Raw data is dumped from the buffer to a Boulder-designed Eigen-value DSP oversampling filter—which itself, has a data buffer to eliminate timing glitches…
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We'd been told to check out Boulder's new music server, but that's not exactly what the $24,000 1021 Disc Player is. It's a CD player (with a few other formats "to be announced") that uses a computer disc drive to feed a one-minute buffer to "preserve the integrity of the audio signal delivered from the drive. "Also," confided Steve Rockwell, "the clock is about this far [pinches fingers together], so jitter is phenomenally low."
Why off to CES2008, of course. Check out Stereophile's coverage at our Show blog.
And check out Stereophilia on Friday for cat-blogging—with a CES twist.
It's hardly the same as clicking your heels three times and finding yourself back in Kansas, but Stereophile's metaphoric Good Witch of the High End, John Atkinson, has granted me my big wish for CES. Instead of finding myself wandering around and around in circles, following my ears, I’ve been assigned specific turf: T.H.E. Show. And since T.H.E. Show’s two venues, the St. Tropez and adjacent Alexis Park, are literally across the street from our bloggers' home for four nights, the newly and quite tastefully refurbished, remarkably low-key Hyatt Place Las Vegas (formerly the…
One of the highlights of RMAF 2007 was encountering Lou Hinkley's Daedalus Audio Ulysses loudspeakers ($8800/pair) in the ART Audio room. Here, paired with Gill Audio Designs Alana preamp ($5000) and Elise DAC ($6000), an Ensemble transport, Clayton M-200 power amps ($9500/pair), and relatively inexpensive Empirical Design cabling, the system was arresting in its transparency and three-dimensionality.
Equal credit, I feel, should go to Ben Piazza's amazing Shakti Hallographic Soundfield Optimizers and Shakti Stones, which respectively tamed the room and conquered EMI. (John…
The Jadis magic is hard to explain. But once you hear it, you can recognize it again and again. It has to do with the beauty of the midrange, the accuracy of timbres, and an inherent musicality that is less about detail than essence.
Not that the PA-88S 60Wpc, remote-control, class-A integrated amplifier with KT-88 tubes ($13,500) and JD-3 Evo CD player ($8000) being demmed at THE Show were without detail. On the contrary, they had just begun to open up after breaking in for less than 24 hours. They were already sounding clear, warm, and revealing. Paired with Pierre Gabriel's…
Back home, at the end of a long day, John Atkinson will often come into my office and wish me a good evening. It's very sweet.
"Well, Stephen," he says, "we've reached the end of another perfect day."
"Yes," I say.
"And do you know what time it is?"
"What time is it?"
"It's beer o'clock," he says, slowly and with a smile. "Beer o'clock."
But here, in Vegas, things are just a little bit different. John and I spent much of the first morning handing out the awards for our Products of the Year. It was a real pleasure. Apparently, when we…
Apparently, you can also smoke Mordaunt-Short's Aspirated Tweeter. It is said to produce glorious highs.
And here is Adam Shaw-Cotterill licking the Mezzo 1's Aspirated Tweeter. I'm not sure why he's licking it. He must really love it.
See this man?
His name is Adam Shaw-Cotterill. He works for Audio Partnership, parent company of Mordaunt-Short. He's got some long, fancy title, but his job is to take care of his customers. Don't let his doey eyes fool you. He's not so innocent, not so safe. In fact, he's an absolute firecracker, burning and burning and ready to explode. He wants to tell you about a loudspeaker. He wants to tell you about the all-new Mordaunt-Short Mezzo 1. And he'll waste no time about it. Words rush from his mouth like bells and whistles from the Las Vegas Hilton Casino. It's almost…
I was excited to see Cambridge Audio's TT50 turntable. On display with their small, S30 loudspeakers ($259/pair), the TT50 was looking pretty darn sexy in its high-gloss jet-black finish. If it reminds you of Pro-Ject's popular Debut III, that's probably because the TT50 was developed in partnership with that Austrian firm. It uses a proprietary tonearm, an Audio Technica AT95E moving magnet cartridge, and its elastomer-coated acrylic platter is said to "control resonance and provide matched acoustic impedance to the vinyl record for maximum detail retrieval."
The TT50 is…