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To say that a digital source "sounds like analog" has always struck me as coming up short. The notion that one format sounds like another is not really sensible or even ideal. While I love listening to LPs, there are some physical attributes of vinyl that, ideally, you don't want to reproduce. You know what I'm talking about because, every chance they get, LP haters remind us about pops, ticks, skips, surface noise, inner-groove distortion, etc. So when we say that a digital source sounds like analog, what we're really saying is that it doesn't sound like digital.
A couple of weeks ago, I listed my favorite records of 2012. There are over 100 records on that list. And, even though I do believe that all those records belong on the list, I can’t help thinking that one person can’t possibly really, deeply, truly get to know 100 records in just 365 days. After all, I regularly hear new things in records that I’ve been enjoying for years.
Well, then, how really deeply, truly do I know any record? Does it matter? Whatever.
Here’s another list: Records that I didn’t get around to in 2012, but that I hope to spend quality time with in 2013. These…
I miss Sonic Youth.
In this video, produced by Pitchfork.TV, we see the band's most recent and, in my opinion, tightest, strongest, best, lineup—Steve Shelley (drums), Kim Gordon (gtr/vox), Thurston Moore (gtr/vox), Lee Ranaldo (gtr/vox), and Mark Ibold (bass)—performing "Calming the Snake," from the 2009 album, The Eternal.
Michael Lavorgna and I were sitting at the small bar at Great Jones Cafe. We had just ordered the round that would put us over the edge, and I was trying to explain to Mark Ibold what made Sonic Youth so special. Ibold was tending bar…
Most reviews are straightforward. One preamplifier or power amplifier replaces another. DACs are swapped out. A new pair of speakers takes up residence in the listening room.
But some products demand a complete revision of a system's architecture. Such was the case with Devialet's D-Premier ($15,995). Not only is this French product an integrated amplifier, with phono and line analog inputs; it has digital inputs and an internal D/A section. And since v.5.5 of its operating system, the D-Premier can also act as a high-resolution WiFi audio streamer, working with Devialet's Asynchronous…
As much as I loved using the remote's volume control—the only other remote with a "real" volume control was the one Hafler provided for the Iris preamplifier from the late 1980s—I used the iPhone app most of the time, as I appreciated being able to see the volume setting, the amplifier's display not being visible from my listening chair.
Sound quality
For the first couple of weeks of my auditioning, I used the AIR app running on my Mac mini to send WiFi data to the D-Premier. The sound was never less than excellent. But over time I felt that the upper midrange was a little glassy…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Remote-controlled, solid-state integrated amplifier with software-assignable inputs, LCD screen, switch-mode power supply, and high-efficiency (85%) output stage. Inputs: 2 S/PDIF on TosLink; 1 pair RCA jacks assignable to phono or line; 1 pair RCA jacks assignable to phono, line, or two S/PDIF digital inputs; 1 AES/EBU digital input on XLR; 1 pair RCA jacks assignable to 2 S/PDIF digital inputs, analog preamplifier output, or subwoofer output and S/PDIF digital output. Main outputs: 2 pairs of binding posts. Other inputs/outputs: HDMI (not yet…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Linn Sondek LP12/Lingo turntable, Linn Ekos tonearm, Linn Arkiv B phono cartridge.
Digital Sources: Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP universal player; Apple 2.7GHz i7 Mac mini laptop running OS10.7, iTunes 10, Pure Music 1.86; Shuttle PC with Lynx AES16 soundcard & dual-core AMD Athlon processor running Windows 7, Foobar 2000, Adobe Audition 3.0; Halide, Empirical Audio Off-Ramp 4 USB-S/PDIF converters; dCS Debussy D/A converter; Ayre Acoustics QA-9 USB A/D converter.
Preamplification: Liberty B2B-1 phono preamplifier, Classé CP-800 D/A…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured the Devialet D-Premier with Stereophile's loan sample of the top-of-the-line Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see www.ap.com and the January 2008 "As We See It"); for some tests, I also used my vintage Audio Precision System One Dual Domain. I measured the later, black-finish sample, serial no.00965, the mirror-finish no.00061 having been sent off for photography. Before testing an amplifier with a conventional class-B or -AB output stage, I precondition it by running it at one-third power for an hour, which thermally stresses the amplifier to the…
The Wilson Audio Specialties Alexandra XLF costs $200,000/pair. So does a Ferrari. Perhaps if Wilson Audio Specialties sold as many pairs of XLFs as Ferrari sells cars, the price might drop. For now, $200,000 is what you pay.
Can a loudspeaker possibly be worth that much? Add $10,000 for speaker cables, and that's what I paid for my first home in 1992. Today, the average American home costs around $272,000, which is likely less than the cost of an audio system built around a pair of Alexandra XLFs.
Think no one spends that kind of money on a music system? Don't kid yourself. Many…
We rolled the woofer cabinets into their approximate positions, then laid on the carpet the four wings and the six upper driver modules. McGrath arrived the next day, and within a few hours these positively enormous speakers, had been positioned, voiced, and spiked, and their ports set to fire to the rear.
Not surprisingly, the XLFs ended up within a few inches of where the MAXX 3s had stood—and, also as with the MAXX 3s, when I sat down just under 8' away, the upper woofers were where the tweeters would be in a speaker of more appropriate size for the space. The XLFs' midrange-tweeter…