It's the "more" that interests me—specifically, the access to equalization that can compensate, at least to some degree, for the inevitable problems created by any listening room of domestic size, particularly in…
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Stop me if I've said this before (okay, I have): There's much to be said for integrated amplifiers. While separates have long dominated high-end audio, an increasing number of integrated products not only bundle a preamp and power amp, but sometimes add digital inputs of various flavors, phono stages, bass and treble controls (long on life support in audiophile gear), and more.
There are four different Profiles, into which you can load different speaker setups; eg, with and without a subwoofer. Since I didn't use a sub, I used only a single Profile. But the manual uses the words profile and configuration (or config) synonymously, which can be confusing. And while it also isn't made entirely clear, the same input can be configured in different ways with different names. For example, I set up two separately named configurations for Coax 1, the input I used 99% of the time: one with ARC on, the other with ARC off. This made switching between them, for comparisons,…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid-state, class-AB integrated amplifier with Anthem Room Correction (ARC). Analog audio inputs: 4 unbalanced (RCA), 1 balanced (XLR), 2 phono (MC, MM). Digital audio inputs: 2 S/PDIF (RCA), 2 S/PDIF (TosLink), 1 USB, 1 AES/EBU (XLR). Preamplifier outputs: variable, fixed, subwoofer (all RCA). Communication (updates & control): USB, mini USB, Ethernet RJ-45, RS-232, IR in, 12V trigger out. Digital input sample rates: USB: PCM 32/384, DSD at 2.8MHz & 5.6MHz. HDMI & S/PDIF: PCM 24/192. Internal digital processing: 32/192. Power output (…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Source: Marantz UD7007 universal BD player.
Preamplification: Marantz AV8802A surround processor.
Loudspeakers: Energy Veritas V2.8, Monitor Audio Silver 10.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest Coffee (USB), Kimber Kable AGDL (coaxial). Speaker: AudioQuest Rocket 88. AC: manufacturers' own.—Thomas J. Norton
Sidebar 3: ARC Measurements
While ARC's own computer-screen results show the performance of the system before and after running the room EQ, I also measured the results with an independent system: the Parts Express OmniMic. While this system isn't as sophisticated as the gear John Atkinson uses to measure loudspeakers for Stereophile, it does use a calibrated microphone, and can reveal what ARC is doing to the response.
While the actual equalized responses were performed by ARC using an average of eight or nine microphone positions, the OmniMic plots shown here (all were 1/6-…
Sidebar 4: Measurements
I measured the Anthem STR using my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"). Before I test an amplifier, I precondition it with both channels driving a 1kHz tone at one-third power into 8 ohms for an hour. This thermally stresses an amplifier with a conventional class-AB output stage. At the end of the hour, the top panel was a warm 95.4°F (35.3°C), but the exposed tops of the internal heatsinks were too hot to touch, at 150.6°F (65.9°C). Even so, the STR has sufficient heatsinking for its rated power.
The analog inputs can be…
A stunning jazz discovery presented at a historic citadel of recording technology. That event took place June 11, when the new John Coltrane recording, Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album, which will be released June 29, was unveiled at Van Gelder Studio, the fabled location where the celebrated engineer recorded many jazz masterpieces.
From the early 1950s to his death, Rudy Van Gelder recorded 1000s of sessions for such iconic jazz labels as Savoy, Impulse!, CTI, Prestige and Blue Note at his Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey studio. Notoriously tight-lipped regarding the details of his…
Chopin; Nocturnes
Arthur Rubinstein, piano
RCA Victor LSC-7050 (2 LPs) (reissued on CD as RCA Victor Red Seal 0902 663049-2). Max Wilcox, prod.; Tom MacCluskey, Sergio Marcotulli, engs. Recorded August 30–September 2, 1965, 2 February 21, 1967.
Arthur Rubinstein, piano
RCA Victor LSC-7050 (2 LPs) (reissued on CD as RCA Victor Red Seal 0902 663049-2). Max Wilcox, prod.; Tom MacCluskey, Sergio Marcotulli, engs. Recorded August 30–September 2, 1965, 2 February 21, 1967.
If these Nocturnes are never played better than this, we couldn't care less. These are exquisite performances!
The recording, via RCA Victor's Dynagroove process is a far cry from the earlier excesses that gave Dynagroove its horrid reputation among perfectionists. One is simply not aware of the recording at all, as long as it is…
Once upon a time, all audio equipment used vacuum tubes. In recent years, however, tubes have become the exclusive province of super high-end audio. It is more expensive to accomplish any particular task with tubes than with transistors, and few manufacturers (with the exception of Conrad-Johnson) seemed willing until now to refine their techniques and pare back their budgets to make tube components more affordable.
The success of expensive tube units, however, has prompted a number of manufacturers to offer "budget" tube preamplifiers. Though still not cheap, they come in at prices…
Sidebar: Specifications
Description: Stereo vacuum tube preamplifier. Inputs for moving-magnet phono (MM), Aux, and Tape. Mute switch, remote power supply. Separate volume controls for each channel, no balance control.
Price: $450 (1984); no longer available (2018).
Manufacturer: Audible Illusions, San Jose, CA 95126 (1984). Distributor: Apax Marketing, Castro Valley, CA 94546. (1984); Audible Illusions, PO Box 2537, Daytona Beach, FL 32115. Tel: (386) 676-2004. Fax: (386) 676-0042. Web: www.audibleillusions.com.