“Last reviewed in Winter 92, this small speaker has since set a kind of standard for its size, as well as being the progenitor of a line
of compact speakers notable for their bass extension. Hallmarks of the Totem Model One are veneer on both inside and outside of
the cabinet (to equalize interior stresses in the wood; see the Linn review), “multilayer borosilicate damping” inside the enclosure, “lock mitre cabinet joints”, a “full plane crossbrace for extreme rigidity and increased damping”, and WBT 5-way terminals…”
“It was four years ago that the notion that all electronics, or at least, all amplifiers sound pretty similar was given a major jolt by a component. Not that I’ve ever thought this, but as products improved, they did start to sound more similar, if, indeed, they were more accurate reproducers of the signal fed into them. But the component that made me sit up and listen once again was the YBA Integre, a 50-wpc integrated amplifier of utter simplicity, made almost completely (that is, most of the internal components are created in-house) by Yves Bernard Andre of France…”
Since the new BP-25 preamplifier is in many respects identical to the BP-20 (Smr 94), this will be a quite short review. The new version differs mainly in its provision of a remote control, and comes in both phono and non-phono versions.
Highlights Include: Special Feature Review: Carver Research Lightstar & Bob Carver’s Sunfire amplifiers compared, YBA Integré DT, Bryston BP-25 preamp, Linn AV 5140, Apogee Centaurus Ribbon Monitor, TASCAM DA-P1 Portable DAT recorder, Arcam Delta 250 Transport/Black Box 500 DAC, KEF 60S satellite, 80C centre channel & 30B subwoofer, Wireworld Interconnect Comparator, Teknasonic C-10 and C-12 Vibration Absorber, and much more….
