I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Linn Majik 140's frequency response in the farfield. For the nearfield responses, I used an Earthworks QTC-40. All farfield measurements were taken on the supertweeter axis, which is 36" from the floor—a typical ear height for seated listeners, we've found. I estimated the Majik 140's voltage sensitivity on this axis as 88.1dB(B)/2.83V/m, which is slightly above average but conforms with Linn's specification. However, the Linn is drawing more than 1W from the amplifier at this…
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Which is why, though it took longer than expected, the Stereophile Galleries are back online. You can once again check out reader's listening rooms, live music shots, photos from Stereophile's past and present, and more.
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Axpona New York, held at Manhattan's Affinia Hotel opposite Madison Square Garden June 24–25, was my daughter Julia's first audio Show. She and I followed the sound of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young singing "Déjà Vu"—more real music!—to the Empire Room, where Wharfedale Airedale loudspeakers were being driven by monoblock amps from a new company called Audio Power Labs. Each 833TNT amplifier uses a pair of 833 transmitter tubes, operated in push-pull and driven by a 6550 pentode. Inter-stage transformers take the place of coupling capacitors, and replacement tubes are said to be plentiful—…
The DP-77 D/A converter ($4995) from the English firm AMR that had impressed JA at the Atlanta Axpona in April made its New York debut at the Show, playing music files streamed from a German Purist NAS ($3000), with iPad-based controller software from the same firm. Amps were solid-state monoblocks from Absoluta (approximately $14,000/pair), and the loudspeakers were a fascinating design called the Ray ($6000/pair) from the Danish firm Davone, which are shown on the photo. The Ray is a two-way reflex-loaded speaker using coaxial driver—it sounded amazingly well-balanced and musical in the…
Cardas Audio used Axpona NY to introduce their new Clear cable line, with loudspeaker cables ranging in price from $1200 to $6000 for an 8' pair, and interconnects ranging from $695 to $1200 for a 1m pair. The cables at the top of that range—called Clear Beyond—were put to good use in a system comprising the Unison Research CDE CD player ($4000) and S6 integrated amplifier ($5000). The latter, which uses parallel single-ended EL-34s, seemed to be a lot of amp for the money—and sounded fine driving a pair of Opera Grand Callas loudspeakers ($10,000/pair).
As with other Shows, the New York Axpona was an opportunity for music-lovers to sock up on audiophile recordings. The Affinia's Hotel's mezzanine floor was packed with vendors, from HDTracks and Chesky on the left in my photograph to MA on the right. (That's MA's Todd Garfinkle, whose prowess as a recording engineer has little equal, on the right at the back. The gentleman in the green shirt with his back to the camera is none other than audio writer Steve Guttenberg, who both contributes to Stereophile and has an entertaining audio blog on CNet.
Steinway-Lyngdorf's S-Series loudspeaker is tiny, at just 10.2" H by 7.8" W and 3.1" D. (My apologies for the grainy photo but the battery in my camera gave out and I had to resort to my iPhone 3GS for this shot.)
After Peter Lyngdorf left Tact, he went into partnership with the Steinway piano company to make a line of expensive speakers aimed not at audiophiles but at well-heeled music lovers. I was impressed by what I heard of the first of this line, which incorporates Lyngdorf's RoomPerfect acoustic correction, when I auditioned it in Manhattan a couple of years back, so I wasn't surprised when Steve Guttenberg button-holed me and told to go listen in the Steinway–Lyngdorf room at Axpona.
The S-Series subwoofer-satellite system ($22,100) was producing a big sound with the tiny satellites stood…
In Channel D's own room at Axpona, Rob Robinson demmed the latest version of his Pure Vinyl LP ripping program and Pure Music audio file player program for me. One of the new features of Pure Music v1.8 is the ability to play DSD files as well as hi-rez PCM, and to emphasize that fact, I photographed the display of Rob's Playback Designs MPD-3 D/A converter ($6500) to show that it was receiving DSD data via USB2.0.
Despite the small room, the music—David Elias's "Freedom on the Freeway"—sounded excellent, with an analog-like ease to the presentation. The rest of the system…
Like many exhibitors at Axpona, Joseph Audio was playing files from a laptop for their dems. In this case, Jeff Joseph was using Pure Music on his MacBook Pro and feeding a short USB link to Bel Canto's LightLink converter (reviewed by Erick Lichte in the June issue), which in turn fed the audio data via a low-jitter ST optical link to the Bel Canto DAC3.5VB, which also acted as the system preamp. Power amplifiers were a pair of Bel Canto Ref.500 monoblocks and speakers were Joseph's own stand-mounted Pulsars ($7000/pair). The sound of Jeff's rip of Louis Armstrong's "St. James Infirmary," a…