What's wrong with…
search
Overachievers tend to rankle people after a while. Musical Fidelity, a relatively small British company run by Antony Michaelson, has issued a stream of high-performance, high-value electronic products over the past few years, along with a limited-edition line of pricier designs based on the military-spec nuvistor vacuum tube. With few exceptions, Musical Fidelity products have garnered outstanding reviews worldwide, with consumer acceptance to match. Michaelson is also an accomplished clarinetist, recording and issuing classical-music CDs in his "spare" time.
Rare and Beautiful
Because the supply of the military-spec 5703 triode tube is limited—four are used in the output stage—Musical Fidelity will build only 800 Tri-Vista SACD players. (The nickname "trivistor" for this tube was apparently coined after the fact; it does not appear in manufacturer Raytheon's literature.) That leaves enough for spares in the unlikely event that one of the tubes fails before you do, and enough for the two other Tri-Vista products: an integrated amplifier and the kW, a 1kWpc dual-monoblock amplifier with separate dual power supply.
Because the supply of the military-spec 5703 triode tube is limited—four are used in the output stage—Musical Fidelity will build only 800 Tri-Vista SACD players. (The nickname "trivistor" for this tube was apparently coined after the fact; it does not appear in manufacturer Raytheon's literature.) That leaves enough for spares in the unlikely event that one of the tubes fails before you do, and enough for the two other Tri-Vista products: an integrated amplifier and the kW, a 1kWpc dual-monoblock amplifier with separate dual power supply.
Before we get to the Tri…
Warming Up to the Tri-Vista
It took a while for my Tri-Vista to break in, and I didn't really appreciate what it could do until it had. It's best to just leave it on and not worry about wearing out the tubes. They're rated for a lifetime's use anyway.
It took a while for my Tri-Vista to break in, and I didn't really appreciate what it could do until it had. It's best to just leave it on and not worry about wearing out the tubes. They're rated for a lifetime's use anyway.
After I'd listened to the Tri-Vista for a while, the dCS trio I reviewed last month—the Verdi SACD transport, Purcell D/D converter, and Elgar Plus DSD D/A converter—finally arrived. It made more sense to review that first and then let you know how the Tri-Vista, of which you could buy five for the price of the dCS rig, held up. Put…
CD Playback: Nu-Vista 3D vs Tri-Vista
No point comparing either of these to dCS's upsampled-to-DSD CD performance. I've heard nothing like it. Period. The real issue for me was, could Musical Fidelity build an SACD player that would not sacrifice CD sound quality. It was easy enough to compare the Nu-Vista 3D to the Tri-Vista in CD mode.
No point comparing either of these to dCS's upsampled-to-DSD CD performance. I've heard nothing like it. Period. The real issue for me was, could Musical Fidelity build an SACD player that would not sacrifice CD sound quality. It was easy enough to compare the Nu-Vista 3D to the Tri-Vista in CD mode.
A few dozen discs later (including many of the ones I used for the dCS review): Whether it's because of the different sonic character of the "trivistor" tube or the Tri-Vista player's lower claimed jitter or distortion, the Tri-Vista sounded…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: SACD/CD player with tube analog stage, digital data input, 24-bit delta-sigma, dual-differential DACs, and 8x oversampling digital filter. CD data upsampled to 192kHz. Disc mechanism: Philips. Digital inputs: optical (TosLink), S/PDIF (RCA). Digital outputs: optical (TosLink), S/PDIF (RCA). Analog outputs: 1 pair RCA. Maximum output level @ 1kHz: 2.35V RMS (CD); 2.4V RMS SACD. Output impedance: 50 ohms. Frequency response: 10Hz-20kHz, +0/-1dB; -4.8dB at 50kHz (SACD); 10Hz-20kHz @ 1kHz, +0/-0.05dB (CD or external digital input). S/N Ratio (digital…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: SME Model 30/2, Avid Acutus turntables; Graham 2.2, SME V tonearms; Lyra Titan, Audio Tekne MC-6310, Transfiguration Temper W cartridges.
Digital sources: Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 3D CD player, dCS Verdi SACD transport, Purcell D/D converter, and Elgar Plus DSD D/A converter.
Preamplification: Hovland HP-100 preamplifier, Manley Steelhead phono preamp.
Power amplifiers: Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 300, Music Reference RM-200.
Loudspeakers: Audio Physic Avanti III, Aerial Acoustics SW-12 subwoofer.
Cables: Phono: Hovland Music…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The massive Tri-Vista SACD player had maximum output levels of 2.31V for CD playback and 2.34V for SACD playback, both figures just over 1.25dB higher than the CD standard's 2V. The output preserved absolute polarity, and the source impedance was a very low 48 ohms across most of the audioband. It rose to 416 ohms at 20Hz, which mandates using preamps with input impedances above 4k ohms if the sound is not to become a little bass-shy. The error correction for CD playback was good, the Tri-Vista coping with gaps in the data spiral of up to 1mm without audible or…
Sam Tellig wrote about the TriVista SACD player in July 2003 (Vol.26 No.7):
As mentioned, Mikey reviewed the Tri-Vista SACD player in May. I have only a few comments of my own:
First and most important, I don't think that the Tri-Vista SACD CD player sacrifices "Red Book" CD performance in order to bring you SACD playback. That's not surprising, since the Tri-Vista processes CD and SACD with entirely different digital signal paths. At the moment, I play standard CDs 99% of the time, because I have little worthwhile SACD software. The Tri-Vista SACD is a superb CD player that also…
I like stories with happy endings.
My Conrad-Johnson story began in the mid-'80s, by which time I had a demo PV-5 hitched to a used Conrad-Johnson MV-50. Made a nice combo. They powered a rewired pair of B&W Matrix 802s, a Well Tempered Record Player, and an early CD player.
The "old look" MV-50 was fitted with a beat old set of Mullard EL34 tubes. One night, while K-10 had the music cranked way high, one EL34 let go with a spectacular light show. It was just the tube, but I clucked fretfully over the amp, all the while muttering about "power requirements." And that'…
Very Philip Johnson...
The preamp is somewhat deco in overall styling, while still retaining a sense of the modern. The faceplate resembles the ART's and is made of thick extruded aluminum. Along the lower left front are an array of buttons: Source, EPL 1 and 2 (External Processor Loops), and Mute, as well as Volume up and down. To the right of the tubes and below are the Power button and its LED.
The preamp is somewhat deco in overall styling, while still retaining a sense of the modern. The faceplate resembles the ART's and is made of thick extruded aluminum. Along the lower left front are an array of buttons: Source, EPL 1 and 2 (External Processor Loops), and Mute, as well as Volume up and down. To the right of the tubes and below are the Power button and its LED.
Above this row of buttons on the left are two red-tinted "portholes" showing the volume reading of each channel. A third porthole, somewhat more to the right, picks up the signals from the…