Description: Multichannel SACD/CD 5-disc changer. Digital outputs (CD playback only): TosLink and RCA S/PDIF. Analog outputs: left/right front, left/right surround, center, subwoofer, two-channel left/right. SACD section: Frequency response: 2Hz-50kHz, -3dB. Dynamic range: >105dB, A-weighted. THD: ±0.0015%, 20Hz-20kHz. Intermodulation distortion: -107dB. Maximum output voltage: 2V, ±0.3V. CD section: Frequency response: 2Hz-20kHz. Dynamic range: >99dB. Total harmonic distortion: 0.002%. Stereo headphone jack: 10mW into 32 ohms.
Dimensions: 17" (430mm) W…
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Sidebar 1: Specifications
Sidebar 2: Sony TA-P9000ES multichannel analog preamplifier
Sony describes the $700 TA-P9000ES as "a pure audio multichannel preamplifier equipped with two inputs for 5.1 analog multichannel audio sources, enabling selection, volume control, and amplification." A relay with twin gold-plated crossbars switches the two six-channel sources. Then follows a class-A solid-state push-pull amplifier in discrete configuration. Separate transistors, resistors, and capacitors populate the printed circuit boards. An oxygen-free copper shield surrounds each channel to prevent crosstalk between the…
Sidebar 3: Associated Equipment
Analog source: Linn Sondek LP12 turntable with Lingo power supply, Ittok tonearm, Spectral MC cartridge.
Digital source: Krell KPS-28C CD transport.
FM tuners: Day-Sequerra FM Reference Classic, Rotel RH-10, Magnum Dynalab MD-102, Fanfare FT-1A, and Magnum Dynalab 205 Sleuth RF amplifier.
Preamplifier: Krell KCT CAST.
Power amplifiers: Mark Levinson No.334 and Krell FPB 600C (stereo), Bryston 9B-ST (5-channel).
Loudspeakers: Revel Ultima Salon, Krell LAT-1, Dynaudio Evidence Temptation, B&W 805 Nautilus (rear surrounds), Mirage HDT-FCH-1…
Sidebar 4: Measurements
I measured the Sony SCD-C555ES SACD player's performance using my usual CD test signals stored on a CD-R, and with DSD-encoded signals from Sony's "tentative" test SACD (TGZD 90005). All the tests were performed using the two-channel left/right outputs, with occasional spot checks from the multichannel jacks.
The maximum operating levels at 1kHz were 2.088V (CD) and 2.068V (SACD), and the output polarity was correct for CD data. (I don't have an SACD with a suitably asymmetrical waveform.) The source impedance was 110 ohms in the midrange and treble,…
Linearity error on CD playback was very low (fig.5), while the spot tones on the test SACD suggested that the linearity error for SACD playback was equally good down to -120dB, below which the exact level was obscured by noise. The 'C555's reproduction from CD of an undithered 1kHz tone at -90.31dBFS was essentially perfect (fig.6).
Fig.5 Sony SCD-C555ES, left-channel departure from linearity, 16-bit CD data (2dB/vertical div.).
Fig.6 Sony SCD-C555ES, waveform of undithered 1kHz sinewave at -90.31dBFS, 16-bit CD data.
The Sony's output stage wasn't fazed…
The upbeat is the most magic moment in classical music making. Before the conductor brings down his baton for the downbeat, anything and everything are possible in the musical journey that is about to begin. And the upbeat to Mozart's sublime Clarinet Concerto that conductor Robert Bailey was about to give in London's Henry Wood Hall last November gave me an extra frisson—as producer of the recording sessions, I would have to pronounce instant judgment on everything I was about to hear.
Talk about pressure. It's hard enough for a critic to be right, even with all the benefit of hindsight…
The recording venue was going to be Henry Wood Hall in Southwark, just across the river from the Tower. Henry Wood Hall was originally Holy Trinity Church, standing in the center of a classic early 19th-century London square. Closed in 1961, the church was transformed into a rehearsal and recording space for London orchestras in the 1970s, and opened for business in 1975. Tony Faulkner has used the hall, named after fabled 19th century conductor and impresario Henry Wood, as a base for his operations for a quarter century. After the project had been finished and Antony had signed off on the…
Atkinson: You chose to use ¼" tape at 15ips rather than ½" tape at 30ips?
Faulkner: This will come as heresy to many, but I do not like 30ips as much as 15ips. For me, 30ips has more intrusive noise, more modulation noise, and a more eccentric bass replay response.
I used ¼" for several other reasons. First, because it is much more standard, given the disparate state of the analog recording industry, and left me more options for the mastering. So far I have not tracked down a ½" recorder, so I do not own one. Getting hold of new stock of the best analog blank tape these days is…
Faulkner: The criticisms are not without basis. The demands on storage space are no big deal because storage space is cheap now, but the fundamental griefs with DSD for me are twofold.
First, as I said, the creation of high energies of EHF noise from the A/D noiseshaping is bad engineering practice, but it is essential because DSD is a 1-bit system; it would not have enough dynamic range to reproduce music without noiseshaping. If you want a 1-bit, 64Fs recording system to emulate a 20-bit PCM system between 20Hz and 20kHz as far as noise and linearity are concerned, then the noise has…
Sidebar 1: K622: The Music
K622: Mozart Clarinet Concerto MFSACD017/MFLP017
Antony Michaelson, clarinet, with the Michaelangelo Chamber Orchestra conducted by Robert Bailey
Flute: Andy Findon, Helen Keen
Bassoon: Brian Sewell, Francesca Carpos
Horn: Richard Watkins, David Wythe
Violin: Adrian Levine (concertmaster), Kathy Andrew, Alex Balanescu, Sue Briscoe, Gordon Buchan, Beverly Davison, Ruth Erlich, Jonathan Evans-Jones, Alison Kelly, Pauline Lowbury, Rona Murray, David Ogden, Julian Tear, Paul Willey
Viola: Marina Ascherson, Rachel Bolt, Tim Grant, Rusen Gunes…