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I should start by confirming your likeliest suspicion: The CD 8x is indeed a refinement of Cyrus's entry-level CD player, the CD 6. Both products use a Philips disc transport, and both use a Burr-Brown D/A chip, with true 24-bit current output. Both are also built into more or less the same chassis, which is precision-cast in Scandinavia of a magnesium alloy that's said to reduce microphony and prevent the deleterious effects of eddy currents, among other things, owing to the fact that it's as nonmagnetic as a bowl of oatmeal. It isn't often that manufacturers or distributors actually…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Single-box CD/CD-R player with two pairs of analog outputs on RCA jacks and S/PDIF digital outputs on RCA and Toslink jacks. Maximum output level: 2.1V RMS. Signal/noise: 120dB at 1kHz. Total harmonic distortion: 0.002% at 1kHz. Frequency range: 20Hz–20kHz. Clock jitter: <80ps. Output impedance: 50 ohms.
Dimensions: 8.4" (215mm) W by 3.1" (80mm) H by 14.1" (360mm) D. Weight: 35 lbs (15.9kg).
Serial Number Of Unit Reviewed: CNUB0086.
Price: $1995. Optional PSX-R power supply, $795. Approximate number of dealers: 5.
Manufacturer: Cyrus…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Linn LP12 turntable, Linn Lingo power supply, Linn Ekos tonearm; Rega Planar 3 turntable, Rega RB-300 tonearm; Miyabi 47, Linn Akiva, Lyra Helikon Mono, Linn Adikt, Rega Elys cartridges.
Digital Sources: Naim CD5x, Ayre CX-7e CD players.
Preamplification: Tamura TKS-83 moving-coil step-up transformer, Linn Linto phono preamplifier; Fi preamplifier, Sonic Euphoria PLC passive line stage.
Power Amplifier: Lamm ML2.1.
Integrated Amplifier: Ayre AX-7e.
Loudspeakers: Quad ESL-989.
Cables: Interconnect: Audio Note AN-Vx, Nordost…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The Cyrus CD 8x player had a maximum output level of 2.23V at 1kHz, almost 1dB above the CD standard of 2V RMS. Its absolute polarity was noninverting when the front-panel display read "PHASE NORMAL," inverting when it said "PHASE INVERTED." The output impedance was a usefully low 52 ohms across the audioband. Error correction was superb, the player coping with gaps in the Pierre Verany Test CD's data spiral up to 1.5mm in length without audible glitches. I perform this test both listening to the 500Hz tone on headphones and when a player has a digital output,…
If there is indeed a renaissance of tubes in high-end audio—and it is clear there is—much of the blame lies with Audio Research Corporation.
Audio Research president William Johnson was custom-building tubed power amplifiers for the carriage trade as far back as 1951, which means he has been making tubed equipment for longer than anyone else currently in audio. In 1961, faced with more orders than he could possibly fill single-handed, he started a modest manufacturing enterprise called Electronic Industries, which was subsequently bought out (along with its proprietor and chief designer…
The level-change increments of the volume controls are quite large at reduced settings, becoming increasingly gradual as you turn them up until, near full-up, the increments drop to about ½dB per step. For this reason, at least one control (preferably the "Level") should be operated most of the time near its full-up position, the other turned down appropriately. Running both at about half rotation causes excessive incrementing, which will usually mean the volume setting you seek is halfway between one setting that's too loud and one that's too soft.
I should draw attention to the Mono…
Anthony H. Cordesman listened to the SP-11 in November 1986 (Vol.9 No.7):
The sound of the Convergent Audio SL-1 is very good indeed (as it should be at $3495)—good enough that it can probably be best reviewed by comparing it to its top competition. The Audio Research SP-10/II and SP-11 are obvious standards of reference in tube design, and the original and revised Motif MC-7 are good transistor standards of comparison.
Bass: The Audio Research SP-11 has a notably different sound character [to the Convergent Audio SL-1]. While the revised Motif MC-7 is perhaps a bit too rich and…
Sidebar: Description
Specifications: Hybrid solid-state/tube preamplifier with separate power supply. Inputs: Phono (high-gain MM), Tuner, CD, Video (sound only), Tape 1, Tape 2. Outputs: Tape 1, Tape 2, Main 1, Main 2, Invert, Direct. Controls: Gain, Level, Balance, Mode (Mono, Reverse, Stereo, Left, Right), Input (All but tape), Impedance (cartridge loading), Tape Monitor, Copy switch, Copy mode (1-2, 2-1), Manual Mute, Polarity (Invert/Normal), Bypass, Subsonic Filter. Frequency response: High level 1Hz-100kHz, ±0.5dB, -3dB at 0.2Hz and 250kHz. RIAA accuracy: 20Hz-40kHz ±0.2dB.…
GEOFF MULDAUR'S FUTURISTIC ENSEMBLE: Private Astronomy: A Vision of the Music of Bix Beiderbecke
Edge 028947458326 (CD). 2003. Conceived & arranged by Geoff Muldaur; Dick Connette, prod.; Joe Boyd, exec. prod.; Eve Seltzer, Gary Carroll, Tristan Leral, Scott Lehrer, Dave Winslow, Mark Linett, Keith Weschler, Neil Couser, engs. AAD? TT:42:18
Performance *****
Sonics ****
Edge 028947458326 (CD). 2003. Conceived & arranged by Geoff Muldaur; Dick Connette, prod.; Joe Boyd, exec. prod.; Eve Seltzer, Gary Carroll, Tristan Leral, Scott Lehrer, Dave Winslow, Mark Linett, Keith Weschler, Neil Couser, engs. AAD? TT:42:18
Performance *****
Sonics ****
The short life of Leon "Bix" Beiderbecke is the second most enigmatic and revelatory American musical tragedy after that of bluesman Robert Johnson. One corner of the considerable and ever-expanding…
John Atkinson returned to the Totem Forest in April 2010 (Vol.33 No.4):
The floorstanding Forest loudspeaker ($3495/pair in black ash or mahogany) from Canadian manufacturer Totem Acoustic5 has been highly recommended by Stereophile since it was first reviewed by Larry Greenhill in April 2001. My comments on the Forest were published in September 2005, and as a result of LG's and my experiences of the speaker, it was consistently recommended in Class B (Full-Range) of the magazine's biannual "Recommended Components" feature. I also mentioned the Forest in my October 2006 "As We See It"…