Lanois-helmed Oh Mercy of 1989, the man has been unstoppable.

Description: Fully balanced, tubed line preamplifier with five inputs, two outputs, and optional remote control. Tube complement: eight 6H30 "Super-Tubes." Output impedance: 200 ohms. No other specifications available.
Dimensions: 16.5" (420mm) W by 6.1" (155mm) H by 20" (510mm) D. Weight: approximately 45 lbs.
Serial number of unit reviewed: 051800407.
Price: $8500; add $500 for optional remote. Approximate number of dealers: 55.
Manufacturer: Balanced Audio Technology Inc., 26 Beethoven Drive, Wilmington, DE 19807. Tel: (302) 999-8855. Fax: (302)…

Analog sources: SOTA Cosmos Series III turntable, Graham 2.2 tonearm, Dynavector XV-1S cartridge.
Digital sources: Esoteric DV-50 universal digital player, Classé Omega SACD player.
Preamplification: Manley Labs Steelhead, Aesthetix Rhea phono stages; Mark Levinson No.32 Reference, VTL TL-7.5 Reference line stages.
Power amplifiers: Lamm M2.1 & ML1.1, VTL MB-450 Signature, Manley 250 Neo-Classic monoblocks; Plinius SA-102, Hovland Radia, Edge NL-12.
Loudspeakers: Calix Phoenix Grand Signature, Legacy Focus 20/20, EgglestonWorks Andra II.
…

The BAT VK-51SE offers a sensible maximum voltage gain (into 100k ohms) of 18.34dB. The volume control operated in accurate 0.5dB steps. Its nominal unity-gain setting actually offered a slight loss of -0.2dB, though this is inconsequential. The preamp preserved absolute polarity, with pin 2 of the XLR jacks wired "hot." The balanced input impedance was extraordinarily high, at more than 1M ohms, though it is hard to be precise because of the very small change in the output voltage when I changed the Audio Precision's source impedance.

The balanced output…