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Table 1: Super Audio CD vs CD SACD (single layer)CD Disc diameter120mm120mm Disc thickness 1.2mm1.2mm Playback sidesOne One Coding system1-bit DSD16-bit linear PCM Sampling frequency2.82224MHz44.1kHz Disc data capacity4700MB 780MB Minimum pit length0.4µm0.83µm Track spacing0.74µm1.6µm Laser wavelength650nm780nm Lens numerical aperture0.600.45 Playback frequency rangeDC-+100kHzDC-20kHz Dynamic rangeMore than 120dB96dB Maximum playing time110 minutes (2 channels)80 minutes Maximum track number 25599 WatermarkVisible "Pit Signal Processing"None Additional functionsText, graphics, video,…
A Followup by Chip Stern on the almost identical Sony SCD-777ES appeared in the April 2001 Stereophile (Vol.24 No.4):
Having the Philips SACD1000 in my system promoted me to spill some ink about the Sony SCD-777ES. In the months I've had this SACD player in my system, my experience of music has been enhanced to the point where I feel more and more confident about the aural judgments I'm called on to make—because I'm convinced that I'm listening to a digital source on which I can bet the ranch.
The SCD-777ES was introduced at a list price of $3500, but Sony recently…
How much power do you really need? How much power can you actually use? What's necessary, and what's icing on the cake? And does anyone really need 1000Wpc?
Well, it depends. Take our JMlab Utopia speakers. The Utopia is spec'd at 94.5dB sensitivity, so it should be pretty easy to drive. Or is it? As it happens, despite the system's highish sensitivity, the woofer is a long-throw, ported design that likes a grippy, controlling high-current amplifier. And I have yet to hear a more controlling solid-state amplifier than the huge Boulder 2050 monoblock. In our size-obsessed world, the…
Around back are more surprises. The amps are supplied with a bright blue, industrial-looking mains connector that's keyed to the electricity in your part of the world. If you like, the 2050s can be operated on a 220V circuit. The custom-engineered speaker terminals are gold-plated and robust beyond description, and are said to offer a good, low-impedance connection. Only one input is available on the rear panel, and that's balanced XLR, pin 2 hot. Just above it sits a male XLR marked Loop Out for passing signal to a second amplifier in a passive biamp setup. And Boulder provides beautifully…
Of course, with a kilowatt of power on tap, I hankered to listen to some BIG music, and so turned to the Bill Holman Band's Brilliant Corners: The Music of Thelonious Monk (JVC JVCXR-0028-2). My listening notes for track 4, "'Round Midnight": "The midrange is so brilliantly fleshed out it's scary. The horns have just the requisite bite and burnish. The highs are soaring, the bass fantastically tight and in control, the pitch differentiation remarkable." The sunshine and joy in the recording—both of the music itself and of the obvious delight the band took in playing it—came through wholly…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid-state monoblock power amplifier with 80 bipolar output devices. Inputs: 3-pin balanced XLR, pin 2 hot. Continuous power into 8, 4, and 2 ohms: 1000W (30dBW, 27dBW, 24dBW). Peak power: 2000W into 4 ohms (30dBW); 4000W into 2 ohms (30dBW).
Dimensions: 18" W by 10.75" H by 26.75" D, plus 12" D for power connector. Weight: 230 lbs each.
Price: $59,000/pair. Approximate number of dealers: 8. Warranty: 5 years.
Manufacturer: Boulder Amplifiers, 3235 Prairie Avenue, Boulder, CO 80301. Tel: (303) 449-8220. Fax (303) 449-2987. Web: www.…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
I auditioned the 2050 in balanced mode using Boulder's 2010 Isolated Balanced preamplifier and B.A.T.'s more affordable VK-5i. Single-ended preamps were the Nagra PL-P and the YBA Signature 6 Chassis.
CDs were spun by the Forsell Air Bearing CD transport, the signal fed into Boulder's 2020 Advance D/A converter, dCS's Elgar, and Ensemble's Dichrono DAC, with occasional blasts on the dCS 972 sample-rate converter between transport and the D/As. I also tried the dCS 972/Elgar combo straight into the 2050s.
Analog signals were provided by the…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
Following its 1/3-power, 1-hour preconditioning test, the Boulder 2050's heatsinks were hot but could be touched for 2-3 seconds without discomfort. All measurements were made in the Boulder's balanced configuration; there is no single-ended input, but the amplifier can be driven single-ended with external adapters. The voltage gain switch was left in the high position, as J-10 had left it.
The Boulder's input impedance measured 220k ohms, its output impedance 0.017 ohms at either 20Hz or 1kHz, this increasing to 0.021 ohms at 20kHz. The 2050's voltage…
From time to time in this column, I have alluded to what appears to be a loss of direction in high-end audio. It's not that the state of the audio art has stopped advancing; the technology is improving in many ways, as is obvious every time we listen to a new preamplifier or cartridge or loudspeaker that has better this, that, or the other thing than anything which has come before. The problem is that these improvements don't really seem to be getting us anywhere. And I believe the reason for this is that the audio community no longer agrees about where audio is supposed to be going in the…
John Atkinson responds:
Heaven forbid that anyone interpret Gordon's essay as being a statement of Stereophile's policy, as I feel that this vision of the role of hi-fi is too narrow, even self-defeating. As I see it, there are two major flaws. First, when he talks about the use of nonclassical music in equipment reviewing—and many writers, including myself, do make considerable use of rock and jazz—he is confusing what hi-fi components are for with a writer's need to choose program material that reveals aberrations or performance virtues. As the editor of this magazine, I would rather…
Heaven forbid that anyone interpret Gordon's essay as being a statement of Stereophile's policy, as I feel that this vision of the role of hi-fi is too narrow, even self-defeating. As I see it, there are two major flaws. First, when he talks about the use of nonclassical music in equipment reviewing—and many writers, including myself, do make considerable use of rock and jazz—he is confusing what hi-fi components are for with a writer's need to choose program material that reveals aberrations or performance virtues. As the editor of this magazine, I would rather…