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Adapted articles from out-of-print and never-before-on-Internet print magazines.The Audio Critic (1977-2005)
Volume 1, Number 1: Jan. / Feb. 1977
Contents: Here Comes The Audio Critic: A Statement of Our Point of View The Great Preamp Survey: Advent Model 300 ; AGI Model 511 ; Audio Research SP-3A-1 ; Audio Research SP-4 ; BGW Model 202 ; Dayton Wright SPS Mk 3 ; DB Systems DB-1/DB-2 ; Dynaco PAT-5 ; Epicure Model Four ; GAS Thaedra/Thoebe ; Luxman C-1000 ; Luxman CL-35/III ; Luxman CL-350 ;2 Marantz 3600 ; Mark Levinson JC-2 ; Paragon Model 12 ; Quad 33 ; Rappaport PRE-1 ; Stax SRA-12S ; Yamaha C-1 ; Yamaha C-2 ; Yamaha CA-1000 Have Tone Arm Designers Forgotten Their High-School Geometry? While Waiting for the Perfect Speaker System: Duntech DL-15 (comment) ; Acoustat X (comment) ; Phase Linear Andromeda III (comment) ; Infinity QLS (comment) ; Dahlquist DQ-10 with DQ-1W (test report) The Admonitor, Comments on Current Ads Box 392: Letters to the Editor Records and Recording: Why Does It Sound Like That? By Max Wilcox Classified Advertising Volume 1, Number 2: March/April 1977 In this issue: We further explain our philosophy. We conclude our preamplifier survey (as much as it will ever be concluded), with special attention to the moving-coil scene and to previously untested units. Final recommendations are made. We bravely confront the almost invincible ignorance surrounding loudspeaker bass response and review some of the newer subwoofers. We begin our comparative survey of power amplifiers. Plus our regular features, including some interesting letters to the Editor. Editor and Publisher, Peter Aczel; Associate Editor Max Wilcox Consulting Engineer Bruce Zayde Technical Consultant Ted Lopatin Graphic Design Consultant Dick Calderhead Business Manager Bodil Aczel Assistant to the Publisher Elizabeth Boucher The Audio Critic is an advisory service and technical review for con sumers of high-priced audio equipment. It is published six times a year by The Audio Critic, Inc., and is available by subscription only. To maintain total dedication to the consumer's point of view, The Audio Critic carries no advertising by equipment manufacturers, distributors, reps, dealers or other commercial interests. Any conclusion, rating, recommendation, criticism or caveat published by The Audio Critic represents the personal findings and judgments of the Editor and the Staff, based only on the equipment available to their scrutiny and on their knowledge of the subject, and is therefore not offered to the reader as an infallible truth applying to all extant and forthcoming samples of a particular product. Address all editorial correspondence to The Editor, The Audio Critic, Box 392, Bronxville, New York 10708. Contents of this issue copyright 1977 by The Audio Critic, Inc. All rights reserved under international and Pan-American copyright conventions. Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited without the prior written permission of the Publisher, which will be automatically denied if the reproduced material is to be juxtaposed to advertising copy or any other additional text serving a commercial purpose. The Audio Critic will use ail available means to prevent or prosecute any such unauthorized use of its material or its name. For subscription information and rates, see inside back cover. Contents Know Your Audio Critic: A Continued Discussion of Our Philosophy, The Great Preamp Survey: Part II, By the Staff of The Audio Critic: AGI Model 511 (follow-up) ; Audio Research SP-4 (follow-up) ; Bravura ; CM 300 17D B Systems (follow-up) ; GAS Thaedra (follow-up) ; Hegeman HIP Input Probe ; Mark Levinson JC-2 (new) ; MAS 1 ; Paragon Model 12 (follow-up) ; Rappaport PRE-1A with MC-1; Stax SRA-12S (follow-up); Supex SDT/180 ;Trevor Lees ; Verion MK ; Yamaha C-2 (follow-up) ; Yamaha CA-1000 (follow-up) Fishing for Bass: A Look at the Subwoofer Scene , with: A Rational Approach to Low-Frequency Speaker Design, By Bruce Zayde; Dahlquist DW-1W with DQ-LPI; Janis W-1 with B4SL-C; Janis W-2 with B4SL-C A Comparative Survey of Power Amplifiers: Part 1, By the Staff of The Audio Critic : Audio Research D-100; CM 912a ; Electrocompaniet; Futterman H-3aa (preview) ; GAS Son of Ampzilla ; Luxman M-4000 ; Quad 405 ; Quatre DG-250; SAE 2400L; Yamaha B-2 Records and Recording: The Ears Minus the Eyes, By Max Wilcox The Admonitor --Comments on Current Ads Box 392: Letters to the Editor Classified and Advertising Volume 1, Number 4: July/August /September 1977 In this issue:
