Description: Remote-controlled CD player with outboard power supply and 128x oversampling D/A conversion using 24-bit delta-sigma DACs (Crystal Logic CS4390). Outputs (fixed level): one pair single-ended (RCA) analog, one digital (BNC) S/PDIF. Maximum analog output voltage: 2.4V. Analog output impedance: <100 ohms. S/N ratio: 115dB.
Dimensions: Player: 17" (430mm) W by 5.5" (140mm) H by 14.5" (470mm) D. Power supply: 9" (230mm) W by 3.75" (95mm) H by 11.25" (290mm) D. Weight: 39 lbs (17.1kg) net, 69 lbs (31kg) shipping.
Serial numbers of units reviewed…
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Sidebar 1: Specifications
Sidebar 2: Associated Components
Analog source: VPI TNT Mk.IV, JMW Memorial tonearm, Grado Reference cartridge.
Digital source: SimAudio Moon Eclipse CD player.
Preamplifier: VAC CPA1 Mk.III.
Power amplifiers: VAC Renaissance 70/70, VTL Ichiban, Mark Levinson No.20.6, Classé CAM-350.
Loudspeakers: Magnepan MG3.6/R.
Cables: Nirvana S-X Ltd., Kimber Bi-Focal XL, Synergistic Research Designer's Reference.
Accessories: Bright Star Rack of Gibraltar and isolation systems; Tiptoes; PAC Super IDOS, MIT Z-System and Z-Center, Nirvana AC systems; Synergistic Research AC and…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
This stunningly beautiful player had a maximum output of 2.7V, which is both higher than the 2.4V specified and higher than the CD standard's 2V RMS. The output impedance was a low 57 ohms across the audioband, and the player inverts absolute polarity.
The Oracle's frequency response, with (top) and without (bottom) pre-emphasized data, is shown in fig.1. With a regular signal, the response is perfectly flat. With a pre-emphasized signal, however, a large (-1dB) error appears throughout the treble, which will be audible (on those few discs that have been…
Sidebar 1: Festival, The Best of the 1995 Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival STPH007-2
[1] Aaron Copland: Appalachian Spring Suite 24:29
(original version for chamber orchestra)
Daniel Phillips, Jennifer Frautschi, Amy Hiraga, Michelle Kim, violins; Yasushi Toyoshima, Piotr Jandula, violas; Peter Wyrick, Cecilia Tsan, cellos; Marji Danilow, double bass; Tara Helen O'Connor, flute; Håkan Rosengren, clarinet; Lynette Diers Cohen, bassoon; Max Levinson, piano; Heiichiro Ohyama, conductor
[2] Tomiko Kohjiba: The Transmigration of the Soul 19:02
(World Premiere recording)
…
<I>Festival!</I> The Best of the 1995 Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival The 1995 Composer In Residence
Sidebar 2: The 1995 Composer In Residence
Tomiko Kohjiba is an increasingly sought-after composer in the United States and Europe, as well as in her native Japan. Born in Hiroshima, she graduated from a high school connected with Hiroshima University. In 1979, she entered the Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music and continued studies at its graduate school, earning her doctorate in composition. Before entering the University she had composed an Introduction and Allegro for Orchestra, a quartet for two alto flutes, cello, and harpsichord, and a choral work, Kotobaasobi-Uta, which won…
Sidebar 3: The Conductor
From 1977 to 1985, Heiichiro Ohyama played viola with the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival where, in 1992, he became artistic director. He also holds appointments as: Artistic Director of La Jolla SummerFest; Music Director of the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra in Ithaca, New York, the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, and the Japan America Symphony Orchestra of Los Angeles; Principal Conductor of the Round Top Music Festival in Texas; and Director of Conducting and Orchestra Programs and Professor of Music at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Mr. Ohyama…
Sidebar 4: Who Was Who, What Was When, What Was What
Producer/Musical Director: Heiichiro Ohyama
Production/Engineering/Editing: John Atkinson
Executive Director, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival: Erich A. Vollmer
Executive Producer: Larry Archibald
Assistant Producer: Gretchen Grogan
Assistant Engineer: Wes Phillips
Road Managers: David Hendrick, Doug Chadwick
Piano Technician: Michael Blackwell
Booklet notes: John Atkinson, Wes Phillips, Deborah Carley Emory, Tomiko Kohjiba
Booklet illustrations: Janice St. Marie
Booklet Design: Suey Surprise
…
Editor's Note: Although this product has been available for several years, it is being reviewed in considerable detail because it is a strong contender for the title of "Best Available Loudspeaker System, Regardless of Cost," and because we plan to review some of the other contenders for the same title within the next few issues. We feel that since all of these systems represent a considerable outlay of money, prospective buyers should have a thorough understanding of the merits and demerits of each system, so they will know what to expect from them in the way of performyince capabilities and…
The effect, of this, in most rooms, was an impression of slightly excessive brilliance and low-end deficiency. Placing the edge of each panel right against a wall of the room helped to bring up the bottom, but not to the degree of linearity that was obtained with the panels together. And the against-the-wall arrangement necessitated putting the speakers too far apart for adequate center fill-in. On the basis of this, we placed the panels together for the rest of our listening tests.
To date, nothing we had found seemed to suggest that this system was worth anywhere near the $1140 the…
JGH summarized the KLH Nine in October 1968 (Vol.2 No.10):
KLH Nine: Low efficiency, highly reactive loading characteristic, and superb transient response make this speaker extremely critical of the driving amplifier and input signal cleanness; drivers well-blended; tweeter highly directional, best heard off-axis; sound very smooth, liquidly transparent, likened to a spotlessly clear window on the sound; "Row-M" perspective places sound rather behind panels; somewhat cold sound; two panels (one complete Nine system) essentially flat to around 40Hz with panels together, gradually rolled-…