A tonearm's antiskating force needs to gradually increase across the plane of play, in order to compensate for the increasing…
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The bearing assembly rides on a rigid, sliding cross arm platform made from stainless-steel. This is terminated in a large-diameter ring that fits over a steel cylinder associated with a worm-gear mechanism, both of which are surrounded by a massive stainless-steel tower attached to the armboard. The vertical tracking angle (VTA) can be adjusted on the fly by loosening a pair of thumbscrews on the side of the tower and turning a top-mounted calibrated knob.
Last week I heard Macedonian pianist Simon Trpceski fluidly, and with seeming ease, perform Rachmaninoff's finger-twisting Piano Concerto 3 with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Gianandrea Noseda. I came home and spent the rest of the evening and part of the next day listening to favorite piano recordings, some well-recorded, some not. The Caliburn and Cobra delivered the piano's attack, harmonic complexity, dynamics, and texture as no other combo I've heard. Many recordings I'd thought sounded boxy or tinkly now sounded neither. And the ones I'd thought sounded great turned out to…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Caliburn: suspensionless turntable with O-ring drive; cogless, battery-powered DC motor; vacuum holddown. Speeds (adjustable): 33.33, 45, 78 rpm. Wow & flutter, Rumble: not specified.
Dimensions: 24" (615mm) W by 8" (205mm) H (including feet) by 15.5" (400mm) D. Weight: 160 lbs (73kg), not including motor.
Serial Number Of Unit Reviewed: Not noted.
Price: $65,000, including Cobra tonearm.
Cobra: dual-pivot tonearm with monocoque construction. VTA and azimuth adjustable. Offset: 23°. Horizontal and vertical resonant frequency with medium-…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Simon Yorke S7, Immedia RPM-2, Graham Engineering Phantom tonearms; Lyra Titan Stereo & Mono, Dynavector DRT-XV1S, Mysonic Lab Eminent cartridges.
Digital Sources: Musical Fidelity kW SACD player, Alesis Masterlink hard-disk recorder.
Preamplification: Manley Steelhead, Boulder 2008 phono preamplifiers; Musical Fidelity kW, kWP preamplifiers.
Power Amplifiers: Musical Fidelity kW, kW750.
Loudspeakers: Wilson Audio Specialties MAXX2.
Cables: Phono: Crystal Cable Piccolo, Hovland MG 2 Music Groove. Interconnect: Acrolink…
"You're reviewing a class-D amplifier?" whined John Atkinson. "I hate measuring those."
"Because they measure badly? Dusty Vawter assures me this one measures pretty well."
"It's not that they measure badly, it's because I have to be extremely careful to ensure that I don't end up measuring my test equipment's limitations."
"Does that mean class-D actually measures better than other amps?"
"Let's just say the D stands for different."
Yes, let's. And Channel Islands' D-100 monoblock is more different than most. It's small (6.25" wide by 5.5" high by 8.0"…
"Some of the other class-D amplifiers use switching power supplies, but I just don't think they sound good enough yet to use in audiophile amplifiers—they're probably all right for subwoofers, but I still think a linear supply is the best thing for an audio amplifier.
"I don't pretend there's anything especially sophisticated about the D-100's power supply. It uses a custom 300VA toroid, and it uses discrete Schottke diodes in the bridge rectifier. We use eight parallel capacitors—we like paralleling caps rather than just using two with large values because that tends to lower the…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Class-D monoblock power amplifier. Power output: 100W into 8 ohms (20dBW), 175W into 4 ohms (19.4dBW). Input impedance: 100k ohms. Voltage gain: 32dB (version for use with passive preamplifier), 26dB (version for use with active preamplifier).
Dimensions: 6.25" (160mm) W by 5.5" (140mm) H by 8.0" (205mm) D. Weight: 15 lbs (6.8kg).
Serial numbers of units reviewed: DM1616, DM1617.
Price: $1599/pair. Approximate number of dealers: 2 (sold direct through Music Direct and Channel Islands Audio). Warranty: 1 year parts & labor.
…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Source: Ayre C-5xe universal player.
Preamplifiers: Ayre K-5xe, Conrad-Johnson ACT2.
Power Amplifiers: Coda Technologies S5.
Loudspeakers: Dynaudio Special 25, Thiel CS1.6, Peak Consult Empress.
Cables: Interconnect: Cardas Audio Golden Reference, Shunyata Research Aries. Speaker: Cardas Audio Golden Reference, Shunyata Research Lyra, Stereovox HDLS. AC: Cardas Audio Golden Reference, Shunyata Research Anaconda.
Accessories: Shunyata Research Hydra AC power-distribution system; Solid-Tech Rack of Silence equipment stand, Feet of…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
Wes Phillips mentioned at the start of this review that I dislike measuring amplifiers with a class-D output stage. This is because such designs can throw out enough ultrasonic noise that you can never be quite sure that what you're actually measuring is the input stage of your analyzer being driven into slew-rate limiting. (For more on this subject, see the measurements sidebar accompanying Michael Fremer's review in April of the class-D Yamaha MX-D1.) What I do, therefore, is to insert, when appropriate, a sixth-order low-pass filter set to 20kHz or 30kHz…
John Atkinson wrote again about the D-100 in September 2005 (Vol.28 No.9):
When I measured the tiny CIA D-100 for Wes Phillips' review in August (p.113), I found that while this class-D power amplifier met its 100W power specification into 8 ohms, it failed to do so into 4 or 2 ohms. I thus recommended that the amplifier not be used with speakers whose impedances dipped below 4 ohms. CIA's Dusty Vawter addressed this point in his "Manufacturer's Comment" in that issue (p.141): "the low figures shown at 2 and 4 ohms are not due to lack of headroom, but are a result of premature current…