Analog Sources: Continuum Audio Labs Caliburn, Kuzma Reference XL, Metronome Gaia turntables; Continuum Audio Labs Cobra, Graham Phantom, Kuzma Airline tonearms; Lyra Titan (stereo & mono), Lyra Skala, Air Tight PC-1 cartridges.
Digital Sources: Musical Fidelity kW DM25 DAC & transport, BPT-modified Alesis Masterlink hard-disk recorder.
Preamplification: Manley Steelhead, ASR Basis Exclusive phono preamplifiers, Musical Fidelity kWP preamplifier.
Power Amplifier: Musical Fidelity kW monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Wilson Audio Specialties…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I tested the Naim CD555 from its RCA jacks. The maximum output level was 2.04V RMS and the player preserved absolute polarity; ie, was non-inverting. The error correction was good, though not in the same league as the best players I have measured; the CD555 produced audible glitches when the gaps in the data spiral on the Pierre Verany test CD reached 1mm in length. The Naim ran very slight fast, with a positive frequency error of 286 parts per million (0.03%), though this is not enough to be audible as a pitch error.
The player's output impedance was very…
Art Dudley wrote about the Naim CD555 in October 2007 (Vol.30 No.10):
As recently as two weeks ago, I was moved close to tears by a lo-fi recording—Martin Newell's "I Will Haunt Your Room"—played over the standard-equipment CD player in my 2001 Subaru. As recently as five days ago, I was bored out of my underpants by the same song played through a $3500 CD player, a $6000 integrated amplifier, ca $2000 loudspeakers, and various tarted-up cables. The total cost exceeded the current used value of my car, whose ability to do more than just play music requires little in the way of discussion…
Is a high-end music server the audio equivalent of polishing a turd?
I've been hearing this put-down since I first became an advocate for digitally stored audio almost five years ago. At first, the argument was that computers had no place in a listening room. Wireless music servers took care of that argument. Then the big—and valid—concern was lossy-compressed formats, but ever-cheaper digital storage made uncompressed and losslessly compressed storage a slam dunk.
Well, said the still-unconverted, you can't argue that high-end DACs don't perform better than the cents-…
It's far from original to observe that a satisfying audio component will send you scrambling through your record collection with a huge grin on your face, but that's what the Transporter did—only, thanks to how easy it made searching through my organized digital archive, I didn't have much scrambling to do. There was barely a slip between thought and deed.
Of course, as a hardworking audiophile, being merely content wasn't on the agenda—at least not for long—so I compared the files I'd ripped to my Apple G5 PowerMac, played through my network and the Transporter, with the CDs I'd ripped…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: WiFi (802.11g) and/or Ethernet-connected D/A processor with digital-domain volume control (range-adjusted with resistor jumpers). Digital inputs: TosLink, coaxial, BNC, AES/EBU, word-clock (BNC). Digital outputs: TosLink, coaxial, BNC, AES/EBU. Analog outputs, 1 pair each: RCA, balanced XLR. Operating systems supported: Mac OS X 10.3 or later; 733MHz Pentium running Windows NT/2000/XP; Linux/BSD/Solaris/Perl 5.8.3 or later. Sample rates supported: 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 96kHz. Audio formats supported: linear PCM, 16 or 24 bits/sample. Maximum output levels…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Source: Ayre C-5xe universal player, Musical Fidelity X-DACV3.
Preamplifiers: Ayre K-1xe, Krell Evolution 202.
Power Amplifiers: Ayre MX-R, Krell Evolution 600 (both monoblocks).
Loudspeakers: Dynaudio Confidence C4, Vandersteen Quatro Signature.
Cables: Digital: Stereovox XV2. Interconnect: Krell CAST, Shunyata Research Aries. Speaker: Shunyata Research Lyra, Stereovox Firebird. AC: Shunyata Research Anaconda & Orion.
Accessories: Audience adeptResponse power conditioner; Ayre L5 AC line filter; Furutech eTP60 power distributor…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
All the measurements were performed on the replacement Transporter with its volume control set to its maximum and its internal attenuation set to 0dB. The source signals for almost all the measurements were 16-bit and 24-bit data files accessed from a Mac mini running the necessary SlimServer software via my WiFi network. The 16-bit files were Apple Lossless, the 24-bit files were AIF. Some measurements were repeated using a TosLink optical connection from a PC fitted with an RME soundcard. The Transporter successfully handled files with 44.1kHz, 48kHz, and 96kHz…
One of the engrossing and rewarding things about the study of history is that, every now and then, someone comes up with a plausible solution to a historical mystery—or some aspect of a historical mystery—that is decades, or even centuries, old. It often is the case that all the evidence was right there under everyone's noses all along. It's just that no one had yet managed to put all the pieces together properly and look at them from the right angle.
One excellent example of what I'm talking about comes from the disappearance of aviatrix Amelia Earhart. For decades, historians,…
Oistrakh not only played music beautifully on the violin, his playing was beautiful to behold. He evinced a nearly balletic grace and economy of movement—the amount of sound he was able to achieve from the smallest motion of the bow, even at its tip, was amazing. In Oistrakh's playing there was no posturing, no showing off, and, most of all, no pandering to the peanut gallery (footnote 2). Even in a live and unedited performance such as this one, his pitch security and the richness of his tonal palette are wonders to hear. Richter was no slouch, either, of course!
The director of this…