Analog Sources: Continuum Audio Labs Caliburn, Cobra, & Castellon turntable, tonearm, & stand; Graham Engineering Phantom II tonearm; Ortofon A90, Haniwa HCTR01, Miyajima Labs Kansui cartridges.
Digital Sources: Playback Designs MPS-5 SACD/CD player/DAC, BPT-modified Alesis Masterlink hard-disk recorder, Sooloos music server, Pure Music software.
Preamplification: Ypsilon VPS-100 phono preamplifier & PST-100 Mk.II line preamplifier.
Power Amplifiers: MBL 9011 monoblocks, Musical Fidelity Titan.
Loudspeakers: Wilson Audio…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used Stereophile's loan sample of the top-of-the-line Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It" and www.ap.com) to measure the RM-200 Mk.II. Before performing any tests, I checked that the output tubes were all correctly biased. However, the left channel's bias couldn't be optimized and the distortion in that channel was 100 times higher than in the right. I performed a number of tests on the correctly operating right channel while awaiting word from Music Reference's Roger Modjeski. It turned out that each output tube is protected by a…
Mirror to Mirror's Here You Leave Today—one of my favorite records of the year.
In the January 2012 issue of Stereophile, I list my 15 favorite records of the year (p.52). Here is an expanded, slightly more detailed list.
SM’s FAVORITE RECORDS OF 2011
1. Gang Gang Dance: Eye Contact (LP, 4AD CAD 3107)
I can hear everything. It’s everything time.
The record opens with those few words, the band nodding at this digital age of file-sharing and rapid access: Any musical style is just a few clicks away from the curious musician or music lover…
I veer away from ruminating on war and peace in my Slate column today, to run down my list of Best 10 Jazz Albums for 2011. My piece over there includes hyperlinks to 30-second sound clips (the maximum that copyright law allows), but here's the list (the more devoted of you readers will notice that I've written in this space about all of them over the past year).
Best New Albums:
SONNY ROLLINS, Road Trips, Vol.1 (Doxy).
WORLD SAXOPHONE QUARTET, Yes We Can (Jazzwerkstatt).
DAN WEISS & POINT OF DEPARTURE, Snuck Out (Sunnyside).
MEDESKI, SCOFIELD, MARTIN & WOOD,…
Sonus Faber is celebrating the launch of their Aida loudspeaker ($120,000/pair) with a series of dealer events beginning this weekend.
Saturday, December 10, 6–9pm: See and hear the Aida at LMC Home Entertainment (15507 North Scottsdale Road) in Scottsdale, Arizona. RSVP: aida@lmche.com.
Wednesday, December 14, 6pm: See and hear the Aida at Stereo Exchange (627 Broadway) in New York City. RSVP: (212) 505-1111.
Friday, December 16, 6–9pm: See and hear the Aida at The Sound Experience (233 South Federal Highway) in Boca Raton, Florida. RSVP: (561) 391-7868.
Roy Hall has his famous Music Hall MMF (Make Money Fast) turntables made for him in the Czech Republic.
Roy has also long been associated with Epos Limited, since a chap named Robin Marshall started the company in 1983. Their first product was the ES-14 loudspeaker, followed by the smaller ES-11. Both were largish, stand-mounted models, and both offered a lively, expressive, unstuffy sound. The speakers have always been fun to listen to, even if they lacked—and still lack—the refinement of some far more expensive speakers.
I was thinking of what Bill Conrad told me last month:…
Robert J. Reina, December 2011 (Vol.34 No.12):
Roy Hall of Music Hall Audio, US importer of Epos loudspeakers, called me a while back to tell me about Epos's new Epic line: three affordable speakers positioned to provide greater performance for the money than Epos's more expensive M models. Designer Mike Creek's design goal for the Epics was to reduce the cosmetic costs of the cabinets, and thus free up more of the speaker's manufacturing costs to be dedicated to sound quality.
Of the three Epics, Hall suggested I review the middle model, the Epic 2 bookshelf, which, at $799/…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way, ported, bass-reflex loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (25mm) ferrofluid-cooled fabric-dome tweeter, 7" (179mm) polypropylene-cone woofer. Frequency range: 48Hz–25kHz. Nominal impedance: 4 ohms. Sensitivity: 90dB/2.83V/m. Amplifier compatibility: 20–120W.
Dimensions: 16.4" (415mm) H by 8.3" (210mm) W by 11" (280mm) D. Weight: 19 lbs (8.6kg).
Finishes: Cherry, Black Ash vinyl veneers. Serial Numbers Of Units Reviewed: Epic2-0910-1118a/b.
Price: $799/pair. Approximate number of dealers: 25.
Manufacturer: Epos Ltd., 12 Avebury Court…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: VPI TNT IV, Rega Planar 3 turntables; Immedia, Syrinx PU-3 tonearms; Koetsu Urushi, Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood cartridges.
Digital Sources: Lector CDP-7T, Creek Destiny CD players.
Preamplification: Vendetta Research SCP-2D phono stage, Audio Valve Eclipse line stage.
Power Amplifier: Audio Research Reference 110.
Integrated Amplifier: Creek Destiny.
Loudspeakers: Epos M5i, NHT Classic 3, Nola Mini.
Cables: Interconnect (all MIT): Magnum M3, MI-350 CVTwin Terminator, MI-330SG Terminator. Speaker: Acarian Systems Black…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The Epos Epic 2's B-weighted sensitivity on its tweeter axis was 90dB/2.83V/m, which both agrees with the specified 90dB and is 3dB higher than the norm. The electrical impedance drops below 6 ohms only between 120 and 500Hz, with a minimum magnitude of 4.2 ohms at 190Hz (fig.1). While there are the usual extreme electrical phase angles in the bass, the worst-case combination of 6 ohms magnitude and –35° phase angle will not be very taxing for an amplifier rated at 4 ohms.
Fig.1 Epos Epic 2, electrical impedance (solid) and phase (dashed). (2…