Given that he's an experienced record producer, it's not surprising that John Marks keeps an eye on the world of pro audio. In his December "The Fifth Element" column, he enthused over the performance of the Lindell AMPX power amplifier ($1599) from Sweden, which has a class-A output stage and offers 40W into 8 ohms. "The AMPX was unfailingly musical, sounding both powerful and revealing," JM wrote. Some aspects of its performance reminded him of Plinius's 8150 integrated amplifier: "a liveliness that was never undisciplined or 'electronic,' and its top-to-bottom…
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In an August 21 post to his popular Lefsetz Letter blog, music-industry analyst Bob Lefsetz shared with his readers the great and often surprising joy of listening to music through a good set of headphones, specifically the open-back, planar-magnetic Audeze LCD-2. Lefsetz clearly does not mess around: He went straight to the top of the headphone hierarchy. If you're at all familiar with the exciting world of headphone listening, you've heard of Audeze (pronounced odyssey). Since their impressive debut at the 2009 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, the young audio company has drawn from hi-fi critics…
Packed inside the M4U 2's attractive outer box are a large travel case, a two-prong airline adapter, a stereo-to-minijack adapter, a set of replacement earpads, a cleaning cloth, two AAA batteries, and two 1.5m cords—one with an inline microphone control compatible with iPhones and Blackberrys, one without. The batteries power the M4U 2s' built-in amplifier and noise-cancellation feature.
I typically avoid active noise-canceling headphones. I almost invariably forget to turn them off and wind up quickly and prematurely draining their batteries. Then I become annoyed—with myself and the…
Here’s a list of my 50 favorite albums of 2013. This is by no means a definitive list. These aren’t “the best” or “the most important” records of the year. They’re simply the 50 records that, for one reason or another, managed to capture my attention, spark my imagination, excite and inspire me. They also often drove me into fits of loud song, wild dance, and happy laughter. I love these records, I’m grateful for them, and I want to share them with you. Many of these you will already know. Others will be new to you. I hope you enjoy them all as much as I do, but I will, of course, understand…
My e-mailbox fills up with press releases announcing new products and new companies, and that always makes me wonder: Where does all this stuff come from?
I mean, I have lots of ideas—I feel like Butch Cassidy: "I have vision, and the rest of the world wears bifocals." But there's a huge gap between having a good idea and starting a company that successfully gets that idea out in front of the public. And, I suspect, there's an even greater gulf between getting a product out there and actually making a living at it.
The great thing about this job, though, is that I don't have to…
So John, my parents, and I cobbled together $7500 and Illuminati was born. Our first marketing idea was a truly hideous direct-mail brochure—I saw one when I moved some boxes recently and I was so embarrassed. We bought 6000 addresses from Stereophile and we stuffed envelopes for days. We got 25 checks and I felt on top of the world.
That first connector design failed, on a physical level, so I had to replace every one of 'em. That whole time, I was working other jobs and doing Illuminati stuff at night. The turning point occurred around two years in, when we finally got 20 dealers,…
Recordings for the Holidays!
Norway's 2L label has an enviable track record in choral music. In 2006 they were nominated for Grammys for Best Choral Performance and Best Surround Sound Album, for Immortal Nystedt (SACD/CD, 2L-029-SACD). Knut Nystedt's composition Immortal Bach, performed by Ensemble 96 conducted by Øystein Fevang, is a stunning fractal reworking of J.S. Bach's "Komm, süsser Tod." It's available for individual download at www.2l.no, and it costs nothing to listen to the teaser sound byte. (Several other complete performances of the work, done with varying degrees of…
Norway's 2L label has an enviable track record in choral music. In 2006 they were nominated for Grammys for Best Choral Performance and Best Surround Sound Album, for Immortal Nystedt (SACD/CD, 2L-029-SACD). Knut Nystedt's composition Immortal Bach, performed by Ensemble 96 conducted by Øystein Fevang, is a stunning fractal reworking of J.S. Bach's "Komm, süsser Tod." It's available for individual download at www.2l.no, and it costs nothing to listen to the teaser sound byte. (Several other complete performances of the work, done with varying degrees of…
I put the AMPX into the system I wrote about in my August 2013 column—Parasound Halo CD 1 CD player, Bricasti M1 DAC, Opera Callas speakers—checked all the connections, turned down the volume on the Bricasti, and pressed the AMPX's power switch. Nothing blew up, which is always a relief. I then cued up the "Channel Identification" and "Channel Phasing" tracks from Stereophile's Test CD 2 (Stereophile STPH004-2).
Compared to the voiced-by-ear, somewhat euphonic Unison Research S6 tubed integrated amplifier, the AMPX definitely had a more present, "modern" sound. Its treble was…
Sidebar: Contacts
Cardas Audio, Ltd., 480 11th Street SE, Bandon, OR 97411. Tel: (541) 347-2484. Web: www.cardas.com.
Lindell Audio, Utmarksvägen 6, 44239 Kungälv, Sweden. Tel: (46) 735-35-89-79. Web: www.lindellaudio.se. US distributor: RAD Distribution, PO Box 748. Tallman, NY 10982. Tel: (914) 523-5247. Web: www.raddist.com.
Shunyata Research, 26273 Twelve Trees Lane, Suite D, Poulsbo, WA 98370. Tel: (360) 598-9935. Web: www.shunyata.com.
Earlier this month, our all-analog coverage counterpart AnalogPlanet announced the release of the Nomad, a brand new entry-level turntable from American hi-fi manufacturer VPI Industries. For $995, The VPI Industries Nomad turntable includes a built-in phono preamplifier, unbalanced output, a set of Grado Labs iGrado around-the-neck headphones, headphone output, and an Ortofon 2M Red cartridge. This instant listening package was the brainchild of Mat Weisfeld, son of company founder Harry Weisfeld. Mat Weisfeld is now the President of VPI Industries. I had the opportunity to visit the…