In the mid 1980s, Philips’ announcement of new mechanisms and integrated circuits for CD players promised great performance devices at cheap rates. Their fancy buzz phrases, such as “16-bit four-times oversampling” and “digital filtering,” piqued the interest of magazine contributors, who had already formed a soft spot for Philips models since they sounded the most […]
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When it comes to audiophiles’ critique of CD, Ken lshiwata of Marantz International gave his opinion at the end of the 1980s: “It will take some time for the digital medium to be regarded as an audiophile medium – given the shortcomings of the digital medium, I believe it will take around 5 years…” Back
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The dependence on Philips’ innovative Bitstream decoding system is the center of attention in the CD840. This model costed a little more than it’s predecessors, but not because of the new Bitstream circuitry… Indeed, hi-fi fans were assured that the Bitstream chips’ basic simplicity will drive down pricing. The CD840, on the other hand, is
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Whest Audio’s PS.30RDT was released in 2009 as a near descendant of the company’s flagship MC REF V, and it cost a whopping £2,799 when new. It comes in a single 430x280x72mm box with a Whest MC REF V Hybrid filter and an ultra low noise bipolar opamp DIP8 chip severely biased towards Class A.
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If you’ve been paying attention over the last few decades, you’ve probably heard of Yamaha’s legendary NS-1000M loudspeaker, which was first released in 1978. It had an unforgettable sound, thanks to highly inventive Beryllium midrange and treble dome drivers that were a tenth of the weight of standard designs, housed in a super-thick sealed cabinet
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The Zu Druid, made in Ogden, Utah, is one of the more intriguing floorstanding loudspeakers I’ve seen. This specific fourth generation model, from 2006, is a fan favorite. The one-and-a-half-way speaker is equipped with a full-range driving unit and a super tweeter that eliminates the need for a crossover. The impedance quoted is 12 ohms
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Sony discreetly discontinued their Digital Audio Tape format in 2005, but it has been on the critical radar for some time. Indeed, the DTC-A6 was the last major high-end consumer DAT machine released by the Japanese electronics giant, debuting in October 1996. Sony effectively ceased development of their devices with this, even if DAT didn’t
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Moving magnet cartridges with excellent compliance were all the rage in the vinyl world in the 1970s. The M75ED, which was debuted in 1974, ruled the roost. The manufacturer claimed it could track securely down to 0.75g thanks to its ultra-light design and great compliance. The VMS20E from Ortofon was another famous design that pushed
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MiniDisc was on its way out in 2003. Sales were dropping, and the format’s brief resurgence between 1998 and 1999 seemed like a distant memory. Of fact, it was at this point in its sales cycle that vinyl made significant advancements in the sound quality of its players, and we now see CD doing the
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Technics was founded in 1965 as Panasonic Corporation’s high-end hi-fi brand. The term first appeared on loudspeakers, but it was an obvious fit for Shuichi Obata’s innovative transcription turntable. The ‘Technics by Panasonic’ SP-10 was the world’s first direct drive deck of the contemporary era, debuting in 1970. It made its way into broadcast studios
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