search

I used Stereophile's loan sample of the top-of-the-line Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see www.ap.com and the January 2008 "As We See It") to measure the Parasound Halo P 5. Not only is the P 5 a full-function preamplifier with a phono stage, tone controls, and the ability to provide the necessary high- and low-pass crossover functions to enable the use of a subwoofer; it has digital inputs, including USB. Unless stated otherwise, all of my measurements were taken from the unbalanced main outputs.

Looking first at the P 5's behavior as a conventional line…

I have been wondering recently if we aren't seeing the beginning of the end of rotten recordings. I'm now not too surprised when yet another superlative-sounding Telarc or Reference Recordings disc arrives for review, but when a Soviet-made Melodiya blows me away with its sound, not to say a stupendous performance, I must conclude that something earthshaking is going on.

Melodiya recordings have never been…

There, I've said it. Now I shall explain it.

Prior to CD, the world's major audio equipment manufacturers—and face it, that means the big Japanese manufacturers—generally scorned high end audio as impractical, fanatical tweakery. They loaded their products with…

Since this report was written, I have auditioned two other contenders for "Best CD Player."

The Meridian MCD Pro and the NEC CD-705 both provide slightly better (wider, deeper) soundstage presentation than does the Kyocera. Both are a little more laid-back (less forward) than the Kyocera, the difference being great enough that personal preference is likely to be a strong factor in determining which to buy. (If you feel that CDs generally sound steely, you will prefer the NEC or the Meridian; if you prefer a more forward sound, as I frequently do, the…

Description: CD player with remote control.
Dimensions: 17" W by 13" D by 5.5" H. Weight: 22 lbs.
Price: $1600 (1985); no longer available (2014).
Manufacturer: Kyocera International, Inc. (1985). Company no longer involved in audio equipment manufacture (2014).

A careful examination of the chassis, however, goes a long way toward explaining the stratospheric asking price. A huge 2kVA toroidal transformer occupies a big chunk of the…

Both the Roland Model 7 and the Threshold SA-1 amplifiers are representative of a relatively new breed of amplifier—those designed for moderate (by perfectionist standards) power output into normal loads, but with tremendous current capability into very low-impedance loads. Rowland claims significantly higher power and current capability for theirs, but in direct comparisons the Rowland units did not sound as though they had more of either.

Both amps verge on perfection in every performance area (footnote 1) both featuring the…

Description: Solid-state monoblock power amplifier. Output power:350W into 8 ohms, 700W into 4 ohms, 1100W into 2 ohms. Power Bandwidth: 0.15Hz–175kHz, –3dB. Slew Rate: 50V/µs. THD and Noise: <0.015% (1kHz, 8 ohms, 20W); <0.045% (1kHz, 8 ohms, 100W); <0.06% (1kHz, 8 ohms, 200W). Damping Factor: >300, 20Hz–20kHz, 8 ohms; >90, 100kHz, 8 ohms. Output current: 50A peak, continuous, 150A peak, 0.1 ohm, 20ms, 1kHz. Voltage gain: 26.4 dB. Sensitivity: 136mV for 1W into 8 ohms. Input Impedance: selectable: 100k, 20k, 600 ohms.
Dimensions: 19" (480mm) W…