Where some popular singers use the songbook canon to increase record and ticket sales, Taylor has no need to change himself or increase his audience. He's as comfortable as any man can be, having sold many millions of records the world over for almost 50 years.
He wasn't always so comfortable. Taylor's breakthrough success of the early '70s, including the albums…
Taylor: The sound of my records, I leave that up to my engineer. I've worked with so many great soundsmiths; Frank Filipetti, certainly Dave O'Donnell, James Farber—really wonderful technicians with remarkable ears. I don't have any particular love for or feel the need to hold on to a certain classical sound. I'm willing to experiment with echo, with EQ, with signal-processing things, with doing all…
“We sincerely appreciate the exhibitors, consumers, and media that support us,” says Bart Andeer, co-founder and operations manager of the Florida Audio Expo, quoted in a press release sent out by Sue Toscano of Toscano Communications. “This decision isn’t the outcome we hoped to announce, but in our estimation, is the best option for our event given the information available at this time. We will always put our customers’ well being first. We…
Sam, of course, has often advised against spending big for CD playback. That's an easy recommendation to make if you have a bazillion LPs and consider CD to be a secondary (and inferior) program source. There was a time when I would have agreed with Sam's low opinion of digital, but no longer. Neither does Madrigal…
Description: Digital processor with HDCD$r decoding. Inputs: two AES/EBU on XLRs, two S/PDIF coaxial (one RCA, one BNC), one ST optical, one TosLink optical. Outputs: L/R balanced (XLR) and unbalanced (RCA) analog out. Digital out. Also one RJ-45 communications port (see text) and IR repeater port. Frequency response: 10Hz–20kHz, +0, –0.2dB. Dynamic range: 98dB (or better). S/N ratio: 105dB. Channel separation: >110dB. FIFO jitter: <20 picoseconds, uncorrelated. Output impedance: <6 ohms.
Dimensions: 15.75" W × 14.3" D × 3.75" H. Weight: 35lb.
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The system used with the No.36 consisted of a Denon DP-S1 transport, Rowland Consummate preamplifier, Carver Research Lightstar amplifier, and Energy Veritas v2.8, KEF Reference 107/2, and Thiel CS7 loudspeakers. Other D/A processors in the system were the Theta DS Pro Basic III, the Sonic Frontiers SFD-2 Mk.II, and the Spectral SDR-2000 Professional.
The primary digital link was either Kimber TGDL or AGDL coaxial. TARA Labs Master RSC interconnect linked the Levinson converter to the preamp. The preamp-to-power-amp interconnects were Cardas Hexlinks, the…
Robert Harley generated the test-bench measurements and provided me with the data after I finished my listening tests. The Mark Levinson No.36 has an output of 1.85V (left) and 1.84V (right), unbalanced (3.69V, L&R, balanced) when decoding a 1kHz, 0dBFS (full-scale) sinewave. Its output impedance measured 7 ohms unbalanced, 13.4 ohms balanced—this processor should be able to drive any commercial preamplifier and cable with no adverse effects. The No.36 was non-inverting in its unbalanced mode, with pin 2 positive in the balanced mode. Its DC offset was 0.2mV…
There are five individual categories: Loudspeakers (including subwoofers); Amplification Components (preamplifiers, power amplifiers, etc.); Digital Sources (CD players, transports, processors); Analog Sources (phono cartridges, turntables, tonearms, FM tuners, etc.); and Accessories (everything else). In previous years, we have given an…
EgglestonWorks Andra ($14,700/pair; reviewed by Wes Phillips, Vol.20 No.10, October 1997 Review)
Finalists (in alphabetical order):
Aerial Acoustics 5 ($1800/pair–$2000/pair; reviewed by Robert Harley, Vol.20 No.4, April 1997 Review)
Audio Physic Caldera ($18,995/pair; reviewed by Martin Colloms, Vol.20 No.8, August 1997)
Epos ES12 ($1095/pair; reviewed by John Atkinson, Vol.20 No.4, April 1997 Review)
Gradient Revolution ($3995/pair; reviewed by Dick Olsher & John Atkinson, Vol.18 No.5, May 1995; & Vol.20 No.3, March 1997 Review)
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