search
Every aspect of the presentation changed for the better through the P-2. Although the difference was quite apparent, it was far less than the difference between, say, a good digital processor and the Stax DAC-X1t or VTL D/A. In conversations with audiophiles, I've noticed a belief that the transport has as much, or greater, influence on the reproduced sound than the digital to analog converter. I strongly disagree with this contention. A good transport is essential to realizing the best digital playback, but the overall system performance is much more dependent on the D/A converter. A $1000…
Sidebar 1: System Details
I've been listening to the Esoteric P-2 for about six months with a variety of digital processors. My current reference system is comprised of Hales System Two Signature loudspeakers driven by VTL 225W Deluxe monoblocks via 3' runs of bi-wired AudioQuest Clear. Digital processors auditioned with the P-2 included the VTL tubed unit reviewed in this issue, Stax DAC-X1t, Theta DSPro Basic, and Proceed PDP. Other digital processors used with the P-2 in the past few months include the Melior Digital Center, Aragon D2A, Esoteric D-2, D-10, and D-500, Wadia 2000, and…
Sidebar 2: Specifications
Description: Dedicated CD transport with infrared remote control. Laser type: AlGaAs semiconductor, 780nm wavelength, 3-beam. Outputs: two coaxial on RCA jacks (0.5V p-p 75 ohms), two optical on TOSLINK jacks, Sony/Philips Digital Interface Format (S/PDIF). Power Consumption: 10W.
Dimensions: 8 7/8" W by 5¼" H by 1 9/16" D. Weight: 28.7 lbs (net).
Price: $4000 (1990); no longer available (2009). Approximate number of dealers: 25.
Manufacturer: Esoteric, a Division of Teac America, Inc., 7733 Telegraph Road, Montebello, CA 90640. Tel: (323) 726-0303. Fax…
Arnis Balgalvis wrote about the Esoteric P-2 in April 1991 (Vol.14 No.4):
You can't be too rich, too thin, or praise a great product too much. The P-2 transport has impressed me at least as much as it did Robert Harley in Vol.13 No.12. I would like to accentuate his positive impressions with a few of my own observations.
I was impressed when I encountered the transport that started it all, the Esoteric P-1, and it happened again when the P-2 arrived—each time a transport of this caliber was included in my system the sonics took a turn for the better.
I'm not talking…
GARY BURTON/PAT METHENY/STEVE SWALLOW/ANTONIO SÁNCHEZ: Quartet Live!
Gary Burton, vibraphone; Pat Metheny, guitar; Steve Swallow, electric bass; Antonio Sánchez, drums
Concord Jazz CJA-31303-02 (CD). 2009. Gary Burton, Pat Metheny, prods.; David Oakes, eng. DDD. TT: 79:22
Performance ****½
Sonics ****
Gary Burton, vibraphone; Pat Metheny, guitar; Steve Swallow, electric bass; Antonio Sánchez, drums
Concord Jazz CJA-31303-02 (CD). 2009. Gary Burton, Pat Metheny, prods.; David Oakes, eng. DDD. TT: 79:22
Performance ****½
Sonics ****
Since the death of Milt Jackson, in 1999, Gary Burton has been the undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the vibraphone. It is a specialty jazz instrument with relatively few practitioners, but fans of the vibes will tell you that no other instrument offers its seductive tonal…
The drive home from Montreal and the Salon Son & Image show is smooth and uneventful. The snow kindly stops just as John Atkinson and I climb into his Land Cruiser, the woman at Customs lets us into the US with little fanfare, and, there isn't much to set the heart racing. Every fifty or so miles, the highway's long dividing guardrail is punctuated by some enormous brown bird—a once majestic body that owned the sky is now slung awkwardly and pitifully over cold steel. It's sad that something so beautiful and strong can die so quietly. But quiet abounds out here. The sky seems to move…
It ain't the stuff you don't know that trips you up, it's the stuff you know that ain't so. When, at the 2007 CEDIA Expo, I encountered Klipsch's startlingly new Palladium P-39F loudspeaker ($20,000/pair), I was impressed by its looks. Tall (56"), as beautifully contoured as the prow of a canoe, and clad in striking zebra-stripe plywood, the P-39F is possibly the best-looking speaker Klipsch has ever made.
The Klipsch rep, too, was enthusiastic: "This is a loudspeaker that PWK would have approved of!" (Yes, seven years after the death of Paul W. Klipsch, employees still refer to…
Then there's that scrumptious cabinet. It has no parallel surfaces, and curves continuously from its tapered baffle to pointed rear spine. The cabinet—made of compressed laminated plywood, MDF, and particleboard—has an average thickness of 1", although the baffle is thicker and, where the woofers are mounted, is reinforced with steel. The cabinet's interior is extensively braced. Each speaker sits atop a high-mass machined metal baseplate tapped for spiked feet. Mounted low on one side of the P-39F are three flared port tubes—the look is old-school Pontiac. Access to the triwired speaker…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way, reflex-loaded, floorstanding, loudspeaker with horn-loaded midrange and tweeter. Drive-units: horn-loaded, 0.75" titanium-dome compression tweeter; horn-loaded, 4.5" inverted aluminum-dome compression midrange; three 9" aluminum-Rohacell-Kevlar woofers. Crossover: 500Hz, 3.2kHz, fourth-order electroacoustic. Frequency response: 39Hz–24kHz, ±3dB. Sensitivity: 95dB/2.83V/m, anechoic. Harmonic distortion (measured at 95dB/m): second harmonic, 0.5%, 50Hz–10kHz; third harmonic, 0.1%, 50Hz–6.6kHz. Impedance: 4 ohms (2.7 ohms at 130Hz). Power…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Source: Ayre C-5xe universal player.
Preamplifiers: Ayre K-1xe, VTL TL-6.5 Signature.
Integrated Amplifier: Ayre AX-7e.
Power Amplifiers: Moscode 402au, Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 300, Parasound Halo JC 2, VTL MB-450 II.
Loudspeakers: YG Acoustics Anat Reference II Professional.
Cables: Interconnect: AudioQuest William E. Low Signature, Shunyata Research Aeros (single-ended, RCA); Stealth Audio Metacarbon (balanced). Speaker: AudioQuest William E. Low Signature, Shunyata Research Aeros, Stealth Audio Dream. AC: Shunyata Research…