Available color options are black and gray. (There's also an F35 version housed in a larger chassis, primarily for US…
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A sub-brand under the Jolida marque, Black Ice Audio used the Florida Audio Expo to introduce the final production models for some new amplification components. (Prior versions seen and heard at previous shows were late-stage prototypes, I was told.) The Black Ice Fusion F11 and F22 integrated amplifiers were shown in striking glass and carbon-fiber chassis with relatively small footprints, which is particularly desirable for the European and Asian markets.
Zesto Audio presented the third generation of its Leto preamplifier: an Ultra version that offers a slew of new features, from upgraded all-analog circuit topology and a new 12DW7 tube configuration to the addition of three gain options (3dB, 6dB, 9dB) that can be saved for different input sources. Full remote control capabilities have also been added for on-the-fly adjustments of input, volume, gain, mono, and muting.
But perhaps the most intriguing new feature is a Presence control for the upper or upper-mid frequencies. Broadly speaking, it's tone control-like but more…
Testing capacitors at Ben Duncan Research using high-speed production component testers, made in England by Wayne-Kerr (1980s) and Peak (2010s). Parts are numbered and seven performance parameters that can affect sonics like loss at 10kHz, are manually tabulated. Rogue parts can be quickly identified by eye and relieved of musical duties. Photo: Ben Duncan.
Have you ever suspected that the component you bought after diligent research is somehow not "typical"? That its sound seems to bear little resemblance to the descriptions in the reviews you read? Sure, you listened to the unit before…
First, the absolute level (or gain) varies by at least 1dB. This alone vindicates balance controls—even in the unlikely event that the loudspeakers are perfectly level-matched. More importantly, the variation in the population's frequency response around the reference curve in fig.2 is complex. The biggest variation is at least ±0.2dB, and some systems vary by more than ±0.5dB. Although it may be hard to see, there are also one or two "golden" units that have a flatter, therefore more accurate, response than the norm! Joe Smart always buys one of these, especially when the price has been…
Sidebar: References & further reading
[1] Lyall Watson, The Nature of Things: The Secret Life of Inanimate Objects. Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1990.
[2] R. Jeffs & D. Cook, "Generating Production Test Limits Based on Software-Derived Monte Carlo Analysis." AES 11th International Conference, 1992.
[3] Ben Duncan, "Pièce de Resistance, Part 2: Thermal Factors." Hi-Fi News & Record Review, April 1987.
[4] Ben Duncan, "With a Strange Device, Part 6: Temperature, Microphony, Tolerances & Reliability." Hi-Fi News & Record Review, November 1986…
Postscript—February 2020
A quarter of a century later, we can ask what has changed and what was missed out?
The article was focused on components used in hi-fi electronics, mainly analog. The levels of conformity that could be achieved a quarter century back have not been greatly increased today. A maturity has been reached. Meantime, the audio industry (high-end, the bastion of analog) is dependent on, by and large, standard parts, that are, or were, made in high volumes. But today, many close-tolerance parts, made for analog electronics and central to high-end signal paths, are…
AudioShield, now the distributor for Credo Audio of Switzerland, partnered with Florida dealer House of Stereo to introduce the Swiss maker’s EV Reference One speaker ($40,000/pair) in a system driven by a full suite of EMM Labs high-end electronics, with EMM’s DV2 integrated DAC with preamp stage and volume control ($30,000) and NS1 streamer ($4500) and Wolf Audio Systems Alpha 3 SX Audio Server ($9895) as digital sources. A van den Hul Grail SE+ phono stage and a VPI HW-40 40th Anniversary turntable served as the analog front end.
The Credo EV (as in Evolution) Reference One three-way…
On Sunday morning I eased into my rounds with the Musical Surroundings folks: In conjunction with local dealer Sweet Home Audio, they presented a sweet-sounding, straight-up analog setup that featured several products at (relatively) more affordable price points than is sometimes the case.
If it isn't apparent by now, I'm kind of a sucker for good design and gear with aesthetic appeal in addition to (of course) good sound. So yeah, I was loving the made-in-Germany AMG Giro belt-drive turntable with its shiny sapphire blue base/plinth of machined aircraft-grade aluminum in a "…
Tandberg of Norway has a rather ambiguous corporate image among audio perfectionists. Long considered to make some of the best tape-recording equipment around, the firm has never been seen as a leader in electronics, despite some bold—and reportedly good-sounding—forays into the realm of $2000 preamps and $3500 power amplifiers. Perhaps this is why, when Tandberg started making CD players, high-enders were uncertain how to respond. A CD player is not a tape recorder, and (according to belief, which proved wrong) a digital signal is uncorruptible until it becomes audio—an area where Tandberg…
Sidebar 1: Anthony H. Cordesman, from January 1987 (Vol.10 No.1):
The Tandberg CD player is in a state of transition, and a 16-bit, 4-times oversampling machine might be out by the time you read this. Based on preliminary listening, I suspect that Tandberg may be the first to solve the problems in the Philips 16-bit machines.
The existing Tandberg machines, however, are quite good. They have excellent phase response, use top quality components, and use a direct-coupled signal path—no capacitors—from the output of the D/A converter to the output sockets. The Tandberg uses zero…