----- Editor and Publisher Peter Aczel Associate ; Editor Max Wilcox; Graphic Designer Dick Calderhead; Business Manager Bodil Aczel; Assistant to the Publisher Elizabeth Tinsley. Consulting engineers and other technical advisers are engaged on a project basis, some contributing under their by-lines, others working anonymously. The Audio Critic is an advisory service and technical review for consumers of high-priced audio equipment. It is published six times a year by The Audio Critic, Inc., and is available by subscription only. To maintain total dedication to the consumer's point of view, The Audio Critic carries no advertising by equipment manufacturers, distributors, reps, dealers or other commercial interests. Any conclusion, rating, recommendation, criticism or caveat published by The Audio Critic represents the personal findings and judgments of the Editor and the Staff, based only on the equipment available to their scrutiny and on their knowledge of the subject, and is therefore not offered to the reader as an infallible truth nor as an irreversible opinion applying to all extant and forthcoming samples of a particular product. Address all editorial correspondence to The Editor, The Audio Critic, Box 392, Bronxville, New York 10708. Contents of this issue copyright, 1977 by The Audio Critic, Inc. All rights reserved under international and Pan-American copyright conventions. Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited without the prior written permission of the Publisher, which will be automatically denied if the reproduced material is to be juxtaposed to advertising copy or any other additional text serving a commercial purpose. Paraphrasing of product reviews for advertising or other commercial purposes is also prohibited. The Audio Critic will use all available means to prevent or prosecute any such unauthorized use of its material or its name. For subscription information and rates, see inside back cover. ------- Contents
Vol. 1, No. 5, Winter 1977/78 Overview:
Contents: Sophisticated Speaker Systems, Large and Small: Continuing Our Survey --- Beveridge 'System 2SW' (follow-up) ; Canton HC 100 ; Dayton Wright XG-8 Mk 3 ; DCM 'Time Window' (Improved) ; Hartley 24' Subwoofer ; Innotech D24 ; Spendor BC1 ; Tangent RS2 ; Ultraphase 2501 A Sampling of Headphones with Audiophile Aspirations --- Fontek Minifon A-4 ; Koss 'Auditor' Dynamic/10 ; Koss 'Auditor' ESP/10 ; Stax SR-X/Mark 3 ; Stax SR-5 ; Yamaha HP-1 A Comparative Survey of Power Amplifiers: Part III ---Audionics CC-2 ; GAS 'Grandson' ; Mark Levinson ML-2 The Cartridge, Arm and Turntable Situation: Part II --- Breuer Dynamic Type SA ; Denon DL-103D ; Dynavector 20B ; EMT Model XSD 15 ; GAS 'Sleeping Beauty' Shibata ; Grace G-840F; Grado Signature Model 11 ; JVC MC-1 ; Linn-Sondek LP12 ; RAM 9201SG ; Thorens TD 126Mk IIB Preamplifiers Revisited (No, Not Again!) --- Ace 3100 ; AGI Model S11A; Audionics BT-2 ; DB Systems DB-1/DB-2 (follow-up) ; GAS 'Thalia' ; Hafler DH-101; Hegeman HPR/CU ; Linn Moving Coil Preamp ; Mark Levinson ML-1 (follow-up); Rappaport PRE-1A (follow-up) ; Van Alstine Model One ; Verion Mark I (follow-up) The Credibility Crisis in Equipment Reviewing Records & Recording: Less Is More, By Max Wilcox The Admonitor--Comments on Current Ads Box 392: Letters to the Editor Classified Advertising Vol. 1, No. 6, Spring through Fall 1978 Contents Sophisticated Speaker Systems, Large and Small: Our Unending Survey: The Bass Mint Model 10/24 ; Canton Gamma 800L ; Cizek MG-27 ; Fried Model