It's the 8th of August 1980 and Ben Duncan (top left), hand resting on his famous investigative clipboard, is leaning against the Pink Floyd The Wall concerts' huge front-of-house mixing setup, inside Earls Court, West London. The crew are getting ready for sound-check. It's the second night of a world tour, and there have been some teething problems. In front of the alleyway of racked outboard equipment, are an amazing 105 channels made with joined-up English Midas Pro4 consoles. These were…
While the Sharks and the Jets rumble in the consumer electronics playground, knife-fighting for supremacy in the next software go-round, in 1998 we're still living in the 16-bit/44.1kHz audio world, and will be doing so for the foreseeable future. Maybe your idea of audio bliss is listening to the equivalent of computing with a Commodore 64, but it's not mine.
Will the future bring us Sony's and Philips' "Super Audio" CD? Could be! Or the Working Group 4's (aka Toshiba, Matsushita,…
Analog source: Lyra Parnassus D.C.t, Koetsu Urushi phono cartridges; Graham 2.0, Immedia RPM tonearms, Simon Yorke Series 7 VPI TNT Mk.IV turntables.
Preamplification: Ayre K-3 preamplifier, Stax SRM-T1W passive line stage.
Power Amplifiers: Conrad-Johnson Premier 12, VTL MB-450 (both tubed).
Loudspeakers: Sonus Faber Concerto Grand Piano, Audio Physic Virgo, Audio Physic Rhea subwoofer.
Cables: Yamamura Millennium 6000, Cardas Golden Cross, Electra-Glide interconnects; Yamamura speaker cables; Yamamura Quantum, Electra-Glide AC cords.
…
The Bow Technologies ZZ-Eight's analog output was absolute polarity-correct, and at 2.11V: 0.45dB higher than the CD standard of 2V RMS. Its source impedance was just over 45 ohms across the band, implying that the player will have no difficulty driving low-impedance preamps. The ZZ-Eight coped very well with damaged discs, playing without dropouts through the Pierre Verany test disc's track 32, which has 1.5mm gaps in the data spiral.
The ZZ-Eight's frequency response at full level (fig.1, top traces) was flat, with a negligible balance error. The…
Description: One-box HDCD CD player with remote control. Frequency response: 5Hz–20kHz, ±0.3dB. Output level: 2.75V RMS. Measured output impedance: 45 ohms. Phase linearity: >0.3°. Channel separation: >98dB at 1kHz. S/N ratio: >110dB. THD: 0.002% at 1kHz; 0.007%, 10Hz–20kHz.
Dimensions: 16.75" (430mm) W by 3.75" (96mm) H by 13.25" (340mm) D. Weight: 35.25lb (16kg).
Serial number of unit reviewed: 00277.
Price: $6900 (1998); no longer available (2020). Approximate number of dealers: 10.
Manufacturer: Bow Technologies A/S, Amicisvej 19,…
"Good morning Jason," began the email from Technical Editor John Atkinson. "I have just reviewed the $9850 Weiss DAC502 for the August issue of Stereophile. I thought this D/A processor sounded superb, ... and I wish I had been able to compare it with the dCS Rossini. "Would you therefore be willing to follow up my review with that comparison? [Editor-in-Chief] Jim is cool with that idea, and I can have the Weiss shipped to you. It has balanced outputs and a high-resolution volume control, so would be compatible…
Loudspeaker cabinets move in response to the motion of their dynamic drivers, especially heavy woofers—that's Newton's third law of motion. In principle at least, that motion can smear a loudspeaker's sound. The usual solution is to use spikes to couple loudspeakers rigidly to the floor—although those spikes must be carefully leveled and tightened to ensure rigidity; spikes that aren't sitting square on the floor are useless. A rigidly grounded cabinet has a large effective mass, so it will move very…
There are five individual categories: Loudspeakers (including subwoofers), Amplification Components (preamplifiers, power amplifiers, etc.), Digital Sources (CD players, transports, processors), Analog Sources (phono cartridges, turntables, tonearms, FM tuners, etc.), and Accessories (everything else).
The two most important categories,…
Audio Artistry Beethoven ($28,000/system; reviewed by Shannon Dickson, Vol.20 No.11, November 1997 Review)
Revel Ultima Gem ($7500–$9500/pair with stands but without subwoofer, depending on finish; reviewed by John Atkinson, Vol.21 No.10, October 1998 Review)
Finalists (in alphabetical order):
Aerial Acoustics 8 ($5000–$6000/pair, depending on finish; reviewed by Michael Fremer, Vol.21 No.1, January 1998; Thomas J. Norton, Vol.21 Nos.4 & 11, April & November 1998 Review)
Avantgarde Acoustic Duo ($13,900/pair; reviewed by Martin…