How about these factors: value, convenience, ergonomics, and sonics. High-end "value"—a difficult term to define—resides in a product's sonics, reputation, and price; even in the "feel" of its controls. The Classé Six sits squarely…
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Classé Audio's flagship preamplifier, the Six, has enjoyed a five-year life span—quite long for an audiophile component. Company president Glen Grue reports that the Six's sales have continued to improve during that time. How to explain this solid-state preamp's continued success in competition with today's newer, remote-controlled, line-stage preamplifiers?
Chassis construction and systemboard assembly are first-rate, and are supported by a nontransferable lifetime warranty. The chassis case is standard sheetmetal, but the screwholes are predrilled with nuts fixed to the metal on the opposite side to allow firm tightening. The main circuit is carried on a high-quality epoxy pcb with solder mask and designator. There is no point-to-point wiring on the main board. There are 16 large 4700µF blue capacitors and eight large yellow capacitors. There is a small pcb at the chassis's right rear for the power-supply feed, which is isolated from the main…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid-state preamplifier with external power supply and built-in optional internal phono stage. Unit can be ordered as a phono model (Six), set up for either moving-coil or moving-magnet cartridges, or as a line-only model (Six L). Inputs: one balanced line-level, one phono (either MM or MC), tuner, tape, CD, Aux, Aux 2 (Six L only). Outputs include balanced main out, single-ended main out, and buffered tape out. Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz, ±0.1dB; 1Hz–150kHz, ±3dB. S/N ratio (A-weighted, ref. 500mV): 95dB (line stage), 85dB (phono stage).…
Sidebar 2: System
Associated equipment for this review included LP, CD, and FM stereo musical sources. CDs were played on a Krell MD-1 transport driving a Krell SBP-32X D/A converter. Quad FM-66 and Day Sequerra FM Reference tuners provided music from WQXR and WNCN, our local New York classical music stations. LPs were played on a Linn Sondek LP12/Lingo, an Ittok arm, and a Spectral moving-coil cartridge. Records and CDs included those I've nominated for the magazine's annual "Records To Die For."
Because preamplifiers interact differently with different power amplifiers, I used…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
All measurements were made in the normal (non-bypass) mode. Spot checks made in the bypass mode indicated virtually no measurable differences, with the exception of 0.02% lower THD+noise in the moving-coil phono mode at 1kHz—an insignificant change relative to the total reading.
The output impedance of the Classé 6 at its line output, measured at 1kHz, was just over 50 ohms, unbalanced (just over 100 ohms balanced). This is higher than the specified 1 ohm, but is still very good, and not atypical of solid-state preamps.
The (line) input impedance…
Introduced in 1985 as the smallest model in JBL's "Ti" range, the 18Ti ($590/pair) shares with its larger siblings, like the JBL 250ti (recently reviewed by J. Gordon Holt), a high-tech tweeter that uses a one-piece ribbed titanium-foil dome/surround just 25µm thick. This is both rigid and of very low mass, pushing its first-breakup mode up to the region of 30kHz. The tweeter is mounted above the polypropylene-cone woofer, offset a little to one side to make room for the 45mm diameter port (though the speakers are not supplied as a handed pair). The 10-liter internal volume box is well-…
Sidebar 1: Test Procedure
The JBLs were substituted for the Celestion SL600s in my usual system of Krell KSA-50 power amplifier, Audio Research SP-10 II preamp, CAL Tempest II and Meridian MCD Pro CD players, and Koetsu Red/SME V/Linn Sondek LP player mounted on a Torlyte stand. (At the end of the listening period, I substituted a 1987 Linn/Ittok combination fitted with the new composite armboard and the new Linn Troika cartridge, the whole sitting on a Sound Organization table.)
Interconnect was Monster Interlink Reference A, and Monster M1 speaker cable was used for all…
Sidebar 2: Measurements
I measured the frequency response of the JBL speaker in the listening window—spatially averaged to minimize room standing-wave problems—using third-octave pink noise, and measured the near-field low-frequency response with a sinewave sweep to get an idea of the true bass extension. The low-frequency –6dB point, measured nearfield, was 42Hz, but there was a little too much upper-bass energy in the room between 63Hz and 200Hz, suggesting that the woofer could do with a little more damping. Given that this lift will artificially extend the bass extension, the true…
Sidebar 3: Specifications
Description: two-way, sealed-box loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" titanium-dome tweeter, 6.5" polypropylene-cone woofer. Crossover frequency: 3kHz. Frequency response: 55Hz–20kHz ±3dB. Sensitivity: 88dB/W/m. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms. Maximum amplifier power: 200W.
Dimensions: 14.75" H by 9.4" W by 7.25" D. Internal volume: 10 liters. Weight: 17.5 lbs.
Price: $590/pair (1987); no longer available (2017). Approximate number of dealers: 75–80.
Manufacturer: JBL, a division of Harman International, 8500 Balboa Blvd., Northridge, CA 91329. Tel: (800) 336-…
I didn't need Rapunzel to let down her golden hair in order to ascend the Marriott Tower. Rather, on Saturday afternoon, I encountered so many good systems in a row on the 7th floor that the music simply pulled me up. Although I hated bidding adieu to each fine listening experience, there were so many of them, at least for a while, that a song from Finian's Rainbow that played over and over in my youth, "When I'm not near the girl I love, I love the girl I'm near," resounded in my head. I'll leave it up to you to decide if that's an amusing reference or a call for 12-Step intervention.
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