B/2 ; Fried Model T ; Janis W-1 ; Magneplanar Tympani I-D; Precedent MZ Mod 3 ; Pyramid Model T-1 ; Symdex 'Sigma' ; Thiel Model 03 ; Watson Laboratories Model 10-H; Speaker Summaries and Updates Power Amplifier Postsurvey: Mop-Up and Afterthoughts--Audionics PZ 3-11 ; FM Acoustics FM-600A ; Futterman H-3aa (Improved) ; Kenwood L-07M; Rappaport AMP-1 (preview) ; Series 20 Model M-22 ; Stax DA-80; Power Amplifier Summaries and Updates Preamps Without End (They Still Keep Coming) -- Apt/Holman ; Audio Research SP-6 ; Cotter NFB-2 ; Cotter PSC-2 (preview) ; DB Systems DB-1A ; Hegeman HPR/CU (follow-up) ; Precision Fidelity C4; PSII ; Rappaport PRE-2 ; Rappaport PRE-3 (preview) ; Series 20 Model C-21 ; Technics SH-901 Equalizer; Preamplifier Summaries and Updates Cartridge/Arm/Turntable Follow-Up: Loose Ends and New Developments--ADC LMF-1 ; Cotter B-1 ; Cotter B-2 ; Fidelity Research FR-1 Mk 3F ; Fidelity Research FR-64s and FR-66s ; Series 20 Model PA-1000; Series 20 Model PLC-590 (preview); Signet MKIIIIE; Win Laboratories SDT-10 Type II; Cartridge/Arm/ Turntable Summaries and Updates Notes Toward the Definition of Two Different "Reference" Systems Two More Headphones: Infinity ES-1; Signet TK33; Headphone Summaries and Updates Why We're So Mean, Vindictive, Arrogant, Negative--and Truthful Records & Recording: A Discography for the Audio Purist, Part 1 The Admonitor--Comments on Current Ads Box 392: Letters to the Editor Classified Advertising Vol. 2, No. 1, Winter/Spring 1979 Overview:
The Audio Critic Seminar on the State of the Art: Part 1 (a and b) Speaker Systems, Large and Small: Updates and New Developments: Beveridge 'System 2SW-1' (follow-up); DCM 'Time Window' Pedestals; Dennesen Model 180 and SW-II; Fried Model C; Fried Model W; Pyramid Model T-1 (Improved) ; Symdex 'Sigma' (Improved) ; Thiel Model 03 (follow-up) ; Vandersteen Model II ; XRT 50 (interim report) Symmetry ACS-1 -- John Curl's Perfectly Coherent Electronic Crossover The Two Most Interesting Power Amplifiers for the Audio Purist: Hafler DH-200; Rappaport AMP-1 (follow-up) Diamond Styli for True High-Fidelity Reproduction -- By Dr. Sao Zaw Win, Win Laboratories, Inc. Cartridge/Arm/Turntable Developments: Fidelity Research FR-7; Koetsu ; Pyramid RW-1 and RW-2 ; Supex SDX-1000 (preview) ; Technics SP-10 Mk II ; Win Laboratories SDC-10 (preview) ; Win Laboratories SDT-10 Type IIC Three New Step-Up Devices for Moving-Coil Cartridges: Audio Standards MX-10A; Fidelity Research FRT-5; Marcof PPA-1 More and Better Preamplifiers (Again and Again): Audionics BT-2 Series II ; CM 301 ;Cotter PSC-2 and CU-2 ; Dyna mod: FET-5 Mark V ; Hafler DH-101 (Improved, with DH-102); Hegeman HPR /CU (Improved) ; Hitachi HCA-7500 ; Mark Levinson LNP-2 ; Precision Fidelity C4 ; Rappaport PRE-3 ; Spatial Model TVA-1 Our Big and Our Little Reference Systems, Updated A Challenge to All Critics of The Audio Critic Even Less Is Even More, by Max Wilcox--A Discography for the Audio Purist: Part II Box 392: Letters to the Editor Vol. 2, No. 2, Summer/Fall/Year-End 1979 In this issue:
---- Contents: The Audio Critic Seminar on the State of the Art: Part II Speaker Wires and Audio Cables: Separating the Sense from the Nonsense A Spats of Speaker Systems, Large and pro, Good and Bad: Axiom TLT-1 Beveridge System 3 B&W DM7 DCM 'Time Window' (further improved) Fried Model C (improved) Magneplanar Model MG-1; Onkyo Model F-5000; Perspective MK2 QLN I; Sound Lab R-1; Swallow CM70; Vandersteen Model IIA A Genuine Breakthrough in Inexpensive Integrated Amplifiers: NAD 3020; NAD 3045 The New Generation of Power Amplifiers: Amber Series 70; Audionics BA-150; Audire 'Crescendo'; Audire DM700 39 Bedini Model 25/25 ; Bedini Model 45/45; Hafler DH-200 (follow-up); JVC M-7050; PS Model One; Rappaport AMP-1 (epitaph); Sonotron PA-2000 Further Developments in Step-Up Devices for Moving-Coil Cartridges: Denon AU-340; Denon HA-1000; Marcof PPA-1 (Improved) ; RWR Audio MCT-1 ; Signet MK12T Cartridge / Arm / Turntable--Briefs and Interim Reports: DB Systems DBP-10 