Remote Oddities
Say you're listening to a CD and the phone rings.…
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More generally useful features are the four gain settings (x1, x2, x5, x7) available for each input. This allows you to come close to matching levels and prevent unwanted sonic blasts when you scroll through your sources. The CPM 3300 will remember your settings, even if it's been switched off for years. You can also reset all inputs to the lowest setting (x1) when you follow a procedure in the instructions that you probably won't memorize, so keep 'em handy! And on power-up, the CPM 3300 reverts to your last input.
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: MOSFET-powered integrated amplifier. Power output: 220Wpc RMS into 8 ohms, 300Wpc RMS into 4 ohms. Frequency responses: preamplifier, 2.5Hz-200kHz, -3dB; power amplifier, 0.8Hz-46kHz, -1dB, into 8 ohms. THD (x1 gain): 10Hz, <-91dB; 1kHz <-93dB; 10kHz <-90dB; 20kHz <-87dB. Power amplifier gain: 30dB. Preamplifier S/N: 93dB, all inputs. Input impedance: 47k ohms unbalanced, 94k ohms balanced. Input sensitivity (for full output): not specified. Power consumption: not specified.
Dimensions: 16.4" (420mm) W by 5.9" (152mm) H by 13.8" (355mm…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog source: Simon Yorke turntable; Graham 2.0, Immedia RPM, Tri-Planar Mk.VI tonearms; Lyra Helikon, Helikon mono, Clearaudio Insider cartridges.
Digital source: Marantz SA-1 SACD player.
Preamplification: Hovland HP-100 preamplifier, Audio Research Reference phono section.
Power amplifier: Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 300.
Loudspeakers: Sonus Faber Amati Homage.
Cables: Phono: Hovland Music Groove DIN/RCA, XLO Signature 3.1. Interconnect: Harmonic Technology Pro-Silway II, Magic. Speaker: Harmonic Technology Woofer. AC: JPS Labs, Electra…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
My usual practice before measuring an amplifier is to run it at one-third power into 8 ohms for one hour. This severely stresses a design with a class-B output stage, as it results in the maximum heat being dissipated in the output transistors. However, I cut short the preconditioning with the Chord CPM 3300 after 30 minutes. This was partly because the rear heatsinks were far too hot to touch (footnote 1), as was the black mesh grille on the top, but also because the measured distortion had risen slowly and steadily throughout that time, reaching 0.53% from a cold…
DAVID CHESKY: Area 31
The Girl from Guatemala, Flute Concerto, Violin Concerto
Wonjung Kim, soprano; Jeffrey Khaner, flute; Tom Chiu, violin; Anthony Aibel, Area 31
Chesky SACD288 (SACD/CD). 2004. David Chesky, David Eggar, prods.; Barry Wolfson, eng.; Rick Eckerle, second eng.; Nicholas Prout, mastering, editing. AAD? TT: 56:31
Performance ****½
Sonics *****
The Girl from Guatemala, Flute Concerto, Violin Concerto
Wonjung Kim, soprano; Jeffrey Khaner, flute; Tom Chiu, violin; Anthony Aibel, Area 31
Chesky SACD288 (SACD/CD). 2004. David Chesky, David Eggar, prods.; Barry Wolfson, eng.; Rick Eckerle, second eng.; Nicholas Prout, mastering, editing. AAD? TT: 56:31
Performance ****½
Sonics *****
In an impassioned plea—which, if you know the man, is very much his way—the indefatigable David Chesky tried to convince me that with Area 31 he'd created a new music, a new fusion of classical music and jazz…
Like the Reference Studio/60, which was enthusiastically reviewed in the December 2004 issue by Kalman Rubinson, Paradigm's floorstanding Reference Studio/100 is now available in a v.3 version. The '100 is the flagship model in the Canadian manufacturer's Reference line. Its earlier incarnations, the original Studio/100 and the Studio/100 v.2, were reviewed by Tom Norton and Robert Deutsch in the August 1997 and June 2000 issues of Stereophile, respectively, and both writers were well impressed at how much sound quality could be wrought from this competitively priced speaker design. Bob…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way, five-driver, floorstanding, reflex-loaded loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" aluminum-dome tweeter, 6.5" mica-polymer-dome midrange, three 7" filled polypropylene-cone woofers. Crossover frequencies (slopes): 300Hz (third-order), 2kHz (third-order). Frequency response: 44Hz-22kHz, ±2dB on-axis. Low-frequency extension (DIN): 28Hz. Sensitivity: 88dB/2.83V/m anechoic, 91dB in-room. Impedance: 8 ohms compatible. Recommended amplifier power: 15-350W. Maximum input power: 210W (typical program source, clipping no more than 10% of the time).
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Sidebar 2: Measurements
The Studio/100 v.3's voltage sensitivity is above average, at an estimated 88.5dB/2.83V/m, which is within the margin of error of the earlier v.2's measured sensitivity of 89.5dB. The speaker's impedance plot (fig.1) reveals it still to be quite a demanding load, however, with a magnitude that drops to 2.5 ohms at 104Hz. The enclosure was well-braced and damped. The only resonant mode I could find on its panels lay at quite a high frequency of 426Hz. This was well down in level except on the back panel (fig.2), where its effect on sound quality will be reduced.…
Until just recently, only companies known primarily for their surround-sound processors were producing the most advanced—and most expensive—Home Theater products. No longer. It was inevitable that traditional high-end audio manufacturers would begin producing equipment for this fast-growing market.
In the May 1994 Stereophile (Vol.17 No.5, p.91) I evaluated one of two new models from McIntosh; Meridian has recently begun production of its DSP surround-sound processor; Kinergetics has jumped in; Esoteric Audio Design showed an elaborate unit at the SCES in Chicago; and Madrigal,…
I don't have enough space here to discuss all the operational functions and features of the PAV, but there's one quite useful feature that's "buried" on p.47 of the manual under "Using the PAV/The Operate Menu/volume display." The volume can be displayed on an absolute scale ranging from 0 to 112, or on a relative scale, with a level of 0 indicating the calibration reference level—the level at which most soundtracks are mixed. (With proper calibration, this level, in THX mode, is also the level often referred to as "THX reference" level.) I preferred the relative scale.
Technology
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