As has been the case with other budget gear under review, the DIA 100 spent most of its time in my Real World system, an audio assemblage painstakingly designed to exactly replicate the kind of affordable home hi-fi system an actual taxpaying citizen of these here United States would set up in his or her living room. No expense was spared trying to duplicate the exact living and listening conditions which affordable hi-fi gear might encounter in the typical non-dedicated listening room that people lucky enough not to be hi-fi critics usually listen to music in. And,…
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Sidebar 2: Measurements
The Acurus DIA would not complete the one-hour, 1/3-power preconditioning we perform as a matter of routine. The test was run four times: twice, before going to CG for listening, the DIA shut down after 45 minutes; twice more, after CG was finished with it, it shut down 20 minutes into the conditioning. It was running hot at shutdown (footnote 1), but not unusually so, indicating that its thermal protection may have been set to trip early.
The Acurus's input impedance into its CD input measured between 11k ohms and 12k ohms at volume-control settings up to…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid-state integrated amplifier with passive control section. Rated power: 100Wpc into 8 ohms (20dBW), 150Wpc into 4 ohms (18.75dBW). Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz, ±0.25dB. S/N ratio: 100dB, A-weighted. Input impedance on all inputs: 10k ohms. Input sensitivity: 200mV for full output. Voltage gain at full volume: 43dB. Damping factor: >300.
Dimensions: 17" W by 5" H by 14" D. Weight: 35 lbs.
Serial number of review sample: 025405.
Price: $995 (1993); no longer available (2008). Approximate number of dealers: 150.
Manufacturer:…
Getting a good connection to ground can make or break a fussy audio (and video) system. Jonathan Scull reveals several tips and tricks in "Fines Tunes" #9. As J-10 states: "Of course, the 'Fine Tunes' brief is low- or no-cost techniques for improving your system's sound. So let's consider that unruly beast called Ground. Aside from walking on, what's it good for?" The answer awaits.
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Last week found Recoton struggling to keep its head above water. This week Gemini Industries tossed the beleaguered company a rope, announcing that it had reached an agreement to acquire Recoton's consumer electronics accessories business. In support of this transaction and Gemini's growth plan, the company raised new funding from Boston-based Parthenon Capital.
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The Napster saga continues: Last week the Silicon Valley–based firm, which has been very successful with its MP3 file-sharing software, reinstated approximately 30,000 music fans who had signed online affidavits attesting that they had been mistakenly accused of appropriating songs by rock group Metallica. Those reinstated were slightly less than 10% of the 317,000 Napster users who had been booted from the system on May 3 as a result of legal attacks by Metallica.
"We knew they'd be reinstated . . . we think the whole thing's ludicrous. What Napster has done is turned 30,000 probably…