Cables for use with professional monitors

October 7, 2008

Editor,

I've contacted you because I want to know if you have any experience with professional powered monitors like those from Genelec, ATC, PMC and Adams. I am a high-end enthusiast, and right now I am listening with professional powered monitors. I bought a pair of Genelec 8050A two-way monitors, and I want to buy balanced interconnects and power cords for them. I usually consult the Audiogon forums, but unfortunately powered monitors are not so popular in the high-end world.

Pablo Hoffman

I have some distant experience with powered monitors, which have some inherent advantages over passive speakers, including the matching of the amplification to the crossover/driver combination and the crossovers' use of a line-level signal. In terms of cables to use with such speakers, two high-end brands come quickly to mind because these companies' products are used by musicians and in studios: Analysis Plus and Shunyata Research. Have a look at their product lines and pick the cables fit your budget. I have used both companies' products with great success....Marc Mickelson

Arcam & B&W?

October 6, 2008

To Doug Schneider,

I have just read your review of the Arcam FMJ A32 integrated amp. I found it excellent in terms of your detail and comparisons. I have been hanging on the balance for a little while now as to which way to go, and after reading your review I have opted for the A32. As in your review, I will be using the FMJ CD23 as my main amplifier. I wondered, though, if you have ever reviewed the B&W CDM9NT speakers. These are the speakers I will be using along with Nordost's Super Flatline Gold speaker cables. What do you think of this combination?

Steve Dryden

What continues to impress me most about the Internet is how often older reviews still get read. I wrote the review of the A32 over five years ago, and it's as easy to find now as it was when it was first published. You certainly don't have that luxury with print magazines. However, we don't write about everything -- and the B&W CDM9NT speakers fall into this category. In fact, to me, we don't have nearly enough reviews of the products, something that will change quite soon.

However, I can't see any reason why the A32 couldn't work well with the CDM9NTs. The current specs on the amp are that it can deliver 100Wpc into 8 ohms and 170Wpc into 4 ohms, and there's nothing untoward in the CDM9NT's design that would suggest a problem. The A32 should be able to drive those speakers quite well. Plus, one thing I recall about the A32 is how neutral and transparent it is -- basically, a clear view into the recording. Therefore, it shouldn't impart any sonic signature of its own and simply let the speakers do the talking -- er, "singing" is perhaps a better word.

That said, there's no guarantee that you're going to like the A32 -- everyone has his own tastes. But you should at least try it. If and when you do, please write back and let me know how it turned out....Doug Schneider

MP-3 Mk III phono loading

October 2, 2008

In Vade Forrester's review of the Atma-Sphere MP-3 Mk III, he states: "The default input impedance is 47k ohms, but if you screw resistors onto the terminal strip, they will replace the standard load."

Unless Ralph Karsten has started adding relays to the phono stage, these load resistors will not "replace" the 47K but rather parallel it. Given the relative low values of load resistors (for argument's sake, below 1K), this has the effect of reducing the input impedance to a value close to the load resistor.   The math is  Load=((47000 * load resistor value) / (47000 + load resistor value)).  The 47k ohms is always in the circuit.

Otherwise, thanks for another great issue.

Bob Rex

Thanks for pointing this out. You are correct -- the resistors are in parallel to the 47k-ohm load, which changes their actual value so little that this is essentially what the phono cartridge "sees." As Vade Forrester put it, "The important point is that you don't need to make any calculations; you should just pick a load resistor you want to use with the cartridge and the actual resistance won't be meaningfully different."...Marc Mickelson

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