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The transfer switch messed up everything. So what happened? As Powell pointed out, when the generator was installed, some of the original wiring was removed and replaced. The "hot" leads" are switched by the transfer box, same as with most electrical panels, so the ground and neutral are always in contact with the new circuits and devices in the box. The previous, better arrangement for dissipating RF has been replaced by parts more susceptible to RF noise. Add to that the longer path required to accommodate the switch, including several junctions, and it's likely to have a higher AC…
Before returning home from the EISA convention in Antwerp two years ago, I spent a quiet, relaxing afternoon in The Loft, a luxurious shared space reserved for first- and business-class travelers, presented by Lexus and Brussels Airlines.
In addition to surprisingly good food and free-flowing alcoholic beverages, some airport lounges contain some really useful traveler amenities, like private showers and beds. The Brussels/Lexus space went above and beyond. I thought I'd had too much to drink (which I had) when I peered into the room and saw a Mark Levinson audio system featuring the No.…
I checked the vertical tracking force; it was on the money, at 2.3 grams. I checked the stylus rake angle, using a digital microscope. If whoever set SRA on the No.5105 did it the way most people do—by setting the arm parallel to the record surface, assuming that this will result in the proper stylus rake angle—well, it worked. Due to Ortofon's manufacturing excellence, the SRA was 93°; one degree beyond 92 compensates for stylus drag.
If you buy the No.5105 sans cartridge, you'll find the included cartridge setup instructions useful and nicely constructed, if basic. A single-point…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Belt-drive turntable with high-mass aluminum plinth, pivoted tonearm, and installed Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge.
Dimensions: Turntable: 17.24" (438mm) W × 15.55" (395mm) D × 4.23" (108mm) H (not including record weight). Weight: 75lb (34kg).
Tonearm: Pivoted, with 237.8mm pivot-to-spindle distance, effective length of 254mm, and 16.2mm overhang. Offset angle: N/A.
Ortofon Quintet Black: Moving coil phono cartridge. Recommended downforce: 2.1–2.5gm. Recommended load impedance: >20 ohms. Internal impedance: 5 ohms.…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: Continuum Audio Labs Caliburn turntable with Castellon stand; OMA K3 direct-drive turntable, SAT CF1-09, CF1Ti-09, Schroeder/OMA, and Kuzma 4Point tonearms; HiFiction X-quisite ST, Lyra Atlas Λ Lambda SL, Ortofon MC Century, Anna Diamond, A95, and A90, Grado Epoch3 and Epoch Mono, and Miyajima Labs Infinity (mono) cartridges.
Digital sources: dCS Vivaldi One SACD player/DAC; Lynx Hilo A/D-D/A converter, Roon Nucleus+; Pure Vinyl and Vinyl Studio software.
Preamplifiers: darTZeel NHB-18NS preamplifier; Ypsilon MC-10L, MC-16L, phono…
George Russell was a major innovator in modern jazz: a pianist-composer-theoretician who profoundly influenced Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Gil Evans, and the "modal revolution" that propelled so much music of the 1960s and beyond. But he's largely been forgotten. He was also the leader of ensembles, big and small, on more than two dozen albums. A few of those albums are acknowledged masterpieces, but they too have been overshadowed by some of his acolytes' classics.
The most ambitious of Russell's masterworks is New York, N.Y., which was recorded in the fall of 1958 and released on Decca…
"I want to redo that painting," the spouse declared. "It's too dark."
"What's wrong with dark?" I responded. "Rembrandt's portraits are often dark. So are the paintings of Courbet and Hobbema. Your color palette represents how you were feeling at the moment. If it's true to you and speaks strongly, why change it?"
Granted, depending upon how dark a painting is, a lack of bright areas may translate into less detail, hazy backgrounds, and a lack of vibrancy. But that doesn't mean that the painting will be less engaging or of less aesthetic value. It all depends upon what the artist…
The back panel, whose left/right layout fans out from the center and reflects the integrated's dual-mono nature, is so chock full of connections as to thumb its nose at the Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want": four pairs of single-ended and balanced inputs; two sets of single-ended inputs designed for either high-level signal sources or a turntable; a grounding terminal; one set of single-ended and balanced preamplifier outputs (should you use the PA 3100 HV as a preamp or with active speakers); a tape loop with RCA inputs and outputs; two pairs of easily tightened rhodium-plated…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Integrated amplifier with class-AB output stage, optional phono stage, room-correction equalizer/ tone controls (not installed), and PS 3000 HV external power supply. Analog inputs: 4 pairs RCA (line), 4 pairs XLR (line), 1 pair RCA phono (for optional phono stage), 1 pair RCA (line), 1 RCA recorder, dedicated input for optional power supply. Analog outputs: 1 pair RCA preamp, 1 pair XLR preamp, 1 pair RCA recorder. ; Nominal input impedance: 20k ohms (RCA); 5k ohms (XLR)Speaker outputs: 2 pairs (A, B, or A+B for biwire). Amp stage: 300Wpc into 8…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: dCS Rossini DAC and Rossini Clock; EMM Labs DV2 Integrated DAC; T+A SD 3100 HV DAC; Synology 5-bay NAS 1019+; Roon Nucleus+ music server, Uptone Audio etherRegen, Small Green Computer Sonore opticalModule, TP-Link gigabit Ethernet media converters (2) with multimode duplex fiberoptic cables, Linksys routers (2), and Arris modem, all powered by HDPlex 200W (1) and 300W (2) four-component linear power supplies; external hard drives, SSD USB sticks, iPad Pro; Apple 2017 Macbook Pro computer with 2.8 GHz Intel i7, SSD, 16GB RAM.
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