Description: Single-box, remote-controlled, network-connectable, analog/digital preamp and DAC. Digital inputs: Supports up to 24-bit/192kHz via front USB, Ethernet, optical, and coax (2) inputs. Supports up to 16-bit/48kHz via USB DAC input and iPod dock connection on rear panel. File formats supported: FLAC (up to 24/192 on wired LAN, up to 24/96 on wireless LAN), WMA/9 (up to 16/48), AAC, HE-AAC (up to 24/96), LPCM (up to 24/192 on wired LAN, up to 24/96 on wireless LAN), Ogg vorbis 1.0 (up to 16/32), MP3 (up to 16/48). Analog inputs: 3 pairs stereo RCA jacks…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Source: Oracle Delphi 2 turntable modified by Brooks Berdan, Origin Live Encounter tonearm, Soundsmith Aida cartridge.
Digital Sources: Apple MacBook Pro computer (2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD) running OS 10.6.8, iTunes 10.5, Sonic Studio Amarra 2.2, Songbird 1.9.3, XLD; Oppo BDP-83 universal Blu-ray player; Meridian Sooloos Music Server (Control 15, 3 TwinStores); Apple iPod Touch 1G; Apple iPad2; Resolution Audio Cantata, Benchmark DAC1 USB, Peachtree iDac D/A converters.
Preamplification: Monolithic Sound PS-1 phono…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used Stereophile's loan sample of the top-of-the-line Audio Precision SYS2722 system to measure the Musical Fidelity M1CLiC (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 and the Miller Audio Research Jitter Analyzer, and first updated the M1CLiC's firmware.
Looking first at the M1CLiC's performance as an analog preamplifier, the input impedance was usefully high at close to 100k ohms at low and middle frequencies, dropping inconsequentially to 48k ohms at 20kHz. The…
It’s one of those things. I can still clearly remember the moment I first set eyes on Sophia Knapp. She was strolling through the back room of Maxwell’s in Hoboken, NJ, with a confidence, flair, and singularity that left no room for questions: She was in the band.
I was there with Omar and Monica, and we had never heard of Sophia Knapp or that band, then called Lights. We were there to see Dengue Fever, and they were good, but it was Lights that won our hearts.
Lights exhibited a compelling combination of sophistication and naivety. They played their instruments—guitar,…
Last night, before heading over to Other Music for Julia Holter’s in-store performance, I stopped by In Living Stereo and had a nice conversation with sales manager Steve Cohen. I got to hear a few of Steve’s own recordings through a system made of Dynaudio loudspeakers and Rega electronics, including the new, slick-looking Apollo CD player ($1095). Though the recordings were made using simple keyboards and sent straight to 4-track, the richness of the music and balance of the system far overshadowed any sonic limitations. It sounded great.
I was also pleased to see that In Living…
It's the afternoon before AXPONA Jacksonville opens, and Carmen Davis is getting prepared. Badges are ready, and welcome smiles and hugs are plentiful. But it's not until after 5 that the show guide arrives from the printer. There were, it seems, so many last minute cancelations and room changes that what only a few weeks before had been announced as 40 exhibit rooms has instead been consolidated into 28.
As Carmen and I chat, she thanks me for pointing out, in Stereophile's Show preview the vital importance of the AXPONA/live symphonic nexus. Some people, she had discovered, just don't…
Bliss and Beethoven: That's AXPONA founder Steve A. Davis' promise to show attendees. The bliss comes in the form of several show seminars centering around Transcendental Meditation, which he and his wife Carmen have practiced for many decades. Beethoven is served up across the street, Thursday through Saturday nights, courtesy of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra under guest conductor Mei Ann Chen. Further bliss hopefully comes as attendees experience audio nirvana, or at least cumulative sonic epiphany, in AXPONA's 28 exhibit rooms.
AXPONA hosted a lively mixer for exhibitors…
The first time I heard “One Second of Love,” the title track from Nite Jewel’s new album (released earlier this week on Secretly Canadian), I didn’t think much of it. It was another pop song from another young, indie artist, recalling the late 1980s and early 1990s—enjoyable, but unimaginative.
I was crazy. My initial reaction was wrong: The more I listened, the more I enjoyed the song’s motoric drive, insistent, each cold verse followed by seductive chorus, its gentle harmonies contributed by fellow LA-based artist, Julia Holter, its insolent snarl and alluring coo. I can’t get…
It's hard to believe that it's been 20 years since Michael Kelly formed Aerial Acoustics, introduced the Model 10T loudspeaker, and I wandered into his demo room at a New York audio show and was smitten. That speaker did everything right and seemed to do nothing wrong. Disc after disc was played as I imposed my impression on the listening chair (I recall there being only one). At the time, the 10T was only a bit out of my price range, so for many years it was what I aspired to have. Kelly and I repeated this little play over the years as his speaker line grew, and he always was patient as he…
At the upper end, the 7T was deliciously detailed and transparent and, as in the bass, continually surprised me by imposing absolutely no hint of brightness on midrange sounds. Cymbals, softly brushed or smartly struck, came through with sheen from an otherwise silent space. My longtime reference for this is Oscar Peterson Meets Roy Hargrove and Ralph Moore (CD, Telarc CD-83399); the 7T exquisitely delineated Lewis Nash's crisp drumming.
The 7Ts' imaging was as pinpoint and consistent as that of any speaker I've heard; individual voices and instruments were arrayed on a very deep stage…