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Through the Pass XA25, Bernstein conducting the NYP in The Rite of Spring (24/96 FLAC, Sony Classical/Qobuz) sounded marginally less sweet and supple, more stern, more like Gergiev's interpretation. There were less subtle gradations of tone in the strings. less tasty textured harmonics. But dang! The XA25 really made Stravinsky dance. It forced me to feel the orchestra's rising and falling energy. Musical-poetical moods were transmitted less by the beauty of observed sounds than by sensations of vibrating energy. The Pass XA25 presents the energy of music with an Olga Korbut–like athleticism…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Class-AB1 stereo tubed integrated amplifier. Tube complement: two 6922 (input buffer/preamp), two 6SN7 (pre-driver/phase inverter), four KT150 (output operated in push-pull Ultralinear mode). Inputs: 4 pairs single-ended (RCA). Outputs: 1 pair line-level subwoofer (RCA), 2 pairs five-way speaker binding posts, ¼" headphone jack. Power output: 100Wpc into 8 ohms (20dBW). Maximum gain: 34dB. Frequency response: 19Hz–23kHz, ±0.5dB. Input impedance: 100k ohms. Sensitivity: 450mV RMS.
Dimensions: 17.25" (440mm) W by 7.8" (200mm) H by 16" (405mm) D.…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Dr. Feickert Analogue Blackbird turntable with Jelco KT-850L tonearm, AMG Giro G9 turntable & 9W Turbo tonearm, Linn Sondek LP12 Hercules turntable with SME M2-9 tonearm; AMG Teatro, EMT TSD 75, Etsuro Urushi Cobalt Blue, Hana SL, Koetsu Rosewood Standard & Signature Platinum, My Sonic Lab Ultra Eminent Ex cartridges.
Digital Sources: Mac mini computer running Audirvana+ 3.2; JVC X-Z1010 CD player (transport only); HoloAudio Spring "Kitsuné Tuned Edition" Level 3, Mytek Brooklyn, Schiit Audio Yggdrasil Analog 2 DACs.
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Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured the Cary SLI-100 amplifier using my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"). Before doing so, I installed all the tubes, following the guide in the excellent manual, and checked the bias current for the KT150 output tubes. Each channel measured close to the recommended 75mA. I ran a 1kHz tone through the amplifier at 1Wpc into 8 ohms, then rechecked the bias before starting the testing. I checked the bias currents several times while performing the measurements, but neither channel had drifted by more than a few milliamps. I…
Terpsichore, the Greek goddess of dance and chorus. How appropriate that her delight in dancing should be honored in Terpsichore: Apotheóse de la Danse baroque (Alia Vox), the latest beautifully produced and packaged Alia Vox SACD from Jordi Savall and his baroque orchestra, Le Concert des Nations. Filled with high energy orchestral music by Jean-Ferry Rebel (1666–1747) and the even longer-lived Georg Philipp Telemann (1681–1767), the recording exalts the exuberant French style of instrumental dance music that became popular during the rise of the baroque orchestra in the courts of Kings…
Sidebar: Measurements (from January 2019, Vol.42 No.1)
This relatively affordable, high-sensitivity, two-way floorstanding loudspeaker has been a firm favorite with Stereophile's writers since Sam Tellig reviewed it in January 2014. Herb Reichert wrote Follow-Ups in December 2015 and July 2016, as did Art Dudley in May 2018. Ken Micallef also uses a pair of O/93s, and the DeVore was a finalist in our 2016 and 2018 Loudspeaker of the Year categories. (The Orangutan O/93 costs $8400/pair; DeVore Fidelity's larger Orangutan O/96, which costs $12,000/pair, was one of our Joint Loudspeakers of…
Sorry I've been away from this space for so long. My day gig (national-security columnist for Slate) has kept me busy (as you can imagine), and I've got a tight deadline on a new book. Still, as Congreve observed, "Musick has Charms to sooth a savage Breast," and there's plenty of breast-beating savagery out there, so I've continued to listen, and here is my dispatch on the Best Jazz Albums (10 new and two historical discoveries) of 2018.
A more discursive version of this list, with descriptions and an audio track from each album, appears here in Slate (my editors indulge me now and then…
Joyce DiDonato: Into the Fire
Works by Heggie, Strauss, Debussy, Gruber, Lekeu
Joyce DiDonato, mezzo-soprano; Brentano String Quartet
Erato 573802 (24/96, CD). 2018. Jeremy Hayes, prod.; Steve Portnoi, balance, mastering. DDD. TT: 77:38
Performance ****½
Sonics ****½
Works by Heggie, Strauss, Debussy, Gruber, Lekeu
Joyce DiDonato, mezzo-soprano; Brentano String Quartet
Erato 573802 (24/96, CD). 2018. Jeremy Hayes, prod.; Steve Portnoi, balance, mastering. DDD. TT: 77:38
Performance ****½
Sonics ****½
On the 2017 Winter Solstice, the astounding Joyce DiDonato—the coloratura mezzo-soprano from Kansas who zips through impossible runs of Rossinian roulades faster than anyone can shuck corn—took a break from opera to present a song recital in London's famed Wigmore Hall. With Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer's…
It was January 1986. Stereophile's then publisher, Larry Archibald, and I were driving in his diesel 'Benz sedan from Las Vegas to Santa Fe. We had shaken hands at the just-concluded Consumer Electronics Show on my replacing J. Gordon Holt as the magazine's editor, and now, during the 750-mile drive, we mapped out the strategy to take what was then an "underground," digest-format, somewhat irregularly published magazine to the position of dominance in audio publishing it still enjoys.
As Larry and I discussed on that 13-hour drive from Nevada to New Mexico, we began publishing every month…
Reader's Letter: Mistaken enjoyment?
Editor: I was led astray by my BorderPatrol DAC. Making stacks of old CDs sound musical was irresistible. I even installed an old Mullard EZ80 in the DAC to increase my pleasure. After reading John Atkinson's measurements of the BorderPatrol in the September issue (pp.75–80), my belief that a DAC should be making these CDs sound good wavered. I don't understand his measurements and charts, but they must be more valid than what I hear with my tired old ears.
Then came Jon Iverson's Follow-Up review of the BorderPatrol DAC in November (p.141).…