Which brings me to the subject of this review. In a world that seems to…
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As I write, it is garage-sale season here again in Santa Fe, and a recent sign near my home advertised "Over 3000 LPs, good condition, low prices." To my surprise, the seller wasn't a yuppie enamored of his new CD player but a true collector discarding the duplicates and dogs from his collection. 30 minutes later, many LPs heavier—including a mint Flanders & Swan At the Drop of a Hat (footnote 1)—and not too many dollars lighter, I returned to a great night's listening courtesy of the black vinyl disc.
A word is in order concerning the PV9's tape-monitor arrangements, which are identical to those on earlier C-J preamplifiers. As well as the rotary source switch, which can select the Tape 1 or Tape 2 inputs, there are two pushbuttons, one switching the tape monitor input between Tape 1 and Tape 2, the other selecting Source or Monitor. Whatever source is selected with the rotary control is present on both pairs of tape output sockets. It may be my CD-befuddled brain, but I find these controls to be counter-intuitive. More important, they allow the possibility of positive feedback since the…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Full-function, tubed preamplifier with five line-level inputs, two tape loops, and one phono input. Tube complement: 2x12AX7, 3x5751, 2x5965. Frequency range: 2Hz–100kHz. RIAA error: ±0.25dB. Input impedance: 47k ohms in parallel with 100pF (phono), 47k ohms (line). Output impedance: less than 200 ohms (main). Phono stage gain: 47dB. Line stage gain: 31dB (polarity-inverting). Rated output level: 2.5V (20V peak maximum). Phono overload: greater than 200mV at 1kHz. Distortion: THD less than 0.25%, IMD less than 0.25%. S/N ratio (20Hz–20kHz): 77dB ref…
Sidebar 2: Measurements
The most relevant measurement of a phono preamplifier, in my opinion, is the accuracy of its RIAA de-emphasis. Fig.1 shows that for the PV9. It can be seen to be commendably flat across the entire audio band, or at least within the tolerance of my inverse-RIAA network, gently rolling off above 16kHz and below 16Hz. The 1kHz squarewave of the PV9's RIAA stage is shown in fig.2, the flat top implying good LF extension, and the lack of overshoot, fast risetime, and square corners indicating a flat, extended HF response. The line stage, too, was effectively flat, with…
Back in March 1998, Revel's Ultima Salon1 floorstanding loudspeaker generated quite a stir at Stereophile (Vol.22 No.3). Our reviewers were impressed by its seven designed-from-scratch drive-units, its ultramodern enclosure with curved rosewood side panels, exposed front tweeter and midrange, rear-facing reflex port and tweeter, and a flying grille over the mid-woofer and woofers. In the December issue (Vol.22 No.12), the Ultima Salon1 ($16,000/pair) was named Stereophile's "Joint Speaker of 1999" for its "big bass, timbral accuracy, low distortion, dynamics, lack of compression, and best fit…
Like the Salon1, the Salon2 is of superb quality in its fit'n'finish. Although a speaker binding post on one of my review samples arrived loose, designer Kevin Voecks assured me that it could be fixed in the field without the owner having to ship the speaker back to the factory. Each Salon2 is shipped with four combination metal spikes/glides, which screw into the cabinet bottom and are secured with a metal locking ring set off by a felt washer, to protect the speaker's finish. Because my hardwood floors are finished, I didn't use these. I found the Salon2's gold-plated hardware and…
I also heard what Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times called "explosive lyricism, surging power, and incisive attack" from pianist Yundi Li's recording of Prokofiev's Piano Concerto 2, with Seiji Ozawa and the Berlin Philharmonic (CD, Deutsche Grammophon 001017502). And I enjoyed the natural balance of bass weight, treble control, and slight reverberation in pianist Robert Silverman's recording of Liszt's Liebestraum.
Vocal recordings were rendered with outstanding timbral accuracy and stunning realism. The Salon2 captured a smoothness and lyricism in tenor Albert Jordan's version…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Four-way, reflex-loaded, floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive units: 1" (25mm) beryllium-dome tweeter, 4" (102mm) inverted titanium-dome midrange driver, 6.5" (185mm) titanium-cone midbass driver, three 8" (210mm) aluminum-cone woofers. Crossover frequencies: 150Hz, 575Hz, 2.3kHz. Frequency response: 23Hz–45kHz, ±3dB. In-room response relative to target response: ±0.5dB, 29Hz–18kHz. Listening window (on-axis) response: ±1.0dB, 26Hz–20kHz. Low-frequency extension: –3dB at 23Hz, –6dB at 20Hz, –10dB at 17Hz. Sensitivity: 86.4dB SPL/2.83V/m (4 pi anechoic…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Linn Sondek turntable with Lingo power supply, Linn Ittok tonearm, Spectral moving-coil cartridge; Day-Sequerra Classic FM tuner.
Digital Sources: Krell KRC-28, Bryston BCD-1 CD players; Sony SCD-C555ES SACD/CD player; Slim Devices Squeezebox network music player; Bryston B-100DA D/A converter.
Preamplifiers: Krell KCT, Mark Levinson ML-7.
Power Amplifiers: Bryston 28B-SST, Mark Levinson ML-2 (both monoblocks); Mark Levinson No.334, Krell FPB-600c.
Loudspeakers: Quad ESL-989, Revel Ultima Salon1.
Cables: Digital: Wireworld…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
My estimate of the Revel Ultima Salon2's voltage sensitivity was 86dB(B)/2.83V/m. This is slightly lower than the specified 86.4dB but within experimental error of that figure. The speaker's impedance (fig.1) drops to between 3 and 5 ohms between 17Hz and 600Hz, but as the electrical phase angle is generally low in this region, the Salon2 should not be hard for the partnering amplifier to drive. However, the shape of the impedance curve suggests that the speaker might sound a little bright with tube amplifiers having a high output impedance.
Fig.1…