Protractor; Dennesen Geometric Soundtracktor; Denon DA-401; Denon DL-303; Denon DP-80; DiscFoot Isolation System; Fidelity Research FR-14; JVC MC-1; JVC TT-101 JVC UA-7045; Kenwood KD-650; Linn-Sondek LP12 (reappraisal); Ortofon MC30; Thorens TD 115; Wheaton 240 Type 2 FM Tuners: A Hopeless Dilemma for the Serious Audio Reviewer: NAD 4080; Sequerra Model 1; Series 20 Model F-26; Yamaha CT-7000 Yes, Preamplifiers Are Still Getting Better All the Time: Audionics RS-1 ; Audire 'Legato' 535; Bauman PRO-400 ; Hegeman 'Hapi Two' ; Precision Fidelity C7 PS III and PS LCC Reference System Revisions and Updates; Assorted Editorial Ramblings, Rumblings and Grumblings Records & Recordings--A Discography for the Audio Purist: Part III Box 392: Letters to the Editor Classified Advertising Vol. 2, No. 3, Spring through Fall 1980 Contents: Introducing the First Speaker Designed to the Specifications of The Audio Critic -- Fourier 1 More Speakers, Ordinary and Extraordinary -- Audio Pro B2-50 , Dalco SW-3 , Dayton Wright XG-10 , DCM QED , DCM 'Time Bass' , Genesis 2+ , Mariah LS-1 , Mordaunt-Short 'Pageant Series 2' , Mordaunt-Short 'Signifer' , Pyramid 'Metronome 3' , Quad Electrostatic Loudspeaker , Sound-Lab R-1 (follow-up) The News in Power Amplifiers: Mostly Very Good: Amber Series 70 (follow-up) , Bedini Models 25/25 and 45/45 (follow-up) , Denon POA-3000 , JVC M-7050 (follow-up) , The Leach Amp and The Leach Superamp , Sonotron PA-2000 The Ever-Changing Preamplifier Scene: Audio Research SP-6B (interim report) , Beveridge RM-1a/2a , Cotter System 2 (reappraisal) , Mark Levinson ML-7 (interim report), Precision Fidelity CTA , Robert Grodinsky Research Model Four The Cartridge/Arm/Turntable Scene: Credible Improvements at Incredible Prices -- EON POD Disc Clamp, Fidelity Research MC-201, JMAS MIT-1 ; Platter Matter , Win Laboratories SDC-10, SDA-10, SDT-10-2 and SPG-10 Moving-Coil Step-Up Roundup: Audire 'Poco' , Fidelity Research FRT-3G, Nagatron Ag 9200; PS Audio (interim report) , RWR Audio MCT-1 (follow-up) Reference A Update; B Update Records & Recording-- A Few More for the Demo Shelf Box 392: Letters to the Editor Classified Advertising Issue No. 10 Fall/Year-End 1987 Contents: Lateral Tracking Alignment Revisited (Maybe Your Overhang Is Wrong After All); Bonus Filler: Diagram of Protractor for "Lofgren B" Alignment; Metric Table of Optimum Overhang and Offset Angle Alignments for Pivoted Tonearms Today's Audio Equipment and the Reviewing Discipline: Where We Stand: Loudspeakers; Power amplifiers; Preamplifiers and control units; Turntables and tonearms; Phono cartridges; CD players; Other program sources; Speaker wires and audio cables Landmarks in Power Amplifier and Preamp Design: Tubes vs. Transistors vs. Both: Audio Research M300; Audio Research SP11; Boulder 500 ; MESA/Baron M180 (modified) The Fourier Loudspeaker Story: Engineering, Finance, Politics The Deprogramming and Reformation of Bob Carver (Exact Text of the 1983 Preprint) The Carver Amplifier Controversy Four and a Half Years Later (Will They Never Learn?) Box 392: Letters to the Editor Note: All unsigned articles and reviews in this issue were written by Peter Aczel, Editor and Publisher. Issue No. 11 Winter/Spring 1988 In this issue:
---------- The Audio Critic is a quarterly advisory service and technical review for consumers of sophisticated audio equipment. An conclusion, rating, recommendation, criticism or caveat published by The Audio Critic represents the personal findings and judgments of the Editor and the Staff, based only on the equipment available to their scrutiny and on their knowledge of the subject, and is therefore not offered to the reader as an infallible truth nor as an irreversible opinion applying to all extant and forthcoming samples of a particular product. ----------- Contents
