"Sensational" is an adjective far overplayed in "fine audio" circles (to borrow a phrase that Bob Levi of T.H.E. Show Newport Beach has been using). But I know of no better word to describe the jaw-dropping sound of a dCS/Boulder/Sony set-up at a May 4 demo in the Theater 2 room of Music Lovers Audio, San Francisco. With the assistance of a full complement of Transparent Audio cabling, save for an all-important active USB cable from Synergistic Research, the MacBook Pro/Audirvana-source system, featuring the Sony…
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Sony's Yuki Sugiura conducts the orchestra in Music Lovers' Reference Room
I wear polo shirts daily. Polo shirts keep things simple. Seven-time French Grand Slam tennis champion René Lacoste invented the “tennis shirt” in 1929 as an alternative to the traditional player’s outfit of white button-down and tie. The easy-to-wear “tennis shirt” rapidly expanded as official garb for polo players, golfers, and Homer Simpsons of America. Like the polo, the Logitech|UE 4000 on-ear headphone ($99.99) is accommodating to all in both fit and acoustic profile.
The Logitech|UE 4000s project music with impact and solidity. Bongos popped with body, as did tom-toms. Music…
It's mid-February as I write this and we're snowbound, thanks to Hurricane Nemo, but the buzz from the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show still resonates (footnote 1). On the surface, it was just another CES. Press-day conferences were, as usual, dominated by big mainstream companies that offer few high-end audio products. Why attend, unless you think you can track future trends that might trickle down to our little niche? Nothing of great interest could be found at the Las Vegas Convention Center—all the high-end audio manufacturers were exhibiting at the Venetian. There, almost everyone was…
But the BDP-105 has even more. In addition to the RCA/XLR jacks, the rear panel has three new digital inputs: S/PDIF on coax and TosLink, and USB B. These allow the '105 to be used as an audio DAC that can accept a wide range of audio formats. The coax and optical jacks can be used as you would those on any standalone DAC; they worked flawlessly. The USB B connector, unlike the three A connectors, makes the '105 into a USB asynchronous DAC and lets you enjoy high-quality sound from computer-based music streamers. With JRiver Media Center 18 on my laptop, this connection let me play my two-…
Sidebar: Contacts
exaSound Audio Design, 3219 Yonge St., Suite 354, Toronto, Ontario M4N 3S1, Canada. Web: www.exasound.com
Oppo Digital, 2629 Terminal Blvd., Suite B, Mountain View, CA 94043. Tel: (650) 961-1118. Web: oppodigital.com
"You see that empty space?" says Willie Nile, motioning toward a lot between buildings on Bleecker Street, an impish Irish grin flickering across his face. "They haven't built anything there yet because Anna Wintour lives around the corner. And that red-brick house over there, the one with the white door? That's where Dylan lived. I used to see Bob around the neighborhood now and again."
People talk revolution in the cafes
They debate right and wrong while they drink
There are buses there are cars there are shiny movie stars
There are starving artists standing on the brink…
"I met John the following week. I got into the wrong elevator bank and I was late for the gig. We recorded a session, maybe eight songs, something like that. He said to me, 'You've got something, but I think you need a little more experience, a little more seasoning. You're not quite ready for Columbia, but you have something.' I listen to those recordings now, and he was right. He also said, 'I just signed this kid out of New Jersey," which was Bruce. I told Bruce that story and he laughed."
The streets of New York
Unfold like a matchmaker's dream.
Day becomes night,
…
I know, I know—"NOT ANOTHER $%#$ SONUS $%#$# FABER REVIEW IN $%#$# Stereophile!!" In just the past two years or so alone we've spilled a pretty fat bottle of ink on this Italian speaker line: Martin Colloms reviewed the $12,500/pair Extrema (Vol.15 No.6) and $9000/pair Guarneri Homage (Vol.17 No.7); Jack English covered the $4500/pair Electa Amator (Vol.15 No.10); and Larry Greenhill wrote about the $1800/pair Minima FM2 (Vol.16 No.4). That's a lotta jizzatoni, so let me tell you right off the bat that when I called Italy a few months ago, speakers were the last thing on my mind.
I wanted…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way ported, stand-mounted loudspeaker. Drivers: 7" (170mm) cellulose/acrylate-cone woofer, 1" (26mm) ferrofluid-damped silk-dome tweeter. Frequency response: 55Hz–20kHz ±3dB. Crossover: first-order slopes, no frequency given. Sensitivity: 88dB/W/m. Impedance: 8 ohms nominal. Recommended amplifier power: 25–120W. Cabinet: solid walnut, individual struts of quartersawn (like I knows what the hell that means).
Dimensions: 13.8" (350mm) H by 9" (230mm) W by 11" (280mm) D. Weight: 22 lbs (10kg) each.
Serial number of review samples: 2214.…
Sidebar 2: Systema di reviewini
I played LPs on a Well Tempered Turntable fitted with a Naim ARO tonearm and Sumiko Transfiguration MC cartridge; CDs were played on a Theta Data Basic transport Linque'd to Theta's new Generation V digital processor; and eight-tracks were played on a Wollensak 8050A deck. Preamps included the Audible Illusions Modulus 3, my own buffered passive job, and Exposure's XVII. I tried the Minuettos with an Aragon 4004 Mk.II, an Exposure IV Dual-Regulated, and my vintage Dynaco Stereo 70 tube amp, with the bulk of the listening done with the Aragon.
…