The surprise wasn't that a big, powerful monoblock had, um, power; the startling part was how subtly that power was employed. The natural comparison for the $3500/pair Portal Paladin seemed to be my reference power amp, the two-chassis Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 300. Of course, the Nu-Vista isn't strictly speaking a monoblock—its two chassis are split into a power supply and a signal amplifier—and its limited edition of 500 units sold out long ago. On the other hand, John Atkinson called it back in 1999 "possibly the best-measuring amplifier I've…
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Wes Phillips, September 2006 (Vol.29 No.9
"Imagine a lake," reads the website of the Noise Pollution Clearinghouse (NPC) , "filled with semi-tractor-trailer trucks, magically skimming across the water.
"Remarkably, such a lake would be quieter than if it was filled with motorized boats. Our lakes are governed by out of date, unenforceable regulations so lax that no state has boat noise limits lower than federal limits for tractor-trailer trucks (80 decibels at 50 feet). We are literally turning our lakes into the New Jersey Turnpike."
The NPC is a national nonprofit organization that seeks to, among other things, raise…
The best tonearm I ever heard was a second-generation Mission Mechanic, ca 1986. It was mounted on a Roksan Xerxes turntable, and I spent several happy hours listening to records on that combination (with a low-compliance EMT cartridge) in two very different systems: one with solid-state amplification from DNM and Roksan's own dynamic Darius loudspeakers, and the other—my home system of the time—using tube amplification from Conrad-Johnson and a borrowed pair of Stax electrostatic speakers.
Skeptics of subjective reviewing will have found grist for their mills already: To them,…
As I write this, I've tried the Robin on two turntables, each exemplary in its own way: the VPI Aries Scout, still here from its go-round for the February issue, and the Rega Planar 3. In the case of the former, the Graham took over from VPI's own JMW-9 tonearm, and in the case of the Rega...well, the comparison was the obvious one, irresistible as it was.
As noted above, and as I learned from experience, audiophiles who buy the Graham expressly for a Rega turntable get the same basic arm as everyone else, but with a few different bits: a shallower arm-mount collar sized for the Rega…
Here, too, the Robin didn't have the best surface-noise performance I'd ever heard—but in fairness, neither does the RB-300. The major difference has to do with how the Rega arm gets right to the heart of the music on every record I play: It finds the line and sings it. The Robin didn't fail completely in this regard, but on the Rega player it simply wasn't as good—especially, I've found, with electric music. On Big Star's wonderful "Way Out West," for example (Radio City, Ardent ADS-1501), the Graham arm delivered the same big, deep bass I'd come to expect, given its performance with the…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Pivoting tonearm with removable headshell. Effective length: 235mm. Effective mass: 11gm. Antiskating: calibrated spring.
Finish: Chrome (mostly).
Serial number of unit reviewed: Not given.
Price: $795 (at time review was written); $645 from April 2003. Approximate number of dealers: 50.
Manufacturer: Graham Engineering, Inc., 7233 Avalon Drive, Wilmington, MA 01887. Tel: (781) 932-8777. Web: www.concentric.net/~Tnv2001. US distributor: Musical Surroundings, 5856 College Avenue, Ste. 146, Oakland, CA 94618. Tel: (510) 420-0379. Fax: (510…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Turntables: VPI Scout, Rega Planar 3.
Tonearms: VPI JMW-9, Rega RB-300.
Phono cartridges: Miyabi 47, Rega Elys, Supex 900 Super.
Preamplifiers: Fi, Audio Note M3.
Power amplifiers: Fi 2A3 Stereo, Audio Note Kit One.
Loudspeakers: Lowther PM2A drivers (15 ohm version) in modified Medallion horn enclosures, Linn Sizmik subwoofer.
Cables: Digital: Creative Cable Concepts Green Hornet. Interconnect: Audio Note AN-Vx, Nordost Valhalla, plus homemades. Speaker: Audio Note AN-SPX, Nordost Valhalla, Nordost Flatline.
Accessories: Mana stands…
Sidebar: Friction and How to See It
Why fret over friction at all? Because it causes distortion, and because it brings wrack and ruin to your records.
Below a certain level, residual friction in a tonearm's bearing—whatever the type—doesn't interfere with record play, and I doubt whether a change of, say, a tenth of a gram in either plane of motion would make an audible difference, all other things being equal. But as friction approaches a significant percentage of the tracking force, its effect becomes critical.
In the vertical plane, even very high friction wouldn't…
Michael Fremer wrote about the Robin in May 2003 (Vol.26 No.5):
Graham Engineering's Robin tonearm ($645, reviewed by Art Dudley in April, p.121) has been designed to drop into a standard Rega mounting hole, using a base plate that permits spring-loaded VTA adjustability. Raise or lower the arm height, find the VTA sweet spot, then lock it down. The arm can also be fitted to a mount identical to the Graham 2.2's. That way, you can get your dream turntable and have it drilled for the 2.2, but save a few thousand by buying the Robin now, and switching when you can afford to.
The…
Manufacturer's Comment
Editor: It's not often that I've had a chance to comment on two reviews/comments in one letter. However, with Art Dudley's review in the April issue, and now Michael Fremer's look in the May "Analog Corner," I will try to answer the questions that the reviews discuss.
First, the origin of the Robin tonearm is, as both reviewers suggest, Japanese manufacture, but with plenty of our design input from what we've learned in developing the 1.x- and 2.x-series arms. But where the quality and performance of those designs is intended to be state-of-the-art at any…