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The JBL heritage

Editor: I was very pleasantly surprised to find the review of the JBL S38 in the June 2001 Stereophile. I can't help but think that this brand has been unfairly written off as "mid-fi" for the past two decades. In fact, Lansing speakers defined the High End as early as 1930s and JBL has never left that market. James B Lansing's Iconic of 1937 was the laboratory reference standard for loudspeakers at CBS, NBC, and UCLA, and was recognized as the finest speaker available for home use. The 1950s saw the JBL Hartsfield…

Linn Sondek LP12: Two-speed (33 1/3, 45rpm), belt-drive turntable with three-point sprung subchassis.
Dimensions: 17.5" (450mm) W by 6" (155mm) H by 14" (360mm) D. Weight: 28.6 lbs (13kg).
Serial number of unit reviewed: 093956.
Price: $2030 without power supply. (Version with internal Valhalla power supply, not reviewed, costs $2275-$2350.)

Linn Lingo: Outboard power supply for Linn Sondek LP12 turntable.
Dimensions: 12.5" (320mm) W by 3.1" (80mm) H by 12.5" (320mm) D. Weight: 3.3 lbs (1.5kg).
Serial number of unit reviewed: 722671.
Price…

Analog sources: Simon Yorke turntable; Graham 2.2, Immedia RPM2 tonearms; Lyra Transfiguration Temper W, Lyra Titan cartridges.
Digital source: Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista SACD player.
Preamplification: Manley Steelhead, ASR Basis Exclusive phono preamplifiers; Halcro dm10 preamplifier.
Power amplifiers: Pass Labs XA160 and Musical Fidelity KW monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Audio Physic Avanti III, Wilson WATT/Puppy 7.
Cables: Phono: Hovland Music Groove, Graham IC-70. Interconnect: Harmonic Technology Pro-Silway III, Magic; Shunyata Research Aries…

Other than the new Akiva cartridge, all the Linn Products products reviewed by Mikey this month have been reviewed before in Stereophile. Wes Phillips favorably reviewed the Linto phono preamplifier in June 1998 (Vol.21 No.6), and my measurements accompanying that review revealed that it was extremely quiet, even in its high-gain mode, with an A-weighted signal/noise ratio of 85.3dB (ref. 500µV input at 1kHz), and an unweighted, wideband ratio of 66.5dB, which is still excellent. The voltage gain at 1kHz was 62dB, and the RIAA error showed a very slight (0.25dB)…

As regular Stereophile readers know, I rely heavily on vinyl for listening and reviewing. So, like untold millions of similar-minded music lovers, I anxiously await each new issue of Stereophile. When it arrives, I suspend normal life while I pore over the latest installment of Michael Fremer's "Analog Corner" column, voraciously absorbing all the hot news and descriptions of the latest and greatest. As anyone who actually knows me will attest, I'm not fabulously wealthy, so I pay particular attention when MF raves about…

Description: Phono preamplifier with outboard power supply. Inputs & outputs: 1 each, unbalanced (RCA). Input impedance user-adjustable via loading plugs: 50, 100, 220, 500 ohms, 47k ohms supplied; others available or easily fabricated. RIAA equalization accuracy: 18Hz–22kHz, ±0.2dB. Distortion (THD+noise): 0.01%. Gain: 40dB MM, 69dB MC (dealer adjustable).
Dimensions: Each chassis: 4" (107mm) W by 2.5" (62mm) H by 6.5" (165mm) D. Weight: 7.7 lbs (3.5kg) net, 8.8 lbs (4kg) shipping.
Serial numbers of units reviewed: PS.20: 07.01.010201.21. MSU.20: 08.…

Following his auditioning of the Whest PhonoStage.20 + MSU.20 (serial numbers 07.01.010201.21 and 08.01.0201.21, respectively), BD sent me the units to measure. The PhonoStage proved relatively immune to grounding issues between it and my test equipment. The 1kHz voltage gain in moving-magnet (MM) mode measured 40.9dB; switching to moving-coil (MC) mode increased the gain to 64.3dB. The MM mode was noninverting; the MC mode inverted absolute polarity. The input impedance in MM mode appeared to be much higher than the specified 47k ohms, although it's possible that…

Those combos always seem to produce exciting and, to my ears, musically honest sound from familiar demo discs…

Remote Oddities
Say you're listening to a CD and the phone rings.…