Typical of the booth exhibits at AXPONA was Audeze's, allowing hands-on listening.
A wall of Clearaudio…
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A half-hour after the show opened (held today, tomorrow, and Sunday at the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel, 1551 Thoreau Drive North, Schaumburg, IL), this was the scene in front of the seminar center, where a presentation on Room EQ Wizard was about to start. With well over 160 exhibit and listening rooms and another 80 booths, and what must be every dealer in Illinois participating, this is the biggest consumer audio show to be held in the US in quite a while.
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: dCS Rossini Apex DAC and Vivaldi Master Clock; Innuos Statement NextGen Music Server; Uptone Audio EtherRegen, AfterDark Giesemann Emperor Double Crown Master Clock, and Nordost QNet Ethernet Switch, all powered by Nordost QSource linear power supplies (2); Synology 5-bay 1019+ NAS, Small Green Computer Sonore Deluxe opticalModule, Linksys mesh router and Arris modem, all powered by HDPlex 300 linear power supply; Apple 2017 iPad Pro and 2017 MacBook Pro laptop with 2.8GHz Intel i7, SSD, 16GB RAM.
Preamplifier: Dan D'Agostino Momentum…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: dCS Rossini SACD/CD transport, Rossini DAC, and Rossini Clock; Synology 5-bay 1019+ NAS, Roon Nucleus+ music server, Uptone Audio etherRegen, Small Green Computer Sonore opticalModules (2) and Deluxe opticalModule, Linksys routers (2), and Arris modem, all powered by HDPlex 300 four-component linear power supplies (3) and HDPlex 200 LPS; Apple 2017 iPad Pro and 2017 Macbook Pro laptop with 2.8 GHz Intel i7, SSD, 16GB RAM.
Preamplifier: Dan D'Agostino Momentum HD.
Power amplifiers: Wilson Audio Specialties Alexia 2 with Acoustic…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: dCS Rossini SACD/CD transport, Rossini DAC, and Rossini Clock; Roon Nucleus+ server; Uptone Audio etherRegen with AfterDark Giesemann Emperor Double Crown Master Clock; Small Green Computer Sonore opticalModules (2) and Deluxe opticalModule; Linksys routers (2) and Arris modem, all powered by HDPlex 300 four-component (3) and HDPlex 200 linear power supplies. Apple 2017 iPad Pro and 2017 MacBook Pro with 2.8 GHz Intel i7, SSD, 16GB RAM.
Preamplifier: Dan D'Agostino Momentum HD.
Power amplifiers: Dan D'Agostino Progression M550…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: dCS Rossini SACD/CD transport, Rossini DAC, and Rossini Clock; Synology 5-bay 1019+ NAS, Roon Nucleus+ music server, Small Green Computer Sonore opticalModules (2) and Deluxe opticalModule, Uptone Audio EtherRegen with AfterDark Giesemann Emperor Double Crown Master Clock, Linksys routers (2), and Arris modem, all powered by HDPlex 300 four-component linear power supplies (3) and HDPlex 200 LPS; Apple 2017 iPad Pro and 2017 Macbook Pro laptop with 2.8GHz Intel i7, SSD, 16GB RAM.
Preamplifiers: Dan D'Agostino Momentum HD, darTZeel NHB-…
Jodie Devos: And Love Said...
Jodie Devos, soprano; Nicolas Krüger, piano.
Alpha 668 (24/96 WAV), 2020. Guido Tichelman, prod.; Tichelman and Bastiaan Kuijt, engs.
Performance *****
Sonics ****
Jodie Devos, soprano; Nicolas Krüger, piano.
Alpha 668 (24/96 WAV), 2020. Guido Tichelman, prod.; Tichelman and Bastiaan Kuijt, engs.
Performance *****
Sonics ****
Once you hear Belgian soprano Jodie Devos's exceptionally sincere, impeccably phrased, decidedly down-to-earth rendition of Freddie Mercury's "You Take My Breath Away," you'll know why I'm reviewing And Love Said... Mercury's ballad may be the outlier on this personal, 25-track collection of English-language songs by composers from Belgium, England, and France, but it exemplifies…
Béla Bartók: String Quartets Nos.1, 3 & 5
Jerusalem Quartet
Harmonia Mundi HMM902240 (CD). 2020. Martin Sauer, prod.; Julian Schwenkner, Thomas Bössl, engs.
Performance ****
Sonics ****
Jerusalem Quartet
Harmonia Mundi HMM902240 (CD). 2020. Martin Sauer, prod.; Julian Schwenkner, Thomas Bössl, engs.
Performance ****
Sonics ****
Bartók's string quartets trace the composer's stylistic evolution from rhyth-mically fluid dissonance to a more aggressive, fragmented idiom, taking in musical gestures that, through overuse and in lesser hands, would later become new-music clichés. Interpretively, the Jerusalem Quartet has the full measure of these scores, pivoting across their tricky rhythmic scansions with assurance…
With his Renaissance Edition components, Red Wine Audio’s Vinnie Rossi says he aimed to fuse traditional and modern design elements. The battery-powered Signature 16 integrated amplifier ($1995) has a beautiful real wood chassis and a chrome top plate held in place with simple thumbscrews for easy access to the tubes inside. The amp is rated to deliver 16Wpc into 8 ohms.
Partnered here with the Renaissance Edition Bellina Pro battery-powered DAC ($2495), which offers a choice of 16/44.1 or 24/192 playback, and driving a pair of Harbeth Monitor 30.1 loudspeakers, the Signature 16 helped…
When I reread my February “As We See It,” Music? Or Sound?, my first thoughts about a piece I had written a while ago were: (1) I wish I’d devoted less space to telling the story and more to expanding upon my thesis; and (2) I’m afraid that my motivation will be misconstrued. Indeed, the flurry of furious comments makes clear that I failed to make the best case for my argument.
I regret that, to some, I came off as arrogant or condescending. It’s not that I have a golden ear; rather, I’ve had sufficient experience with the particular performers and compositions in the recordings used at…
While John Atkinson, Jason Victor Serinus, and many more of our friends and colleagues prepare for Axpona in Chicago, where they’ll face what we all hope is this winter’s last frigid gasp, I’ve got my eyes set on this summer’s Pitchfork Music Festival, to be held Friday–Sunday, July 19–21, at Chicago’s Union Park.
I hear it's gonna be hot.
Tickets are on sale now, with single-day passes priced at $50 and three-day passes selling for an attractively discounted $120. But, taking into consideration the outstanding headliners and the well-rounded initial lineup, I suspect most music…