I was surprised not only by the ease to the sound of my hi-rez audio files played on the system in the Wavelength room, but also by the resolution. Surprised, because I am not naturally a tube guy, and not only is Gordon Rankin's gear tubed, it is unshamedly single-ended.
The Wavelength system comprised the Crimson USB DAC ($7500, now available with 6H30 tubes and balanced, transformer-coupled outputs), the Royal 71A Directly Heated Triode line preamplifier ($7500), and a pair of 12W Cardinal 300B SET monoblocks ($8500/pair) driving Vaughan Zinfandel 3-way speakers ($4500–$6000/pair). The speakers were new to me, but use an 8" Fostex driver to cover most of the audio range, supplemented at the frequency extremes by a ribbon tweeter and a 12" woofer. Sensitivity is quoted as a
very high 97dB/W/m.
