PDP-501MX: plasma display
Screen size: 50" (diagonal)Aspect ratio: 16:9
Maximum resolution: 1280x768 (XGA)
Maximum horizontal scan frequency: 45kHz
Maximum vertical scan frequency: 60Hz
Inputs: composite (RCA or BNC), S-video, component (BNC), RGB (15-pin), RGB with vertical and horizontal sync (BNC)
Outputs: composite (BNC), 15-pin RGB
Dimensions: 48" by 28" by 3.9" (W-H-D)
Weight: 95 lbs.
Price: $25,000
Manufacturer: Pioneer Electronics, P.O. Box 1760, Long Beach, CA 90801, Tel. (800) 421-1404. Fax (310) 952-2260. www.…
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Sidebar 1: Specifications
Sidebar 2: Review System
Sources: Sony DVP-S7000 DVD player, Philips CDV488 LD player, Sencore 995 HDTV player, JVC SR-W320U W-VHS high-definition VCR
Display: Sony VPH-1292Q projector, Faroudja VP401 line quadrupler, Stewart StudioTek 130 screen (87" wide, 16:9)
Preamp/processor: Lexicon DC-1
Power amp: Carver AV-806 (6-channel)
Loudspeakers: Infinity Composition Prelude system
Cables: AudioQuest RGB-Three/sync video, AudioQuest Video-Z S-video, AudioQuest Video-2 component-video, AudioQuest Crystal speaker cables, AudioQuest Digital Pro digital cables, AudioQuest…
Sidebar 3: Calibration
Jamie Wilson, the ISF technician who calibrated the Pioneer PDP-501MX for me, found the color-temperature settings of the first sample to be "pretty impressive right out of the box." But given how many places this set had been before it reached me, there was no way to know whether or not someone else had already changed the settings. Still, the monitor measured near the NTSC standard across the board; there seemed little need to adjust it. Given that, I saw no need to recalibrate the second sample.
Of course, the convergence is perfect: The red, green, and…
It was a powder blue Pinto. Brand new, it drove like a bowl of Jello with wheels. No matter how firmly I gripped the steering wheel, I had no confidence that it had any kind of relationship with the wheels on the road. And pickup? There was none. But because its designers had sacrificed all quality to build it cheaply, the Ford Pinto was equally cheap to rent when I did so back in 1980.
It's ironic that as editor of a magazine that addresses one of my main leisure activities—listening to music—I only occasionally read magazines connected with another of my passions: driving. (Faced with…
I was attacked by Chris Johnson of Sonic Frontiers at HI-FI '96.
"Hey, Bob Reina! I enjoyed your review of the Cary SLM-100 amplifier in the May 1996 Stereophile. So you're still looking for your dream amplifier under $5000? Well, here it is! The Sonic Frontiers Power 2. A review sample will be ready for you in two weeks. What's your shipping address?"
"Uh, well, actually, I have quite a full plate of review samples in-house, so I really wouldn't be able to get to your amp for quite some time. It looks like a very interesting design, but maybe you'd be better off having…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Push-pull, tube stereo power amplifier. Tube complement: eight 6550/KT88s (output), six 6922s (input/voltage amp), and two 5687WBs (driver cathode followers). Power output: 110W continuous into 8, 4, and 2 ohms (20.4dBW), terminated with rated load, 20Hz–20kHz, with <1% THD, both channels driven. SMPTE intermodulation distortion: <1%, 20Hz–20kHz, at 110W output. Power bandwidth (110W output): 15Hz–90kHz (–0.5dB points). Frequency response: 5Hz–40kHz at 1W (–0.5dB points). Input sensitivity: 1.25V RMS balanced for 110W output. Input impedance:…
Sidebar 2: Measurements
The measurements of the Sonic Frontiers Power 2 were made in the unbalanced configuration, with selected readings taken in the balanced mode. All measurements were taken with the amplifier configured for an 8 ohm output tap (see more on this at the end of this Sidebar).
Following its preconditioning test, the Sonic Frontiers Power 2 was typically hot for a tube amplifier. Its voltage gain into 8 ohms measured 28.5dB, balanced or unbalanced. The input impedance measured 101k ohms (190k ohms balanced). DC offset was negligible at 0.4mV in the left channel, 0…
Kalman Rubinson wrote about the Power 2 in March 1999 (Vol.22 No.3):
In comparison with the Simaudio Moon W-5, the Sonic Frontiers Power 2 seemed relatively mellow in the bass and softer in the treble, but with a glowing presence in the midrange that the Moon W-5 lacked. Those features were advantageously mated to the Genesis 500 speakers. The Power 2, however, lacked the sheer, gutsy power of the W-5 on the Apogee Duettas, and was somewhat generous in the midbass with the Coincident Troubadors.—Kalman Rubinson
It was 1988. What to do about digital?
Few high-end CD players were available. Few digital-to-analog processors were on the market, and almost all were pricey. Audiophiles desperate for better sound sometimes purchased modified players—kludges, I called them. But this wasn't an attractive choice, either—$200 machines turned into $1000 wonders with maybe $60 worth of parts and an hour's worth of labor.
Enter Antony Michaelson, of Musical Fidelity. He (along with Arcam and PS Audio) introduced one of the first affordable DACs—a digital-to-analog converter called the…
"Over the past 12 or 14 years, a large number of DACs were marketed," wrote Antony in his press handout. "Initially, some got excellent reviews, but none had a market life or more than six or eight months. With few exceptions, they all used DAC and filter topologies similar to those of the CD players they were purported to improve upon."
After the Digilog, Antony concentrated on CD players, and over the years his company has produced some of the best—culminating last year in the limited-edition Nu-Vista 3D, which our analog-retentive Mikey reviewed—and flipped over last October…