Digital Sources: dCS Rossini SACD/CD transport & Rossini DAC & Rossini Clock; EMM Labs DV2 DAC; Intel NUC-7i7BNH computer with 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD, running Roon; Linksys routers with 2 sets TP-Link gigabit Ethernet media converters & multimode duplex fiber-optic cables; Small Green Computer linear power supplies (3); external hard drives, USB sticks, Apple iPad Pro.
Power Amplifiers: Dan D'Agostino Master Audio Systems Progression monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Wilson Audio Specialties Alexia 2.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest Diamond (…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Sidebar 3: Measurements
Before measuring the Aesthetix Mimas with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"), I installed its two Electro-Harmonix 6922 tubes and left the amplifier's internal jumpers as set by the factory. Before I test an amplifier, I precondition it with both channels driving a 1kHz tone at one-third power into 8 ohms for an hour. The Mimas turned itself off after 30 minutes, however, its front panel displaying the message "Temp HIGH RITE." The amplifier's top panel was hot, at 126.6°F (52.6°C), the temperature of the side panels was 110.4…
At first glance, this active, DSP-controlled loudspeaker system, with dynamic drivers firing to front and rear, may seem an alien invader from the world of recording and mastering monitors made by such brands as Neumann and Genelec. I wouldn't dispute that perception, but I offer another perspective: The engineering that has gone into the Dutch & Dutch 8c ($12,500/pair) is an all-out attempt to meet the goals that all designers of high-end speakers hope to attain: wide, smooth frequency response; sufficient and linear dynamic performance; crossover management; a cabinet free of audible…
I placed the 8c's some 15" from the front wall (which isn't a wall but a triple-glazed, heavy-duty city window with a 4"-thick slab of fiberglass on the inside ledge). Using lanspeaker.com, one can make all sorts of adjustments in real time. Setting the front-wall distance to 15.75" (40cm) and side-wall distance to 23.6"–27.6" (60–70cm), the bass was strong— almost too strong.
Measurements
I took using Dayton Audio's OmniMic microphone and XTZ's Room Analyzer Pro software defined two significant bass peaks, at 33Hz and 66Hz for the left speaker and 35Hz and 75Hz for the right. I…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Stand-mounted, three-way, DSP-controlled, powered loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (25mm) aluminum- magnesium–alloy dome tweeter with 8" (200mm) acoustic waveguide, 8" (200mm) aluminum-cone midrange, two 8" (200mm) aluminum-cone woofers with cast frames. Crossover frequencies: 100Hz, 1250Hz (fourth-order, Linkwitz-Riley, linear phase). Power amplifiers (all class-D): 250W (HF), 250W (MF), 500W (LF). Audio inputs: analog (XLR), AES3 (XLR), Ethernet (RJ45). Audio output: subwoofer (XLR). Control I/O: Ethernet (RJ45). Maximum linear SPL: 106dB continuous…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: Oppo Digital UDP-105 universal BD player, Baetis Prodigy-X music server running JRiver Media Center 24, exaSound e38 D/A processor, miniDSP U-DIO8miniDSP U-DIO8, QNAP TVS-873 NAS.
Preamplifier: Audio Research MP1.
Power Amplifiers: Benchmark AHB2, Classé Sigma Mono, Hegel Music Systems B53, Parasound Halo A 31.
Loudspeakers: Bang & Olufsen Beolab 90, Kii Audio Three, JL Audio Fathom f113 subwoofer.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest Coffee (USB). Interconnect: AudioQuest Earth/DBS balanced, Kubala-Sosna Anticipation (RCA).…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Dutch & Dutch 8c's frequency response in the farfield and an Earthworks QTC40 mike for the nearfield responses. Before I took the measurements, I connected the speaker (serial no. 8c-515) to my network and accessed the control app at www.lanspeaker.com in order to defeat the settings Kal Rubinson had used during his auditioning. These were compensation for the distances to the room's front and side walls; the levels of treble and bass; and the two parametric filters he'd used to…
Products come and go. Some impress more than others, and in our little world, the ones that impress the most wind up in Class A of our semiannual "Recommended Components" feature.
After a product makes it to that list, if Stereophile's reviewers go more than a few years without hearing it again—in a home system or a dealer's showroom or even at an audio show—that product falls off the list, usually quietly. Thus, if a reviewer is maximally knocked out by a piece of playback gear, yet the fates allow neither a purchase nor an extended loan, he or she or someone else on staff must endeavor…
Before the CV 391 went back to Connecticut, I sated my curiosity by once again removing its bottom cover, this time for a close look at the hookup scheme used for its off-the-shelf Hammond output transformers, whose multiple windings can be combined in different ways to create 4, 8, and 16 ohm taps. They were wired for 8 ohms. While it may be tempting to assume that's why the CV 391 locked in especially well with the DeVores, any number of other things could have played a role—and I hesitate to give the impression that such specs can be relied upon to predict synergy. Like all of the Shindo…
Czech composer Leoš Janáček was already in his 60s and married when, in 1917, he fell hopelessly in love with Kamila Stösslová, a married woman 38 years his junior. Although it wasn’t the first time that Janáček had fallen in love with an “unobtainable,” his passion for Kamila was all-consuming. During the final 11 years of his life, while he lived under the same roof with a wife whom he had informally divorced, he sent Stösslová almost 730 letters and was inspired by his love for her to compose many of his greatest works.
Among the masterpieces spawned by Janáček’s unconsummated love was…