Description: Remote-control D/A processor with volume and balance controls; switchable narrow- and wide-window PLL on data input; 64x-oversampling digital filter; and 5-bit "Ring DAC." Sampling frequencies: 48, 44.1, and 32kHz (standard), plus 96 and 88.2kHz (with dual-AES/EBU software option). Inputs: 2 AES/EBU on XLR jacks, 1 S/PDIF on BNC jack, 1 S/PDIF on RCA jack, 1 S/PDIF on ST-optical, 1 S/PDIF on TosLink optical. Outputs: unbalanced analog on RCA jacks and balanced analog on XLR jacks. Frequency response: "set for optimum transient response." S/N Ratio:…
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Sidebar 2: System Context
The main digital source was a Mark Levinson No.31 CD transport feeding the Elgar via Madrigal and Illuminati AES/EBU cables and a Meridian 518 jitter-reduction unit. When I sent my No.31 back to Madrigal for updating to No.31.5 status, I used a Meridian 500 to spin CDs. Master tapes of Stereophile's recordings, some sampled at both 44.1kHz and 96kHz, were played back on a Nagra-D digital tape recorder via AudioQuest's new Digital Two AES/EBU cable, while a Sonic Solutions Macintosh-based Digital Audio Workstation was used for the editing mentioned in the text.…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
All measurements were performed at 44.1kHz. With pin 2 of its output XLRs connected as positive, the Elgar was noninverting with its front-panel phase switch set to Normal, inverting with it set to Inverting. The output impedance was very low (in the region of 1 ohm) from the balanced jacks, and somewhat higher (51 ohms) from the unbalanced RCAs. The output levels were inconsequentially lower than specified, at 2.95V/985mV balanced and 2.98V/990mV unbalanced. I haven't shown the Elgar's frequency-response or de-emphasis error graphs: both were flat within ±0.02dB…
The Elgar's linearity (fig.3) is indeed excellent, there being no deviation from perfect until -110dBFS, due to the unit's very low noise floor. The waveform of an undithered -90.31dBFS, 1kHz sinewave with 20-bit resolution (fig.4) looks like a sinewave. Only in the otherwise superb noise-modulation plot (fig.5) is there a hint of what might be a spurious component at 2kHz. The Elgar's output spectrum while decoding 16-bit data representing an equal mix of 19kHz and 20kHz tones, each with a level of -6dBFS (not shown), was clean. While the 1kHz difference component was noticeable by its…
Sidebar 4: Followup by Jonathan Scull, January 2001, Vol.24 No.1
The dCS Elgar Plus is derived from the Elgar DAC, long my digital reference when fed a dual-AES output from the original dCS 972 D/D converter. "The Plus offers many improvements over the standard Elgar," explains the documentation, "the most important being the addition of DSD and SDIF-2 interfaces, the ability to slave to an outside word clock, a digital output, and a substantially expanded Function Menu."
All dCS DACs feature dCS's patented Ring DAC technology, which accepts 16-bit/44.1kHz data from a CD…
Back in 1964, Avery Fisher, founder and president of the Fisher Radio Corporation, wrote a short note for the 500-C Stereophonic FM Multiplex Receiver owner's manual. In that note he said, "a door has opened for you, and your family, on virtually unlimited years of musical enjoyment."
Little did he know how right he would be. Who could predict that, 40 years later, Avery Fisher's crystal ball had been spot on—that thousands of units of this American audio engineering classic would be the centerpieces of the music and fidelity pastime, of vintage audio?
Forget everything…
The Fisher 500-C uses 7591A output tubes, now discontinued. Until recently, you had to buy used or NOS (new old stock) 7591As, but a new 7591A, the 7591A EH, is now being manufactured in Russia by Sovtek under the Electro Harmonix label (footnote 4); four can be had for less than $100. It's a bit bigger than the original, but it still fits the 500-C's sockets and inside its handsome wood cabinet. The new tube is fantastic—it sounds far better than the original 7591A in this application. The 7591A EH offers better dynamics, deeper and much tighter bass, greater air and space between…
Sidebar 1: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: Luxman PD-555 vacuum-hold & PD-444 direct-drive turntables; Mayware Formula 4, Dynavector DV-505 tonearms; AudioQuest 7000, Koetsu Pro IV & Rosewood, Goldbug Mr. Brier cartridges; Cotter Verion step-up transformer; Technics 1520, Otari MX 5050 4-channel, Ampex 44 open-reel tape recorders.
Digital sources: Balanced Audio Technology VK-D5 CD player, Timbre D/A processor, Audio Alchemy CD Transport.
Preamplification: Convergent Audio Technology Ultimate preamplifier, Wright Sound WPP100C phono preamplifier, Benz-Micro Series 2…
Sidebar 2: In Modern Dress
Editor's Note: Because Peter Breuninger used either classic Bozak loudspeakers or exotic horns to audition the Fisher 500-C, I asked Wes Phillips to comment on the receiver's sound quality when used with a modern, more conventional speaker design. Wes auditioned S/N 58022S through its line stage only.—John Atkinson
"Could you do me a favor?" John Atkinson asked. "We're starting a new feature on classic hi-fi components and I'd like you to listen to the first one, a Fisher 500-C."
Saying "No" would have been like telling St. Peter I didn't want…
Sidebar 3: Reviewing & Testing Vintage Audio Components
The biggest challenge in reviewing and testing vintage audio equipment is knowing the condition and history of the review sample. Seemingly original and "museum-condition" units may have had repairs or modifications that are not readily visible.
For this review, I listened to three of five 500-C units with both vintage and modern loudspeakers to give the reader a broad usage range. The older speakers were Bozaks, which were initially designed for and matched with 1950s and 1960s tube amplifiers that ranged in output from…