Get thee hence to the nearest RadioShack. Ask for their $11.99 Mini Audio Amplifier/Speaker (part #277-1008), and don't forget a 9V battery. Then pick up part #42-2421…
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So here I am expounding on the tendency of audio components---especially tubes, capacitors, and resistors---to become microphonic, and you're wondering how you can find out if there's any of that shakin' goin' on in your system. And you want to do it easily and for next to nothing. The first thing you do, then, is listen carefully to Victor Tiscareno of AudoPrism. The following is his big idea, and a damn good one it is.
"I have an interesting loudspeaker for you to review," said John Atkinson.
Uh-oh. I know what interesting means. I had a barber once who told me that, at barber school, he'd actually taken a course in conversation...
"What the heck do they teach you in a class on conversation?"
"They taught us there was one thing you could say to any statement a customer uttered, no matter how bizarre."
"Which is . . . ?"
"'That's really interesting.'"
So when JA told me that the Canton Vento 809 DC was "interesting," I reckoned he just had nothing else to say…
I ended up cuing up Jumping the Creek, simply because it gives a shout out to producer Joe Harley. Good call. Jumping the Creek is a powerful recording—atmospheric, with a nice sense of space, powerful tenor sax and piano sound, and some of the tightest precision drum sound I've ever heard. And bass—rich, deep, taut, punchy acoustic bass.
The Vento 809 DC delivered it all with lithe grace. This was no heavy-handed speaker. In fact, I characterize it as light, agile, and accurate. When there was bass to deliver, however, the 809 delivered it with lots of slam. At other times, the speaker…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way, floorstanding, bass-reflex loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" ADT-25 aluminum-manganese dome tweeter, 7" aluminum-cone midrange unit, two 8" aluminum-cone woofers. Electrical crossover: low-pass, 250Hz (12dB/octave); high-pass, 3kHz (12dB/octave). Frequency response: 36Hz–38kHz, ±6dB; 41Hz–24.4kHz, ±3dB. Sensitivity: 88.5dB. Nominal impedance: 4–8 ohms. Nominal music power handling: 180–340W.
Dimensions: 44.1" (1120mm) H by 9.8" (250mm) W by 13.8" (350mm) D. Weight: 62.9 lbs (28.6kg).
Finishes: Cherry veneer, silver lacquer; black fabric…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: Krell DVD Standard DVD/CD player; Musical Fidelity X-RayV3 CD player, Polk XRt12 Reference XM satellite radio tuner with Musical Fidelity X-DACV3 D/A processor.
Preamplifiers: Conrad-Johnson ACT2, Krell KAV-280P.
Power Amplifiers: Coda S5, Conrad-Johnson Premier 350, McCormack DNA-500.
Loudspeakers: Sonus Faber Cremona.
Cables: Interconnect: Audience Au24 SE, Shunyata Research Aries, Stereovox Studio HDSE. Speaker: Audience Au24, Shunyata Research Lyra, Stereovox Studio HDLS. AC: Shunyata Research Anaconda.
Accessories:…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
My estimate of the Canton Vento 809 DC's voltage sensitivity was 92dB(B)/2.83V/m, which is both high in absolute terms and 3.5dB higher than the specified figure. The speaker's impedance remained between 4 and 6 ohms for most of the audioband (fig.1); though the electrical phase angle was mainly moderate, the Canton will need to be driven with an amplifier rated at 4 ohms.
Fig.1 Canton Vento 809 DC, electrical impedance (solid) and phase (dashed). (2 ohms/vertical div.)
The smoothness of the traces in fig.1 is marred by glitches at 130Hz…
ELVIS COSTELLO: 2½ Years
Including: My Aim Is True (RCD 90271. Bazza, eng. TT: 60:22), This Year's Model (RCD 90272. TT: 52:46), Armed Forces (RCD 90273. TT: 63:29), all available separately, and Live at El Mocambo
Rykodisc RCD 90271/74 (4 CDs). TT: 3:45:33
All above (except as noted): CD only. Nick Lowe, prod.; Roger Bechirian, eng. & re-mastering. AAD.
Including: My Aim Is True (RCD 90271. Bazza, eng. TT: 60:22), This Year's Model (RCD 90272. TT: 52:46), Armed Forces (RCD 90273. TT: 63:29), all available separately, and Live at El Mocambo
Rykodisc RCD 90271/74 (4 CDs). TT: 3:45:33
All above (except as noted): CD only. Nick Lowe, prod.; Roger Bechirian, eng. & re-mastering. AAD.
Every once in a great while a rock musician comes along who not only sums up everything that has come before him, but who sounds so new his appeal is irresistible. Elvis Costello didn't just "burst" upon the moribund rock…
Why would a sharp mind offer a $15,000 integrated digital amplifier to a reviewer who has been characterized in the audio press as the "self-proclaimed Analog Messiah" and a "hyper-Luddite"? That's the first question a self-centered reviewer asks himself. Yours might be: "A $15,000 integrated amplifier from...Sharp?"
Yes. The company that failed to crack the upscale video-monitor market a few years ago with its Optonica line (but now is very successful with expensive SharpVision LCD home-theater projectors) has hopped on the last train to Krellsville with this gorgeous,…
The Skin
The amp's dramatically Deco-ish looks are self-evident, but a photo can't convey the cool, sleek, solid feel of this compact 40-lb product. The rear panel tells you Sharp is serious: there are two pairs of ultra-high-quality WBT speaker binding posts, five digital inputs including ST link glass-optical and TosLink optical, BNC (true 75 ohm) and Neutrik RCA coax connectors, and an SACD bitstream input jack. Analog ins include two pairs of Neutrik RCA jacks (Neutrik female jacks have the same neat, spring-loaded "safety" ground rings as the male plugs) and a pair of XLR analog…
The amp's dramatically Deco-ish looks are self-evident, but a photo can't convey the cool, sleek, solid feel of this compact 40-lb product. The rear panel tells you Sharp is serious: there are two pairs of ultra-high-quality WBT speaker binding posts, five digital inputs including ST link glass-optical and TosLink optical, BNC (true 75 ohm) and Neutrik RCA coax connectors, and an SACD bitstream input jack. Analog ins include two pairs of Neutrik RCA jacks (Neutrik female jacks have the same neat, spring-loaded "safety" ground rings as the male plugs) and a pair of XLR analog…
In such a circuit, the voltage rails apparently tend to droop below ±32V if there is an accumulation of either 1s or 0s. So the Sharp design uses a feedback loop between the power-switching circuit's output and the input of the delta-sigma chip. This adjusts the value of the data to compensate for any voltage drop in the output signal.
The output of the amplifier at this point is still a ±32V pulse train, which, if fed directly to the loudspeakers, will results in high levels of RFI. The MOSFET stage is therefore followed by an initially gradual-sloped passive low-pass filter. While this…