The 300SEI's crosstalk is shown in fig.5. The amplifier measured a straight 40dB of channel separation across the audioband—mediocre performance at best. This poor measured separation may have been due to noise as the signal/noise ratio was also less than impressive. It measured 72dB (left channel) and 66dB (right channel) unweighted over a 22Hz-22kHz bandwidth,…
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I'm certain, however, that the 300SEI's treble smoothness and liquidity were not solely the result of this treble attenuation. If you roll off a grainy treble, the grain may be less offensive, but the grain is still present.
Fig.10 plots the 300SEI's distortion against output power into 2 ohms (top trace), 4 ohms (middle trace), and 8 ohms (bottom trace). The "knee" in each curve indicates at what power output (the horizontal scale) the amplifier goes into clipping. In solid-state amplifiers, clipping is often defined as the 1% THD level—or even as 3% THD, if you're generous. But with high-distortion tube amplifiers that may have more than 1% or 3% THD well below clipping, defining when the amplifier actually runs out of power is more difficult. Into a 4 ohm load, for example, the Cary, is producing more than 1…
Sidebar 3: Follow-up from December 2000, Vol.23 No.12
How do I keep my audiophile life in tune with my wife, the estimable K-10? Keen-eared audiophile that she is, supportive musical mate extraordinaire, even she sometimes needs a break. We inhabit a Chelsea loft. Hey, we love it, but there's no place to run away to, slam the door, and just be alone. Well, there's the bathroom, but audiophiles need to pee a lot.
So what happens when it's that time of the month for me, and multiple deadlines encroach? When writing reviews and columns from home, do I fire up the big system and…
Art Dudley wrote about the 300 SEI in May 2009 (Vol.32 No.5):
My first experience with a single-ended triode amp wasn't as good as my first ride in a convertible, my first trout caught on a dry fly, or my first kiss. But it was better than my first ride on a Ferris wheel, my first cigarette, my first day as a substitute teacher, and my first hernia repair. It didn't hurt, it didn't make me throw up, and it left me wanting more.
My first SET was a Cary Audio Design 300 SEI integrated amplifier, on loan for a magazine review in 1995 (footnote 1). Then as now, the Cary was an…
Ted Denney at Synergistic Research has come a very long way in a very short time. In the past I've enjoyed and commented on his Resolution Reference interconnect and speaker cable. Great stuff, but I'm picky. Then, not too long ago, boxes of his new, top-of-the-line Designers' Reference interconnect began raining down upon us (liveried, I might add, in an extremely vivid shade of green!).
[Sproingggg] It's stiff! I couldn't use this interconnect with the fairly lightweight player section of the YBA CD1 Blue Laser. Designers' Reference practically suspended the blessed thing above…
Synergistic chez Damkroger, January 1998 (Vol.21 No.1):
A couple of years ago I was assembling a review system around a pair of Magnepan MG3.5/R speakers and, because of their external crossover system, I didn't have speaker cables of the right lengths. I'd been favorably impressed with Synergistic Research's AC Master Coupler AC cord, so I decided to try the rest of their line. SR's approach is to match cables to specific classes of components and listener preferences, so I dutifully filled out the "System Diagnostic" form detailing my system (the Maggies, a VPI/VPI/Clearaudio analog…
Chip Stern wrote about Synergistic Research in November 2001 (Vol.24 No.11):
Having spent much time in the past five years experimenting with the sound signatures and interactions of speaker cables, interconnects, and power cords from JPS Labs, AudioQuest, Straight Wire, Cardas, Monster Cable, Acoustic Zen, and Synergistic Research, I continue to regard cables not as aural afterthoughts but as essential components. From the humblest rigs to the most expensive systems, I've seen how careful fine-tuning with cables can help maximize the music-reproduction potential of each associated…
John Atkinson on the Synergistic X Series, November 2001 (Vol.24 No.11):
"I see you don't believe in audiophile power cords!"
Synergistic's Ted Denney III was poking around behind my equipment racks
Well, I didn't use to. While I had found PS Audio's Lab Cable to work well with the company's Power Plant P300, and while I routinely used Audio Power Industries' Powerlinks with source components, I had never experienced night-and-day sonic improvements from an AC power cord.
This explanation didn't faze Mr. Denney. "So I'll start by replacing just the Krell's AC…
Sidebar: Specifications
Description: Interconnects and loudspeaker cables with Active Shielding. AC cord.
Dimensions: 19" W by 3.5" H by 12" D (with BNC connectors on cables) (Master Control Center for Active Shielding).
Prices (both for the lengths tested and per 1m): $199/1m pair (Alpha Sterling interconnects); $250/1m pair (Alpha Sterling interconnects with Mini-Power Coupler); $350/10' pair (Alpha loudspeaker cable with Mini-Power Coupler). Designers' Reference AES/EBU and BNC S/PDIF digital datalink: $1000/1m, $1500/1.5m. $2000/1m pair terminated with RCAs or XLRs, $500/pair…
THE BAND: The Last Waltz
Warner Bros./Rhino Entertainment R2 78278 (4 CDs). 1978/2002. Robbie Robertson, prod.; Rob Fraboni, John Simon, co-prods.; Larry Samuels, exec. prod.; Terry Becker, Tim Kramer, Elliot Mazer, Wayne Neuendorf, Ed Anderson, Neil Brody, engs. AAD? TT: 4:10:16
Performance *****
Sonics ****?
Warner Bros./Rhino Entertainment R2 78278 (4 CDs). 1978/2002. Robbie Robertson, prod.; Rob Fraboni, John Simon, co-prods.; Larry Samuels, exec. prod.; Terry Becker, Tim Kramer, Elliot Mazer, Wayne Neuendorf, Ed Anderson, Neil Brody, engs. AAD? TT: 4:10:16
Performance *****
Sonics ****?
Thanksgiving, 1976, and there they were: Robbie Robertson, Richard Manuel, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, and Levon Helm, the eponymous band that had lasted through rock's most turbulent years, added much Americana to its lexicon in the process, and then had calmly deciding…