From the Vault

When Marantz's Ken Ishiwata suggested that we try the new PM-94 through the Apogee Scintillas [HFN Sep '85], I managed to stifle thoughts of 'Oh, no, here we go again'. Ken's confidence in a product is vastly removed from the kind of bravado I expect of British amplifier manufacturers, with pipe-dream tales about driving Krell into the sea. What Ken promised is an amplifier that would deliver the best of both possible worlds: sound quality (and bypassable facilities) for audiophile credibility, alongside ergonomics, styling, and perceived value to make it appealing to more than lunatic-fringe-type consumers.

This two-box system from Nakamichi follows its 1000 DAT/1000p D/A converter [HFN Oct ’89], but here the company has taken advantage of the modular nature of the DAC to design a completely new processor board with fresh digital, analogue and power supply circuitry. The 1000mb CD transport doesn’t need reinventing however – it’s all new.

Leave it to Tim de Paravicini to come up with something so deliciously twisted that no tube crazy can resist it. The new EAR Yoshino V20 integrated amplifier, despite costing a not-unreasonable-by-today’s-standards £2495, looks like nothing else and sports a quantity of tubes rivalled by few. Hell, the only items I can think of off-hand with similar numerical appeal – more tubes than any sane person would deem necessary – are high-enders like the GRAAF GM200 OTL with its 16 output tubes per channel, and the recent Silvaweld design with 48 per monoblock.

In the UK, the turntable market has been dominated for a number of years by Linn’s LP12 – now well-priced by audiophile standards. Many attempts have been made to produce and sell better and more costly models, but it turned out that a far higher price had to be paid to achieve a genuine sound improvement. Enter the French products of Pierre Lurné – a turntable lineup which has enjoyed success for some years on the continent, but has only recently become available here.

Our feature review series has been planned to include audiophile and flagship CD models, and that is certainly an accurate description of the magnificent-looking Yamaha CDX-10000. This forms a major component in a new series of limited edition audio separates which have been designed and built with virtually no concession to cost in celebration of Yamaha’s centenary. This covers the period 1887 to 1987, and the models are appropriately entitled the ‘Centennial Edition’.

If there’s one subject which arouses the ire of what designer and [HFN] contributor Ben Duncan calls the HLOs, (Hard-Line Objectivists) it’s hi-fi cables. And if there’s another, it’s the single-ended triode amplifier.

Appearances are almost always deceptive. Take Teac’s new £1300 VRDS-25. Here’s a CD player that looks rather like the established VRDS-10 and VRDS-7 [see below], featuring the CMK3 version of its VRDS transport with wafer-thin drawer mechanism, elegant orange-coloured display and basic range of onboard controls.