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One of my greatest personal discoveries at the LA Audio Show this past weekend was that I absolutely love Harbeth speakers. I adored every system I heard them in. In the Gene Rubin Audio/Fidelis Distribution room, there was a beautiful pair of Harbeth Monitor 30.1 two-way speakers ($5495/pair), driven by an LFD NCSE Mk.II Plus integrated amplifier ($6795), with the source being an Acoustic Signature Challenger Mk.III turntable ($4995) with an Acoustic Signature TA 2000 9" tonearm ($2395) and a DynaVector 20X2 cartridge ($995), through an LFD LE/SE phonostage ($1790). Also pictured but not…
This low-output moving-coil cartridge can be fitted with different styli. The basic DL-103 has a 0.5-mil spherical tip, the DL-103S a Shibata tip. As of the spring of 1975, the '103S is being imported by American Audioport, Inc., in Columbia, MO. the '103 is being brought in directly from Japan by a few dealers. Our '103 was loaned by Music & Sound of California, the '103S came from Audioport.
They are not too similar in sound. The DL-103S is incredibly clean-tracking, with a light, airy high end, a subtle zizz on string tone, and a very slightly withdrawn quality similar to the sound…
Sidebar: Specifications
Description: Moving-coil phono cartridge available with spericla, elliptical, and Shibata styli. Frequency range: 20Hz–45kHz. Output voltage: 0.25mV. Output Impedance: 40 ohms (1975–2007), 14 ohms (2017). Compliance: 5x10–6cm/dyne at 100Hz. Downforce: 2.5gm (spherical stylus version).
Weight: 8.5gm.
Price: $229 (2007); $379 (2017).
Manufacturer: Denon, Japan. US Distributor: D&M Customer Service, 100 Corporate Drive, Mahwah, NJ 07430-2041. Tel: 201-762-6500. Fax: 201-762-6670. Web: usa.denon.com/us.
The Decca Mark V is the latest version of that English firm's unique "tip-sensing" stereo-matrix-ing pickups. The "matrixing" apellation refers to the fact that the Decca pickups do not use 45°–45° sensing coils, but use instead a combination of vertical and lateral-sensing coils. There is a single coil for lateral sensing, with its pole pieces brought down next to the tip. This is the tip-sensing feature, whose major attribute is that the stylus motions don't have to be conveyed along the length of an armature before reaching the transducing pole pieces. Thus there is virtually no…
Yet there was no visible waveform distortion in the pickup's outputs over most of the audio range, and the overall sound gave every indication of very low distortion. (The Magneplanar speakers, remember, are single-ended devices, and seem to have extremely low distortion.) Only at low frequencies did we find the Mark V to have substantial distortion, and then only on vertical groove modulations. The distortion was entirely harmonic (not mistracking buzz), and was observed only on test discs, mainly below 80Hz. It seems Decca knew what they were doing here, for no such distortion was audible…
Manufacturer's Comment
We have not observed any relationship between measured separation and the listenability or musicality of Decca pickups, and we have probably listened to (and tested) as many of them as anyone in the US, as both checks are used to determine the suitability of all incoming Hark Vs for resale to perfectionists. Also, with regard to tracking force vs distortion, all Mark Vs are required to produce an undistorted 100Hz sinewave at between 2 and 4 grams in order to meet minimum specifications.
Over the years, much has been said about Decca's lack of quality…
Sidebar: Specifications
Description: Tip-sensing matrixing phono cartidge. Stylus: 0.5 to 0.6-mil spherical. Recommenced tracking force: 3 grams. Cartridge weight: 5 grams. Nominal output: 7.5mV.
Price: $109.50 ($135 for Export model) (1974); $1600 (Jubilee, 1995); $4495 (Reference, 2005).
Manufacturer: Decca, New Malden, England (1974); Presence Audio, Overdale, Haglands Lane, West Chiltington, Pulborough, West Sussex RH20 2QR, England (2005). J. Wright Audio Services, Unit 12, Stanley Lane Industrial Estate, Bridgnorth, Shropshire, WV16 4SF, England. Tel & Fax: 0044 (0)1746…
Self to self: It's looking like a good day, with seven hours sleep and only 14 more rooms to cover between 10 and 4. Let's see, if I eat Chinese delivery leftovers in the room for breakfast, and return to home base to consume a protein bar and apple for lunch to save additional time, that will leave a whole 5 hours for going room-to-room. Hey, that's 20 minutes per room, with a little bit to spare for navigation. Piece of cake.
First stop, a return to the High End Zone/Perfect8 Technologies room on the 2nd floor. I couldn't cover this exhibit on opening day because the visually striking…
The Monitor Audio R300/MD ($669/pair) debuted at the 1988 SCES in Chicago. English company Monitor Audio is one of the pioneers in spreading the use of metal-dome tweeters in relatively low-cost loudspeaker systems. The tweeters they have designed in conjunction with SEAS and British manufacturer Elac may have now found their ways into a number of designs from competing manufacturers, but there is no doubt that Monitor leads the way. The new R300/MD features a new ¾" version of the SEAS 1" aluminum-dome unit Monitor introduced with their R652/MD (reviewed in Vol.10 No.5), in conjunction with…
Sidebar 1: Review System
The Monitor Audios were used with a pair of VTL 100W Compact monoblocks, connected with Monster M1 speaker cable, while the preamplifier was a combination of the Mod Squad Line Drive Deluxe AGT and Vendetta Research SCP2 phono preamp. Source components consisted of a Marantz CD-94 CD player used to drive a Sony DAS-R1 D/A converter, a 1975-vintage Revox A77 to play my own 15ips master tapes, and a Linn Linn Sondek/Ekos/Troika setup sitting on a Sound Organisation table to play LPs. Interconnect was Audioquest LiveWire Lapis.
The speakers sat on a pair of…