Conventional audio marketing wisdom has it that a company producing only a single product cannot succeed in the marketplace. Dealers want a line of products, varying in price and features, so that they can offer something for every potential customer. It's hard to build much of a following if you have only a single product, and an expensive one at that.
That is, unless your name is Ken Stevens and your product is the Convergent Audio Technology SL-1. Since its introduction in 1985, the…
Analog Source: Fully updated Linn LP12, Ittok tonearm, AudioQuest AQ-7000nsx cartridge.
Digital Sources: PS Audio Lambda II and Sonic Frontiers SFT-1 transports, Audio Alchemy DTI•Pro 32 anti-jitter/resolution-enhancement device, Sonic Frontiers SFD-2 Mk.II digital processor, TARA Labs Decade and Illuminati D-60/Orchid digital links; Sonic Frontiers SFCD-1 CD player.
Other Preamplifiers: Balanced Audio Technology VK-5, Sonic Frontiers SFL-2, Jeff Rowland Research Synergy.
Power Amplifiers: Balanced Audio Technology VK-60, Bryston 7B-ST, Jeff Rowland…
Analog source: Updated Linn LP12, Ittok, AudioQuest AQ-7000nsx.
Digital source: PS Audio Lambda II transport, Audio Alchemy DTI•Pro32 anti-jitter/resolution-enhancement device, Sonic Frontiers SFD-2 Mk.II and Processor 3 digital processors (the Processor 3 is a killer), Illuminati D-60/Orchid digital links.
Amplifiers: Sonic Frontiers Power 2, Carver Lightstar 2.0 (review to come).
Loudspeakers: Dunlavy SC-IV, Hales Design Group Revelation Three.
Interconnects, power cables, and speaker cables: mostly TARA Labs Decade. Late in the audition…
Ken Stevens is pretty hard on reviewers. Oh, he's a pleasant enough fellow, even congenial. Unfortunately, he has a bad habit: Every couple of years he comes out with an improved version of the Convergent Audio Technology (CAT) SL-1 preamplifier. This results in scads of reviewer praise, which then leaves us scrambling to find new superlatives when he comes out with the next latest-and-greatest version.
After the original Stereophile review of the SL-1 Signature by Jack English (Vol.15 No.12), it fell on me…
Considered on its own, the Balanced Audio Technology VK-40 was a very fine-sounding preamplifier, but how did it compare sonically with competing products? I put it up against my reference preamp, the Convergent Audio Technology (CAT) SL-1 Ultimate (see the August 1999 Stereophile). At $5995, the CAT costs about $500 more than the "loaded" VK-40, and lacks a remote control; if you omitted the VK-40's remote option, the difference in price would be $1000. The CAT is a single-…
Description: Tube preamplifier with phono stage. Inputs: two line-level, one phono, tape. Outputs: two main plus tape. Frequency response: 0.1Hz-600kHz, +0,-3dB (line), 20Hz-20kHz, ±0.2dB (phono). Voltage gain at 1kHz: 26dB (line), 46dB (phono). IHF sensitivity: 0.12mV. Slew rate: 10V/µs (phono), 15V/µs (line), risetime of 0.6µs. THD: less than 0.001% (phono), 0.0005% (line). Noise: 90dBA below 1V (line), 96dBA below 10mV input (phono). Input overload: 100V (line) and 250mV phono. Input impedance: 50k (line), variable on phono, with 47k and 180pF standard…
Thanks, Gene, we're all in this together!
"I had to laugh at your excitement over lining the listening rooms with LPs to inhibit wall reflections. Of course this is a great idea. I figure it was discovered about 1930! Why do you think all the pre-digital radio production studios sounded so good and warm? It wasn't just the ribbon mikes and tube gear. They sounded good even after condenser…
Description: Digitally generated CD for testing hearing in the 20Hz–20kHz frequency range.
Price: $39.95. Approximate number of catalog dealers: 4.
Manufacturer: Digital Recordings—Advanced R&D, 5959 Spring Garden Road, Suite 1103, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 1Y5, Canada. Tel./Fax: (902) 429-9622, (902) 425-1154. Web: www.digital-recordings.com.