Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured the Marten Oscar Duo's farfield behavior with DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone. I used an Earthworks QTC-40 mike for the speaker's nearfield and spatially averaged in-room responses. I didn't have the optional magnetically attached covers, so I didn't use them. The Oscar Duo's drive-units are protected with individual metal-mesh grilles.
My estimate of the Oscar Duo's sensitivity was 85.3dB/2.83V/m, which is within experimental error of the specified 86dB/2.83V/m. Marten specifies the Oscar Duo's impedance as 6 ohms,…
Photo of Bob's mastering room courtesy of Mary Kent, photographer
I've written before in this space that to me the most wondrous aspect of our avocation (apart from the music) is the way it exists at the intersection of logic and emotion, of science and art. The equipment we use is made by engineers applying scientific principles, yet its goal is to deliver sensual pleasure. Both viewpoints are valid.
A few engineers embody both approaches. MBL's Jürgen Reis recently told Stereophile that he starts by optimizing a design objectively—getting the technical part right. Then he voices…
I was doing my press beat for Stereophile in the hallway of Montreal's 2019 Audiofest when I glimpsed something that stopped me in my tracks. It was a marketing slogan, across the room on importer/exhibitor Goerner Audio's floorstanding banner: "Tubes or semiconductors? Magneto-solid technology amplifies emotions."
Intrigued and with pen and paper in hand, I settled into one of the listening chairs and soaked in the smooth, luscious, musical sound coming from a system with the Grandinote Shinai integrated amplifier at its core—and wondered: tubes or transistors? The line was blurry.…
With all the speakers I used, the album's fade-to-white cricket-chirping intro filled more of the room than I was used to with my own electronics. It was as if a world was materializing around me, like I was gaining consciousness in the middle of a field on a hot day. Soon, every pore of the soundstage seemed filled with animated sound. The Shinai made aural space microscopically tangible.
The Shinai has a knack for detail retrieval, an attribute I've been fond of ever since, as a skinny, bespectacled 7-year-old, I got my hands on a magnifying glass, roamed a park on a burgeoning spring…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Fully balanced, zero-feedback, direct-coupled, solid-state, dual-mono stereo integrated amplifier with class-A output stage. Inputs: 2 single-ended (RCA), 2 balanced (XLR; these may be converted to unbalanced inputs). Outputs: 1 pair loudspeaker outputs. Output power: 37Wpc into 8 ohms (15.7dBW) and 4 ohms (12.7dBW). Frequency range: 2Hz–240kHz. Damping factor >150.
Dimensions: 12.5" (318mm) W × 7.7" (196mm) H × 18.6" (473mm) D. Weight: 88lb (40kg).
Serial number of unit reviewed: 0088. Manufactured in Italy.
Price: $15,000.…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: Rega P5 turntable with RB700 tonearm and Audio MusiKraft Denon DL-103 cartridge.
Digital sources: Simaudio Moon 260D transport, Bryston BDP-1 USB Digital Player running Tidal, Bryston BDA-2 DAC.
Preamplification: Sonic Frontiers SFP-1 Signature phono preamp, Audible Illusions preamp.
Loudspeakers: KEF LS50, Totem Skylight, WLM Diva Mk 4.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest Diamond (USB), BIS Audio Maestro (RCA). Interconnect: Moon Audio Silver Dragon (RCA). Speaker: Nordost Heimdall. Power: Shunyata Research Black Mamba CX, LessLoss…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured the Grandinote Shinai using my Audio Precision SYS2722 analyzer (see the January 2008 "As We See It." Before doing any testing I preconditioned the amplifier by following the CEA's recommendation of operating it at one-eighth the specified power into 8 ohms for 30 minutes. At the end of that time, while the black-finished chassis was warm, at 89°F (31.7°C), the chrome grille on the top panel that covers the internal heatsinks was very hot, at 125.8°F (52.1°C). I then performed the older FTC/IHF thermal stress test by running the amplifier at one-third…
The sense of hope I've been feeling may have started with those Sinatra swells, the on-hold music I heard when I called to interview the first audio dealer I talked to for this story. I wanted to know what's been happening with their businesses during the pandemic. Are there reasons for at least cautious optimism?
The economic news is discouraging. Most people don't have a lot of disposable income right now, and many who do are saving it. For those who have hit on COVID hard times, luxury items are out of reach.
On the other hand, people are spending more time at home, whether…
It was a "Wow!" audio moment I'll never forget. It happened just after Ladies Who Lunch, our regular Friday afternoon lunch-n-chat for audio poobahs at the Grand Sichuan restaurant in Chelsea. It was dark at 4 o'clock, and the first snow of winter looked enchanting under the 24th Street streetlamps. Audiophiliac Steve Guttenberg and I were accompanying our turntable setter–upper friend Michael Trei to Bob Visintainer's Rhapsody Music and Cinema, where Trei was scheduled to install a Lyra Etna SL cartridge on a TechDAS Air Force III turntable. I tagged along to chatter with Bob and listen…
To assess the Alyssas' upper bass and lower midrange clarity, I used my favorite Astor Piazzolla album Tango: Zero Hour (16/44.1 FLAC Nonesuch/Qobuz). Although there are only five musicians, this incredible piece of dark nuevo tango offers thick, difficult-to-sort masses of complex information in the octaves below 1kHz, making it a perfect recording for my speaker placement and focusing operation. With the album playing, I moved the speakers first forward and backward, then a little right and left, until the soundstage and instruments achieved their most transparent focus. They ended up…
