USB DONE RIGHT: Two magic boxes that let computer audio ...

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I have thoroughly enjoyed your two books: The World of High Fidelity and The UHF Guide to Ultra High Fidelity. Both provide an excellent introduction to hi-fi. You have defined high fidelity as “the closest possible approach to the original sound.” This is achieved by equipment that adds the least (transparent?) to the sound — a very difficult feat indeed. Say my end goal in audio is transparency, aren’t passive preamplifiers designed to do just that? Yet I do not see them being used as reference components by professional reviewers/audiophiles such as yourself. Is it fair to say that passive preamps are more silent (transparent) than active preamps? And shouldn’t reviewers use passive preamps as benchmark to review all other (active) preamps? One of the most “sophisticated” and expensive passive preamps I’ve come across is England’s Music First Audio. Do you plan to review their product? Hypothetically speaking, given the time when Messrs.. Rejskind and Simon are no longer reviewing audio components, what would your reference system consist of? Would you be using a passive preamp with active speakers? Balanced cable over RCA? Larry Byrd CALGARY, AB It’s hard to say, Larry, because you are presuming a time when the magazine changes management, and indeed owners. It’s hardly up to us to speculate on what our eventual successors might or might not do. Most audio magazines don’t actually have reference systems at all, as you may know. That said, theory notwithstanding, the very best preamps are active, not passive, though a passive preamplifier may be a good choice if the budget for the best (read: expensive) is not available. Indeed, we have reviewed several passive 8 ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine Free Advice 270 rue Victoria Longueuil, Québec, Canada J4H 2J6 uhfmail@uhfmag.com preamps over the years, and we have even had three of them in our Audiophile Store. We’re speaking from experience, at least our experience so far. Balanced cables may or may not be a good choice, depending on the design of the balancing circuits in the components being linked, but we can’t use them in our reference systems. If we did, how could we review components that don’t have balanced connections? I have very much enjoyed your site and writing for a number of years now. You provide an important service to the audio community, from the beginner level to the audiophile level, by your objectivity and straightforward approach. Your ability to articulate your listening session experiences is very much helpful in understanding the interaction of the components used and the product you are reviewing. Most of the audiophile articles and sites I have read talk about passive speakers. Curiously, why are active speakers not as often reviewed/discussed in the audiophile community? What have been your experiences with active speakers? And have you or your friends/colleague have had a chance to audition them in recent period — ATC, Focal, Dynaudio, Meridian, Linn are few high-end makes that comes to my mind. What are your thoughts in this technology? And would you recommend them for home use given that they’ve come a long way from its “studio monitor” ancestors? What do you see to be the biggest obstacle of active speakers? Do you foresee the day when an active speaker would be your reference speaker? Andrew Lee TORONTO, ON To answer your last question first, Andrew, no, an active speaker cannot be our reference, and the reason is possibly obvious. If we had active speakers (speakers with built-in amplifiers), we could not review amplifiers. By the way, for exactly the same reason we don’t use balanced connectors on our gear. If we did, how could we review components without balanced connections? That said, there are some very good active loudspeakers available, and we had one (a Linn Artikulat) on the cover of UHF No. 80). We liked it. A lot. We also liked the Aurum Integra system, which was on the cover of UHF No. 78. There are major advantages to active speakers. The amplifier (usually amplifiers — plural) can be designed with particular drivers in mind, and the troublesome speaker cables can be kept extremely short. The crossover can be active too, potentially delivering much better performance than the common passive crossover. All good. But there’s a disadvantage to putting the amplifiers right inside the enclosure, where they are directly subjected to massive vibration. In short, this is not an easy technology to work with, and not all designers pull it off successfully. I recently installed new KT88’s into my Dynakit Mk III amplifiers. One of the tubes, which is not defective, produces a mechanical noise, a hum. What can I do to reduce this mechanical noise? Walter C. Labys MORGANTOWN, WV Actually, Walter, we think the KT88 is defective. If its elements are not tightly secured, they can vibrate. The culprit in your case is probably the cathode, since it is heated, in most amplifiers, by alternating current (60 Hz in North America). The tube can’t be fixed, since you can’t get at its innards without breaking the vacuum seal, and so the only solution, if the hum is loud enough to be objectionable, is to change it. My husband George is currently loading up my Mac mini with his music (nice of me to let him use it, isn’t it?) and I need some advice. We think we’d like to try the digital-to-analog converter, but are curious to know performance differences (if any?) among:
1) Mac Mini ---> Optical TOSLINK cable, with adapter ---> 300D or… 2) Mac Mini ---> Stello U3 USB ---> Mavros digital cable ---> 300D or… 3) Other options/suggestions? The Stello does look like an interesting device to be sure…but not required with my mini. George is excited (again, ah!!) and needs a great source. He’ll want whatever will give him all of his music. Ivy Engler OTTAWA, ON Well, Ivy, option 2 is the best one, and in fact that’s what we’re using ourselves now. That combination outperforms even our beloved Linn Unidisk player. That said, the optical link costs next to nothing…well, except for the converter itself of course. At the very least it’s a great interim step, and will let you do better than you would with the vast majority of players. I’ve been assuming, here, that your Mac mini is within easy reach of the music system. If it isn’t, you may want to consider an Apple Airport Express, as a wireless link from the computer. You would then use the optical cable and the DAC. The Airport Express, in its current incarnation, won’t handle any of the newer high-definition formats, but it’s a whiz with Red Book CDs. I have a biwire speaker cable terminated with bananas at the speaker end, but I am considering purchasing a pair of speakers that only accept single-wire. Is there an adapter that I can plug-into the two bananas at one end, and which has a single banana at the other end? It would thereby convert two bi-wire bananas into a single-wire banana? The bananas I am using are WBT. If there is such an adapter, are they of similar quality to WBTs or better? Ted Antifeau NELSON, BC If you are using the older WBT angled bananas, the solution is simple, Ted: plug one banana into the rear button of the other, make sure everything is tight, and you’re good to go. If you’re using the newer (and superior) WBT nextgen bananas, though, that won’t work, because the rear button is plastic, not metal. In that case your best bet is to remove the bananas, and try to put both wires into the same banana plug. Unless they are unusually large, that should work. I have a rather large collection of CDs and I have been using a crappy DVD player for my audio listening, I am wanting to upgrade to a BD multiplayer and have been looking at the Oppo BDP95 and the Cambridge Audio Azur 751BDP, I want audio listening to be the primary focus, and Blu-ray second, but I am at a standstill as to which one do I go with, I like the Oppo for its XLR outputs, as my integrated amp has the same inputs, but my local audio dealer says to go with the Azur (he’s a big seller of Cambridge products). What do you think? Marque Padley VERNON, BC Well, if we were big sellers of Cambridge products, we would also recommend that you go with the Cambridge. Wouldn’t you? We haven’t reviewed either player, though both, at this point, Coming up in issue No. 93 of Affordable digital-to-analog converters The return of Quad’s current-dumping amp Turntables and loudspeakers And much, much more! ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine 9
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Page 55 and 56: INTERCONNECTS ATLAS HYPER SYMMETRIC
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