For this review, I compared the Adcom GFA-700 with the EAD DSP-1000 and the Audio Alchemy DDE v3.0 HDCD decoder fed through its I2S bus by a DTI 2.0 digital jitter reduction unit. Both standard and HDCD-encoded CDs were played on a Krell turntable. For an overall collection of superbly recorded HDCD-encoded music, I used the HDCD Sampler Volume 2 (Reference RR-90CD), which includes classical, jazz, and a selection of three musical samples recorded with and without HDCD for comparison. A single 75 ohm digital-specific Silver Starlight coaxial cable was run from the…
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Sidebar 2: Measurements:
Measurements were made with the spot frequency bands on the new CBS STR-330 test disc, backed up by the older CBS STR-100. The latter generally showed a greater high-end rise than the former in the frequency-response readings, and the results presented in the reviews are those given by the more recent recording. Test-record results provide useful information, but they are not an absolute. Test records from different sources invariably give slightly different results. STR-100 was used to assess crosstalk, and trackability was measured at 300Hz using the Audio-…
Sidebar 2: Measurements
The Adcom GDA-700 had a maximum output level of 4.44V from the balanced outputs and 2.1V from the single-ended jacks. The output impedance was a low 78 ohms (unbalanced) and 156 ohms (balanced). DC levels were low (2.9mV left channel, 1.3mV right channel), and the unit doesn't invert absolute polarity. The GDA-700 also had no trouble decoding 32kHz and 48kHz sampling frequencies.
Fig.1 shows the GDA-700's flat frequency response and perfect de-emphasis tracking. The rolloff of 0.5dB at 20kHz is slightly steeper than in many processors, but should be…
Sidebar 3: Specifications
Description: Digital/analog converter with multi-bit DACs. Inputs: two S/PDIF on RCA jacks, one AES/EBU, one TosLink. Outputs: one S/PDIF on RCA jack, one pair analog outputs on RCA jacks. Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz, +0, –0.5dB. THD: <0.009%, 20Hz–20kHz, full-scale. S/N ratio: 106db (20–20kHz, unweighted), 112dB (A-weighted). Dynamic range: 98dB. Crosstalk: –106db (20Hz–20kHz). Linearity: >1dB at –100dB. Filtering: Pacific Microsonics PMD100 oversampling with HDCD decoding. Analog output voltage: 2.234V RMS at full scale. Power consumption: 25W.
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Miles Davis has been dead for nearly a quarter century, but, as he predicted in his rowdy memoir, the record companies keep rolling out product in his name. Not that there's anything wrong with that. We're talking, after all, about the great protean figure in jazz, a man who changed the music four times in as many decades and played at the top of his game at some point in each phase, often for years at a time.
News of yet another boxed-set of previously unissued Miles recordings never fails to zap the juices of anticipatory pleasure—and Sony's vaults, in particular, hold a lot of them.…
On paper, the 6th annual California Audio Show, taking place this weekend at the Westin SFO in Millbrae, CA just south of San Francisco, qualifies as the smallest consumer audio show in the United States. But you wouldn't have known it from the lines at the registration table at 10:30am on opening day. The place looked packed. And the reality was, given 29 active exhibit rooms, some with multiple systems, plus other active exhibits in the lobby, Friday's turnout felt perfect.
On Friday, August 14, only once did I find myself the sole visitor in a room. Often, in fact, every seat in the…
The California Audio Show may be for consumers, and the Consumer Electronics Show for members of the industry, but they have one thing in common: the venues in which they display high-end gear, the Westin SFO and Venetian Las Vegas, share a similar upper floor layout where corridors fan out from a central area near the elevators. But there, the similarities end. Because at CES, where displays are identified by identically sized signs in long corridors that seem to stretch down three very long roads, only to terminate at some unholy confluence between Infinite Bliss and the dreaded Black Hole…
"Do you two have a bodyguard?" I asked Elac speaker designer Andrew Jones (right) and equally legendary Audio Alchemy electronics designer Peter Madnick (left) upon hearing the tremendous sound pouring forth from their bargain system ($5500 including custom-made music server and cabling). "If you don't, you'd be wise to consider hiring one. Given the virtually illegal amount of warmth, bass, and full-range sound you're getting from those tiny little speakers and that sub, I wouldn't be surprised if at least one high-priced manufacturer is tempted to do you in, lest you give the lie to the…
Mexico's most distinguished audio manufacturer, Margules Audio, demmed a system at CAS6 headlined by the Margules U280-SC 25th-Anniversary, stereo tube amplifier ($5399). The midrange was warm and wonderful—just what the doctor ordered, in fact. Despite a little brightness on top, and a bit of shallowness on bottom, the set-up was supremely musical and capable of conveying joyful, delicate beauty with panache. That, my friends, means a whole lot in my book.
Also doing the honors, besides a Densen CD-410 CD player ($2200) and full complement of Atlas cables ($7000 total), were Margules'…
I wish I could tell you about the Linn system in this room, but both times I tried to enter, Steven Lester was in the middle of a long rap. Lester's video components always provide some of the most fun and unexpected treats at a show, and usually result in packed rooms. That was certainly the case the first time I came by.
Grant Fidelity, PureAudioProject, and Mundorf won my Best Slap-Silly Dance Music of Any Show Award with Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines." Believe me, it was no contest. It was also no contest between the two amps in the room, the rockin' Psvane TS845 SET…