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Dinesh Paliwal, CEO of Harman International Industries, was addressing engineers and the audio press in a crowded conference room at the opening of Harman Luxury Audio's new Engineering Center of Excellence (ECOE), in Shelton, Connecticut. Paliwal singled out as the ECOE's first beneficiary the Mark Levinson brand, with the goal of revitalizing it as Harman's flagship marque. (Other brands in the HII stable include Harman Kardon, Infinity, JBL, Crown, AKG, Lexicon, and Revel.) To achieve this, he gave the ECOE team access to Harman's R&D budget of $400 million; brought on Todd Eichenbaum…
The amplifier has three operating states: Off, via the rear-panel power switch; On, by pressing the front-panel button, which turns on all audio circuits and activates all outputs; and Standby, an energy-saving mode. Within Standby are three more options, selectable via the amplifier's internal webpage or RS-232 connector: Green, the factory default, is the lowest-power standby mode; it disables the Ethernet and RS-232 inputs, but permits wake-up via the trigger inputs. Power Save, a moderate energy-saving standby mode, permits wake-up via RS-232 or Ethernet. Normal mutes all outputs, but…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid-state monoblock power amplifier. Inputs: 1 unbalanced (RCA), 1 balanced (XLR). Outputs: 2 pairs Hurricane spade connectors with banana-plug sockets (not available on 230V models). Power output (20Hz–20kHz, 0.25% THD+N): 400W into 8 ohms (26dBW), 800W into 4 ohms (26dBW), stable into 2 ohms. Frequency response at 400W: 10Hz–20kHz, ±0.05dB. Input sensitivity: 2.83V RMS output for 150mV input. Input impedance: 60k ohms (balanced), 30k ohms (unbalanced). Output impedance: 0.054 ohm, 20Hz–1kHz; 0.055 ohm at 5Hz; 0.056 ohm at 10Hz; 0.59 ohm at 20kHz…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Linn Sondek turntable with Lingo power supply, Linn Ittok tonearm, Spectral moving-coil cartridge; Nakamichi 600 cassette player; Day-Sequerra 25th Anniversary FM Reference, McIntosh Laboratories MR-78 FM tuners.
Digital Sources: Bryston BCD-1 CD player & BDP-2 media player with IAD soundboard & BDA-3 DAC; Oppo BPD-103 universal BD player; Lenovo P50 computer running Windows 10 Pro (64-bit), JRiver Media Center 22.
Preamplifiers: Bryston BP-26, Mark Levinson ML-7 & No.526.
Power Amplifiers: Mark Levinson No.334…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured one of the Mark Levinson No.536 monoblocks (serial no.1250) with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"). Before doing any testing of a power amplifier, I precondition it by running it at one-third its specified power into 8 ohms for 60 minutes. (This power level results in the highest thermal stress on the output devices of an amplifier having a class-B or -AB output stage.) After an hour driving 133W into 8 ohms, the temperature of the No.536's heatsinks was fairly hot, at 114.8°F (46°C), and its top panel was warm, at…
At the Los Angeles Audio Show, held June 2–4, John Atkinson spoke with Zu Audio's founder, owner, and chief engineer Sean Casey about the Zu Audio Druid (pictured), Sean's background and his "unconventional" approach, and historic speaker designs. And toward the end of the video, Sean Casey turns the tables on JA by interviewing him about the role of the audio reviewer!
Stereophile's most recent Zu review was published in June 2016, when Herb Reichert reviewed Zu's Soul Supreme loudspeaker, while Art Dudley reviewed Zu's Essence loudspeaker in October 2009.
JA also spoke with…
For his fourth Schumann disc since the 1998 Dichterliebe; Liederkreis collaboration with Vladimir Ashkenazy, the great German baritone Matthias Goerne joins pianist Markus Hinterhäuser in a 19-gem collection of heart-touching songs by Robert Schumann entitled Einsamkeit (Solitude). The singing on the Harmonia Mundi recital is gorgeous throughout, and the repertoire deeply communicative. This is especially the case in hi-rez from HDtracks, where the duo's artistic brilliance shines strongest.
Einsamkeit's repertoire choices are less anguished than on many of Goerne's Schubert Edition…
The musicians and music that you love. Mostly it's all about timing. Whether it reminds you of a happy(ier) time in life or a much-younger, more-energetic version of yourself, certain music can inspire a devotion that does not easily die.
It was with this kind of expectation that I joyfully approached the 25th anniversary LP re-release of Buffalo Tom's Let Me Come Over. My story with them is simple: they were a baby band (which is a term I now realize has become part of music history) and I was, well, a baby music writer. After seeing them more times than is healthy, we were forever…
This video is about Jeffrey Catalano and his shop High Water Sound, located in Manhattan's South Street Seaport, right under the Brooklyn Bridge. Though it was my first time meeting Jeffrey, I had long been familiar with his name—often associated with good sound at audio shows and a true appreciation for music. He distributes a selection of artisanal, analog pieces, including TW-Acustic turntables, Cessaro horn speakers, and Tron Electric amplifiers.
While filming and touring High Water Sound, I learned that Herb and Jeffrey go way back— in fact, so far back that Jeffrey knew Herb before…
New Age. Most of it was acoustic. While there were vocals here and there, much of it featured instrumentalists playing solo or in groups. Some of it was meant to alleviate stress. Some of it was marginally connected to a similarly named movement in spirituality. Environmentalism and respect for nature were constant themes. Some New Age artists created moody, ambient sounds that were intended as background music, to promote healing and relaxation.
As the genre grew, some might say by attracting marginally talented musicians who were searching for musical direction, record labels…