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Two recent listening experiences of mine echoed the overblown praise Jon Landau lavished upon Bruce Springsteen after he heard The Wild, the Innocent & the E-Street Shuffle. But all hype aside, Landau was right: Springsteen was the future of rock'n'roll—or at least what passed for the future of traditional rock in those pre-MTV, pre-techno, pre-house, pre-gangsta, pre-rap, pre-hip-hop, pre-grunge, pre-Mariah Carey, pre-Garth Brooks, pre-sampling, pre-digital days. And I believe that, Landau-like, I too will be right. I have heard the future of audio, and it is digital—digital technology…
Sidebar 1: Robert Harley on Noise/Mask Ratios
The Audio Engineering Society held its 95th Convention in New York's Jacob Javits Convention Center in October 1993. The gathering is both a trade show for introducing new recording products and a forum for audio scientists presenting papers describing their research. Stereophile has found AES Conventions essential to keeping up with what's happening at the cutting edge of audio technology. Consequently, John Atkinson and I spent four days at the New York Convention, with Larry Archibald dropping by for a few papers and exhibits. Peter…
Sidebar 2: Peter W. Mitchell on Noise/Mask Ratios
Until now, developers and reviewers of perceptual coders have relied only on listening tests, because conventional measurements provide little guidance. At the New York AES convention two new methods were demonstrated that can provide valuable information about audible flaws in low-bit-rate coders. Both operate on the same principle as the perceptual coders themselves—namely, the concept of "masking" in critical bands (see later).
The cochlea of the inner ear behaves as a bio-mechanical spectrum analyzer. A tone at any frequency…
GINGER BAKER & THE DJQ2O: Coward of the County
Ginger Baker, drums; Ron Miles, trumpet; James Carter, baritone sax, bass clarinet; Fred Hess, tenor sax; Eric Gunnison, piano; Shamie Royston, organ; Todd Ayers, guitar; Glenn Taylor, pedal-steel guitar; Artie Moore, bass
Atlantic 83168-2 (CD). 1999. Ginger Baker, Ron Miles, prods.; Danny Kopelson, eng. DDD. TT: 60:26
Performance ****?
Sonics ****
Ginger Baker, drums; Ron Miles, trumpet; James Carter, baritone sax, bass clarinet; Fred Hess, tenor sax; Eric Gunnison, piano; Shamie Royston, organ; Todd Ayers, guitar; Glenn Taylor, pedal-steel guitar; Artie Moore, bass
Atlantic 83168-2 (CD). 1999. Ginger Baker, Ron Miles, prods.; Danny Kopelson, eng. DDD. TT: 60:26
Performance ****?
Sonics ****
He claims to have been a jazz drummer from the get-go, but Ginger Baker's tenures in Cream and Blind Faith ensure that he will be forever enshrined in the rock'n'…
The internal battle between the head and the heart, between the analytical and romantic sides of our nature, is a difficult one. I'm an engineer, so it seems as if my cold, calculating side should have the upper hand. This is true in a lot of cases; most of my actions and decisions are based on straightforward, logical analyses. However, things like a house full of castaway dogs, or a garage full of quixotic British cars and Italian motorcycles, suggest that my heart holds sway reasonably—perhaps distressingly—often.
This struggle is often in full force when I venture into the…
The Power 3 didn't sound perfectly neutral, however. Its overall character was slightly cool, dry, and distant—exactly the opposite of the VTL's slightly warm, liquid, immediate personality. On the vinyl version of the Ray Brown Trio's Soular Energy (Concord Jazz LELP 111, Bellaphon 180gm half-speed-mastered version), Brown's bass sounded a little more prominent with the VTL, but more consistent across its range with the Power 3. Similarly, the VTL had a bit more midrange and upper-midrange bloom than the SF, so Emily Remler's guitar and Red Holloway's sax were tonally richer and more vivid…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Vacuum-tube monoblock amplifier. Tube complement (each monoblock): eight 6550C, four 6922, two 5687. Rated output power: 20Hz-20kHz, <1% THD, 220W into 8, 4, and 2 ohms (23.4, 20.4, and 17.4dBW, respectively). Frequency response: 5Hz-75kHz, ±0.5dB at 1W; 15Hz-60kHz, ±0.5dB at 220W. Input sensitivity for full output power: 2.2V, balanced or single-ended inputs. Voltage gain: 25.6dB into 8 ohms, 22.6dB into 4 ohms, 19.6dB into 2 ohms. Input impedance: 100k ohms single-ended, 200k ohms balanced. Output impedance: 0.25 ohms at 1kHz. Damping factor:…
Sidebar 2: BD's Associated Equipment
Analog source: VPI TNT IV turntable, JMW Memorial 12" tonearm, Grado Reference cartridge.
Digital sources: Wadia 830, Ultech UCD-100 CD players.
Preamplification: Sonic Frontiers Phono 1 phono preamplifier, Line 3 line stage; VAC CPA1 Mk.III preamplifier.
Power amplifiers: VTL Ichiban and Mark Levinson No.20.6 monoblocks; VAC Renaissance 70/70, Krell KSA-250.
Loudspeakers: Magnepan MG3.6/R, Thiel CS7.2.
Cables: JPS Superconductor 2, Kimber BiFocal XL, Nirvana S-L. AC cords: JPS Power, Analog, and Digital.
Accessories: MIT Z-Systems…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
A full set of measurements was made on the Sonic Frontiers Power 3 in its balanced mode, with selected measurements repeated in unbalanced (single-ended) mode. Unless noted otherwise, all measurements are for balanced configuration.
Following its one-hour warmup, the Power 3 was typically hot for a tube amplifier. Its input impedance measured a high 198k ohms (99.3k ohms unbalanced), its output impedance a maximum of 0.17 ohm at 20Hz and 1kHz, increasing to a maximum of 0.22 ohm at 20kHz. These are very low—and very good—values for a tube amplifier, and…
Kalman Rubinson wrote about the Power 3 in July 2000 (Vol.23 No.7):
I'm going to cheat a little here. My comments on the Sonic Frontiers Power 3 monoblock power amplifier are a Follow-Up to Brian Damkroger's review in the April 2000 issue...my feelings differ significantly from Brian's.
The Power 2 power amplifier sat in my listening room for more than a year. Over that time, and however much I resisted the prospect, I ended up choosing it—over every other amp and with almost every speaker—for enjoying music. Sure, the Bryston 7B-STs had more slam and punch, the Simaudio Moon W-…