Analog Source: Linn Sondek LP12 turntable with Lingo power supply, Linn Ekos tonearm, Linn Arkiv B phono cartridge.
Digital Sources: Astell&Kern AK100 hi-rez portable player, Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP universal player; Apple 2.7GHz i7 Mac mini laptop running OS10.7, iTunes 10.7, Pure Music 1.89, Twonky Server 7.2.3, MinimServer 0.72, Audirvana Plus v1.5.4; Shuttle PC with Lynx AES16 soundcard & dual-core AMD Athlon processor running Windows 7, JRiver Media Center; Arcam FMJ D33, MSB Diamond DAC IV D/A converters; Ayre Acoustics QA-9 USB A/D…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I examined the Marantz Reference NA-11S1'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 Dual Domain. Because of the NA-11S1's complexity, I performed most of the testing using its TosLink input, repeating some of the tests using: test files stored on a USB stick, streamed to the Marantz via USB from my MacBook Pro mini running Pure Music; files pulled from my Mac mini running Twonky…
The name sounds perfect. It fits neatly next to those of Messrs. Leak, Sugden, Walker, Grant, Lumley, and others of Britain's most rightly revered amplifier builders. In fact, when their distributor called and asked if I'd like to review the latest amplifier from Croft Acoustics, I accepted without actually knowing who they are, simply because they sounded like someone I was supposed to know—someone who's been around for 60 years or so, shellacking bell wire in an old mill with a thatched roof.
As it turns out, this British company has been in business just 30 years—itself no small feat…
Stephen Mejias also wrote about the Croft Phono Integrated in October 2013
As I write these words, I haven't yet read Art Dudley's complete review (elsewhere in this issue) of the new Croft integrated amplifier. I do know, however, that Art liked it a lot and that it performed very poorly on John Atkinson's test bench. It's not the first time we've experienced such a discrepancy, and it won't be the last. In this case, though, the results diverged so thoroughly that JA asked for a second opinion. Perhaps because I happened to be in his direct line of vision, JA offered the assignment to…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-channel hybrid integrated amplifier with 3 line inputs and one moving-magnet phono input. Tube complement: three ECC83 (12AX7). Maximum output power: 45Wpc into 8 ohms (16.5dBW), 50Wpc into 4 ohms (14dBW). Frequency response: 0.15Hz–150kHz, –1dB. Line input sensitivity: 250mV. Line input impedance: 100k ohms. Phono input sensitivity: 1.5mV. Phono input impedance: 47k ohms.
Dimensions: 16" (410mm) W by 3" (80mm) H by 10" (255mm) D. Weight: 11 lbs (5kg).
Serial number of unit reviewed: 11124.
Price: $1895. Approximate number of dealers…
Sidebar 2: AD's Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Garrard 301, Thorens TD 124 turntables; EMT 997, Ikeda IT-407 tonearms; EMT OFD 25 & TSD 15 70th Anniversary pickup head; Denon DL103, Miyajima Premium BE mono, phono cartridges.
Digital Sources: AudioQuest DragonFly, Meridian Explorer, Wavelength Proton USB D/A converters; Apple iMac G5 computer running Apple iTunes v.11.0, Decibel v.1.2.11 playback software; Sony SCD-777ES SACD/CD player.
Preamplification: Silvercore One-to-Ten, Auditorium 23 Standard (SPU version), Hommage T2 step-up transformers; Sutherland Insight…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured the Croft Phono Integrated using Stereophile's loan sample of the top-of-the-line Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It" and www.ap.com). Before performing any measurements on an amplifier, I run it for an hour with both channels driven at 1/3 its rated power into 8 ohms; this is the level at which the maximum amount of power is dissipated in the output devices with a class-A/B topology. At the end of the first 30 minutes running at 1/3 the specified 45Wpc into 8 ohms, the top panel over the Phono Integrated's output stage…
Photo by Karl Edwin Scullin.
Released back in May, Jenny Hval's Innocence is Kinky, endures as one of my favorite records of 2013. I've played it countless times, and, in a few days, when Hval takes the stage at NYC's Mercury Lounge, I'll finally have the chance to see and hear the songs performed live.
It's happening on a Tuesday night. And it's the late show. And I'm old. But I'm still going. So, you know that I consider this one important. (Wednesday is going to be rough.)
Maybe I'll see you there. For now, we can also enjoy Hval's quiet, lovely cover of Paul Simon's…
In the last 15 minutes, about 25 people have sent me a link to this article, so now I'll share it with you. For better or worse, whether we're discussing velour suits or Compact Discs, any discussion regarding death is most likely premature. I call for a death to the discussion of death.
Yet, here we go again, this time discussing "the death of the home stereo system." CNN reporter Todd Leopold paints it as the classic struggle between quality and convenience, and seems to think that convenience has finally delivered the knock-out punch.
Nothing Leopold says is necessarily wrong…
Roy Bird's UK-based Chester Group, which currently produces the New York Audio Show, has announced the acquisition of Montreal's Salon Son et Image. While the show will continue to take place in Montreal's Hilton Bonaventure in late March—March 28–30 in 2014—Sarah Tremblay, former co-producer of Montreal show with her husband, Michel Plante, will join the Chester Group team and assume overall management of both North American shows.
In addition, to avoid 2013's industry-taxing situation of the Montreal, Chicago, and New York shows taking place with only two or three weeks between each,…