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…
“As we floated over the floor/
There were questions but my heart knew all the answers/
And perhaps a few things more/
Now in a cottage built of lilacs and laughter/
I know the meaning of the words "Ever after/"
And I'll always see polka dots and moonbeams/
When I kiss the pug-nosed dream.”
Pug-nosed dream? Did anyone ever imagine seeing Bob Dylan’s name next to a cover of “Polka Dots and Moonbeams”?
On first listen to the LP of Fallen Angels, a resistor in the power supply of my turntable fried out. While it’s quickly been repaired, it did make me wonder about ghosts in machines…
My beat at T.H.E. Show 2016 was the ground floor. En route to the audio exhibits, I was stopped dead in my tracks by this beautiful black Bugatti. No information on this particular car was available, but I assumed it was part of the display of tasty automobiles in the Hotel Irvine's lobby and outdoors pavilion, put on by Reus Car Audio Design, Whitledge Design, Wyred 4 Sound, Magnum Automotive Design, and The Source Audio Video Design Group. Pride of place in the car exhibit was Sony's Hi-Res Audio demo vehicle, which had been shown off two days earlier at the Capitol Studios event in…
Brooks Berdan Ltd. of Monrovia, CA eschewed the big stuff, and displayed, in two different rooms, "realistically priced Hi Fi Music Systems." This one shows the Jadis Orchestra 40Wpc integrated amp ($4795) and Spendor SP3/1R2 loudspeakers ($3195/pair), driven by a Roksan Radius 7 turntable with Nima arm and Radius cartridge ($4000) and wired with Cardas Clear Light cabling ($985). Supplementing it were the Chord Hugo DAC ($2195), Auralic Mini streamer ($549) with linear power supply ($349), a Thorens 302 phono preamp ($2195), and Roksan K3 CD player ($2500). Not the cheapest system in the…
Odyssey Audio hails from Indianapolis, Indiana. Designer/Owner Klaus Bunge was in the room when I entered—at least I think he was: the stars were out, and it was a dark night. With the room lights back on, and all through my visit, friends and colleagues were coming in and getting and giving big bear hugs: this company is doing something right! (Klaus told me he talks with every customer, and I believe him.)
I asked Klaus for some pricing information, and from his notes I learned that I was hearing, all from Odyssey Audio, their Candela Tube preamplifier ($1600), the Stratos monoblock…
