"The resonators are what set the front-end up. That's where it all starts, and we tune those stages for minimum distortion, plus optimum…
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"We deal only in analog designs," Zurowski explained, "and the MD 208 features the three-stage front-end with special resonators that we use in our more expensive tuners. The difference is that in our standalone tuners there's an audio section handling the pure output stage: a significant audio section and a bigger one throughout. Now we take the signal right off our RF board and feed it down into the SimAudio preamp and power-amp section of the MD 208.
I'm glad I didn't, but for a while I experienced the symptoms of aural indigestion: amorphous bass focus, limited bass extension, incoherent soundstaging, a lack of high-end extension, poor low-level resolution, and, most notably, a limited volume range. There seemed to be an optimal volume setting at which the MD 208 evinced a realistic, coherent tonal balance and dynamic range; below that, the presentation lacked presence, body, and tonal coherence; above it, the tonal balance seemed to go out of kilter, as everything seemed a touch too loud and glary.
Vince Stables of Simaudio…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Remote-controlled solid-state receiver with digital volume control and discrete all-analog FM tuner section (digital readout), five line-level inputs, separate record output and pre-out. Amplifier section: Power output: 100Wpc into 8 ohms (20dBW), 160Wpc into 4 ohms (19dBW). Current output: 30A peak. THD: 0.15%. Damping factor: >100. Preamp section: Maximum output: 29V. Voltage gain: 34dB. Frequency response: 20Hz-20kHz, +0, -3dB. THD: 0.1%. S/N Ratio: 96dB. Tuner section: Usable sensitivity (stereo): 11.2dBf. Adjacent-channel attenuation: >12…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog source: Rega Planar 3 turntable with RB300 tonearm and Grado Reference Master cartridge.
Digital source: Sony SCD-777ES SACD player, California Audio Labs CL-20 DVD/CD player.
Preamplification: Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista and Blue Circle B3 Galatea preamplifiers, Musical Fidelity X-LP2 dual-mono phono preamplifier.
Power amplifiers: Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 300, Mesa Baron.
Integrated amplifiers: Mesa Tigris, Linn Classik, NAD L-40.
Loudspeakers: Joseph RM7si.
Cables: Synergistic Research interconnects: Resolution Reference Mk.II,…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
After the usual hour of preconditioning at one-third power, the solid-feeling MD 208's heatsinks were hot, but not so hot that I couldn't keep my hand on them. The unit didn't invert signal polarity, and its maximum gain into 8 ohms was sensibly lower than usual, at 36.35dB. The volume control operated mostly in 1dB steps, with an occasional 1.5dB or 2dB step. The unity-gain setting was "24" of a maximum of 50.
With the volume control set to "40," the input impedance was below average, at 9.4k ohms at 1kHz; as a result, some tubed CD players will suffer…
Plotting the small-signal THD+noise percentage against frequency (fig.4) indicated that the MD 208 was having to work hard both into low impedances and at high frequencies, presumably due to the relatively low level of loop negative feedback and limited open-loop gain-bandwidth product. Unusually, the level of distortion into our simulated loudspeaker load was higher at high frequencies, which might suggest some intolerance of loads with awkward electrical phase angles in this region.
Fig.4 Magnum Dynalab MD 208, THD+noise (%) vs frequency at (from top to bottom at 4kHz): 2.83V…
With both channels driven continuously, the MD 208 met its specified power rating into 8 and 4 ohm loads at the usual 1% THD+noise level (fig.8). Almost 300W were available into 2 ohms. With one channel driven, and with a low-duty-cycle 1kHz toneburst (10 cycles on, 400 cycles off), a signal that better mimics music, the MD 208 delivered more than its specified power, as can be seen in fig.9. Again at a 1% THD level, the receiver delivered 125W into 8 ohms (21dBW, black trace), 241.6W into 4 ohms (red, 20.8dBW), and 447W into 2 ohms (blue, 20.5dBW). Only into 1 ohm (green trace) did the…
Larry Greenhill's Followup from March 2001, Vol.24 No.3
"The MD 208 is as musical, sexy, and uncomplicated a performer as I've ever entertained in my listening room," raved Chip Stern in his recent review (January 2001) of Magnum Dynalab's solid-performing two-channel AM/FM receiver. Although CS discerned many subtle audio qualities in the MD 208's audio circuits, his urban location prevented him from evaluating the receiver's RF performance—he lives in the Inwood section of New York City, a thick jungle of row after row of prewar iron-structured buildings that produce horrendous amounts…
Larry Greenhill's Followup part 2 The MD 208 was able tune in 48 of the 50 stations picked up by the FM Reference. The weakest signals picked up by the MD 208—those that produced a "0.5" reading on the MD 208's meter—gave a 25dBf reading on the FM Reference's 'scope. A slightly stronger signal (1.0 on the 0-10 meter) was needed to switch the MD 208 into stereo. The FM Reference offers Wide, Medium, and Narrow IF bandwidths, and Narrow was able to grab two more stations.
Both tuners pulled in stations at almost every adjacent FM channel, particularly in the upper section of the FM band.…
John Marks wrote about the MD 208 in October 2005 (Vol.28 No.10):
Until vintage-kit maestro Peter Breuninger can get around to writing up the joys of 1970s Marantz receivers, both quad and stereo, one's old-school hankerings are in good hands with Magnum Dynalab's MD 208 FM-only receiver (100Wpc, $2975). Chip Stern gave the MD 208 receiver a full and enthusiastic review in January 2001. I included it in one of the systems I suggested for Victoria's Secret lingerie model Rebecca Romijn in The Fifth Element" of May 2002 (Vol.25 No.5). It is a good example of what I was talking about a few…