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Budget Component Reviews Solid State Preamp Reviews

Superphon Revelation preamplifier

Sam Tellig, Anthony H. Cordesman Sep 08, 2016

Superphon's Revelation Basic preamplifier is made by Stan Warren, formerly the "S" of PS Audio, so it should come as no surprise that the Revelation Basic and the PS Audio Source sound much alike. The Revelation Basic sells for $399, assembled (no kit available). Like the Source, the Revelation has an outboard AC power transformer to minimize hum problems. But unlike the Source, the Revelation has dual volume controls (a pain) and lacks moving-coil capability.

Jana Dagdagan

Two Press Conference Experiences

Jana Dagdagan Sep 06, 2016

Photo: Michael Lavorgna

Experience 1
On August 25, 2016, John Atkinson, Michael Lavorgna, and I attended an event at Battery Studios, Sony's Manhattan-based music production facility.

The event itself was very personal, as we three were the only non-Sony people present at this particular session. (There were multiple sessions held that day.) We were introduced to Sony's latest hi-res personal audio productsthe "Signature Series," which consists of the MDR-Z1R headphones $2199.99), NW-WM1Z ($3199.99) and NW-WM1A Walkman players, and the TA-ZH1ES headphone amplifier ($2199.99).

As We See It J. Gordon Holt

The Moment of Truth

J. Gordon Holt Sep 06, 2016

Well, it's that time. The time of reckoning, the moment of truth. It's renewal time.

Most of you have noticed the hyphenated numbers on your address labels, and most of you guessed what they were: Expiration codes. If your label has a 1-12 number on it (or no hyphenated code at all), the next issue of The Stereophile, Issue Number 12 [published in September 1966Ed.], will be the last one that will arrive on your present subscription.

Audacious Audio Headphone Reviews J. Gordon Holt

Koss ESP-9 electrostatic Headphones

J. Gordon Holt Sep 06, 2016

The top-of-the-line model from America's leading headphone manufacturer, these are bulky, heavy, very business-like in appearance, and very, very good.

The ESP-9 is dual-powered: from the AC line, or from the input signal itself, The power supply is rather large and heavy, and appropriate in appearance to the phones. Amplifier connections are via wires with spade lugs attached, and speaker connections are made to the rear of the power supply. A front-panel switch selects speaker or headphone operation, and terminates the amplifier outputs with 10 ohms in the Phones position.

Construction is typically top-of-the-line Koss: Rugged, nicely finished, and apparently very durable, and the phones are easy to handle. (Many headphones are so loosely pivoted on their headbands that they swing into impossible positions whenever you pick them up.)

News

KEF, Nordost, Moon Event in Charlotte, NC Thursday

Stereophile Staff Sep 03, 2016

Thursday, September 8, Liquid HiFi (11915 Royal Castle Court, Charlotte, NC 28277) will be demonstrating products at the Providence Country Club (6001 Providence Country Club Drive, Charlotte, NC 28277) from KEF, Nordost and Simaudio. Attendees will be treated to demonstrations featuring the new KEF Reference Three speakers, Simaudio Moon Evolution electronics, and Nordost cabling. In addition to scheduled demonstrations, guests will also enjoy giveaway items, hors d'oeuvres, beverages and will be entered into a raffle drawing to win a KEF Muo Bluetooth speaker and $500 worth of Nordost products.

Jason Victor Serinus

Anna Netrebko: Verismo, At What Price?

Jason Victor Serinus Sep 02, 2016

It's shocking to go from the sound of soprano Anna Netrebko's voice on her first DG recital of Opera Arias to that on her latest disc, Verismo. The earlier disc, recorded in March, 2003 when Netrebko was 32, showcases a true, shining lyric soprano whose vocal production is absolutely smooth. Over 12 years later, when Netrebko recorded Verismo between July 2015 and June 2016, her weightier low range lacks shine, and her stronger and sometimes wider vibrato occasionally shows signs of a beat.

Music in the Round Subwoofer Reviews

Music in the Round #80

Kalman Rubinson Sep 01, 2016

In January, I reviewed JL Audio's Fathom f113v2 subwoofer (footnote 1), which features, among other improvements over the original Fathom f113, a better multiband equalizer. The significance of this relates to the great influence exerted by room dimensions and acoustics on a loudspeaker's performance.

The matter of room acoustics itself relates to the Schroeder frequency: a transition point, usually between 200 and 300Hz above which a room will exhibit a high density of reflections that are analyzed statistically, and below which that room will display a limited number of discrete modal reflections. (Thus, it should not to be confused with the number of times that Beethoven's music appears in Charles Schulz's comic strip "Peanuts.")

Features J. Gordon Holt

Tish, Boom, Awwk! Loudspeakers at the 1985 CES

J. Gordon Holt Sep 01, 2016

There were no surprises, innovations, or breakthrough designs in loudspeakers at the 1985 Summer Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago. By and large, those on display were nothing more than refinements of, or variations on, previous speaker designs. Of course, there's nothing the matter with that; any improvement in a product is a step in the right direction. It merely perpetuates the pattern of the past ten years: evolution but no revolution.

Digital Processor Reviews Headphone Reviews

Moon by Simaudio Neo 230HAD D/A headphone amplifier

Herb Reichert Aug 30, 2016

I am a lucky person. Who gets to be an artist, an aspiring griot, and a Stereophile reporter? Who gets to stay at home in paint-smeared pajamas, draw pictures of teapots and barn owls . . . and then, on top of everything, gets paid to listen to music made by Henryk Szeryng, Eugene Hütz, and Winston Reedy? C'est moi!

I have groovy friends, too: other eccentric artists, scruffy musicians, recording and mastering engineers, beekeepers, authors and editors, art and junk collectors, tube wizards, turntable savants, DJs, Mensa-type amp designers, bat-shit-crazy poet-philosophers, and unrepentant hoarders.

Solid State Power Amp Reviews

Audio Alchemy DPA-1M monoblock power amplifier

Robert Deutsch Aug 30, 2016

To those who were into audio in the late 1980s and early '90s, the name Audio Alchemy is a familiar one. I've owned DACs and jitter-reducing devices made by Audio Alchemy and Perpetual Technologies (the first successor to the original AA) and found them to provide excellent performance at modest prices. Indeed, at the time, many in the industry felt that the Audio Alchemy products were underpriced, leaving too little room for profit, and that this led to the company's demise. The new Audio Alchemyled by its original designer, Peter Madnick, and having on staff other employees from the old AAis what Madnick describes as a "grown-up" version of the original company, maintaining "the brand's original ethos of superior technology and value." And the prices, while quite reasonable for the performance they seem to offer, appear high enough to allow the new AA to survive.