In the mid-1960s, as solid state amplifiers and acoustic-suspension speakers gained popularity in the US, low-power tube amplifiers and horn-loaded loudspeakers were abandoned. The recovery started almost immediately. Tube amps reappeared in the early 1970s, from Conrad-Johnson and Audio Research, followed by Cary Audio and others in the '80s. One of Julius Futterman's OTL (output transformerless) tube-amp designs from the mid-'50s (footnote 1) was reproduced by Harvey "Gizmo" Rosenberg (footnote 2) of New York Audio Laboratories in the form of the…
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Sidebar 1: Tube Amplification Moves West
Sidebar 2: Specifications
Description: Two-channel, stereo, tubed preamplifier with MM phono stage. NOS vacuum tube complement: two E80F or EF86, two 6BX7, two 12AU7, two 6SN7. Inputs: Phono A, Phono B, Tuner, CD, Aux-1, Aux-2 (all RCA). Output: two pair single-ended (RCA). Input impedance: Phono A: 47k ohms; Phono B: 620, 15k, 30k, 47k, 68k, 100k ohms. Output impedance: 1.9k ohms (plate follower). Frequency range: 5Hz–70kHz (–2dB). Channel separation: 48dB. S/N ratio: 70dB. MM phono stage gain: 38dB; line stage gain: 47dB. Maximum input sensitivity: Phono 1.8mV (at 1V); Aux 21.3mV (at 1V…
Sidebar 3: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: Thorens TD 124 turntable/Jelco 350 S tonearm/Kuzma CAR-30 MC cartridge; VPI Avenger Direct turntable/VPI Fatboy Gimbal tonearm/VPI Shyla MC cartridge.
Digital sources: HoloAudio May DAC; Sonore opticalRendu; Roon Nucleus+; Small Green Computer power supply; TRENDnet switch; Apple iPad mini.
Preamplifiers: Shindo Labs Allegro (2), Sugden LA-4 line; Tavish Audio Design Adagio, Manley Chinook, and Pathos In The Groove phono preamplifiers, Mytek Brooklyn DAC (as preamp), Auditorium 23 step-up transformer.
Power amplifiers: Shindo…
Sidebar 4: Measurements
I measured the performance of the Miyajima Wo-1 with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system. When I connected the preamplifier's output to the analyzer and switched it on, the Audio Precision's gain-ranging kept changing. Ken Micallef had told me that he had heard "pops" when he turned the preamplifier on, likely the result of a DC voltage somewhere in the audio circuit. An obvious place to look would be on the wiper of a conventional volume control potentiometer; however, I would not have thought the Wo-1's unusual "shunt" switched-resistor volume control would suffer…
Marantz, the iconic company started by audio pioneer Saul Marantz in 1953, is inviting the public to visit a 7000-square-foot immersive, interactive exhibit in New York City to celebrate its 70th anniversary.
The House of Marantz at Spring Studios, in the city’s trendy TriBeCa section, will open its doors to the public on Wednesday, July 12, between 11am and 7pm. Admission is free. The exhibit will include:
A museum featuring rare audio gear and highlighting the history of hi-fi to commemorate the brand’s 70-year legacy A headphone listening station showcasing Marantz…
It was a cold March-in-Brooklyn morning. Clouds had been shedding wintery mix since daybreak. By 9am, birds were flash-mobbing my window, demanding suet. But I was frozen—unable to pull my mind loose from the grave flowings of American composer Ned Rorem's Book of Hours, as performed by Les Connivences Sonores on the album Musikalische Perlen (24/48 FLAC, Ars Produktion/Qobuz). The sounds in my room were sensuous and mesmerizing, and I needed to float in their mysterious energy as long as I could.
I was listening through the most compelling sound system I had assembled since I started…
Feedback issues
I am glad I listened for five straight months without disconnecting the TU-8900's feedback. During that time, I never forgot the feedback was connected, but everything sounded so alive and energized that I never felt motivated to remove it—never, that is, until I began to write this report. When I finally took the feedback out, I was surprised how much rawer the sound became. Without feedback, a deep-and-silent, wet-look transparency appeared. The amp actually got quieter into my 97dB/2.83V/m– sensitive Heretic AD614s.
I found these new, raw, uncorrected…
The San Jose Jazz High School All Stars with several Ukrainian guests. Photo: Mark Anenberg.
Jazz emerged from the African-American experience in the United States, so it is not surprising that it has been socially relevant since its earliest manifestations. Sonny Rollins put the matter succinctly: "jazz is protest music."
In 1923, Bessie Smith sang songs based on her experience of racism and sexism. In 1939, Billie Holiday recorded "Strange Fruit," a chilling song about a lynching. Charles Mingus's 1959 classic "Fables of Faubus" secured a permanent place in music history for the…
Jason Lindner. Photo: Robert Birnbach.
Igor Osypov; Jason Lindner; Brandon Farmer
Those who had heard Igor Osypov in the Tabard with the high school band and John Hollenbeck's George needed to hear more. That opportunity came in a presentation in a club called Mama Kin. The band was Osypov on guitar and electric bass, Jason Lindner on keyboards, and Brandon Farmer on drums. They met for the first time at their only rehearsal on the day of the concert.
Osypov is one of the most creative under-40 guitarists in Europe. He is one of the few Ukrainian jazz musicians who is…
Sidebar: Recommended Listening
George: Letters to George (Out Of Your Head)
Vân-Ánh Võ featuring Kronos Quartet: Three-Mountain Pass (Innova)
Igor Osypov Quintet featuring Logan Richardson: I (Unit)
Orrin Evans: The Magic of Now (Smoke Sessions)
Kassa Overall: I Think I'm Good (Brownswood)
Mark Guiliana: The Sound of Listening (Edition)
Ambrose Akinmusire: A Rift in Decorum: Live at the Village Vanguard (Blue Note)