Spurred by this success, Julian founded Naim Audio to design and manufacture home playback equipment that more closely approached the sound of real music. Naim has since become one of…
search
Back in 1970, one Julian Vereker decided to record some musician friends in his house in Salisbury, England. Using standard, off-the-shelf electronics and tape machines, he was startled at how dissimilar the recording was to the sound of live instruments. As a result, he started designing his own recording electronics, including a recording console, of which he sold several to local broadcast facilities.
Sidebar 2: Specifications
Description: Programmable Compact Disc players. Specifications: all perfect (as usual).
Dimensions: 13.375" (CD-X1), 17.125" (CD-2) W by 3.625" H by 11.375" D.
Price: $599 (both, 1985); no longer available (2016).
Manufacturer: Yamaha Electronics Corp., 6660 Orangethorpe Avenue, Buena Park, CA 90260. Tel: (714) 522-9105. Fax: (714) 670-0108. Web: www.yamaha.com.
Connecting the Hi-Cap to the system is far from intuitive. Instead of running a DC supply cable from the Hi-Cap to the preamp and an audio cable from the preamp to the power amplifier, the audio signal is first routed through the Hi-Cap before driving the power amplifier. Consequently, it is easy to hook up the system incorrectly, as I did initially. Note that only a single cable (either a four- or five-pin DIN connector) should be connected to the 62 preamp (besides the signal inputs). This unusual arrangement reportedly results in a superior grounding scheme (the Hi-Cap as central ground…
Soundstage depth and feeling of three-dimensionality were exceptional. There was a distinct impression of up-front presence (more so with CD source), yet simultaneously a laid-back quality. Instruments toward the front of the soundstage were right there in front of the listener, with immediacy and palpability, yet musical subtleties and instruments toward the soundstage rear were laid-back and distant. I found that this ability to put images in their appropriate musical contexts heightened the listening experience. In addition, the impression of depth wasn't truncated toward the soundstage'…
Sidebar 1: Review System
I decided to treat the NAC 62, NAP 140, and Hi-Cap as an integral system along with Naim's interconnects and loudspeaker cables. I will, however, report on the system's sound with and without the Hi-Cap, comment on the 62's phono and line sections independently, and evaluate the preamp and power amp separately. Naim recommends that the preamp be placed on a stand or rack other than the one holding the power amp and Hi-Cap. Since this was not practical in my setup, the 62 was mounted on Navcom isolation feet.
Loudspeakers used in auditioning the three…
Sidebar 2: Measurements
Starting with the NAP 62 preamp, I measured a phono gain of 55.7dB, just enough for higher-output "low-output" moving-coils, but more suited to the "high-output" variety. The low-to-moderate phono gain figure suggests the lowest-output moving-coils should be avoided. RIAA error (fig.1) was negligible, but not perfectly flat: a very slight dip (about 0.1dB) between 100–500Hz is evident, along with a 0.2dB rolloff at 20kHz and a steep cutoff below 30Hz. The sharp attenuation slope below 30Hz is fairly typical of European amplifiers that follow the IEC-recommended…
Sidebar 3: Specifications
NAC 62 Preamplifier: Inputs: Three line-level inputs on DIN jacks, one stereo phono input on BNC jacks. Phono input sensitivity and impedance: variable with optional phono boards. Output level and impedance: 0.775V, 47 ohms.
Weight: 8 lbs.
Price: $895 (1991); no longer available (2016).
Hi-Cap Power Supply: Output voltage: 24V DC x 2.
Weight: 20 lbs.
Price: $1195 (1991); no longer available (2016).
NAP 140 Power Amplifier: Power output: 45Wpc continuous into 8 ohms (bandwidth and distortion not specified). Transient power output…
There's more than one way to skin a cat—a profusion of ways to hook together audio components in the high-end world of today—and my hunch is that the number of dedicated cabling companies has increased within the past decade, and now exceeds that of any other audio-hardware category. But there are also those companies that have been around the block for a number of years, and have displayed consistent design approaches of their own—such as Wireworld Cable Technology in Davie, Florida.
On the 10th floor of Hotel Irvine I caught up with Wireworld Designer/Owner David Salz, whose dictum is…
The last hours of the show were a decidedly mixed bag. At one point, before Sasha Matson and I strategized as to what still needed coverage, an attendee approached me in the hallway and said, "Is it just me, or are a lot of these rooms bright?"
I assured him that there was nothing wrong with his ears.
Which is not to say that my last hours of coverage were devoid of surprises and revelations. Take, for example, the Callia DAC ($2595) from UK-based Prism Sound. The Callia represents the first venture into the audiophile market by a company that has, up to now, focused exclusively…
Eine kleine Nachtmusik it ain't. And yet, in 1992, lightning struck, tectonic plates shifted, and the third symphony of Polish composer Henryk Mikolaj Górecki (1933–2010) became a bona-fide hit. Defying both skeptics and logic, a recording of this decidedly sepia-toned work, subtitled The Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, by the London Sinfonietta conducted by American maestro David Zinman, and featuring soprano soloist Dawn Upshaw, eventually sold over a million copies, making it the largest-selling recording of modern classical music ever.
While shocked and gratified, classical-music fans…