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At $1295, the Tercet Mk.III represents a step up from CAL's $750 Icon, which I enthusiastically recommended back in April 1990 (Vol.13 No 4, footnote 1). Externally, with the exception of a wider and slightly thicker front panel, it appears to be a carbon copy of that unit. Like the other products in California Audio Lab's stable, the Tercet Mk.III is designed from the ground up in-house. It is totally solid-state, and, like the Icon, uses the same linear-drive, glass-optics, single-laser transport and noisy loading drawer (equally loud but lower in pitch than the Luxman D-105u CD player…
Blandine Verlet's Hans Ruckers II harpsichord (track 7) never sounded better. The tonal balance was excellent, with no register calling attention to itself. The resonating capacity of the instrument is fully explored in this fiery performance, and the sound did not disappoint. Listening closely, I sensed the entire instrument vibrating from the floor up. Inner harmonics, hanging on their own cushions of air and well-separated from the fundamentals, were captured exquisitely, lending an often-missed depth to the music. The strings "buzzed" as they should (which, in this music, is most of the…
Sidebar 1: The LP in 1991
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…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
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…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
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…
Sidebar 4: Specifications
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 data lords are gathering data and giving it to organizations that then manipulate us with the things they know about us, things that we don't even know about ourselves," says five-time Grammy Award–winning composer, conductor, producer, and band leader Maria Schneider. "They give our data to any company that'll pay for it to manipulate you, specifically targeting your vulnerabilities. It takes away freedom of thought, a true discourse where people are thinking for themselves. Count me out."
The Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra's new double album, Data Lords (ArtistShare), addresses…
Micallef: You had considerable challenges in completing the record.
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…
Once upon a time, reviews of Musical Fidelity components frequently filled pages in Stereophile. But in all my years covering audio shows, I can't recall blogging about any of the company's products, not even once. So, when my editor offered a review of the new M8xi ($6490), a hefty 101lb dual-mono integrated amplifier that includes a DAC, I seized the opportunity to fill a black hole in my consciousness. (Kindly cast aside thoughts that it would take more than a hunk of audio equipment to fill the black hole in my brain.) As long as I didn't break my back lifting the M8xi, solo, to the top…
Once the M8xi had been hoisted, with assistance, onto my rack, I did some thinking about power conditioning. I'd already inquired about the use of a power conditioner and received an email that said that while Musical Fidelity had striven to build "a power supply with very low internal impedance in order to achieve maximum possible dynamics," conditioners that didn't limit current and squash dynamics could possibly improve things further. After listening and comparing, I opted for the same AudioQuest Niagara 5000 I use with the Progressions. I also used the same Ansuz Darkz T2S support feet…