Analog Sources: Continuum Audio Labs Caliburn, Cobra, & Castellon turntable, tonearm, & stand; Kuzma 4Point tonearm; Lyra Atlas, Ortofon Anna, Miyajima Labs Zero (mono) cartridges.
Digital Sources: dCS Vivaldi DAC, transport, clock, upsampler; BPT-modified Alesis Masterlink hard-disk recorder; Meridian Digital Media System; Pure Music software.
Preamplification: Ypsilon MC-10 & MC-16 SUTs step-up transformers; Ypsilon VPS-100, Thrax Orpheus phono preamplifiers; darTZeel NHB-18NS preamplifier.
Power Amplifiers: darTZeel NHB 458…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Sidebar 3: Measurements
Before performing any measurements, I ran one of the Performance Centaur Monos (serial no. 1101131901) for an hour at one-third its specified maximum power of 500W into 8 ohms, thermally the worst case for an amplifier with a class-B or -AB output stage. The amplifier was too heavy for me to lift it onto my test bench so it sat on the carpeted floor, with some clearance given by supporting it on Black Diamond cones. By the end of the hour, the top panel was warm, at 105°F (43.5°C), and the side-mounted heatsinks were warmer, at 114.5°F (45.8°C). With the…
La Luz: Marian Li Pino (drums), Abbey Blackwell (bass), Shana Cleveland (guitar), Alice Sandahl (keys)
On Tuesday night, while on their way to Seattle to play a show with Of Montreal, the four young women who make up the great new band La Luz suffered a frightening accident. Losing control of their van, they slid across black ice, and slammed into a concrete highway divider. The band managed to maneuver their van to the side of the road, where they called for help. Then, almost incredibly, while waiting for the police and a tow truck to arrive, their van was hit by a semi-trailer truck.…
Make It Simple. . .
Ah, for the old mono days. I remember assembling my first audio systems in my early teens and as a novice—things were easy. My first amp had four RCA input jacks, each clearly labeled and corresponding to an identically labeled setting on the input selector switch. There were screw-down speaker connectors for 4, 8, and 16 ohms, and ground. Tape output was defaulted to whatever input I was listening to. The amp had but four knobs: Input Selection, Volume, Bass, and Treble. And although it would seem almost impossible to go wrong, I did exercise focus and care as I…
Ah, for the old mono days. I remember assembling my first audio systems in my early teens and as a novice—things were easy. My first amp had four RCA input jacks, each clearly labeled and corresponding to an identically labeled setting on the input selector switch. There were screw-down speaker connectors for 4, 8, and 16 ohms, and ground. Tape output was defaulted to whatever input I was listening to. The amp had but four knobs: Input Selection, Volume, Bass, and Treble. And although it would seem almost impossible to go wrong, I did exercise focus and care as I…
In addition, the filters chosen by NuForce's AutoEQ, and confirmed by my ears, revealed very large corrections throughout the midrange and none for the subwoofer. The audible result of all this was a harsh midrange, somewhat boomy but hollow bass, and a strong image shift to the left. Completely unacceptable and inferior to the out-of-box sound before any adjustments to these parameters were made!
Fortunately, the Cirrus chipset in the AVP-18 offers a potent parametric equalizer. This can be extremely effective: each of the 11 filters for the five main channels permits adjustment of…
Sidebar: Contacts
exaSound Audio Design, 3219 Yonge St., Suite 354, Toronto, Ontario M4N 3S1, Canada. Web: www.exasound.com.
nuforce.com.
What can you tell about the intrinsic sound quality of a loudspeaker if you've heard it only at an audio show? Arguably, not much. If it sounds bad, there may be a number of reasons for that, only one being the speaker itself. It may be the acoustics of the room, problems with speaker setup, poorly matched associated equipment, insufficient break-in/warm-up, or poor choice of demo recordings. Other conditions may not be conducive to the speaker revealing its potential, such as not being able to sit in the sweet spot, being distracted by people talking throughout the demo, etc. You might…
But is it possible for an audio component to be accurate and euphonic? There are certainly speakers out there flying the Accuracy flag that are impressive on first hearing, providing a sense of immediacy and a focus on musical details, but that, on prolonged listening, leave you with a sense of fatigue. I think this is what Gordon was alluding to in his tongue-in-cheek way when he described accuracy as something nobody likes when he hears it. However, while the choices made in the process of designing a speaker often involve trade-offs, I think it's possible for a speaker to be both…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Five-way, floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1", ferrofluid-cooled, titanium-dome tweeter with neodymium magnet; 4" clay/ceramic-filled polypropylene-cone midrange; three 51/4" clay/ceramic filled polypropylene cone woofers. Crossover: 4th-order Linkwitz-Riley at 500Hz and 1.8kHz. Frequency response: 34Hz–23kHz, ±3dB (on axis); 36Hz–20kHz, ±1.5dB, (on axis); 36Hz–10kHz (30° off axis). LF cutoff, –10dB: 29Hz. Impedance: 6 ohms nominal, 4 ohms minimum. Sensitivity: anechoic chamber, 88dB; typical listening room, 90dB. Recommended amplification:…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Source: Ayre Acoustics CX-7eMP CD player.
Preamplifiers: Convergent Audio Technology SL-1 Renaissance, Simaudio Moon Evolution 740P.
Power Amplifiers: Simaudio Moon Evolution 860A, McIntosh Labs MC275LE.
Integrated Amplifier: PrimaLuna ProLogue Premier.
Loudspeakers: Wharfedale Jade 7, GoldenEar Triton Two.
Cables: Interconnect, Speaker, AC: Nordost Valhalla.
Accessories: PS Audio PerfectWave Power Plant 5 AC regenerator, Arcici Suspense Rack equipment rack, PolyCrystal amplifier stand, Nordost Sort Kone TC footers, Furutech…