I don't want to give the impression that the VT-150s sounded soft, rolled-off, overly lush, or "tubey"—they didn't. The midrange and treble magic I've…
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The VT-150s presented an astonishingly believable and natural rendering of timbre. Instead of hearing a hi-fi representation of the music, I felt I was hearing the music itself. The result was a complete sense of involvement, relaxation, intimacy, ease, and ability to forget the playback system. The listening fatigue I so often experience with lesser amplifiers was replaced by the ability—no, compulsion—to play music for extended periods.
Sidebar 1: System
The VT-150s drove Thiel CS3.6es—a moderately difficult load, and a loudspeaker that tends to be amplifier-sensitive. Loudspeaker cable was primarily AudioQuest Sterling. Interconnect was Expressive Technologies IC-1 or AudioQuest Lapis.
Source components included a variety of digital processors and transports, but most of the critical evaluation of the VT-150s was done with a Sonic Frontiers SFD-2 driven by Theta Data Basic or Mark Levinson No.31 transports via AES/EBU interface (the excellent Wonder Link). Interconnects between the SFD-2 and Audio Research LS5…
Sidebar 2: Measurements
I measured a voltage gain of 10 (20dB) from the VT-150's 4 ohm output tap, 14 (22.9dB) from its 8 ohm tap, and 18.6 (25.4) from the 16 ohm tap. This increase in voltage gain at different output transformer taps occurs because the taps have different turns ratios (the number of turns of wire on the secondary winding in relation to the transformer primary winding). Input sensitivity (the input voltage required to drive the amplifier to clipping) was 2.4V RMS (balanced), which is ideal for the high-gain LS5. Input impedance measured a high 215k ohms across the band…
Sidebar 3: Specifications
Description: Vacuum-tube monoblock power amplifier. Tube complement: two matched 6550 pairs (output), two 6550 regulators, one 12AX7 regulator, four 12BH7A driver, two 6922 input. Power output: 130W continuous into 16 ohms (24.2dBW), 20Hz–20kHz, with <1% THD (typically !x0.05% at 1W). Approximate power available at clipping: 145W at 1kHz (24.6dBW). Power bandwidth (–3dB): 12Hz–80kHz. Input sensitivity: 2.3V RMS balanced for rated output. Input impedance: 200k ohms. Hum and noise: <0.5mV RMS (98dB below rated output, IHF weighted, input shorted). Power-…
In September 2019, I made an afternoon visit to National Sawdust, a vibrant, innovative performance space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to attend a demonstration of the new Constellation and Spacemap systems installed there by Meyer Sound. According to Meyer Sound designer Steve Ellison, the two systems permit control of the space's acoustics (Constellation) and empower performers and sound designers to construct a soundscape (Spacemap) in which voices, instruments, and other sounds can be located virtually anywhere within as well as beyond the confines of the performance space.
Attendees…
On Friday, January 17 from 5-9pm, Innovative Audio in New York City will debut the Wilson Chronosonic XVX, Wilson's flagship loudspeaker. Peter McGrath of Wilson Audio will present the system with his master recordings, played through D’Agostino Momentum M400 Monoblock Amplifiers and Momentum HD Preamplifier, Berkeley Alpha DAC Reference Series-3, and Transparent Opus cables and power products. Space will be limited, and reservations are required. Please visit innovative.nyc/events for more details and to reserve your seat.
My first exposure to current-mode phono preamplification was maybe a dozen years ago, when such products were new. The one I received, though nicely packaged, was not ready for prime time. I never smelled smoke, but I never heard sound, either: If it wasn't DOA, it was at a minimum DSAA—Dead Soon After Arrival.
If you've followed our coverage, you know that prime time has arrived for current-mode phono preamps. Over the last year, Stereophile has reviewed, in columns or regular reviews, The Loco ($8200) and Little Loco ($3400), both from Sutherland Engineering; the Lino C 2.0 from…
It's 3am. You're lying in bed. Something woke you up—you don't know what it was. You pull back the covers, get up, and tiptoe out to your listening room.
There, standing by your record rack, thumbing through your prized LPs, is a man in black (no, not Johnny Cash—a different man in black). You see a bulge in his pocket; it could be a gun. Something shiny catches your eye—there's a switchblade knife between his teeth! At his feet, leaning against your record shelf, is a cudgel. Oh, and it looks like he might have some infectious disease. You, of course, are in your PJs.
You notice…
Rafe Arnott
Boards Of Canada: Music Has The Right To Children
Matador OLE 299-2 (CD). 1998. Marcus Eoin, Michael Sandison, prods.
An emotronic psychedelic head-music album that defies being dated, Music Has the Right to Children eschewed late-'90s synth/electrowave norms and sentimental watercolor-painted, bleak landscapes awash in analog warmth. This music was, to me, the future from my past, and with each new listen another angle of melancholy would rise forth from deep in my chest. Created by two brothers from Scotland who pirated part of a Canadian public…
Brian Damkroger
Sarah Vaughan With Count Basie And His Orchestra: Count Basie/Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Vaughan, vocals; Freddie Green, guitar; Sonny Payne, drums; Edward F. Jones, Jr., bass; Chas. Baker Fowlkes, Frank Wess, Billy Mitchell, Frank Foster, Marshall Royal, saxophone; Thad Jones, Joe Newman, George Cotton (Sonny Cohn), Eugene E. Young, trumpet; Albert T. Grey, Henry Coker, Benjamin Powell, trombone; Kirk Stewart, piano (not credited)
Roulette Birdland Series R 52061 (LP). 1961. Teddy Reig, prod.; Bob Arnold, eng.
Count Basie/Sarah Vaughan isn't Sarah…