Sidebar 1: the Threshold SA-1 vs the Rowland 7
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…
Sidebar 2: Specifications
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…
Were it my place to hand out awards for "The Most Forthright People in Audio," Michael Grace of Grace Design would be at the top of the list. Years ago, after I'd given stellar recommendations of Grace's 901 and m902 headphone-amplifier-DAC-line-stage models, I asked Grace if I could audition his full-rack–size, more fully featured m904 Stereo Monitor Controller. He told me that he didn't think that was necessary, because the m904's sound was extremely similar to the sound of the smaller m902—it just had a different feature set, and he believed that the additional features were not things…
For real-world purposes, that 6/2.88MHz signal can be thought of as "quasi-DSD" or "pseudo-DSD"—or perhaps just "DSD." For all the faith-based on-line chatter about DSD being a 1-bit system, as a practical reality, DSD converters usually handle data in 4–6-bit chunks; only the earliest generation (ie, early 1990s) of delta-sigma converters used 1-bit architecture. Modern modulators are usually 4- to 6-bit, because the signal/noise ratio of a 1-bit converter is just 6dB, mandating use of high-order noiseshaping with such a converter, which increases the level of noise above the audioband.…
OK, this isn't jazz, but it's such a crazy bargain, I couldn't resist shouting it from my rooftop: Decca Sound, The Analogue Years 54 albums (and bits of several more) from the Decca label's heyday of classical recording (the mid-'50s to late-'70s), pressed in a boxed set of 50 CDs, selling for $129.
In case you're too stunned to do the math, that's $2.58 per disc. For the most part, the music is great (some of it unjustly obscure), the performances stellar, and the sound. . .surprisingly terrific. The box also includes a 200-page booklet that lays out the music, disc-by-disc and in…
In the tornado of music and gear better known as, let’s say, audiophilisma, there are a lot of guilty pleasures. In fact you could argue that the entire enthusiasm, for (choose your poison) knobs needing a twist, tiny lights beckoning, sexy brushed metal boxes, objet’s d’art speakers that routinely cost more than luxury automobiles, stacks of LPs, shelves clogged with CDs or terabyte drives bulging with downloads, is one big, obsessive black hole. And that friends is just the way we like it!
The problem, your loved ones might say, is that gear manufacturers, and record pressers keep…
It’s a very scary and weird commentary on the state of the music business, that posthumous albums have now become a booming category. Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix and now Johnny Cash have all lived on and continued to release unheard music many years after their passing. While the music as in the new Miles at the Fillmore, Miles Davis 1970, The Bootleg Series Vol. 3 set can be wonderful, there is something vaguely creepy about how corpses still have so much to say. On the other hand, it’s heartening to know how much stuff existed in label vaults, and tantalizing to speculate on what else we have…
The vinyl reissue wave gets smarter by the day. Now, many of the titles that were once licensed and reissued on 180 and 200 gram vinyl by Classic Records, and which have now become highly valuable and silly expensive on eBay, Discogs and other websites, are being licensed again and reissued at more reasonable prices. I was very happy to see that an old favorite, one of the greatest album length collections of songs ever, Carole King’s Tapestry, has recently been given the luxury reissue treatment by Mobile Fidelity, who worked from the original master tape. Best known prior to this as half of…
Sam Tellig wrote about the Croft Phono in May 2014 (Vol.37 No.5):
Art Dudley was the first at Stereophile to discover this little gem, which he reviewed in the October 2013 issue. I was intrigued because: a) Artie loves it, and b) John Atkinson does not. After measuring it, JA snorted: "To me, it seems, at best, inadequately engineered, and at its worst . . . just plain inadequate."
You have been warned: If you listen to test tones, you can probably hear distortion. JA: "[T]he phono stage suffers from a severe rolloff in the treble. . . ."
JA measured the output impedance…
Sam Tellig wrote about the LS50 in May 2014 (Vol.37 No.5):
The Croft Phono Integrated amplifier and KEF LS50 loudspeaker made a spectacular combination in my listening room. I welcomed the Croft's warmth, immediacy, and tonality. Once again, Sam's maxim is proved: You can have excellent hi-fi for very little money; you just can't have a lot of it.
The KEF LS50 retails for $1500/pair. You'll need to sit them on stands 20–22" high. I think they're best suited to rooms of small to medium size. I found them very flexible in terms of room placement. Their Uni-Q concentric drive-units—a…
