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To be Springsteenesque about it, are two records, like hearts, really better than one? It’s the question that’s hovered over The River since its release in 1980 and is at least part of the motivation behind, The Ties That Bind, the latest extras-loaded boxed set to focus on Springsteen’s glorious back catalog. To focus the question even more, was the single record, the first version of the The River which was also called The Ties That Bind, that Springsteen turned into his label in 1979, a more coherent record, than the 20 track, double LP, The River that it had morphed into by October 1980…
The movement towards a super premium vinyl “experience,” and the larger notion of vinyl as a lifestyle is getting another eager supporter as a new subscription-only label, Newvelle Records, launched this week via a Kickstarter campaign. To see their pitch click here.
The twist here is that Newvelle is specializing in jazz recorded in New York City at East Side Sound studio exclusively for them. I’ve spoken with the principals of the label, Elan Mehler and Jean-Christophe Morisseau several times and their plan seems quite sound and from what I’ve heard of their first two releases, a…
"With all due respect, what the hell is the matter with you?"
Over the years, I've felt obligated to ask this question of several friends who somehow concluded that their life's work involved founding a record label.
"That is the best question isn't it?" Shane Buettner said with a big laugh. "Why do I want to hurt myself this badly and spend a lot of money doing it?" He smiled again, with a mild shake of the head.
"Actually, yes—that's exactly what I mean."
So went the conversation between the former Home Theater editor and me, conducted over Cobb salads (hold…
Ten years ago, our family was joined by my son-in-law, who was raised in Dublin, and spent his university years in London. I was editing this review during a recent visit with our daughter and grandchildren, and Justin became interested in the fact that I was reviewing a subwoofer made by Tannoy. He reminded me that, in the UK and Ireland, Tannoy had long been a generic term for public-address systems, just as Hoover had come to describe any vacuum cleaner, regardless of manufacturer. Although Justin admitted that this usage was probably "old school," he teased me that I was reviewing a PA…
Playing my favorite pipe-organ recordings, I was delighted by the deep-bass response. JA's recording of the Widor Toccata had solid, room-locking pedal notes that lifted the 32Hz display bar of Audio Tool's RTA display higher than adjacent frequencies. The lowest pedal notes underpinning the soprano singing the "Pie Jesu" of John Rutter's Requiem, with Timothy Seelig conducting the Turtle Creek Chorale (CD, Reference RR-57CD), thundered with an authority, solidity, and clear pitch definition that I didn't hear from the Quads alone. The massive pedal note that concludes organist James Busby'…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Closed-box, side-firing, powered subwoofer. Drive-units: one powered 12" cone woofer, one 12" Auxiliary Bass Radiator (ABR). Inputs: unbalanced (RCA) for two channels, LFE or stereo. Outputs: unbalanced for two channels, LFE or stereo. Rear-panel controls: Volume, Phase (continuously variable, 0–180°), Low-Pass Crossover Filter (settings for 50, 100, 150Hz, and Bypass), Turn-On Mode (signal-sensing or always on), On/Off. Low-pass filter: 12dB/octave slope. Internal amplifier: class-D, 500W RMS. Input voltage sensitivity: N/A. Input impedance: N/A.…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Linn Sondek turntable with Lingo power supply, Linn Ittok tonearm, Spectral cartridge; Day-Sequerra 25th Anniversary FM Reference tuner.
Digital Sources: Bryston BCD-1 CD player, BDP-2 media player with IAD sound board, BDA-2 DAC. Lenovo W510 laptop computer running Windows 7, Mark Levinson USB driver, JRiver Media Center 20.
Preamplifier: Bryston BP26.
Power Amplifier: Mark Levinson No.334.
Integrated Amplifier: Mark Levinson No.585.
Loudspeakers: Quad ESL-989, Revel Salon Ultima2.
Cables: Digital: Wireworld…
Was it more surprising that, in 2015, PS Audio would produce a monoblock class-AB power amplifier containing vacuum tubes, or that PS Audio would release a monoblock power amplifier at all? I'm not sure.
In 1974, Paul McGowan and Stan Warren founded the company to produce and market a standalone phono preamplifier, sold directly to consumers for $59.95. From there they naturally progressed to a series of line-level preamplifiers. Toward the end of the '70s, PS Audio produced the Model One, the company's first power amplifier. In the mid-1980s came the high-performance, moderately priced…
This is the third tube/solid-state hybrid I've reviewed in the past few years. The others were Siltech's unique two-box SAGA power amp and, more recently, Musical Fidelity's Nu-Vista 800 integrated. Though all three have tubed input stages and solid-state output stages, each sounds quite different from the other two.
The goal, according to PS Audio's website, was to build "one of the top five power amplifiers in the world, regardless of price. Bascom H. King took the charge under the condition he be permitted to design and build the amplifier his way, without restriction and that is what…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Hybrid tube/transistor monoblock amplifier. Tube complement: two hand-matched 6922/6DJ8. Input connections: single-ended (RCA), balanced (XLR). Speaker binding posts: 2 pairs, gold-plated copper. Output power: 300W into 8 ohms (24.8dBW), 600W into 4 ohms (24.8dBW), 1000W into 2 ohms (24dBW). Frequency response: 10Hz–20kHz, ±0.1dB; 10Hz–200kHz, +0.1/–3.0dB. Voltage gain: 30.5dB, ±0.5dB. Sensitivity: 1.2V. Damping factor: >350 (8 ohms, up to 1kHz). Output impedance: 0.1 ohm at 50Hz, 2.8V RMS. Input impedance: 200k ohms balanced, 100k ohms…