In my 2018 review of the original Brooklyn AMP, I wrote that the class-D amplifier exuded "a consistent sense of truthfulness, striking resolution that was never analytical, spacious soundstages, superb dynamics, and some of the 'blackest' backgrounds I've ever heard...with the right recordings." I continued, "The AMP let me revel in its reproduction of the low end, with zero overhang or bloat, and profoundly impressive retrieval…
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Big changes are afoot at Mytek. First up: The Mytek Brooklyn AMP+, the newest version of the compact, class-D Brooklyn AMP. The AMP+ is already in production.
I placed the AMP+ next to the AMP on a shelf of my Salamander rack, making it easy and quick to switch between the two.
My first impression of the AMP+, contrasted to the older AMP, aligned with Jurewicz's claims: The new model is "cleaner" with a "bigger soundstage" and "more detail." It's "more precise."
Record after record, using the Brooklyn DAC+'s fine phono stage, I heard more explicit, better-defined images. Placement of vocalists and instruments was more specific within a deeper, wider soundfield. The AMP+'s clarity facilitated better microdynamics, those small dynamic…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Class-D amplifier with bridged-mono mode. Power: 250Wpc into 8 ohms (24dBW), 300Wpc into 4 ohms (21.7dBW), 400Wpc into 2 ohms (20dBW). In bridged mono: 500Wpc into 8 ohms (27dBW), 600Wpc into 4 ohms (24.8dBW). Signal/noise: >121dB. Frequency response: 10Hz–30kHz, –3dB. Total harmonic distortion: <0.001%. Damping factor: >400. DC power on trigger: 12V. Power supply: 100–240V AC 50/60Hz, automatic switching.
Dimensions: 8.5" (216mm) W × 1.74" (44mm) H × 8.8" (225mm) D. Weight: 6lb (2.73kg).
Finishes: Black, Silver.
Serial number…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: Kuzma Stabi R turntable & Kuzma 4Point 11" tonearm; Schiit Sol turntable; EMT TSD 015 N MC & Koetsu Rosewood phono cartridges.
Digital sources: Asus laptop,
Mytek Brooklyn DAC+.
Preamplifier:
Mytek Brooklyn DAC+.
Integrated amplifier: Parasound Halo Hint6.
Power amplifier: Shindo Haut-Brion.
Loudspeakers: Klipsch Forte III and RP-600M.
Cables: Interconnect: Shindo Laboratory, Triode Wire Labs Spirit II. Digital: Furutech GT2 Pro USB. Speaker: Auditorium 23. AC: Triode Wire Labs Obsession NFC, manufacturers' own…
Rick Schulz's High Fidelity Cables system threw such a huge soundstage that I needed to go back a row or two to take it all in. When I did, it sounded tremendous, as in positively three-dimensional with a smooth and pleasing top. This eminently inviting, one-of-a-kind set-up, which only played CDs, sounded out of this world on Maneesh De Moor's Sadhana.
Schulz, who seemed to be playing up his outlaw status as a proponent of magnetic cables by wearing a Harley Davidson jacket, tells me that he'll show his own DAC and transport at AXPONA in October. Here, some components were heavily…
Darrin O'Neill's Audio Limits, located outside Las Vegas, showcased an impressive system that included the debut of the Audiovector R8 Arreté ($69,995/pair) and Thrax Libra 300 Differential Balanced 300B tube preamplifier ($57,500). The four-way speakers are claimed to have a frequency range of 22Hz–52kHz, 92.5dB/2.83V/m sensitivity, 8 ohm impedance, and the capacity to handle up to 500W power. (Jim Austin is working on a review of the R8 to be published in the September issue of Stereophile.—Editor.)
Air-walled rooms defeated low bass in this system, but everything above sounded…
I almost lost my hearing in the PBN room. Well, not quite the room itself. I was approaching the large entranceway to this huge air-walled PBN room on the ground floor when my guardian angels, somewhat like the guardians of the temple in Mozart's The Magic Flute, declared "Zurück! This music is too loud for you to enter."
As I backed away, a huge bass explosion came at me with a force that caused my eardrums to shudder. Within a minute, one of the people in charge of T.H.E. Show arrived to angrily declare that the blast had shaken glass doors all the way around the corner, and that dB…
I wonder if France would have been the same had Marie Antoinette had access to a system like this. Dominating the view in this room, presented by San Clemente, California's Cake Audio (not the Czech audio manufacturer), was the joint US premiere of the striking Alsyvox Botticelli ribbon loudspeakers ($92,000/pair + $30,000 optional external crossovers) and Vitus SS-103 stereo amplifier ($40,000).
Dominating the ear was the heavenly—truly heavenly—interplay of violin and cello on the famous Oistrakh/Rostropovich/Richter LP (released in the US on EMI/Angel) of Beethoven's Triple Concerto.…
After a 15-year hiatus, Italy's Zingali Acoustics returns to the US with the Twenty 1.2 EVO Thirtieth Anniversary Edition loudspeakers ($21,045/pair in walnut finish). To these ears, the re-introduction is notable, because Hilary Hahn's violin sounded glorious on her performance of Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No.1. Sweetened by Cary Audio's 27Wpc CAD-805 RS single-ended triode monoblocks ($15,995/pair) with a host of new, old, and NOS tubes and a Cary SLP-98P preamplifier ($4995) with Tung Sol tubes from the 1940s, the sound was magical.
There was a bit of pull to the right, apparently…
I've always enjoyed Steven Norber's loudspeakers, but the pairing of his brand new Dhara (as in continuous flow) 40lb loudspeakers ($TBD) and Purna/Ma amplifier ($8950) with the late Tim de Paravicini's E.A.R. Phono Classic phono preamplifier ($1895 in black or $2395 in chrome) sounded exceptionally fine. Other brands deserve equal credit, but what's most important to know is that on an old Nonesuch LP of Schutz Motets, soundstaging, warmth, and beauty were supreme. The holiness of the experience had everyone sitting in absolute silence. Whoever thought people would be so still on a Saturday…