Description: Solid-state integrated amplifier with remote control. Analog inputs: 2 unbalanced line-level (RCA), 2 balanced (XLR). Digital inputs: 2 coaxial, 2 TosLink, 2 USB (Host and audio), 4 HDMI. Outputs: L/R speaker, headphones, HDMI, 2 mono subwoofer (1 balanced XLR, 1 unbalanced RCA). Other connectors: Ethernet, IR. Power output: 200Wpc into 8 ohms (23dBW), 400Wpc into 4 ohms (23dBW). Frequency response: 10Hz–20kHz, –1dB, into 4 ohms. Gain: –93dB to +14dB. Total harmonic distortion plus noise: 0.018% at 1kHz, both channels driven to 1/8 power into 4 ohms…
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Sidebar 3: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: Marantz UD7007, Oppo BDP-105D universal BD players.
Preamplification: Marantz AV8802a surround preamplifier-processor.
Power Amplifier: Proceed Amp 5.
Loudspeakers: Monitor Audio Silver 10, Revel B15 subwoofer.
Cables: Digital: Kimber Kable AGDL (coaxial). Interconnect: Cardas Hexlink Five. Speaker: Monster Cable M1.5. AC: generic.—Thomas J. Norton
Sidebar 4: Measurements
I measured the Classé Sigma 2200i with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"). Out of the box, I ran into problems. Despite Classé's excellent manual, I couldn't at first define one of the Sigma 2200i's digital inputs to accept USB data. Eventually, I got the input to behave by defining the input, then turning the amplifier off and back on again. Then, I couldn't get the Sigma 2200i to accept a balanced signal at the input marked "XLR L1/R1." But then I remembered that, when I was setting up the USB input with the onscreen menu, I'…
Is there such a thing as a bad Lightnin' Sam Hopkins record? No, but there are a lot of badly recorded Hopkins records. Happily, Goin' Away originally released in 1963 on the Bluesville label (an imprint of Prestige Records) isn't one of them. And the already good sonics have even been improved in yet another superb 180gram Analogue Productions LP reissue.
Even in the colorful universe of the blues, the Houston-area native was a singular personality. A raconteur and a bit of a scoundrel, Sam is often pictured with a big toothy smile and a lit cigarillo. Hugely underrated as a guitar…
Ah, Carolyn Sampson. Ah, Mozart. Put both of you, along with the Great Mass in c and the marvelously tuneful early motet, Exsultate, jubilate, in the hands of Masaaki Suzuki and the period-instrument Bach Collegium Japan. Then, record it all in 24/96 for a BIS SACD, which you can download in its original format from multiple sites, and the results are pure pleasure.
Sampson first. This early-music soprano, who has now branched out into song—I will review, for San Francisco Classical Voice, her song recital in San Francisco on May 17, and previously gave Fleurs, her song recital on BIS…
In this 1 Minute Audiophile Escape we visit my personal system.
I switch back and forth between a Fisher 800-C receiver and a Sherwood S-5500 II amplifier. My sources are: a KAB-modified Technics SL-1200 Mk. 2 with an Audio Technica AT440MLa cartridge on a Technics headshell, and an iPhone 6 or MacBook Pro through an AudioQuest Golden Gate interconnect (RCA to 3.5mm). These connect to Rogers LS3/5A speakers atop Skylan speaker stands via AudioQuest Type 4 speaker cables.
TDL is part of ELAC, one of the most successful OEM drive-unit manufacturers in the UK, particularly renowned for the 1" aluminum-dome tweeter that they make for Monitor Audio, Acoustic Energy, and British Fidelity (footnote 1). Perhaps of even more interest to readers of Stereophile is that the TDL system designer is one John Wright, who designed the classic series of IMF loudspeakers (footnote 2) and who also was one of the leading equipment reviewers in the UK back in the 1960s. (For a while John was also a contributor to this magazine, his comprehensive reviews of tonearms appearing in…
Sidebar 1: Review context
The TDL speakers was positioned for the best sound (with only one pair of loudspeakers in the listening room at a time), generally some 4' from the rear wall (which is faced with books and LPs) and approximately 5' from the side walls (which also have bookshelves covering some of their surfaces).
Source components consisted of a Revox A77 to play my own and others' 15ips master tapes, a Linn Sondek/Ekos/Troika setup sitting on a Sound Organisation table to play LPs, and Kinergetics KCD-40 and Proceed CD players. Amplification consisted of a Mark Levinson…
Sidebar 2: Measurements
Looking first at the Studio 1's impedance, measured using the magazine's Audio Precision System One (fig.1), this suggests that the speaker is an easy load to drive, only nearing 6 ohms in the upper bass. The port/line tuning lies at 30Hz, indicated by the minimum at that frequency. Note, however, the glitch in impedance around 130Hz, which the phase response (dashed line) suggests is due to a resonance, presumably due to the transmission line, and which could correlate with my feelings about a "lumpy" response in this region.
Fig.1 TDL Studio…
Sidebar 3: Specifications
Description: Two-way, transmission-line loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1", ferrofluid-cooled, metal-dome tweeter, 6.5" plastic-cone woofer with vented poles. Crossover frequency: 3kHz. Crossover slopes: first-order, high-pass; second-order, low-pass. Frequency range: 28Hz$n20kHz. Sensitivity: 86dB/W/m. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms. Amplifier requirements: greater than 30W.
Dimensions: 28.5" (724mm) H (32.5", 824mm, on stands) by 9" (230mm) W by 13.2" (335mm) D. Weight: 39.5 lbs (18kg) each.
Finishes available: walnut veneer or black, with a brown grille cloth.…