Thiel: That's a question I think no one has been able to answer, because our industries are not large enough to afford large advertising budgets. And also because the price ranges of the products are such that they are not really…
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Atkinson: The contrast is between the public perception of audio manufacturing, which is of large offshore companies producing commodities, and the reality, which is that America is a hotbed of relatively small, high-technology companies, like Thiel, making products with a huge amount of quality designed in. How does that perception get out to the wider America?
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony 6, Serenade for Strings
Daniele Gatti, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Harmonia Mundi HMU 907394 (SACD). 2006. Brad Michel, prod.; Chris Barrett, Craig Silvry, engs. DSD. TT: 77:09
Performance *****
Sonics *****
Daniele Gatti, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Harmonia Mundi HMU 907394 (SACD). 2006. Brad Michel, prod.; Chris Barrett, Craig Silvry, engs. DSD. TT: 77:09
Performance *****
Sonics *****
By now, the most you can hope for from a new recording of one of Tchaikovsky's symphonies is not originality of conception but a performance that seizes on a particular (if familiar) element of the work and successfully runs with it. In his live recording on Naïve, Riccardo Muti makes the anguish in the first movement of Symphony 6 seem an end-…
In just a few years, Sonic Frontiers has evolved from a parts and kit vendor to a full-line audio manufacturer (footnote 1). Their initial offerings were well received, but their kit origins were apparent in the layout and cosmetics of their products. While SF still offers kits (like their high-value Assemblage DAC-2), the new line of vacuum-tube electronics has world-class construction, design, and packaging. This generation of SF equipment is evidence of their advanced evolution, even though their constructor genome can be detected in the use of audiophile-preferred, as opposed of OEM,…
Beneath the display window are buttons for absolute phase, L/R balance, mono, and muting. The button at the lower right, labeled Standby, instantly removes the high voltage from the tubes to extend their lives and reduce power consumption. Filaments are kept warm. Return from Standby took about 20 seconds for the high voltage to stabilize, after which it restored the source and gain settings in effect when Standby was entered.
What was so pleasurable about using the Line 2? (I'll get to the sound soon.) First and foremost, the puck-shaped remote control was a complete delight to use. Its…
The Line 2 never wrested my attention away from the music by emphasizing or underlining. Listening to my various Mahler Sixths, especially Bernstein on DG and Zander on IMP, nothing noted in auditions with other systems was lost through the Line 2. All the details were there, if I made the effort to attend to them, but so was a newfound sense of integration. This was demonstrated by a compression of the excessive depth of the Bernstein and an increased forward presence with the Zander. The latter was particularly surprising, since I had expected, from its rendition of the Bernstein, that the…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Vacuum-tube line preamplifier with fully differential, all-balanced circuitry, outboard power supply, and remote control of all functions with 0.5dB steps of volume and balance. Inputs: two line-level balanced, four line-level single-ended. Outputs: two balanced (XLR), two single-ended (RCA), "HeadRoom"-processed headphone output. Buffered tape loop. Common Mode Rejection Ratio (CMRR): better than 60dB. THD: <0.01%.
Dimensions: 19" W by 4.5" H by 14.25" D (preamplifier); 9" W by 4" H by 13" D (power supply). Weight: 33 lbs.
Serial number of…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Source: Heybrook TT2 turntable, Rega RB300 tonearm, Koetsu Black/Gold cartridge.
Digital Source: Camelot Merlin/Dragon Pro-2/Uther DAC with Camelot I2S cables and Straight Wire Maestro II interconnects; Sonic Frontiers SFCD-1 with Straight Wire Maestro II interconnects; Audio Alchemy DDS•Pro/DTI•Pro 32/DDE v3 with Audio Magic I2S cables and Cardas Golden Cross interconnects.
Comparison Preamplifier: Klyne 6L3P.
Power Amplifiers: McCormack DNA-1 (one or two), Simaudio Moon W-5, Sonic Frontiers Power-2 (via Cardas Cross or Straight Wire…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
A complete set of measurements was made on the Sonic Frontiers Line 2 in its unbalanced mode, with selected measurements repeated in the balanced configuration. Unless otherwise stated, results shown here are for unbalanced operation.
The Line 2's unbalanced main output impedance measured 118 ohms in the left channel, 121 ohms in the right (164 ohms left, balanced). Its unbalanced input impedance measured 9.8k ohms left and 10.4k ohms right (20.8k ohms left, balanced). Regardless of the source impedance, the impedance at the tape outputs was very low—…
Kalman Rubinson wrote about the Sonic Frontiers Line 3 in July 2000 (Vol.23 No.7):
When I reviewed Sonic Frontiers' $3299 Line 2 preamplifier (December 1997, Vol.20 No.12), I was completely won over by it and was somewhat disappointed when, in response to my pleading for its return, I got a spanking new Line 3 instead! I wasn't asking for more, and, at the time, didn't think I wanted more. [However], the $4999 Line 3 has not been given a full review in these pages.
Cosmetically and operationally, all of Sonic Frontiers' Line-series preamps are identical, including that great remote…
My friend Ed (not necessarily his name) used to be an audiophile. Ed had a great-sounding pair of floorstanding Joseph speakers, optimally placed so as to create a magic soundstage when he sat in the sweet spot. His component rack featured such famous high-end names as Mark Levinson, Meridian, and Z-Systems. But then Ed went DSL and discovered MP3s. Pretty soon, he was hanging as many hard drives on his PC as he could manage. His Josephs and his Levinson CD player gathered dust. Ed was enjoying his music sitting in front of his high-end Dell, with an active NHT Pro mini on either side of the…