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During my first attempt at college, I lived in a dormitory where my next- door neighbors had an informal trade in pharmaceuticals; their most ardent customers were my neighbors across the hall. One of the latter was a fellow named Pete, a good-natured guy (if a bit sanctimonious in his disdain for music he considered insufficiently bluesy) whose heavy rotation list was, at the time, topped by John Fahey's The Voice of the Turtle. I merely disliked the record the first time I heard it, but in the days ahead I came to loathe it. I found it repetitive, masturbatory, technically inept, and dead…
The Naim components in question were their NAC 32-5 preamplifier and NAP 250 power amplifier, supplemented with their Hi-Cap outboard power supply; that last item was devised as an upgrade to a more basic system in which DC from the Naim amp's own power supply is used to power the preamp. In 1988, the 32-5/250/Hi-Cap combination was Naim's second-best amplification system, bettered only by the use of two NAP 135 monoblocks in place of the stereo amp. (In 1988, my own Naim setup was humbler: I started out with the less expensive NAC 62 preamp and NAP 140 amp, later upgrading to a Naim-…
We usually save the question of value for the end of a review, but this time it's worth mentioning up front, if only because PS Audio has been in the news lately. Late last August, the company announced they were switching from a traditional dealer network to a factory-direct sales model. So, to some readers, it might seem fair to judge the brand-new, full-featured Stellar Phono Preamplifier ($2500) against ones selling in stores for $5000.
Then again, to speak with the Stellar Phono's talented designer, 30-something engineer and vinyl enthusiast Darren Myers, is to know that this is a…
What I heard at home more or less confirmed what I heard at RMAF (though the home experience was considerably better than the already fine performance I heard under typically lousy show conditions)—that is, once the "whining, beeping, buzzing" issues had been solved. That's not a product indictment! It's more about Myers's "no compromise" design philosophy, which is well documented in the instruction manual: As I immediately discovered, and as Myers and Leebens also heard, the Stellar is extremely sensitive to grounding, ultralow-capacitance cables, RF, and other kinds of interference.
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Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid-state phono preamplifier with unbalanced inputs and both balanced and unbalanced outputs. Overall voltage gain: MM: 44dB, 50dB, 56dB. MC: 60dB, 66dB, 72dB. Input loading: MM: 47k ohms (100pf). MC: 60, 100, 200, 47k ohms, Custom, 1 ohm–1k ohms. Output impedance: unbalanced <200 ohms, balanced <200 ohms per leg. (All measurements are with both channels operating, gain set to low, and balanced outputs. Input frequency is 1kHz.) Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz ±0.25dB. THD @0.5V, 1kHz: <0.01%. Maximum output: @1%THD: 24VRMS. Overload…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: Continuum Audio Labs Caliburn, & Castellon turntable & stand; VPI HW-40 Air Force One Premium turntables; SAT CF1-09, Graham Elite, and VPI Fatboy tonearms; Lyra Atlas, Atlas SL, Atlas SL mono, Etna, and Etna SL, Ortofon MC Century, Anna Diamond, A95, Miyajima Labs Infinity (mono) and Destiny (stereo) Grado Epoch (mono).
Digital sources: dCS Vivaldi One SACD player DAC; Lynx Hilo A/D-D/A converter, Roon Nucleus; Pure Vinyl and Vinyl Studio software.
Preamplification: darTZeel NHB-18S, Ypsilon MC-10L, MC-16L, Consolidated…
Sidebar 1: Measurements
I measured the PS Audio Stellar Phono phono preamplifier using my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"). For logistical reasons, I tested a different sample (serial number SPH-B-9J0100) from that auditioned by Michael Fremer. To get the lowest measured noise, I floated the signal generator's unbalanced output from ground and ran a separate connection from the analyzer's ground to the grounding post on the preamplifier's rear panel.
PS Audio specifies the voltage gain for the moving-magnet input as Low (44dB), Medium (50dB),…
When I performed the measurements of the Q Acoustics Concept 500 loudspeaker to accompany Thomas J. Norton's review in March 2019, I was impressed by what I found. The floorstanding Concept 500 offers a high level of audio engineering excellence for its price of $5999.99/pair. When I attended a Q Acoustics press briefing a few months back, where the English company announced the US availability of their stand-mounted Concept 300, I didn't hesitate to ask for a pair to review.
Design
The Concept 300 costs $4499.99/pair, including a pair of unique stands: skeletal, 26"-tall Tensegrity…
Low-level detail in the sound of the piano was well-preserved by the Concept 300s, even when Jarrett was comping at high levels with his left hand. I followed "Kyoto" with The Carnegie Concert (16/44.1k ALAC files, ripped from CD, ECM 07362), for which I had been in the audience back in 2005. Whereas the Sun Bear improvisations are unbroken stretches, sometimes lasting more than 40 minutes, Carnegie comprises shorter pieces, more akin, dare I say it, to songs. The image of the piano is wider and closer than it is on "Kyoto," and the instrument has more low-frequency power. Again, the Concept…
Sidebar 1: A Sprung Suspension on a Loudspeaker?
After I attended the launch event for the Q Acoustics Concept 300 with John Atkinson, I found myself interested in this speaker's unique stands—which, as JA points out in his review, incorporate a sprung, low-pass vibration filter to isolate the speaker from its surroundings, much as a suspended turntable isolates the platter from floor-borne vibrations.
It's an interesting idea—especially in the context of a dynamic loudspeaker, which has drivers moving in and out over a wide range of frequencies. When a driver cone moves, its…