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A full set of measurements of the Threshold T-200 was made in the amplifier's unbalanced mode, with selected measurements made in the balanced mode. Unless otherwise noted, the results presented are for the unbalanced configuration. The sample tested (SN 10926) was different from the sample auditioned by RD. Threshold submitted a second sample for measurement, to expedite the completion of the review by minimizing shipping and customs delays between Santa Fe and RD's abode in the Great White North of Toronto, Canada.

Following the 1/3-power, one-hour…

Description :Solid-state stereo power amplifier. Output power: 100W into 8 ohms (20dBW), 200W into 4 ohms (20dBW), 350W into 2 ohms (19.4dBW). Full power bandwidth: DC–80kHz, +0/–3dB. Distortion: <0.1%; typically <0.02%. Voltage gain: 27.4dB balanced, 28dB unbalanced. Input sensitivity: 1.21V balanced, 1.13V unbalanced to produce 100W into 8 ohms. Input impedance: 50k ohms unbalanced, 2k ohms balanced. Current consumption: 2A, idle; up to 12A full output in mono.
Dimensions: 18.25" W by 9.25" H by 16" D. Weight: 61 lb.
Serial number of unit tested…

"Beyond or above the range of normal or merely physical human experience; surpassing the ordinary":…

At the same time, Harvey's prose always strives towards the most wretched excess…

Editor: Comments on HR's Wretched Excesses: I have failed miserably trying to be tame. Meditation, yoga, psychoanalysis, group therapy, prayer, a frontal lobotomy, and jogging, have all been tried and proved ineffective. I apologize to all whom I have offended with my prose, and ask their forgiveness. No matter how hard I try, my excitement and enthusiasm overpower me. Any suggestions from physicians in the readership?

Comment on the Glorious Folly #1: To stimulate further the tube vs transistor debate, it should be noted that the Futterman OTL-1 uses a…

Description: Four-chassis stereo output transformerless tubed amplifier. Nominal output: 150W into 16 ohms. Large-signal frequency response (–3dB down): 2Hz–40kHz. Small signal response: 1.4Hz–200kHz. Phase shift: 15° at 10kHz and 45° at 40kHz. Output impedance: 2 ohms at 10Hz, 0.15 ohms at 1kHz, and 0.3 ohms at 10kHz. Signal/noise ratio: 85dB unweighted, 92dB A-weighted. THD: less than 1% at full power from 100Hz–100kHz, dropping to less than 0.1% at lower levels. IM distortion: 1.2% at full power, dropping steadily at lower levels.
Price: $12,000 (1986);…

Don't be misled by the title of this. It's fine for listening to KLH by, and it is also fine for listening to any other top-notch reproducer by. It is, in fact, the best, and most musical, stereo demonstration disc that's come along to date.

The KLH demo disc offers musically complete selections (instead of fragments) and a bare minimum of hokum in the discing, and the sound is excellent: very transparent, warmly natural, with an extremely smooth, un-hyped high end. Lows are…

Putting my customary preamplifier, the Krell KRS-2, to one side, the references used for this review were the $635 Audio by Van Alstine Super PAS (reviewed in October 1998), and the $659 PS Audio 4.6 (reviewed in September 1988 by Tom Norton) used with its normal external power supply, not the $469 M-500 upgrade (footnote 1). For reference purpose, the RIAA response of the PS 4.6 is Flat through almost the entire audio band, with a well-extended bass response, though it starts to roll off at the top of the top audio octave.

Power amplification was…

I ran a conventional set of measurements on this preamplifier. This was not so much to find a cause behind any facet of each unit's sound quality, but to see if there were any particular aspects which would lead to system incompatibility problems. At this price level, I would be surprised by any electronic component that didn't depart from neutrality, so careful system matching is even more essential with the Parasound preamplifier than with expensive models.

Fig.1 shows the overall frequency response of the third sample of the P/FET-900 measured via the…