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A word or two about the Kontrol's user interface: As digital volume controls go, this is certainly the nicest and most "human" I've used by far, being smooth, quick, and adjustable—via more programming—in terms of both increment size and the units by which those increments are expressed on the readout. And the balance control is nothing short of superb: Because my ears are not identical in sensitivity, I consider a balance control a necessity—or at least I would, but for the fact that most balance schemes place an additional potentiometer in the signal path. Not so the Klimax Kontrol, which…
Listening
In addition to the Quad ESL-989s, I tried the Linn Klimax Kontrol and Klimax Twin with Spendor's brand-new S3/5se loudspeakers (review to come in July) and my own Lowther/Medallion horns—the latter fitted with PM6A silver drivers, which are the least sensitive of the Lowthers I own.
In addition to the Quad ESL-989s, I tried the Linn Klimax Kontrol and Klimax Twin with Spendor's brand-new S3/5se loudspeakers (review to come in July) and my own Lowther/Medallion horns—the latter fitted with PM6A silver drivers, which are the least sensitive of the Lowthers I own.
In every case, the sound of the Linn combination had one important thing in common with the sound of the Quads: They were incredibly detailed without being the least bit bright or aggressive. Textures, inflections, nuances, and even nonmusical sounds were offered up clearly and organically—but…
The Klimaxes departed from the ideal in small ways only. First, while the combination didn't sound like a solid-state amp in the pejorative sense—by which I mean, it didn't sound gritty or glassy or overly bright or musically constipated—neither did it sound like a tube preamp and amp, per se. And, in particular, the Linn Klimaxes did not sound like a SET. My idea of a good SET is something that does the notes'n'beats thing, at least through the midrange if not the bottom octaves, but that also sounds richly colorful (perhaps, I admit, even more colorful than the original); that floats…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Klimax Kontrol: Solid-state, two-channel, remote-control preamplifier with 4 inputs. Input impedance: 7.8k ohms balanced, 10k ohms unbalanced. Output impedance: 600 ohms balanced, 300 ohms unbalanced. Frequency range: 2.3Hz-200kHz (no limits given). Noise floor: below -100dBV. Channel separation: 116dBV. THD: 0.0025% (1kHz at 0dBV). Input Common-Mode Rejection Ratio: 70dB (1kHz at 0dBV). Maximum output: 8V peak (+15dBV).
Dimensions: 13.8" W by 2.3" H by 13.9" D. Weight: 19.8 lbs (9kg).
Serial number of units reviewed: 776348.
Price: $9895.
Klimax…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: Linn LP-12 turntables (two) with Linn Lingo and Naim Armageddon power supplies; Naim Aro and Linn Ekos tonearms; Supex 900 Super, Miyabi 47, Denon DL-103D, and Lyra Helikon Mono phono cartridges; Audio Note AN-S2 moving-coil step-up transformer; Rega Planar 3 turntable with Rega RB-300 tonearm and Rega Elys and Exact phono cartridges.
Digital source: Sony SCD-777ES SACD/CD player.
Preamplifiers: Fi Preamplifier, Audio Note M3, Naim NAC32-5; Linn Linto phono preamp.
Amplifiers: Fi 2A3 Stereo, Audio Note Kit One (300B), Naim NAP110.…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
Looking first at the drop-dead gorgeous Klimax Kontrol preamplifier, its maximum voltage gains with the volume control set to "100" were 10.26dB (unbalanced input to unbalanced output) and 16.2dB (balanced I/O). The volume control operated in accurate 0.5dB steps, with the displayed volume number calibrated in dB. The 0.5dB steps are indicated with a period after the number, the unbalanced unity-gain position (if it existed) falling between "90" and "89." The preamp preserved absolute polarity through both its unbalanced and balanced inputs (the latter are wired…
I looked at the Linn's S/N ratio with the unbalanced inputs selected and shorted. (Because the balanced input offers 6dB lower gain, this should result in S/N ratios 6dB better.) Referenced to 1W into 8 ohms, S/N measured a good 95.4dB when A-weighted, worsening slightly to 93dB with an unweighted audioband measurement. Widening the bandwidth to 500kHz reduced the S/N ratio to 79.5dB, apparently due to the presence of some very-high-frequency noise.
Fig.10 shows the percentage of THD+noise present in the Klimax Twin's output, plotted against frequency at a 2.83V output level. This is low…
In this age of $70,000-plus "flagship" designs, perhaps $25k is no longer an obscene amount to pay for a pair of loudspeakers. Still, it's mucho dinero. What makes a speaker worth this kind of bread? Does the product's intrinsic value really warrant such a lofty cost, or is it merely a matter of pricing at what the market will bear? The answers to these questions requires careful examination of not only the speaker, but also of the buyer's own soul, priorities, and pocketbook.
Signature SC-VI
The Signature SC-VI is probably the most "anti-tweak" flagship high-end speaker ever made.…
A time-coherent presentation is not merely a matter of putting all your drivers in the right place. Crossover design is critical. Designing a crossover that not only permits time-coherent speaker blending—mandating the use of first-order slopes—but also compensates for the inherent nonlinearities in amplitude and phase endemic to all drivers, is no easy task.
The first step in the Dunlavy crossover design process is to test raw drivers. Not only the frequency response, but the phase response, dispersion, impulse response, and step response are tested under anechoic conditions. The…
Like the AudioPhysic Virgo reviewed by Michael Fremer in September '95 (Vol.18 No.9), the Dunlavys perform best with a wider spacing and more radical toe-in than most stereo speakers. Rather than the usual equilateral triangle setup, with the listener and two speakers occupying each point, final setup in my room had the speakers 11½' apart, with 10' from each speaker to the central listening position. For optimal toe-in, you should see neither side of the speaker from your listening position. If my "large" room—see photo—were 1' smaller in length or width, the Dunlavys would have simply not…