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It is interesting how, as audiophiles, we tend to rate the acceptability of a component according to our expectations of its capabilities. I know people with $10,000+ stereo systems who are perfectly happy to listen to the audio emanating from their mono VHS or Beta VCRs! This audio isn't even up to the performance standards of a good AM radio station—why do these people put up with it? Because they expect no better (footnote 1).

None of us expect an FM tuner, regardless of cost, to sound as good as our phono…

Editor: The review of the Meridian MCD by George M. Graves raises a number of questions. Bob Stuart unequivocally states that Meridian has never produced an MCD with tantalum capacitors in the output. The 68µF capacitor used is of the solid-aluminum type mentioned by Mr. Graves as being used by Philips in his Magnavox player. While aluminum capacitors look very similar to tantalum capacitors, they are most suitable for audio use.

Moreover, the aluminum caps in the MCD are bypassed with polypropylene and polystyrene units. High-value capacitors for AC…

There are very few seminal products in audio; most are but slow steps in evolution. We may forget this in the face of all the hype surrounding each new product, but for all the changes in technology, improvements in sound quality are usually quite small.

The Meridian MCD Professional compact disc player is, however, likely to be recognized as a seminal product in at least one important sense. It is the first CD player to be able to compete head-on against the most expensive analog tonearm,…

Description: Programmable, top-loading, nonremote-controlled CD players, both based on Philips CD-101 deck. All specifications perfect.
Dimensions: 12½" W by 10½" D by 3" H (MCD), 5" H (MCD Pro).
Serial number of review sample: Not noted, MCD; 34895131, MCD Pro.
Price: $689, MCD; $1400, MCD Pro (both 1985; both no longer available, 2005).
Manufacturer: Meridian Audio Ltd., Stonehill, Stukeley Meadows, Cambs PE18 6ED, England, UK. Tel: (44) 01480-52144. Fax: (44) 01480-459934. US Distributor: Madrigal, Middletown, CT (1985); Meridian America Inc. (2005…

"Who is Charles Hansen?" I hear you muse. "And who are Avalon Acoustics?"

Charles is a whimsical-looking Coloradan with a penchant for loudspeaker design; Avalon Acoustics is the company formed to manufacture and sell those designs. Those with a nose for recent history will remember the excellent sound to be found in the CES rooms shared by Avalon…

Source components used in the preparation of this review consisted of a Linn Sondek/Lingo/Ekos/Troika setup sitting on an ArchiDee table to play LPs, a Revox PR99 to play 15ips master tapes, and the Meridian 208 (Bitstream) CD player, this also used to drive the Stax DAC-X1t processor.

Charles Hansen is a big fan of Convergent Audio Technologies' SL-1 and recommended I use this tube preamplifier to get the best sound from the Eclipses. This didn't prove possible, however, so my preamplification consisted of initially a Mark Levinson No.26/No.25…

I use a mixture of nearfield, in-room, and quasi-anechoic FFT measurement techniques (using primarily DRA Labs' MLSSA system with a B&K 4006 microphone, but also an Audio Control Industrial SA-3050A 1/3-octave spectrum analyzer with its calibrated microphone) to investigate objective factors that might explain the sound heard. The speaker's nearfield low-frequency responses and impedance phase and amplitude were measured using Stereophile's Audio Precision System One.

The first thing I wanted to examine was why the sound of the Eclipses seemed so…