Note: All unsigned articles and reviews in this issue were written . Issue No. 13 Winter/Spring/Midyear 1989 We bring you Part I of the transcript of our "Seminar 1989," a morning-to-midnight bull session featuring the uncensored opinions of Bob Carver, Dave Clark, John Eargle, Stanley Lipshitz, Peter McGrath, and your Ed. In an article comparable in importance to our classic tonearm geometry series of 1977-78, a new contributor to our publication establishes a mathematical basis for a method of speaker placement enabling you to obtain the best possible bass response in your listening room. We identify and expose certain endemic asininities on the subject of CD's in our second "Hip Boots" column. Plus our other regular columns and features, including reviews of some remarkable new organ recordings. --------- ContentsSeminar 1989: Exploring the Current Best Thinking on Audio--Part I of the Two-Part Transcript Hip Boots--Wading through the Mire of Misinformation in the Audio Press: Monster Cable (through Berkeley SoundLab); Michael Fremer in Goldmine; Dick Olsher in Stereophile (Not Again!) Correct Speaker Placement for Optimum Bass Response: A Simple Mathematical Method, By William Rasnake, President, Pacific Northwest Audio Society Senior Product Planner, John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc. Records & Recording: The Ultimate Organ-Music Experience on CD: Jean Guillou Playing the Organs He Designed, Recorded, by Craig Dory; Three Guillou Releases on Dorian Recordings And on Other Labels... Delos; Harmonia Mundi; Reference Recordings; Telarc Can't Wait to Tell You ... Snell Type C/I; Waveform; Philips LHH1000; Carver M-4.0t Box 978: Letters to the Editor From the Publisher Issue No. 14 Summer through Winter 1989-90 We review in depth seven different loudspeaker systems, between $798 and $3995 the pair, and try to figure out why no two of them sound remotely alike, not even those with the most accurate response. The "Seminar 1989" transcript, now split into three parts, continues with Part II, again bringing you hours and hours of strong opinions on the major issues of audio, as argued by Bob Carver, Dave Clark, John Eargle, Stanley Lipshitz, Peter McGrath, and your Ed. Once again, the terrifying subject of duplicating "the tube sound" with transistors raises its Gorgon head. Plus other reviews, columns, and features, including another foray into the realm of high-tech video. ----------- Contents: Seven Loudspeaker Systems (If They Are All So Accurate, How Come They All Sound Different?): Audio Concepts "Sapphire" with "Saturn"; Carver "Amazing Loudspeaker" (Platinum II Edition); JBL L40t3 ; Precise "Monitor 10" ; Quad ESL-63 USA Monitor ; Snell Type C/II ; Waveform Seminar 1989: Exploring the Current Best Thinking on Audio, Part II of the Three-Part Transcript The Carver "Silver Seven" Clones: Who Needs Tubes for the Tube Sound? Carver M-4.0t ; Carver "Silver Seven-t" Philips Gives Some Special Fillips to Its High-End Audio and Video Line -- Philips LHH1000 ; Philips CDV488 Records & Recording: All Kinds of Good Stuff: Catching Up on Our Backlog of Demo-Quality CD's: Bainbridge ; CBS 57 Delos ; Dorian ; Harmonia Mundi ; Reference Recordings ; Telarc Box 978: Letters to the Editor Issue No. 15 Spring through Winter 1990-91 Editor and Publisher Peter Aczel; Contributing Editor David Rich; Cartoonist and Illustrator Tom Aczel; Business Manager Bodil Aczel. The Audio Critic is an advisory service and technical review for consumers of sophisticated audio equipment. The usual delays notwithstanding, it is scheduled to be published at approximately quarterly intervals by The Audio Critic, Inc. Any conclusion, rating, recommendation, criticism, or caveat published by The Audio Critic represents the personal findings and judgments of the Editor and the Staff, based only on the equipment available to their scrutiny and on their knowledge of the subject, and is therefore not offered to the reader as an infallible truth nor as an irreversible opinion applying to all extant and forthcoming samples of a particular product. Address all editorial correspondence to The Editor, The Audio Critic, P.O. Box 978, Quakertown, PA 18951, USA. --------------------
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