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Editor's Note: This is the very first equipment report that was written by J. Gordon Holt for Stereophile, then called The Stereophile. The venerable JGH appended the following warning: The writer of this report was employed by Weathers Industries during the time when the product in question was undergoing development, so in view of this past association, and the doubt it may cast upon the writer's impartiality, this report probably should not be published, even though the writer left Weathers Industries over a year ago and is not bound by any obligations thereto.
Response checks using the Westrex 1-A and London's stereo test disc showed a slightly rising top—up about 0.5dB at 10kHz and 3dB at l5kHz. Both channels of two samples were within their rated 1dB limit of output imbalance. Total unweighted noise measured 56dB below a 7cm/s 1kHz signal, which is completely inaudible, and since there are no inductive elements in the cartridge, it is not susceptible to hum interference from poorly shielded phono motors. The transistors in the polarizing supply will, however, start making thunderous grumbling noises if the supply is placed where other…
Sidebar: Specifications
Description: Amplified-bridge, ceramic-capacitor phono cartridge. Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz, ±1dB; 10Hz–40kHz, ±3dB. Channel Separation: 40–35dB, 20Hz–15kHz. Output (1kHz at 7cm/s velocity): 8mV at constant velocity, 1.0V RIAA-equalized. Hum and noise: 60dB below 7cm/s. Channel balance: <1dB. Compliance; 20 x 10–6 cm/dyne. Dynamic mass: 0.6mg. Tracking force: 0.75–1 gram.
Price: $129.50; conversion kit for all Weathers viscous-damped arms, $91 (1962); no longer available (2019).
Manufacturer: Weathers Industries, Division of Teleprompter Corp.,…
American audiophiles have long had a love-hate relationship with British integrated amplifiers. On one hand, they often provide superb musicality, sell for a moderate price, and don't take up much room. On the other, these British alternatives to Adcom or B&K separates often have low power output, nonstandard connectors, idiosyncratic appearance (footnote 1), and dictate the kind of speaker cable and interconnects you can use.
No product exemplifies this dichotomy more than the Exposure XV integrated amplifier from England. This 40Wpc (rated) unit offers the best of what makes…
Extended listening revealed the XV to have some remarkable qualities for such an inexpensive product. Soundstaging was particularly impressive. The XV threw a nice sense of the music existing in three-dimensional space, with layers and layers of depth, though it tended to have a somewhat distant perspective, with the music set behind the loudspeakers rather than pushed forward. It was like moving from Row E to Row T. I tend to prefer this type of presentation: the listener is drawn into the music rather than kept at arm's length by an over-forward aggressiveness. If this trait is overdone…
Sidebar 1: Review System
The Exposure XV saw time driving three pairs of loudspeakers in my listening room: the Paradigm Compact Monitor, Rogers LS2a/2, and the usual Hales System Two Signatures. Loudspeaker cable was a 20' bi-wired pair of Exposure cables terminated with banana plugs on both ends. Source components included a heavily modified Well-Tempered Turntable fitted with an AudioQuest AQ7000 cartridge, connected via Expressive Technologies IC-2 or AudioQuest Diamond. The digital front end included a Theta Data, Museatex CD-Deck, and Proceed PDT 3 transports driving a Mark…
Sidebar 2: Measurements
After running the XV at one-third rated power into 8 ohms for an hour (the recommended measurement preconditioning conditions), the heatsinks grew too hot to touch. I estimated the rear-panel temperature at about 70°C. After listening at even moderate playback levels, the heatsinks reached about the same temperature.
The XV's frequency response, shown in fig.1, reveals the amplifier's band-limited response. The amplifier was down 0.84dB at 20kHz into 8 ohms (top pair of traces, dotted trace is the right channel). When driving 4 ohms, the treble rolloff…
Sidebar 3: Specifications
Description: Integrated amplifier with phono stage. Power output: 40Wpc into 8 ohms (16dBW) (peak or RMS rating, distortion, and bandwidth not specified). Transient power: 100VA. Distortion: <0.01% (power output and bandwidth not specified). Input impedance: 10k ohms, 150mV sensitivity. Phono input impedance: 47k ohms, 3mV sensitivity (MM); 470 ohms, 0.6mV sensitivity (MC).
Dimensions: 17" W by 3.35" H by 13.6" D. Weight: 8kg (17.6 lb).
Price: $1295 (1993); no longer available (2019). Approximate number of dealers: 15.
Manufacturer: Exposure…
This is an integrated arm-and-turntable unit using single-belt drive from a stepped motor pulley to an inside platter (under the main one), and having a three-point suspension similar to that in the AR turntable for isolation from acoustic feedback and floorborne vibrations. Speed change is accomplished by a two-pronged "fork" which, actuated by the speed selector knob, throws the belt from one step of the motor pulley to the other. The motor is a special synchronous type that is actually two motors in a single case. Their speed is determined by the frequency of the AC supply, so there is no…
Manufacturer's Comment
While we have not yet had the opportunity to check the sample TD-I50AB sent to The Stereophile, there is little doubt but that the tonearm on this unit was seriously damaged in transit or has a serious manufacturing defect. The 5°tilt in the head shell and the ½-gram vertical friction are completely beyond the design and quality control limits established by Thorens.
The speed accuracy tolerances of this unit are ±1% of the nominal speed, which corresponds to 1/6 of a semitone. On early units the speed was at the upper limit of these tolerances, and slight…