Editor: Regarding JA's March "As We See It," McLuhan's distinction between hot and cold media is less relevant to JA's argument than is the mind-set with which viewers/listeners approach the media experience. That is, audio is not intrinsically more involving than video—except to audiophiles and music lovers. Ask the same question of a videophile or a cinematographer and you'll find that she is absorbed in elements of the video production that pass the casual viewer by. The distinction is therefore more one of interest than of the character of the media…
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Those of us who groan at the appearance of every new five-figure digital source component in a massively oversized chassis—and who groan in greater torment when the offending manufacturer says his customer base insists on products that are styled and built and priced that way—can take heart: The appearance of such sanely sized and affordable products as the Halide Design DAC HD ($495) and the AudioQuest DragonFly ($249) would suggest that the market has a mind of its own.
Yet more good news comes in the form of Meridian Audio's Explorer ($299), a 4"-long USB digital-to-analog converter…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Single-box, USB bus-powered digital/analog converter and headphone amplifier. Maximum word length: 24 bits. Maximum sampling rate: 192kHz. Input: mini USB-B. Line-level–S/PDIF output: 3.5mm mini-jack combining 2-channel analog and TosLink optical digital. Headphone output: 3.5mm mini-jack. Maximum line-level output voltage: 2V RMS. Headphone output impedance: 5.25 ohms measured. Maximum headphone output power: 130mW.
Dimensions: 4" (102mm) L by 1.25" (32mm) W by 0.7" (18mm) D. Weight: 1.76oz (50gm).
Serial number of unit reviewed: MA03BQ/…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Garrard 301, Thorens TD 124 turntables; EMT 997, Ikeda IT-407 tonearms; EMT TSD 15 70th Anniversary pickup head; Miyabi 47, Miyajima Premium BE mono cartridges.
Digital Sources: AudioQuest DragonFly, Halide DAC HD, Wavelength Proton USB DACs; Apple iMac G5 computer running Apple iTunes v.11.0, Decibel v.1.2.11 playback software; Sony SCD-777ES SACD/CD player.
Preamplification: Auditorium 23 Standard (SPU version), Hommage T2 step-up transformers; Sutherland Insight phono preamplifier; Shindo Masseto preamplifier.
Power…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I examined the Meridian Explorer's electrical performance with Stereophile's loan sample of the top-of-the-line Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see www.ap.com and the January 2008 "As We See It.") For some tests, I also used my vintage Audio Precision System One. I used the supplied USB cable and played files with Bias Peak Pro running on my MacBook Pro, using Apple's AudioMIDI utility to make sure that the data output from the USB port had the correct sample rate and bit depth. I performed a complete set of measurements from both the line-level and headphone…
I don't think that the Bowers and Wilkins 804, in any of its incarnation, gets its due respect. As the smallest floorstander in B&W's elite 800 series, it has historically been overshadowed by its larger brethren and outmaneuvered by the smaller, stand-mounted 805. However, the 804 Diamond is unique, and deserves special attention for reasons I discovered when I chose the earlier 804S for the surround channels of my 5.1-channel surround system.
The first of these reasons: The three-way 804 Diamond takes up no more floor space than the two-way 805 while also having two 6.5" woofers,…
Moving down the spectrum to winds and guitar, the presences, placements, and harmonic balances of those instruments were exquisite. Stefano Grondona's guitar in Francisco Tarrega's Capricho árabe, from Grondona's La Guitarra de Torres (CD, Divox CDX-29701), is intimately recorded—the touch of his fingers on the strings is easily discerned from the rich supporting resonances of the instrument's body. Each repetition of the familiar theme offers another serving of mesmerizing harmonies.
Lower-pitched male voices and cello, however, demanded greater scrutiny—speakers the size of the 804…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way, reflex-loaded, floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (25mm) diamond-dome tweeter, 6" (150mm) FST woven-Kevlar midrange cone, two 6.5" (165mm) Rohacell-cone woofers. Crossover frequencies: 350Hz, 4kHz. Frequency range: –6dB at 30Hz and 33kHz. Frequency response: 38Hz–28kHz, ±3dB, on reference axis. Dispersion: within 2dB of on-axis response over 60° arc (horizontal) and 10° arc (vertical). Sensitivity: 90dB/2.83V/m. Harmonic distortion (second and third harmonics, 90dB, 1m): 1.0%, 90Hz–100kHz; 0.5%, 120Hz–100kHz. Impedance: 8 ohms…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: Sony XA-5400ES SACD/CD player, Oppo BDP-105 universal Blu-ray player, Mytek Stereo192-DSD DAC, PC-based server using JRiver Media Center 18.
Preamplification: Audio Research MP1 multichannel analog preamplifier, Meridian HD621 HDMI audio processor & 861 Reference V6 digital surround controllers.
Power Amplifiers: McIntosh MC303, Parasound A-31 (both three-channel).
Loudspeakers: Bowers and Wilkins 800 Diamond & 804S, Aerial Acoustics 7T.
Cables: Interconnect: van den Hul Flat 180, AudioQuest Vodka (HDMI); Black Cat…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Bowers & Wilkins 804 Diamond's frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 for the nearfield responses, the latter's ¼" capsule offering no significant acoustic obstacle to the outputs of the small diaphragms. Before performing any measurements, I removed the plastic disc from the rear of the tube that loads the midrange unit, as instructed in the manual.
My estimate of the 804 Diamond's voltage sensitivity was 89.3dB(B)/2.83V/m. While this is slightly…