Description: Powered bandpass subwoofer in sealed enclosure with signal-sensing auto on/off. Drive-units: 12" long-excursion, cone driver with 3" push-pull voice-coil and 15-lb magnet, 12" brushed-aluminum-cone passive radiator. Frequency response: 20-150Hz, ±3dB. Low-pass filter: 40-150Hz (variable, defeatable), 24dB/octave slope. No high-pass filter. Total harmonic distortion: <0.5%. Amplifier: 1200W RMS, 3600W peak (class-D). Inputs per channel: 2 line-level (RCA), 2 high-level. Speaker terminals: 4 (bare wire, banana plugs, or spade lugs). Outputs: 2 line…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog source: Linn Sondek-Lingo turntable, Linn Ittok tonearm, Spectral moving-coil cartridge.
Digital sources: Krell KRC-28 CD player, Sony SCD-C555ES multichannel SACD/CD player.
FM tuners: Day-Sequerra Classic, McIntosh MR-78, Sony ST-5000.
Preamplification: Mark Levinson ML-7 preamplifier with L3A moving-coil phono cards, Duntech MX-10 head amplifier, Margulis phono section, Krell KCT preamplifier.
Power amplifiers: Mark Levinson ML-2 monoblocks, Mark Levinson No.334, Krell FPB 600c.
Loudspeakers: Quad ESL-989, Velodyne DD-18 subwoofer…
Sidebar 3: The James EMB-1000 subwoofer
The 10" EMB-1000 ($1595) shares the larger EMB-1200's design and internal amplifier, but it costs $600 less. It's also 1" shorter and thinner, 4" shallower, and weighs 30 lbs less. The EMB-1000 (serial number 1577) performed surprisingly well in my large listening room with most program material. To my surprise, I was able to blend it with the Quad ESL-989s at 45Hz, which made it much less directional than the EMB-1200. Working behind the Quads, it widened and deepened the soundstage even more.
However, demanding program material showed its…
"Be careful what you wish for, or you just might get it."
My mother's words echoed in my ears as I unboxed Classé Audio's CAM 350 monoblock amplifiers, and I couldn't help but smile. I've been using Magnepan loudspeakers on and off for the past 20 years, most often matching them with tube amps—VTL, for example, or perhaps VAC, Sonic Frontiers, or Audio Research. As good as these systems have been, what I always inevitably found myself wishing for was "a really good, big solid-state amp."
Aladdin's Lamp?
At 350W—or 700W into the Magnepan 3.6/R's 4 ohm load—I figured the…
Is there a Genie in the Lamp?
The CAM 350s arrived midway through my August 2000 review of the Magnepan MG3.6/R loudspeaker and immediately took up residence in my main system.
The CAM 350s arrived midway through my August 2000 review of the Magnepan MG3.6/R loudspeaker and immediately took up residence in my main system.
Over the years, in daydreams in which I'd mentally paired Magnepans with my dream amp, the most dramatic effects were significant improvements in transparency, dynamics, and the resolution of low-level detail. In my musings, that last little bit of gauze that my Maggies could never seem to shake would simply vaporize. The tiniest details would be revealed, imbuing images with a vibrant life and body. Subtle…
Parts List
Potentiometers:
VR1: Your choice of ALPS "Black Beauty" 100k stereo audio taper pot, Penny & Giles RF15-2-20k-A 20k stereo audio taper pot or ALPS "Budget Gourmet" 100k stereo audio taper pot (Radio Shack part #271-1732).
VR2 & 3: Bourns 3386-OT1 5k sealed cermet miniature trimpot.
Buffers:
IC1 & 2: PMI BUF-03AJ milspec version. (The impecunious can experiment with the less-expensive BUF-03J and -EJ commercial versions, which have reduced slew rates and drive capabilities, but these have not been auditioned.)
Switches:
SW1 & 2…
Fig.1 Click on image for larger view
Fig.2 Click on image for larger view
Letters in response appeared in Vol.15 No.2, February 1992
Passive semantics
Editor:
My audiophile interest and activity date back to the time when a cactus thorn was the high-end stylus of choice, ca 1938. This predates the preamplifier by approximately ten years.
In its first embodiment, a preamp was just that: a self-powered extra stage of amplification between the phono cartridge and whatever amplifier was being used. This was made necessary by the very low voltage output of GE's new variable reluctance cartridge as it began to replace the crystal devices we…
Mo' Better Mods
Stereophile Vol.15 No.11, November 1992
Corey Greenberg revisits his Homemade Buffered Passive Preamplifier (footnote 1)
Stereophile Vol.15 No.11, November 1992
Corey Greenberg revisits his Homemade Buffered Passive Preamplifier (footnote 1)
"Dad-blamed Postal Service!" Elvis fumed, shooting up a Mitsubishi big-screen TV with his blue .357 and taking a pull off a Big Red. "Mah one chance tuh be awn a genyoowahn US stamp, an' they got me lookin' jes' like some cleenteen WIMP, man!" A smoking shard of the big-screen's control panel fell earthward. Elvis whirled, blew it into dust before it hit the ground.
Why was the King Of Rock And Roll in my dreams again? To holler about the…
People, people who need people
First things first: When I was wading through different pots from Penny & Giles, Bourns, Vishay, and Radio Shack, I thought I preferred the sound of the high-grade Alps pot Joe Grado sold me to the Penny & Giles pot I'd originally used. It's hard making direct comparisons between volume pots when you have to unsolder, remove, and resolder all the hookup wires each time you switch. However, Steve Giunta used the P&G in his preamp; since it appeared to be the only difference in parts between the two units, I put my P&G back in. Sure enough, the…
First things first: When I was wading through different pots from Penny & Giles, Bourns, Vishay, and Radio Shack, I thought I preferred the sound of the high-grade Alps pot Joe Grado sold me to the Penny & Giles pot I'd originally used. It's hard making direct comparisons between volume pots when you have to unsolder, remove, and resolder all the hookup wires each time you switch. However, Steve Giunta used the P&G in his preamp; since it appeared to be the only difference in parts between the two units, I put my P&G back in. Sure enough, the…