LOUDSPEAKERS: Does the Totem Mani-2 still rate as one of the ...
LOUDSPEAKERS: Does the Totem Mani-2 still rate as one of the ...
LOUDSPEAKERS: Does the Totem Mani-2 still rate as one of the ...
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familiar with many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> audiophile magazines,<br />
and I think yours is <strong>the</strong> most objective<br />
and informative <strong>of</strong> all <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m. It makes me<br />
proud to know that such a great magazine<br />
comes from Canada.<br />
Now on to <strong>the</strong> CEC DA53 converter.<br />
After reading your review in UHF No. 72,<br />
I purch<strong>as</strong>ed a DA53 and it is very good. As<br />
you noted in your review, it certainly adds<br />
punch to CDs. Like you, I w<strong>as</strong> most interested<br />
in its versatility and particularly its ability<br />
to be used with an iPod.<br />
The only problem is that I haven’t been<br />
able to figure out how to connect it to <strong>the</strong><br />
iPod. I would <strong>still</strong> like to know how you guys<br />
connected an iPod to <strong>the</strong> DA 53.<br />
John Lorito<br />
OAKVILLE, ON<br />
In fact, John, we jumped <strong>the</strong> gun on<br />
<strong>the</strong> question <strong>of</strong> connecting <strong>the</strong> iPod to a<br />
DAC. We had no difficulty connecting<br />
our computer to <strong>the</strong> DA53, and we made<br />
<strong>the</strong> <strong>as</strong>sumption that, since <strong>the</strong> iPod can<br />
connect to a USB network, <strong>the</strong> two were<br />
made to go toge<strong>the</strong>r. That doesn’t appear<br />
to be true.<br />
4 ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine<br />
But we haven’t given up. We have<br />
talked with two accessory companies<br />
(<strong>one</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m Griffin, which brings out<br />
clever iPod accessories almost daily)<br />
about making an adapter to get pure<br />
digital from <strong>the</strong> iPod. We know <strong>the</strong><br />
signal’s in <strong>the</strong>re, and it appears that<br />
<strong>the</strong>re’s at le<strong>as</strong>t <strong>one</strong> device, Apple’s penny<br />
dreadful “iPod Hi-Fi,” that can get<br />
access to it. We hope to crack <strong>the</strong> secret,<br />
and we’ll let you know how we do.<br />
If <strong>the</strong> Cambridge DiscMagic/DACMagic<br />
are a matching pair, why is <strong>the</strong> DAC input<br />
limited to coax BNC, when <strong>the</strong> transport h<strong>as</strong><br />
an XLR output?<br />
Fur<strong>the</strong>rmore: this may be relevant (it’s<br />
from Audio Asylum):<br />
Join <strong>the</strong> two “hot” wires from <strong>the</strong> AES<br />
plug side into <strong>the</strong> single “hot” on <strong>the</strong> RCA<br />
side. Keep ground on AES to ground on <strong>the</strong><br />
RCA side. It works but is not ideal, <strong>as</strong> an<br />
AES cable needs to be 110 ohm impedance<br />
and an SPDIF (coax) is 75 ohms. Be aware<br />
that <strong>the</strong> SPDIF digital signal is a +0.5 v to<br />
-0.5 v signal and an AES signal is +5.0 v to<br />
-5.0 v, but this should not be an issue, because<br />
most DACs wont bo<strong>the</strong>r about this..<br />
<strong>Does</strong> <strong>the</strong> above DIY make any sense,<br />
or is <strong>the</strong> transformer to match impedance<br />
absolutely necessary, if not advisable?<br />
James Tay<br />
TORONTO, ON<br />
The Audio Asylum instructions you<br />
quote for matching a balanced output to<br />
an unbalanced input won’t work, James,<br />
and it’s obvious on <strong>the</strong> face <strong>of</strong> it. Mix<br />
toge<strong>the</strong>r a positive voltage and a negative<br />
voltage <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> same value, and what<br />
do you get? Zilch. Whoever posted this<br />
h<strong>as</strong>n’t tried it, or else loves <strong>the</strong> sound <strong>of</strong><br />
silence.<br />
If you want to try a more rational<br />
method for adapting balanced to unbalanced,<br />
<strong>the</strong>se are <strong>the</strong> pin readouts: pin 1<br />
is ground, pin 2 is “hot” or positive and<br />
pin 3 is negative (it’s <strong>the</strong> inverted version<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> signal on pin 2). However <strong>the</strong>re is<br />
absolutely no point in using <strong>the</strong> balanced<br />
input or output on <strong>one</strong> comp<strong>one</strong>nt unless<br />
<strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r comp<strong>one</strong>nt is also balanced.<br />
We should also add that a lot <strong>of</strong> “balanced”<br />
comp<strong>one</strong>nts are not balanced at<br />
all, because <strong>the</strong> go<strong>of</strong>s who designed <strong>the</strong>m<br />
don’t understand what balancing is or<br />
what it’s for. And if “balancing” h<strong>as</strong> been<br />
accomplished by adding an extra circuit,<br />
perhaps an op amp chip, you can guess<br />
what <strong>the</strong> result will be.<br />
I have been reading your reviews on two<br />
integ<strong>rate</strong>d amplifiers, <strong>the</strong> Copland CTA-<br />
405 and <strong>the</strong> Audiomat Opéra, and <strong>the</strong>y both<br />
seem like <strong>the</strong>y <strong>of</strong>fer a lot <strong>of</strong> refinement for <strong>the</strong><br />
m<strong>one</strong>y. Could you ple<strong>as</strong>e guide me towards<br />
<strong>the</strong> best sounding <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> two regardless <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
price difference?<br />
I also noted that in both your reviews on<br />
<strong>the</strong>se amplifiers <strong>the</strong>re w<strong>as</strong> a moment where<br />
<strong>the</strong>y seemed to sound more enjoyable than<br />
<strong>the</strong> reference system, and on that particular<br />
note it seems that <strong>the</strong> Copland definitely had<br />
<strong>the</strong> edge over <strong>the</strong> Opéra at sounding better<br />
than <strong>the</strong> reference system. Is it possible that<br />
<strong>the</strong> Copland 405 is better than <strong>the</strong> Opéra?<br />
Ple<strong>as</strong>e help me buy ei<strong>the</strong>r <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se <strong>as</strong> to <strong>the</strong><br />
best sounding amplifier <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> two.<br />
Laurent Shriqui<br />
MONTRÉAL, QC<br />
You aren’t <strong>the</strong> first to <strong>as</strong>k this, Laurent.<br />
We should explain that <strong>the</strong> two<br />
amplifiers were not reviewed on <strong>the</strong> same