Crisply executed commands
For this kind of money, you should expect your playback wishes to be obeyed. The Air Force One Premium does not disappoint. Once set up, it remains set up. It's physically quiet (including the pumps), responsive, and neither finicky nor tweaky. The…
Ali Akbar Khan: Music of India: Morning and Evening Ragas (Connoisseur CS 1766)
Band of Horses: Acoustic at the Ryman (Brown Records BRWN003)
Clark Terry and His Orchestra: With Paul Gonsalves (SAM/French Decca 153924)
I beg the reader's indulgence for a moment, but I feel compelled to articulate my feeling (apology, if you like) regarding the current state of the long-playing record in this country. I know, this is supposed to be a review of CD players, but please be patient. I feel the tone of my review and the subsequent recommendations will mean more with this brief background confession.
I have been told and have read that analog recordings and LPs will sing their swan songs during the early years of this decade. If so, many will call me foolish for continuing to…
My listening venue remains, with the exceptions noted below, as described in my review of the Audio Research SP9 Mk.II and Counterpoint SA-3000 preamps (Vol.13 No.11). Both the preamps and the Quicksilver amps that drove the Acoustat Twos have been replaced with the Ensemble B-50 (Tiger) control amplifier plugged into an Ensemble Isotrans isolation transformer.
All system interconnect is Ensemble Supraflux, and speaker cable is Ensemble Hotline. The B-50 sits within arm's reach on an Arcici Superstructure II. All CDs used in listening evaluations…
The Tercet's maximum output level was a fraction over spec at 2.079V, sourced from a low 52 ohms, which implies the Tercet should be able to drive reasonably long or overly capacitive cables. As shown by the impulse response (fig.1), the output is polarity-correct, while the squarewave response (fig.2) reveals by its flat tops that the digital filter overflows at its maximum level, a tradeoff said to increase low-level resolution. The player's frequency response (fig.3) was flat within the audio band, though a slight 0.3dB de-emphasis error at 10kHz exists (fig.4…
Description: CD player with 28-function remote control, optional plug-in digital output, dual 18-bit DACs, and 8x-oversampling digital filter. Frequency response: 5Hz–22kHz, +0, –0.5dB. Dynamic range: 106dB. S/N ratio: 103dB. Channel separation: 91dB. Output impedance: 200 ohms. THD at 1kHz: 0.01%.
Dimensions: 19" W by 4" H by 12.25" D. Weight: 10lb.
Serial number of unit auditioned: 00813.
Price: $1295 (1991); no longer available (2020). Optional factory- or dealer-installed coaxial digital out: $95 (1991). Approximate number of dealers: 95.
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The Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra's new double album, Data Lords (ArtistShare), addresses…
Schneider: It's superchallenging taking a big band, with music that's very dense and full and coming from all these different sources, and you've got to figure out a way to make that experience come out of two speakers. That is just exceedingly difficult. Every move that you make—say you want a solo to be a little bit louder—everything's relative. Trying to find that balance of focus: If you bring out more bottom, suddenly you lose the top.
Doing an album that is so intense and trying to keep the perspective of…