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Digital sources: Apple 27" iMac, 2017 w/3.8GHz Intel Core i5, running Roon 1.6 (build 416); Linksys router with Small Green Computer linear power supply; G-Technology external HDs and Linksys SSD USB sticks; Mytek Manhattan II D/A processor.
Loudspeakers: Dynaudio Focus 110A powered loudspeakers.
Cables: Digital: Nordost Valhalla 2 (USB), Wireworld Platinum Starlight CAT8, AudioQuest Diamond (Ethernet). Interconnect: Nordost Odin 2. AC: Nordost Valhalla & Odin 2.
Accessories: Nordost QB8 and QV2 AC power accessories; Nordost Sort Kones and…

Digital Sources: Apple 2017 MacBook Pro computer with 2.8 GHz Intel i7, SSD, 16GB RAM, running Roon; Apple iPad Pro.
Loudspeakers: Dynaudio Focus 200 XD powered loudspeaker system.
Cables: Digital: Nordost Odin 1 and 2 & Valhalla 2 (USB). AC: Nordost Odin 1 & 2, Valhalla 1.
Accessories: Dynaudio Stand 6 stands; Wavelink HS USB to S/PDIF converter; AudioQuest JitterBugs; Nordost QB8, QK1 & QV2 AC power accessories, QKore 1 & 3 with QKore Wires, Titanium Sort Kones; Tweek Geek Dark Matter Stealth power conditioner with High…

Wilson Audio Specialties Alexia V
($67,500/pair; reviewed by Jason Victor Serinus in Vol.46 No.1 review)

Finalists (in alphabetical order)
Harbeth Super Hl5plus XD ($7995/pair, plus stands; reviewed by Ken Micallef in Vol.46 No.9 review)
KEF LS60 Wireless ($6999.99/pair; reviewed by Kal Rubinson in Vol.46 No.3 review)
Klipsch La Scala AL5 ($13,198/pair; reviewed by Alex Halberstadt in Vol.46 No.4 review)
MoFi Electronics Sourcepoint 10 ($3699/pair, plus stands; reviewed by John Atkinson in Vol.46 No.2 & Ken Micallef in Vol.…

As soon as we got to the Denver Marriott Tech Center, the anxiety began. I am not normally an anxious mess, but this was a special occasion: I was about to attend my first major audio show, the Rocky Mountain Audio Festival 2016. (I did attend the 2015 New York Audio Show, but that doesn't compare to the size of RMAF—even taking into account this year's construction-induced compaction.)

AudioStream's Michael Lavorgna and I made the 50-minute ride from Boulder to…

With auto-bias, and three layers of fault sensing, the amps feature a shorter, faster and fully balanced negative feedback loop,…

In an intriguing, surprisingly short program, violist Rachel Yonan and pianist Kwan Yi mix three intentionally sparse "modern" pieces by Arvo Pärt and Sir James MacMillan with Robert Schumann's four far more effusive Märchenbilder (fairy tales). The contrasts are many, and the rewards are considerable.

Those rewards are enhanced by Daniel Shores's commitment to recording in DXD…

Years ago, Hyperion released a Planets that added Colin Matthews's "Pluto, " absent from Holst's suite. Since then, alas, Pluto was demoted. Now the Melbourne Symphony has issued its own Planets—distributed through a partnership with LSO Live—appending an "Earth" movement composed by Deborah Cheetham Fraillon…

The opening horn solo steps straightforwardly; the plaintive answering wind chorale picks up. The forte piano scales, brilliant and peremptory, propel the theme into a precipitate but firmly grounded tutti, setting things in motion. But it's a feint: Piemontesi and Honeck bring out the composer's lyrical, autumnal side. It's the quieter passages that linger in the mind's…

The popular Mendelssohn begins forthrightly but uneasily: The main lines ought to stand in sharper relief. As the harmonies become more conflicted, the sonority has nowhere to go. After a minute or so, everyone settles in, though the dry, unalluring tone remains a problem throughout. The players shift moods on a dime, with unmarked Luftpausen effectively separating the sections. The agitated development, wandering into…

I was unprepared for the easy, peaceful opening of the Park Avenue's Ninth, with its blended, coolly lyrical violins and focused lead horn. Within clear textures, Bernard shapes and tapers the short motifs to fine effect, and the clarinet makes a point of phrasing its countertheme "across the bars." The brief transitional passage unexpectedly injects an off-kilter dance lilt.

In the…