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Analog Corner #291: SME Synergy LP player, Boulder 508 phono preamplifier In Heavy Rotation

Sidebar: In Heavy Rotation

Bailen: Thrilled to Be Here
Fantasy (LP)

Milt Jackson: Ballads & Blues
Atlantic/Speakers Corner (LP)

Joe Henderson: The State of the Tenor, Vol. 2
Blue Note Tone Poet (LP)

Bob Dylan: Blood on the Tracks
Mobile Fidelity 1 Step (LP)

Bob Dylan: Blood on the Tracks
RSD Columbia (LP)

John Lee Hooker: The Country Blues of . . .
Riverside/ERC (LP)

Daniel Norgren: Wooh Dang
Superpuma (LP)

Dexter Gordon Quartet…

The Classical Voice: Finding Your Way In

How to explain the power that trained operatic voices hold over many of us? For me, the pull began days after I was born, when acoustic 78s of tenor Enrico Caruso and coloratura sopranos Amelita Galli-Curci and Luisa Tetrazzini played in the background. There was something about the way the dramatic-to-the-core Caruso sang, as if his life depended on it, while the high-flying coloraturas skipped lightly through impossible strings of notes. It moved me like little else.

The magic of classical vocal artistry revolves around the ability to seduce with sound while conveying a wide variety of…

The Classical Voice: Finding Your Way In Page 2

Warner's latest high-resolution 24/96 digital remasterings of Callas's commercial and live repertoire honor the intentions of the original recording engineers and showcase her at her astounding best. Sutherland's early-stereo analog LPs for London/Decca (footnote 2) are as prized for their depiction of air, space, and vocal proportion as for the singing itself. Perhaps the only limitation of these "Golden Age of analog" mono and stereo recordings was the need to compress dynamics between the softest and loudest passages to avoid oversaturation, needle skipping, and burying subtle detail…

California Audio Labs Sigma D/A processor

Originally published October 1, 1992

Though their first CD player featured a vacuum-tube output stage, California Audio Labs is recently known for making good-sounding, moderately priced solid-state CD players, like the Icon Mk.II that Jack English reviewed in July 1992 (Vol.15 No.7). The Sigma, a $695 tubed D/A converter, furthers their reputation in both areas.

The Sigma is a straightforward product: no front-panel switches, buttons, or controls. A single LED on the 8¾"-wide front panel indicates that the unit is locked to a digital source. The rear panel has a pair of RCA…

California Audio Labs Sigma D/A processor Associated Equipment

Sidebar 1: Associated Equipment

My reference playback system has remained nearly constant for the past year, providing a stable platform on which to audition and compare digital processors. I auditioned the four processors reviewed in this issue under identical conditions and at matched levels. Additionally, the reference playback system has remained nearly constant for the past year, providing a stable platform on which to audition and compare digital processors. The converters under review fed an Audio Research LS2 line-stage preamplifier, which in turn drove a Mark Levinson No.23.5…

California Audio Labs Sigma D/A processor Measurements

Sidebar 2: Measurements

The Sigma had a rather high output voltage of 3.5V, nearly 5dB higher than the standard 2V output. Output impedance was very high for a 1992 product, measuring nearly 2k ohms at 20Hz, this dropping to just under 1.5k ohms at 20kHz (footnote 1). It was difficult to get an exact measurement of the output voltage into 600 ohms or lower, it dropping as the output stage became current-limited. I noticed on the oscilloscope connected to the Audio Precision System One's monitor output that the waveform was severely clipped when the Sigma attempted to drive a 600 ohm load…

California Audio Labs Sigma D/A processor Specifications

Sidebar 3: Specifications

Description: 1-bit D/A converter with tubed output stage. Tube complement: one 12AX7. Inputs: one coaxial (RCA jack), one optical (TosLink jack). Outputs: unbalanced on RCA jacks.
Dimensions: 8¾" (222mm) W × 4" (102mm) H × 12¾" (324mm) D.
Price: $695 (1992); no longer available (2020). Approximate number of dealers: 96.
Manufacturer: California Audio Labs, Huntington Beach, CA 92647 (1992); Blue Lake, CA 95525 (2000); company no longer in existence (2020).

Looking Back at Fleetwood Mac

I've just recently finished reading guitarist/vocalist Walter Lure's autobiography, To Hell and Back. Walter has a great story about his days in Johnny Thunders's Heartbreakers and his own Waldos. Until he died in late August, you could still hear him playing with the Waldos and running periodic tributes to Johnny. But he also took some space to write about his first band, a hard-rock dance band called Bloodbath that pounded the risers in the North Bronx at the dawn of the 1970s. I had the extreme pleasure of being the vocalist and master of revels in this two-guitar maelstrom. We covered…

AudioQuest Niagara 3000 AC power conditioner

It stands to reason that any audiophile system would benefit from improved AC power. The rooms in most older homes are equipped with a single duplex receptacle on each wall, maybe two per wall in homes employing more modern construction practices. Behind the wall you're likely to find standard 14-gauge Romex, passing through via receptacles that typically sell for about a buck each. The electrical work meets local code, but audiophiles aren't involved in setting local electrical codes.

Another, newer problem is the proliferation of cheap electronic devices. Computers, computer components…

AudioQuest Niagara 3000 AC power conditioner Page 2

The unit has seven rear-panel AC receptacles. Receptacles 1 and 2 are the High Current/Low-Z receptacles intended for power amplifiers; they employ AQ's Transient Power Correction. The remaining five receptacles, for sources, employ AQ's Level-X Linear Noise-Dissipation System; all five source receptacles are isolated from the two high-current receptacles and are broken into two banks, 3–5 and 6–7, which are also isolated from each other. These receptacles are principally intended for connection of source equipment; the manual offers some connection guidelines, but also recommends…