Description: Two-channel, hybrid (tubed and solid state), dual-chassis analog preamplifier with phono stage. Vacuum tube complement: six 12AX7A, four 12AT7. Line inputs: six balanced (XLR), four unbalanced (RCA). Phono inputs: two (RCA). Outputs: two balanced (one solid state, one tubed, XLR), one unbalanced fixed, one unbalanced variable (RCA), one headphone (¼", selectable impedance). Input impedance: 50k ohms balanced, 25k ohms unbalanced. Maximum output voltage: 20V RMS balanced, 10V RMS unbalanced. Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz, +0, –0.5dB; 10Hz– 100kHz, +0…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: VPI HW-40 turntable, VPI 12" Fatboy tonearm, Pro-Ject Classic EVO turntable, Lyra Etna cartridge, Ortofon Bronze Cadenza cartridge, Sumiko Amethyst cartridge.
Digital sources: MacBook Air running Tidal, Roon, Qobuz. Bricasti M1 Series II DAC, Musical Fidelity M1 CDT transport, Pro-Ject CD Box RS2 T.
Preamplification: Audio Research Corporation Phono REF3 phono preamplifier, Audio Research Corporation REF6 preamplifier, McIntosh C2700 preamplifier.
Power amplifiers: McIntosh MC462 Quad Balanced Stereo Amplifier, McIntosh MA252…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured the McIntosh C12000 with the preamplifier chassis sitting on top of the controller/power supply, the two joined with the supplied umbilical cables. I used my Audio Precision SYS2722 system for the measurements, confirming some of the results with the higher-performance APx555. The C12000 has five independent outputs: one balanced pair labeled "T" for tube output circuitry; another balanced pair labeled "SS" for solid state output circuitry; an unbalanced pair labeled "Main" that can be switched between tube and solid state output circuitry; a second…
When I read the news that songwriter and guitarist Jaime Royal "Robbie" Robertson had passed, I forwarded a link to the obituary in the New York Times to my friends Doug and Jon. They were with me in the balcony of the Berkeley Community Theater on the evening of January 31, 1970, to hear a performance by The Band. We were juniors at Berkeley High School that year and lived and breathed that music every day. I recall sitting around with them outdoors, singing songs from The Band's first two albums.
My pal Jon, a singer-songwriter now living in Sweden, responded to the emailed link. "This…
In a scene from The Silence of the Lambs—a film that for all of its camp happens to be nearly perfect—FBI cadet Clarice Starling asks caged psychopath Hannibal Lecter for help in figuring out a serial killer's motives. "Do we seek out things to covet?" Lecter responds, following Starling with his eyes as though she were his next meal. "No," he continues, "we begin by coveting what we see every day." Lecter's astute observation applies equally well to audiophilia. Much of this hobby consists of coveting: before we own a component, we usually spend a long while imagining all the ways it will…
Of more interest to me was the upstairs bar, described as a "lounge and listening space ... with bespoke cocktails and nightly selectors." During my visit there a few nights later, I spotted no selectors but did see a lovely looking and quite massive pair of speakers designed for the space by Devon Turnbull of OJAS. The enclosures resembled those of a 1950s Altec Voice of the Theatre. Turnbull told me that he built them with rare and sought-after components, like a pair of vintage Altec 288 compression drivers per side firing into 1803 sectional horns with double throats. Two cabinets, each…
Often it seems we're living at a time of hi-fi–industry contraction—that expansion in retail, if it exists at all, is online, and the number of real-world dealerships is shrinking. But at least two California dealerships, San Diego's Alma Audio (top photo) and Pasadena's Audio Element (bottom photo), are expanding in the actual, offline world.
Why expand? For the reasons you'd expect. The two dealerships want to expand their reach and capitalize better on the advantages that brick-and-mortar retail affords, especially when it comes to selling more expensive goods. They are aiming to reach…
The news zipped across the interwebs like lightning just after 9AM Eastern Time today (it went live here first). "Now & Then," a new-old song by The Beatles made with modern technology, bringing the band back together once more across time and space, will be released November 2. The evening prior, at 7PM London time, the BBC will broadcast "Now And Then – The Last Beatles Song," a short documentary directed by Oliver Murray, describing how the song was made. It will appear on the Beatles' YouTube channel at 8:30PM London time November 1, 3:30PM Eastern US time. There will also be a radio…
Sidebar: The Beatles Remixing History
Until The Beatles Love soundtrack album in 2006, the group's songs stood pretty much as they were recorded and mixed between1962 and 1970. There had been original LP releases—both EMI's "official" mono and stereo versions and Capitol's USA mono and stereo versions. The first CD releases, in 1987 by EMI, were UK sequences and from "official" master tapes. The non-album singles and EP tracks were collected into two Past Masters anthologies.
To produce the sound for the Cirque de Soleil's 2006 Beatles-themed Love show, the band's…
When I think about landmark years in the history of British hi-fi, 1973 sticks out. Three companies got their start in the first half of that year that went on to become cornerstones of the British audio scene: Linn Products, Naim Audio, and Rega Research. That means they're all celebrating their 50th anniversaries in 2023.
The parallels among the three companies don't end with their British origins and founding year. Each was started by someone born in the immediate aftermath of World War II. The late Julian Vereker of Naim, eldest of the three by a few months, was born on the very day…