Analog source: Linn Sondek LP12 turntable with Lingo power supply, Linn Ekos tonearm, Linn Arkiv B cartridge, Channel D Seta L phono preamplifier.
Digital sources: Roon Nucleus+ file server; Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP universal player; PS Audio PerfectWave DirectStream D/A converter.
Power amplifiers: Lamm Industries M1.2 Reference (monoblocks).
Integrated amplifiers: NAD C 328, NAD M10.
Loudspeakers: Rogers LS3/5a, KEF LS50.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest Vodka (Ethernet), DH Labs (1m, AES/EBU), Esperanto Audio (1m, S/PDIF). Interconnect:…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the PSB Alpha P5's frequency response in the farfield and an Earthworks QTC-40 mike for the nearfield responses. Because the tweeter is mounted at the base of the front baffle, my primary measurement axis was level with the woofer's dust cap. I left off the loudspeaker's vestigial grille for the measurements.
PSB specifies the Alpha P5's sensitivity as 87dB, presumably for 2.83V drive at 1m. My estimate was a little lower, at 85dB(B)/2.83V/m. The impedance is specified as 8 ohms…
BBC LS5/5? I'd never heard of it until it was announced on my Facebook feed that the LS5/5 was Graham Audio's new flagship speaker—so new, in fact, that there were only two pairs in existence. One of them would be showcased that evening in a Montreal audio shop, Art et Son, for the model's official North American launch.
Equipped with a single listening room, Art et Son is a small boutique situated in Montreal's Mile-End district. When I entered the store's lobby, I immediately recognized Philip O'Hanlon of On A Higher Note, Graham Audio's North American importer, by his…
Accustic Arts of Lauffen, Germany, was founded in 1997 by Fritz Schunk, who sold the company to Hans-Joachim "Jochen" Voss in 2016. Voss's professional background had more to do with sweet spreads than sweet sounds—he spent 20 years doing sales and marketing, including with the Ferrero Group, which produces Nutella—but he happened to own some Accustic Arts components, and as a music-loving consumer with a special fondness for rock, had been in touch with Schunk for many years before the company went up for sale.
In an extended Skype conversation with Voss and Sebastian Ruhland, a…
It was when I turned to reference files, streams, and CDs that I was able to pinpoint what makes the Accustic Arts Mono II's sound unique. With thanks to friend Peter Schwartzman for leading me to it, I cued up "John Taylor's Month Away" from King Creosote and Jon Hopkins's Diamond Mine (16/44.1 FLAC, Deep Six/Tidal/Qobuz) on Roon. Silences between notes were pristine, as though King Creosote was captured singing softly in the middle of a forest where the wind had ceased and birds had migrated elsewhere. There was something uniquely beautiful and warm about the midrange core of the guitar…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid-state fully balanced class-AB monoblock power amplifier Inputs: 1 unbalanced (RCA), 1 balanced (XLR). Outputs: 2 pairs speaker binding posts. Power output: 300W into 8 ohms (24.8dBW), 500W into 4 ohms (24.0dBW), and 700W into 2 ohms (22.4dBW). Frequency response: 2.6Hz–105kHz, –3dB. Voltage gain: 31dB. Intermodulation distortion: 0.007% at 10W into 4 ohms. Signal/noise: 104dB A-weighted (ref. 6.325V). Damping factor: >300 at 1kHz and 4 ohms. Input impedance: Balanced (XLR): 2 x 20k ohm, Unbalanced (RCA): 100k ohms. Output impedance: <10…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: dCS Rossini Transport SACD/CD transport & Rossini DAC & Rossini Clock; Intel NUC7i7BNH with 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD, running Roon; Linksys routers with two sets TP-Link gigabit Ethernet media converters plus multimode duplex fiber optic cables; Small Green Computer linear power supply (2) & Small Green Computer 200W Linear Power Supply; external hard drives, SSD USB sticks, iPad Pro.
Power Amplifiers: Dan D'Agostino Master Systems Progression Monos.
Loudspeakers: Wilson Audio Specialties Alexia 2.
Cables: Digital:…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I performed a full set of measurements on one of the Accustic Arts Mono IIs, S/N M2-1JB1258, using my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"). I repeated some of the tests on S/N 1259, the sample that Jason Victor Serinus found had developed a hum toward the end of his auditioning. Before doing any testing, I preconditioned the first sample of the Mono II by running it at one-third power into 8 ohms for an hour. At the end of that time the side-mounted heatsinks were hot, at 120.6°F (49.3°C). The top panel was also hot, at 104.1°F (40.…
Manufacturer's Comment
Editor: The lack of performance of the Accustic Arts Mono II power amplifiers was caused by the fact that we unfortunately installed wrong transformers. Instead of using transformers that deliver a voltage of 2 × 54V and 2 × 58V on the secondary side, we installed transformers that deliver a voltage of only 2 × 48V and 2 × 54V on the secondary side. Our final measurement report, which is created for each device that leaves our manufactory, is in agreement with John Atkinson's results. With the right transformers, the Mono II power amplifiers do achieve the values…
Godzilla and I are precisely the same age: We were both born in 1954, Godzilla as an expression of the postwar fears of a nation uniquely aware of the horrors of nuclear armaments, I as an expression of the postwar comfort felt by an American veteran fresh from foreign wars. We both dislike being awakened from our slumber, and we're both unusually handsome.
Like so many Americans of my generation, I love Godzilla—along with Mothra, Rodan, Tobor the 8th Man, Speed Racer, and the Panasonic transistor radio my dad gave me in 1965. During more or less the same stretch of time, Japanese baby…