LATEST ADDITIONS

The models in Dynaudio’s Focus series are available in high-gloss white or black, walnut, maple, rosewood, or black ash. From left: Focus 160 ($2900/pair), Focus 260 ($4900/pair), Focus 340 ($7500/pair), Focus 380 ($9500/pair).

These new models include Dynaudio’s updated drive units as well as revised crossover designs and enhanced cabinet construction. Their soft-dome tweeters utilize an improved coating, while the midrange drivers and woofers use new voice-coil assemblies and sound-optimized, die-cast aluminum driver baskets.

The speakers in Dynaudio’s new Confidence Signature line come with a 10-year warranty and take their premium Mocha or Bordeaux finishes from the limited-edition Sapphire.

From left: C1 Signature ($8500/pair), C2 Signature ($15,000/pair), C4 Signature ($22,000/pair).

Read Wes Phillips' review of the original C1 and John Atkinson's review of the original C4.

T+A’s E-Series Music Receiver is a machine.

It combines the company’s Power Plant and Music Player to provide 160Wpc (“Full-grown amplification to drive even low impedances....”), while combining a CD player, 32-bit/384kHz Sigma Delta DAC, FM tuner, five digital inputs, three analog inputs, a powerful streaming client board for accessing all sorts of music files, and a bunch of other stuff I wasn’t quick enough to write down.

Badass. I would let this thing receive my music any day.

Rosemarie walked by, ran her fingers through her thick brown hair, made a joke about “T and A,” and sent this 1000W T+A M10 monoblock (€9990) into a frenzy.

The girl is a hazard to hi-fi.

Wednesday, May 25 (yikes, that's tomorrow!), 5–9pm: Stereo Exchange (627 Broadway, Manhattan) will host a “Music Matters” event with Stereophile’s Michael Fremer.

Peachtree Audio, BelCanto, Amarra, Wisdom Audio, Simaudio, Transparent Audio, Meridian, and Vienna Acoustics will demonstrate their equipment. Learn how to get great sound from the digital devices you already own. Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres will be served. (Who can ask for anything more?)

This is definitely going to be a fun evening, and I hope to see you there!

Brinkmann's 9.6 tonearm ($3990) resembles the German company's longer, more expensive 10.5 and 12.1 arms, which in turn resemble the legendary Breuer. The new arm includes the same headshell, armtube, mounting socket, and cueing device used in the other arms. The bearing system differs, though the Swiss-made ball bearings are identical.

While the more expensive arms use traditional fixed-gimbal bearings, the 9.6 has a unipivot-like construction for the horizontal bearing. The weighted arm housing sits on a small ball that rests on a pivot, also as in a typical unipivot design. A second ball at the bottom of the housing prevents "arm lean," but since the arm's weight rests on the top ball, the lower one isn't critical, and I could feel some play when I handled the arm. Vertical arm motion is effected via a second pair of captured bearings. This arrangement allowed the use of less costly parts and kept the price down, Brinkmann says. The arm's effective length is 248mm (231.5 from pivot to spindle, plus 16.5mm of overhang), while its effective mass, referenced to the center position of the headshell slot, is 12gm.

Kal reviews the Yamaha Aventage BD-A1000 universal Blu-ray player and remarks "a sharp-looking, great-sounding machine that will play any extant digital format well. It sounded better in my better system, where I could really relish its low-frequency performance." He also takes a listen to the Meridian 861 Reference v6 Digital Surround Controller and ponders "how to reconcile the internal complexity of Meridian's 861 Reference v6 with the disarming purity of the sounds it reproduces?"