We have started to include in Stereophile's reviews of digital products the 1/3-octave analyzed spectrum of a player's output while it reproduces the dithered –90.31dB tone from the CBS CD-1 test CD. With an undithered signal, a tone at this level only crosses three quantizing levels and therefore is not sufficiently described for it to be reproduced as a sinewave. However, as the code representing this tone on track 19 on the CBS disc has had an appropriate amount of dither noise added when the CD was cut, it should reproduce as a pure, if noisy, sinewave. Any…
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Sidebar 2: Specifications
Description: Solid-state CD player with remote control, TDA1541A D/A converter, KSS212B CD mechanism, and coaxial digital output. Frequency range: 5Hz–20kHz. Dynamic range: 98dB. Signal/Noise Ratio: 105dB. Channel separation: 95dB. Total harmonic distortion: 0.0025%. Line output: 2.5V.
Dimensions: 17" (430mm) W by 3" (76mm) H by 10.25" (260mm) D. Weight: 12 lbs (5.5kg).
Price: $599 (1989); no longer available (2014). Approximate number of dealers: 320 (1989).
Manufacturer: Adcom, East Brunswick, NJ 08816 (1989); Adcom, LLC, PO Box 2668, Sedona, AZ…
"Why does John Atkinson devote so much of his time to loudspeakers selling for under a [sic] $1000?" wrote a correspondent to The Audiophile Network bulletin board in August, there being a clear implication in this question that "more expensive" always equates with "better" when it comes to loudspeakers. While it is true that the best-sounding, most neutral loudspeakers possessing the most extended low-frequency responses are always expensive, in my experience this most definitely does not mean that there is an automatic correlation between price and performance. I have heard many, many…
Sidebar 1: Review context
With small speakers, the first and most important consideration is what stands to use. Often treated as an afterthought, a good pair of stands is fundamental to getting optimum performance from even inexpensive loudspeakers. With my listening chairs placing my ears 36" from the ground, 24"-high stands were appropriate to use with the Celestions, so I used a $300 pair of Celestion SLSi models which were handy (footnote 1). These are single-pillar designs, with steel top and bottom plates. I filled the extruded-aluminum pillar of each with 25 lbs of lead shot,…
Sidebar 2: Measurements
The Celestion 3's impedance phase (dotted line) and magnitude (solid line) are shown in fig.1. [Note that the phase scale is the opposite way around from what the magazine adopted in 1991, with negative (capacitive) angles at the top.—Ed.] The peak in the bass due to the woofer's sealed-box loading reaches a maximum of 46 ohms at 72Hz. Overall, putting its low sensitivity to one side, the 3 will be easy to drive, the impedance only dropping below 8 ohms in the upper bass and mid-treble. The slight wrinkle seen at 250Hz is probably a cabinet effect, the cabinet…
Sidebar 3: Specifications
Description: Two-way, shelf- or stand-mounted loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" titanium-dome tweeter, 5" pulp-cone woofer. Low-frequency alignment: sealed-box. Crossover frequency: 5kHz. Crossover: high-pass slope, second-order, 12dB/octave; low-pass slope, first-order, 6dB/octave. Frequency response: 75Hz–20kHz –3dB. Sensitivity: 86dB/W/m. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms. Amplifier requirements: 10–60W continuous. Maximum power handling: 60W program.
Dimensions: 13" (310mm) H by 7.3" (185mm) W by 8.5" (215mm) D. Recommended stand height: 24". Internal volume: 8…
Register to win a set of Audio-Technica SonicFuel ATH-OX7AMP premium on-ear headphones with built-in amplifier (MSRP $299.95) we are giving away.
According to the company:
The SonicFuel ATH-OX7AMP on-ear headphones deliver premium sound through large 40 mm drivers and built-in, high-output amplifiers that enhance any type of musical selection, maximizing the detail and clarity of your music like never before. The amplifiers run on a AAA battery (included), however batteries are not necessary for audio output – the headphones operate normally regardless of battery power.…
Joseph Audio’s immaculate Perspective loudspeaker is featured on the July issue’s cover and is treated to an in-depth review from John Atkinson. Revel’s superb Performa F208 tower speaker is also featured this month, along with the Classic reissue of Phase Technology’s best-selling PC-60 bookshelf. Art Dudley tries out the sound of DSD files with Luxman’s DA-06 processor, while radically different, ididosyncratic amplifiers from Miyajima in Japan and LFD in England are put under the aural spotlight.
Michael Lavorgna kicks off his “Audio Streams” column with a listen to Bluesound’s WiFi…
In 1992, a good friend in the record business, Bill Bentley of Warner Bros. Records, called to tell me that he was part of ongoing machinations to make a new record with Jimmy Scott. The singer who everyone assumed was dead—he was in Cleveland working on a loading dock—had just stunned the music world by turning up at Doc Pomus' funeral and launching into an impromptu vocal performance. A mini bidding war ensued and soon Jimmy was signed to Seymour Stein’s Sire Records. Bentley was enthused because for the first time in his career, Jimmy, who pronounced the word “album” as “ablum,” was gonna…
Beethoven: Symphony 9 in d, Op.125 ("Choral")
Berlin Staatskapelle and Rundfunkchor, Otmar Suitner, cond.; Dietrich Knothe, chorus master; Magdaléna Hajóssyová, soprano; Uta Priew, contralto; Eberhard Büchner, tenor; Manfred Schenk, bass.
Denon CD383C7-7021 (CD).
Berlin Staatskapelle and Rundfunkchor, Otmar Suitner, cond.; Dietrich Knothe, chorus master; Magdaléna Hajóssyová, soprano; Uta Priew, contralto; Eberhard Büchner, tenor; Manfred Schenk, bass.
Denon CD383C7-7021 (CD).
This is a positively stunning performance, abetted by one of the best-sounding orchestral recordings on CD to date.
I have long felt that the best reading of Beethoven's Ninth ever committed to records was an antique Columbia 78 set with the Vienna Philharmonic and Felix Weingartner (later released on an…