Description: Self-powered solid-state preamplifier/control unit.
Price: $89.95 kit; S129.95 factory-wired (1968–1970); no longer available (2021).
Manufacturer: Dynaco, Inc., Philadelphia, PA 19121 (1968); Tyco, Inc., Princeton, NJ (1970); Panor, Inc., Hauppauge, NY (1990s); Dynaco/Radial Engineering, Ltd. (2014 onward). Web: www.dynaco.com.
Currently, Stereophile's Recommended Components list includes 19 loudspeakers in Class A (Full Range). As a group, these 19 speakers are, according to the Editor's Note we use to introduce Class A, "sufficiently idiosyncratic and differ enough from one another that prospective customers should read Stereophile's original reviews in their entirety for descriptions of the sounds." True enough, and good advice—yet, in my opinion, the speakers in that class have a few things in common, maybe more than those in the other classes…
I was mightily impressed by the Magico M2 ($63,600/pair with non-optional MPod stands) when I reviewed it in February 2020 and it was subsequently voted the magazine's 2020 Loudspeaker of the Year. In the March 2021 issue, having…
The reviewer venturing to identify the birth bed of heavy metal music risks wrath. So be it.
The heavy metal genre has many roots. The idea of power chords and music centered on ominous, mythological, and vaguely threatening lyrics goes back centuries; consider the use of European church music in various eras to literally scare the hell out of believers. But heavy…
I apply Occam's criterion to my audio system: It should be no more complicated than it need be. The D/A processors I have written about over the past few years—dCS Rossini and Vivaldi, MBL Noble Line N31, PS Audio DirectStream, Weiss DAC502—all have high-precision digital volume controls. I therefore haven't had a conventional…
Description: Solid-state, three-chassis stereo preamplifier with remote control. Inputs: 5 single-ended (RCA) or balanced (XLR), 1 single-ended (RCA) or balanced (XLR) tape, 1 single-ended (RCA) or balanced (XLR) Pass Thru. Outputs: 3 single-ended line-level (RCA) or line-level balanced (XLR), 1 tape (RCA). Maximum gain: 9.6dB, balanced. Input impedance: 42k ohms, balanced; 22k ohms, single-ended. Output impedance: 50 ohms, balanced; 25 ohms, single-ended. Maximum output: 23V RMS at 0.1% THD. Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz, ±0.05dB; –2dB at 150kHz. Channel…
Digital sources: Roon Nucleus+ & Grimm MU1 music servers; Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP universal player; MBL N31 CD player/DAC; PS Audio DirectStream D/A processor. Ayre Acoustics QA-9 A/D converter.
Preamplifiers: Benchmark LA4, MBL Noble Line N11.
Power amplifiers: Parasound Halo JC 1+ monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: KEF LS50 and LS50 Meta, Sonus Faber Lumina III.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest Vodka (Ethernet), DH Labs (1m, AES/EBU with Ayre C-5xeMP); Canare 110 ohm (AES/ EBU, 15', with Grimm MU1). Interconnect: AudioQuest Wild Blue (balanced).…
I measured the Pass Laboratories XP-32's performance with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"), repeating some tests with the magazine's more-recent APx555 system. The maximum gain was a little higher than the specified 9.6dB for the balanced and unbalanced inputs to the balanced outputs, at 10.2dB. The gain from the unbalanced input to the unbalanced output was 6.5dB. The preamplifier preserved absolute polarity (ie, was noninverting) with both balanced and unbalanced inputs and outputs. (Its XLR jacks are wired with pin 2 hot,…