Friday
Page 2
By Steven R. Rochlin
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In the Analog Room was the Transrotor Fat Bob S ($5,500, on left) and Tourbillion ($23,000). Transrotor turntables are carefully and precision made in Germany. Both units use an inverted ceramic bearing.
Wavestream model V8 tube monoblock amplifier is much like a high performance car engine, though produces 450 watts instead of
450 horsepower. The eight 6550 output tubes are operated in push-pull and delivers very high current (torque) capability. As i said, much like a spots car engine.
Locally grown audio company Resolution Audio heralds from San Francisco with their Opus 21 Power Center sold in conjunction with their Opus 21 CD player ($3,500) and Opus 21S3 stereo 30-watt amplifier ($2,500). Their family of products has a single power supply with communication center that allows the units to sync together.
The Chesky C1 loudspeakers ($4,000) were producing good sound with the AtmaSphere M-60 OTL tube
amplifiers. The Chesky C1's have a 1-inch silk soft dome tweeter mated to isobaric dual 6.5-inch woofers. The M-60 uses 6AS7G output tubes with a 6SN7 for driver. Note many
The Absolute Sound awards for the AtmaSphere amplifier (see their website by
clicking here).
The Kharma 3.2 Reference Monitors ($21,000) were mated with the Tenor 75Wp monoblock tube amplifier. The Kharma features a 1-inch inverted aluminum done tweeter and 7-inch ceramic midrange/bass drive to reproduce frequencies from 35Hz to 25kHz. Tenor's monoblock amplifiers have four 6C33C tubes operating in OTL for fast transients
so no output transformer need apply.
The new Tenor Audio 300Hp monoblock hybrid amplifier ($30,000 per pair, or as a stereo unit for $18,000) was mated to Kharma's Midi Ceramic ($36,000). The 300Hp has all the initial gain, according to the representative, in the tube stage using 12AX7, 6N6, and 6H30 as found in their OTL amplifiers. The loudspeakers have the same midrange and tweeter as the 3.2, yet has an 11-inch Nomex/Kevlar sandwich.
VTL launched their new Siegfried monoblock ($40,000 per pair) to facilitate
an output of 800 watts in tetrode, or 400 in triode using twelve 6550C. The entire
unit has auto-biasing that is logic-controlled and has fault sensing. An RS-232 port allows
a computer to check status and centrally remote control ability plus trouble
shooting ability.
Audio Physic loudspeakers had their Padua ($5,495) highlighted
with a 1-inch soft dome and active cone dampened aluminum 5.25-inch midrange.
The side-firing dual 8-inch woofers reproduce the lowermost frequencies. The vented cherry veneered MDF enclosure has a single pair of WBT loudspeaker binding posts. Frequency response is from 34Hz to 24kHz with 90dB/W/m sensitivity.
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High-Performance Audio Reviews
