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AXPONA NYC 2011

Steinway–Lyngdorf

John Atkinson Jun 26, 2011

After Peter Lyngdorf left Tact, he went into partnership with the Steinway piano company to make a line of expensive speakers aimed not at audiophiles but at well-heeled music lovers. I was impressed by what I heard of the first of this line, which incorporates Lyngdorf's RoomPerfect acoustic correction, when I auditioned it in Manhattan a couple of years back, so I wasn't surprised when Steve Guttenberg button-holed me and told to go listen in the SteinwayLyngdorf room at Axpona.

The S-Series subwoofer-satellite system ($22,100) was producing a big sound with the tiny satellites stood on a credenza against the wall behind them. Incorporating RoomPerfect correction, the speakers also use digital signal processing to produce a flat response, which Peter Lyngdorf explained allowed him to optimize the drive-units for maximum sensitivity. The two small subwoofers were placed in the room corners, with a crossover frequency (depending on the room correction necessary) around 200Hz

AXPONA NYC 2011

Steinway Lyngdorf—Small Speaker—Big Sound

John Atkinson Jun 26, 2011

Steinway-Lyngdorf's S-Series loudspeaker is tiny, at just 10.2" H by 7.8" W and 3.1" D. (My apologies for the grainy photo but the battery in my camera gave out and I had to resort to my iPhone 3GS for this shot.)

AXPONA NYC 2011

Get 'em Here!

John Atkinson Jun 26, 2011

As with other Shows, the New York Axpona was an opportunity for music-lovers to sock up on audiophile recordings. The Affinia's Hotel's mezzanine floor was packed with vendors, from HDTracks and Chesky on the left in my photograph to MA on the right. (That's MA's Todd Garfinkle, whose prowess as a recording engineer has little equal, on the right at the back. The gentleman in the green shirt with his back to the camera is none other than audio writer Steve Guttenberg, who both contributes to Stereophile and has an entertaining audio blog on CNet.

AXPONA NYC 2011

Cardas Clear—Unison—Opera

Art Dudley Jun 25, 2011

Cardas Audio used Axpona NY to introduce their new Clear cable line, with loudspeaker cables ranging in price from $1200 to $6000 for an 8' pair, and interconnects ranging from $695 to $1200 for a 1m pair. The cables at the top of that rangecalled Clear Beyondwere put to good use in a system comprising the Unison Research CDE CD player ($4000) and S6 integrated amplifier ($5000). The latter, which uses parallel single-ended EL-34s, seemed to be a lot of amp for the moneyand sounded fine driving a pair of Opera Grand Callas loudspeakers ($10,000/pair).

AXPONA NYC 2011

Davone Speakers & AMR Digital

Art Dudley Jun 25, 2011

The DP-77 D/A converter ($4995) from the English firm AMR that had impressed JA at the Atlanta Axpona in April made its New York debut at the Show, playing music files streamed from a German Purist NAS ($3000), with iPad-based controller software from the same firm. Amps were solid-state monoblocks from Absoluta (approximately $14,000/pair), and the loudspeakers were a fascinating design called the Ray ($6000/pair) from the Danish firm Davone, which are shown on the photo. The Ray is a two-way reflex-loaded speaker using coaxial driverit sounded amazingly well-balanced and musical in the smallish room. ASI room-tuning accessories were used throughout.

AXPONA NYC 2011

Audio Power Labs 833TNT amplifier

Art Dudley Jun 25, 2011

Axpona New York, held at Manhattan's Affinia Hotel opposite Madison Square Garden June 2425, was my daughter Julia's first audio Show. She and I followed the sound of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young singing "Déjà Vu"more real music!to the Empire Room, where Wharfedale Airedale loudspeakers were being driven by monoblock amps from a new company called Audio Power Labs. Each 833TNT amplifier uses a pair of 833 transmitter tubes, operated in push-pull and driven by a 6550 pentode. Inter-stage transformers take the place of coupling capacitors, and replacement tubes are said to be plentifuland reasonably cheap, at about $175 each. The 833TNT itself, which delivers 200W, costs a bit more than that, though: approximately $175,000/pair.

News

Stereophile Galleries Open

Jon Iverson Jun 23, 2011

As photographer Lewis Hine once said, "If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn't need to lug around a camera."

Which is why, though it took longer than expected, the Stereophile Galleries are back online. You can once again check out reader's listening rooms, live music shots, photos from Stereophile's past and present, and more.

Anybody can post a photo into one of the categories. Sign up for a free account and upload away. If you already have an account, log in and you'll see the "Upload Photos" button at the top right on every gallery page.

Photos can be sorted by various criteria, and rated whether you are logged in or not. We encourage readers to sort their photos into the various categories, but you can also see all of the pictures in any individual member's gallery by clicking on their name under one of their photos. If you want to see your own gallery from any page on the site, log in and look for the "My Gallery" link in the log in area.

Click here to take a look and add some audiophile art of your own.

Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Linn Majik 140 loudspeaker

Robert J. Reina Jun 21, 2011

In the May 2009 issue, I gushed over the performance of Linn Products' remarkable little bookshelf speaker, the Majik 109 ($1590/pair). In particular, I was struck by how I'd never heard any speaker at any price whose high frequencies sounded more natural, detailed, or pure than the 109's. Then, wondering what a pricier Linn speaker might sound like in my system, I asked Linn which was their most expensive model that also incorporates the 2K tweeter-supertweeter array used in the Majik 109. The answer: the floorstanding Majik 140 ($2995/pair). Once I'd worked through my reviewing backlog, two 140s were on their way to my listening den.

Digital Processor Reviews

Bel Canto e.One DAC3.5VB D/A converter

Erick Lichte Jun 21, 2011

Minnesota pride is a funny thing. As Garrison Keillor points out weekly on A Prairie Home Companion, to be a Minnesotan, the first and crucial step to be taken is that of self-effacement. It is unclear to me whether this is the cause or symptom of Minnesotans ability to endure brutal winters, excel at the creation and consumption of hot dish (which the rest of the God-fearing world knows as casseroles), or their miraculous lineage from generations of Norwegian bachelor farmers. Whatever it is, Minnesotans tend to quietly get their jobs done with little more fanfare than a cup of coffee and a slice of rhubarb pie.

Stephen Mejias

When Saints Go Machine: Konkylie

Stephen Mejias Jun 21, 2011

If Fleet Foxes were to trade their acoustic guitars for synthesizers and drum machines, move from the grassy fields to the dance clubs, and lighten up a bit, they might sound something like When Saints Go Machine. The Danish four-piece’s debut album, Konkylie, is an alluring mix of pure pop, misshapen chamber, and electronic music. It is odd, lovely, infectious, and confounding&#151and I keep coming back to it.