Lee: We worked with Ralph Winter, the movie's executive producer, on Star Trek IV with such stunning results, he insisted that Star Trek V be completely wired with Monster—dialog, sound effects, and music. So we worked with them on that project and they gave us acknowledgement on the film. So if anybody stays for the credits, they'll see one for Monster Cable. For a major film studio like Paramount to acknowledge the kind of wire they used to make their movie, you know there's something important going on,…
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Atkinson: I understand that the Star Trek V movie was made with Monster Cable?
I've been in love with British sports cars ever since a visiting highway engineer brought a green MGB-GT to my tiny Nebraska town 30 years ago. Since then, there's been a steady stream of ferocious little cars in my life. Triumphs, MGs, Healeys, you name it—right up to my current crop, a Triumph TR6 and roughly two-and-a-half Jensen-Healeys.
But in the years since that first MGB-GT, I've seen British sports cars evolve from a mainstream automotive option to being marginalized—if not actually replaced—by alternatives like the Datsun 240Z, and finally relegated to being little more than a…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Hybrid tube/solid-state phono preamplifier. Tube complement: four 6922/E88CC. Inputs/outputs: one pair each, unbalanced (RCA). Input impedance: 47k ohms/10pF standard; 10, 100, 1k ohm, and 50, 100, 150pF available, plus one custom loading. Voltage gain: 54dB @ 1kHz standard; 62dB, 44dB optional (must be factory-configured). Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz, ±0.1dB, RIAA equalized. Signal/noise ratio: 83dB ref. 1mV @ 1kHz input. Output impedance: 175 ohms @ 1kHz. Recommended minimum load: 10k ohms in parallel with 1000pF. Maximum output: 1.2V RMS, 20Hz…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog source: VPI TNT turntable, JMW Memorial tonearm, Benz-Micro LO4 phono cartridge; Immedia RPM-2 turntable/RPM tonearm, Clearaudio Gamma Gold cartridge.
Preamplification: Acoustech PH-1 phono stage, Sonic Frontiers Line 3 line-stage, VAC CPA-1 Mk.II preamplifier.
Power amplifiers: Plinius SA-100 Mk.II, VTL Ichiban, VAC Renaissance 70/70.
Loudspeakers: Audio Artistry Dvorak, Magnepan MG-1.6 Q/R, Thiel CS2.3.
Cables: Nirvana S-L, Kimber KCTG, Bi-Focal XL, Synergistic Research Resolution Reference and Designer's Reference.
Accessories: VPI…
Sidebar 3: Talking with Chris Johnson
As reported on the Stereophile website and in January 1999's "Industry Update," Sonic Frontiers was acquired by Canadian loudspeaker manufacturer Paradigm on September 1, 1998. Although Sonic Frontiers was in receivership at the time of the deal, the merger appears to have stabilized SF's operations and permitted them to move forward. I recently asked Sonic Frontiers co-founder Chris Johnson—now Sonic Frontiers International president—how things had changed since the Paradigm takeover, and what it meant for the future of the Phono One and other Sonic…
Sidebar 4: Measurements
Except as otherwise noted, the Sonic Frontiers Phono One was measured as received: set for a 100 ohm input impedance.
The Phono One's output impedance measured 185 ohms, its input impedance 95 ohms. The DC offset at the Phono One's outputs was a reasonable 12.5mV in the left channel, 10mV in the right. The preamp is noninverting. The voltage gain at 1kHz in the 100 ohm input impedance setting measured 59.6dB—more than sufficient for all but the lowest-output moving-coil cartridges. S/N measured an excellent 70.2dB from 10Hz to 500kHz, 85.5dB from 22Hz to…
Our meeting was propitious and totally unexpected. The locus was Los Angeles' Sheraton Gateway Hotel last May, on which we had all descended for Home Entertainment 2006. As a contributor to Stereophile's Show blog, my assignment was as liberal as they come: Go where you are drawn, listen as you will, and record your impressions.
Soon after the doors opened, I headed to the room of longtime Southern California dealer Brooks Berdan Ltd. Seated in the sweet spot, I was delighted to hear irresistibly delicious, remarkably controlled full-range sound. Such an experience is unusual on…
Bea soon became a devoted audiophile. Gifted with a strong self-image, she was never concerned about being the only woman in her class who loved audio gear and had two amplifiers at home. Nor did she feel she needed to apologize for herself when, after landing a high-pressure job in Silicon Valley as software project manager for Hewlett-Packard, she would enter a high-end store with a host of LPs under her arm and begin auditioning gear.
Needing to unwind and uninterested in TV, Bea returned to her Sunnyvale home at the end of each workday to listen to music. In short order, she became a…
Just about any consumer-electronics product that needs to generate voltage gain can be made with a vacuum tube. It isn't hard to do. It's no big deal.
That in itself is cause to wonder if some contemporary audio products were designed around tubes for cynical reasons, for tubes' cachet more than for their inherent technological or musical worth. The answer is Yes, probably.
There are kinder, gentler bad reasons, one of which I see in the mirror every day: Tubes are easier than discrete transistors for the novice to understand and to use. I've just about memorized the…
And literally all of the Shindo electronics that I've heard so far have been extraordinarily good: rich, organic, human, and musical—the latter being a term I don't toss around lightly. Not all of them may impress you as being utterly magical—and the ones that do won't necessarily be the most expensive. In that sense, along with more than a few others, the Shindos really are works of art.
Art
The first Shindo product I tried at home was the entry-level Aurieges preamplifier, which costs $3895. (A line-only version is available for $2995.) The Aurieges has inputs for three line-…