The Moon Evolution W-8 is surprisingly heavy for its size, suggesting a goodly amount of essential iron in its power transformer. Stone cold, the amplifier's THD at one-third power into 8 ohms was low at 0.017% but featured some crossover distortion. After 60 minutes at this power level, the THD had dropped to 0.004% and was almost pure third-harmonic in nature. The heatsinks were too hot to touch by this time. The W-8's voltage gain into 8 ohms was almost 4dB higher than average, at 30.9dB, this the same through both the unbalanced and balanced inputs. It…
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Wilson Audio Specialties' David Wilson likes to say that you should build a stereo system from the speakers down. Of course he does—he sells speakers. But that doesn't mean he's wrong. So recently, when offered an inexpensive new product for review, I decided it would be a good test of Wilson's theory. I tried driving Wilson's $45,000/pair MAXX2 speakers with Outlaw Audio's RR2150, a $599 stereo receiver.
A few days later, as I write this, I'm still listening. While I was at it, I switched to some long lengths of speaker cable and sidled the receiver up to the foot of the…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-channel receiver with line, iPod, phono, and USB digital inputs, tape and processor loops, tone controls, headphone output, speaker equalization, bass management, two sets of loudspeaker outputs on five-way binding posts, and a mono line-level subwoofer output. Maximum continuous output power: 100Wpc into 8 ohms (20dBW), 160Wpc into 4 ohms (19dBW). Frequency range: 20Hz–20kHz. Distortion: <0.03% at rated power, both channels driven. Input sensitivity/impedance: 200mV/47k ohms (high level); 3.3mV/47k ohms (MM phono), 600µV/47k ohms (MC phono…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Continuum Audio Labs Caliburn turntable, Cobra tonearm, & Castellon stand, with Lyra Titan cartridge; Roksan Radius turntable, Roksan cartridge.
Digital Sources: Musical Fidelity kW SACD player, RadioShack Optimus CD-3400 CD player.
Preamplification: Musical Fidelity kWP.
Power Amplifiers: Musical Fidelity kW monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Wilson Audio Specialties MAXX2, Revel Concerta M12.
Cables: Interconnect: Shunyata Research Antares. Speaker: Shunyata Research Orion, Sumiko OCOS.—Michael Fremer
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I preconditioned the RR2150 by running it at 41Wpc into 8 ohms (approximately one third the measured clipping power) for one hour. The chassis was very warm at the end of that period, with the area above the internal heatsinks too hot to touch. However, the receiver didn't turn itself off, and the measured THD+noise percentage was the same at the end of 60 minutes as it had been when first turned on.
I have no way of testing a tuner's RF performance, and while the RR2150 has a digital input on a USB jack, I couldn't eliminate a ground loop when I tried…
John Atkinson wrote about the RR2150 in January 2008, Vol.31 No.1
Michael Fremer raved about the RR2150 stereo receiver ($649) from Outlaw Audio (footnote 1) in the March 2006 issue of Stereophile: "Give a listen to this $599 receiver," he concluded, "You'll be in for a big surprise—especially if you have megabuck electronics. If this was sold through the usual channels instead of exclusively online, it would cost twice as much and still be worth every cent." But following that review, there was a glitch in supply as Outlaw was forced to move production from the original factory in…
As part of my employer's never-ending attempts to transform me from an engineer into a manager, I am constantly being sent to seminars and courses, some of which are eminently practical—like "Managers and the Law," which taught us how to avoid getting ourselves and our company sued. Others are more esoteric, like a recent seminar on "paradigm shifts." A paradigm shift, we were told, is a fundamental change in the way we look at things, arising from a change in a belief so inherent that it's unconscious.
For example, imagine a long plane flight, late at night. A mother and two…
The 17LS's user layout and operation constitute one of best setups I've seen. The front panel is simple: a row of buttons for source (and processor loop) selection, a second row for volume up, down, and mute, and a pair of LED readouts that show each channel's level. Levels are selected by relay switching in a discrete set of Vishay resistors; each click, or level, is a 0.7dB change, from 0 (silence) to 99 (maximum gain). I found the C-J's volume and balance controls an absolute delight to use, permitting precise and repeatable tailoring of levels and fine-tuning of balance. All of the 17LS'…
I don't mean to suggest that the 17LS wasn't dynamic or lacked impact, but that it achieved its impact via precision and clarity rather than absolute power. "Delicate but powerful" is how I described it in my notes during a listening session that included Steve Forbert's live CD Be Here Now: Solo Live 1994 (Rolling Tide). I noted that the C-J reproduced the leading edges of the guitar extraordinarily well, and that the impact of pick against strings and their initial vibrations were particularly clear. In fact, Be Here Now sounded truly amazing on the Premier. The details of Forbert's guitar…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Single-chassis, remote-controlled, tubed line-stage preamplifier. Tube complement: four 6922 dual triodes. Inputs: five unbalanced (RCA), two processor loops. Outputs: two unbalanced (RCA), two processor loops. Frequency range: 2Hz->100kHz. Voltage gain: 26dB. Maximum output: 15V. Distortion (THD or IMD): <0.25% at 1.0V output. S/N Ratio: >100dB at <2.5V output. Output impedance: <850 ohms. Phase: inverts phase of all inputs, at main outputs.
Dimensions: 19" (480mm) W by 3.3" (80mm) H by 15.25" (390mm) D. Weight: 21 lbs (9.5kg).…