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Every once in a great while I find a recording of a particular piece of music that moves me in a special way when played through a certain piece of equipment. With the Creek, it was the Adagio of Beethoven's Piano Sonata 3, as performed by Robert Silverman in his recent 10-CD boxed set of the complete Sonatas (Orpheum Masters KSP830, engineered by John Atkinson). In the right hands, this deceptively simple, almost minimalist Haydnesque work is open to a broad range of interpretation, despite the fact that it probably requires the least amount of technical prowess of any Beethoven composition…
What about the competition?
I thought two comparisons would be interesting: first, to compare the 5350SE with an older Creek—my affordable reference, the 4240SE; and, second, to compare the 5350SE with a currently available and similarly priced and powered unit from a competitor—the Arcam Alpha 10 integrated (100Wpc, $1599, reviewed by Wes Phillips in Vol.21 No.12).
I thought two comparisons would be interesting: first, to compare the 5350SE with an older Creek—my affordable reference, the 4240SE; and, second, to compare the 5350SE with a currently available and similarly priced and powered unit from a competitor—the Arcam Alpha 10 integrated (100Wpc, $1599, reviewed by Wes Phillips in Vol.21 No.12).
The comparison with the older Creek was informative. Although the 4240SE exhibited a rich, coherent portrayal of the music, there was much less detail, less articulate highs with a bit more tension, as well as less…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid-state integrated amplifier. Power output: 85Wpc into 8 ohms (19.3dBW), 120Wpc into 4 ohms (17.8dBW). Maximum current: >30A. THD: <0.05%, 20Hz-20kHz. Frequency response: 3Hz-25kHz, -1dB. Power amp slew rate: >50V/µs. Voltage gain: >50. Input sensitivity (passive line): 525mV line-level input for 50W. S/N ratio: >105dB. Channel separation (line input at 1kHz): >55dB. Moving-magnet sensitivity and impedance: 3.5mV at 47kW. MM S/N: >70dB. Moving-coil sensitivity: 750µV at 1kW. Power consumption at idle: <40W. Power…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: VPI TNT Mk.IV turntable, Immedia tonearm, Koetsu Urushi cartridge, with Vendetta Research SCP-2D phono preamplifier; Rega Planar 3 turntable, Syrinx PU-3 tonearm, Clearaudio Aurum Beta cartridge.
Digital source: California Audio Labs Icon Mk.II Power Boss CD player.
Loudspeakers: Alón Petite (with and without Alón PW-1 subwoofer), Paradigm Reference/20, PSB Image 4T, Mission 731i, Alón Circe.
Cables: Interconnects: MIT MI-330SG, CVTwin Terminator. Speaker: Acarian Systems Black Orpheus.
Accessories: Various by Sound Anchor,…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
After a one-hour preconditioning period at one-third power into 8 ohms, the Creek 5350SE's internal heatsinks were too hot to touch, and I could feel a convection current of hot air rising from them. The output was in correct polarity, and the maximum voltage gain into 8 ohms was a sensible 33.8dB for line-level inputs. The phono section (internally connected to the Aux RCAs) offered another 40.5dB of gain, appropriate for MM cartridges. The phono input's impedance was 46.1k ohms, the line inputs' a lower 13.7k ohms (both figures measured at 1kHz). The selected…
Small-signal distortion levels were generally low (fig.5), varying little with load impedance and with the usual rise at high frequencies. As can be seen in figs.6 and 7, that distortion is predominantly the subjectively innocuous second harmonic in content. Levels of intermodulation are also very low. Even just below clipping with the demanding 19+20kHz twin-tone signal (fig.8), the 1kHz difference component lies below -92dB (0.003%). About the only clue that this is a component with a real-world-sized power supply rather than some big-bucks super-amp is the appearance of a 120Hz power-…
On continuous sinewave testing with both channels driven (fig.9), the 5350SE met or exceeded its specified clipping power, delivering 90Wpc into 8 ohms (19.5dBW), and 120Wpc into 4 ohms (17.8dBW) at the standard 1% THD+noise point. And on the 1kHz toneburst test with just one channel driven (fig.10), the Creek gave the lie to its modest size, delivering 199W into 8 ohms (black trace), 201.5W into 4 ohms (red), 299.3W into 2 ohms (blue), and a staggering 378W into 1 ohm (green)!
Fig.9 Creek 5350SE, distortion (%) vs continuous output power into (from bottom to top at 10W): 8 ohms,…
In last month's "As We See It," I examined how I decide upon ratings in Stereophile's biannual "Recommended Components" listing. This leads me to talk about who writes our equipment reports. Stereophile currently has a team of 16 active reviewers. The core are professional: J. Gordon Holt, Robert Harley, Thomas J. Norton, Corey Greenberg, and Martin Colloms. The others—Sam Tellig, Jack English, Robert Deutsch, Don Scott, Jonathan Scull, Larry Greenhill, Dick Olsher, Guy Lemcoe, Lewis Lipnick, and Steven Stone—may be enthusiastic amateurs, but they are amateurs only in the sense that they don'…
Tonearms, like Rodney Dangerfield, never get no respect. When was the last time you heard someone actually argue the merits of a tonearm? Right, not recently. "Hey, I just got that new Gizmo tonearm!" "Oh yeah? What cartridge are you using?" People pick out the cartridge for praise and consideration time after time, while the tonearm gets taken for granted.
Change the material of the wires in the tonearm, or the interconnects to the preamp, and, granted, you'll get more attention than having switched to a tonearm with, say, an azimuth adjustment. After all, how much can it…
The reigning ethos is that every little vinyl niche hides yet another nuance that must be explored. As a result, equipment that can live up to such expectations must perform to an upward-spiraling performance standard. Such high-performance products are available, but somebody has to foot the bill for the development—that small number of customers who appreciate these specialty items. The result? High bottom-line manufacturing costs for such products as the Airtangent.
It saddens me to see the very limited press that some very significant product developments get. It's a shame that more…