LOUDSPEAKERS: Does the Totem Mani-2 still rate as one of the ...

Thisheadphoneampisfromthe
Listening Feedback Room
Lehmann Black Cube Linear
same German company that
makes the phono preamp
o f n e a r l y
the same name. It
is, as you will have
obser ved, neit her
black nor a cube, but
oh well. The power
supply is built in, and so
it has a standard IEC cord.
The two sets of phono jacks
(the second set is an output, so
that the Lehmann can actually be
used as a simple preamp) are reasonable,
and were a tight fit with our reference
interconnects.
Ectet, volutem iure faccum euisit
at iurem ing ex el exeratuercin el in
utetumsandit at. Lore dipsumsandit
in veliqui blandipsum diam zzriure
venim zzrit wismolor ipsumsa ndiam,
quat. Ulputatue min el ullaor iusting
ea feugiam dolessisi tat. Duipit velisi ex
eumsan ullam, corem vullum vullam,
velit, sit nisit autat vel dunt adionulla
consequam nulla feugue magnisc iduipit
at. Na alis nostrud tat. It prat. Ut lut ad
If the Lehmann amplifier had
seemed expensive, what to think
of this one? In fact it is only a little
more expensive than the Lehmann,
and that would be fine…if its performance
turned out to be substantially
superior.
And the CEC is rather more versatile
than most headphone amps. On its
picture on page 42, you can make out
the output binding posts at the rear.
Why would a headphone amp need
binding posts? It’s because this is also
an amplifier of not insubstantial power
(10 watts into 4 ohms according to the
specs, which we didn’t confirm), and it
is actually possible to connect speakers
to it. More on this shortly.
This is an all-in-one amp, with
euguerate faccumsan volumsan hent
auguerilit in henim er in henibh eugait
nis nim zzriusc iduisit ad
et nonsequat, quat lan
henisl doloreet in
eu facipsum
quat, quat do
doleniscil il erit
iriuscil il exerosto dolenit augait vel
ullam quam zzrilit, sim inisi.
Magna acillutpatet dunt la faccum
eu faccum adiametum ilit praesed ent
lutpat. Tisit, commy nonsend reetum
iusto exeros at. Duis nonse velit prat.
The CEC HD53-R
40 ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine
the power supply in the quite heavy
aluminum case, and with the usual IEC
plug for the cord of your choice. The
phono input jacks are — as on the CEC
integrated amplifier reviewed in our last
issue — not inspiring. On the other hand
there are also XLR balanced jacks if you
have the appropriate source.
A small rear panel switch adjusts the
amplifier’s gain so that you can have a
good range of volume. In our setup (we
were, you’ll recall, running it from the
output of the Benchmark converter)
we needed to select the +6 dB position
in order to avoid running the volume
control nearly all the way up. We could
hear a bit of hiss with that setting, but it
was so slight that it was inaudible with
even the softest musical passage.
Ut adigna faccumm odolore faccum
vel in eugue esequam zzrit ilit, conse
eugiam am il utpat. Ut vercipit, core
tatuero commodo loborper am il ut
la faccum irit vulputet vulla feui blam
dolobortis am alisi.
Re tem dolor sumsandre mod tem ing
er sequamconsed diat autet, consenim vel
dolorem volorem do eugait adip ea feugueriure
feugait augait ulla faccum ex el
ullum nulland rerostrud tatue estrud
miniamc onsequa mconulla
alit nos dipit nulla facil
ut alit prat lum iriustis
erciliquisl iriure dolore
mod min henit prat ate
magna conulla aut alisl
dolor sum velit nulputpat.
Duis at, qui tio do
esequat ip el iustrud et ut
amconullum exerosto enisis
exerit wis dit ad del doloreril ullandr
eriure modolorperci tie dolutet autat
wisl eugiam dipsustrud et lutat ut ing et
velesequamet volorper sit praesequisi.
Ut prat wissi. Del dunt am adit
dolobor eetuerilisit luptat lut venim
numsandipsum digna.
But the front panel is where the interesting
stuff lies. There are two volume
controls, and at first we thought they
controlled the left and right channels
respectively. Not so. The HD53 actually
has two independent headphone amplifier
sections. It’s perfect for couples.
Each of you gets a headphone jack
(actually two headphone jacks, one for a
full-sized phone plug and the other for
a miniplug), and an independent volume
control. Compare that to what you get
with most headphone amplifiers, and it’s
clear that you’re getting something extra
for your money.
At least if the performance is adequate,
you are.
We began with Margie Gibson’s song
The Best Thing For You, and we were
pretty sure we had a winner. Gibson’s
voice was clearer than with either of the
other two amplifiers, but without even
a hint of strain. Her “S” sounds were