Analog Sources: Continuum Audio Labs Caliburn, Cobra, & Castellon turntable, tonearm, & stand; Kuzma 4Point tonearms; Lyra Atlas, Kubotek Haniwa HCTR01 "green dot" cartridges.
Preamplifiers: darTZeel NHB-18ns, Ypsilon PST-100, Ypsilon VPS-100 phono.
Power Amplifiers: darTZeel NHB 458 monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Wilson Audio Specialties Alexandria XLF.
Cables: Interconnects: TARA Labs Zero Gold, Stealth Sakra & Indra, Kubala-Sosna, Teresonic Clarison Gold. Speaker: TARA Labs Omega Gold. AC: Shunyata Research Zi-Tron Anaconda.
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The MCCI is designed in Germany but manufactured at B.M.C.'s own factory in China. Once I got the MCCI on the bench, measuring it proved trickier than I'd expected, due to the preamplifier's "current injection" input circuit. Unlike almost all other phono stages, the MCCI takes advantage of a moving-coil cartridge's very low impedance, its inherent current-generating capabilities, and its balanced, floating-ground architecture, and arranges for its input stage to operate in current mode. It thus has a very low input impedance (specified as <3 ohms), and will…
In this, my first equipment review for Stereophile, I'll begin by explaining my philosophy regarding reviewing inexpensive components. In my quest for products by designers who strive to establish new benchmarks for reproducing sonic realism at lower prices, I'll be looking for "value" components (a more appropriate term than "budget") whose designers logically fall into two camps:
"Price point" designers (Arcam, Audible Illusions, Audio Alchemy, Creek, Grado) who have built their reputations by placing all of their designs under very stringent cost constraints. The presumption is that…
Is the sound special enough?
When I cranked up the Creek, I didn't expect much improvement in sound quality vs the stock 4240. I was in for two big surprises. First, the Special Edition Creek transformed the performance of the system to a much higher level of sonic realism than would be indicated by the $200 price differential. But, ironically, the character of the amp remained essentially the same as the stock 4240. When I switched to the Special Edition, the sound change was akin to that of making a significant upgrade elsewhere in the system while leaving the original 4240 intact.
When I cranked up the Creek, I didn't expect much improvement in sound quality vs the stock 4240. I was in for two big surprises. First, the Special Edition Creek transformed the performance of the system to a much higher level of sonic realism than would be indicated by the $200 price differential. But, ironically, the character of the amp remained essentially the same as the stock 4240. When I switched to the Special Edition, the sound change was akin to that of making a significant upgrade elsewhere in the system while leaving the original 4240 intact.
…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid-state integrated amplifier. Power output: 50Wpc into 8 ohms (17dBW). Total harmonic distortion: 0.01%, 20Hz–10kHz. Frequency response: 3Hz–26kHz, –1dB. Power amplifier rise time: 30V/µs. Input sensitivity: 350mV line-level. Input sensitivity on MM phono: 2.5mV. Input impedance on MM phono: 47k ohms. S/N ratio: –105dB. Channel separation: –90dB at 1kHz.
Dimensions: 16.5" W by 9" D by 2.4" H. Weight: 11 lbs.
Price: $600 plus $50 for moving-magnet board, $95 for moving-coil board (basic 4240 costs $595), 1995; no longer available (2013).…
Sidebar 2: Systematic
For most of my Special Edition Creek listening I used a core system consisting of a Thorens TD160/SME 3009 III/Grado Signature 8MZ analog front end, CAL Icon II CD player, MIT Terminator 2 interconnects, and Acarian Systems Alón Petite loudspeakers driven by bi-wired Acarian Systems Black Orpheus speaker cable. Alternatively, the Alóns were replaced with Celestion 5 and NHT 1.3 speakers connected with MIT Terminator 2 speaker wire. All speakers stood on Celestion Si stands generously loaded with sand and lead shot. The following comments apply equally to the CD and…
Sidebar 3: Who is Robert J. Reina?
I'm consumed by a passion for music that began at the age of three, when I became tall enough to reach the coin slot in the jukebox of my cousin's bar to play Lloyd Price's "Personality." My record-purchasing career began in 1958 when my godfather, touched by my performance as a crow in the kindergarten Christmas play, offered to buy me any gift I desired. My response: "Santo and Johnny's first album...the one with 'Sleep Walk' on it."
As for musical background, I'd describe myself as a "classically trained amateur new music composer and jazz…
Sidebar 4: Measurements
Unless otherwise noted, all of the measurements on the Creek 4240 were taken from the CD line-level input to the loudspeaker outputs, with the volume control at maximum.
The Creek 4240 was hot following its one-hour, 1/3-power preconditioning test, but continued to function normally. The Creek's input impedance into its CD input measured 46.9k ohms, with insignificant variations at lower settings of the volume control. Maximum voltage gain into 8 ohms measured a high 35.7dB, and left/right volume control tracking was good, remaining within 0.1dB at all…
It was hot—the kind of hot where the second you get out of the shower, you start sweating. My ceiling fan could’ve provided relief, but the repeated clink of its pull-chain added an offbeat to the music. My goal was to analyze my system’s current strengths and weaknesses and define my “reference sound”. The fan had to go. It was time to listen.
The System
The Usher S-520 is Dr. Joseph D’Appolito designed, 50W, 8 ohm, two-way, front-ported compact loudspeaker. It does not use a D’Appolito configuration. Rather, the tweeter is in the corner, a port offset to the opposite side below it…
In collaboration with Coursera, the online learning company, and starting September 3, The Curtis Institute will be offering at no charge the course Exploring Beethoven's Piano Sonatas, taught by Curtis Institute's Neubauer Family Foundation Chair in Piano Studies Jonathan Biss.
The course will last five weeks, with an anticipated workload of 1–2 hours a week. Jonathan Biss studied at Indiana University and at the Curtis Institute of Music, and he has embarked upon a multi-year project to record all Beethoven's piano sonatas.
Biss states: "This course takes an inside-out look at…