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Hitting newsstands, mailboxes, and tablets today, the February Stereophile features its renowned "Records2Die4" feature, now in its 28th year! The magazine's editors and writers each recommend two recordings that they couldn't live without—the 46 albums reviewed this month would be the basis of a great audiophile music collection. Ayre's EX-8 "Integrated Hub" amplifier is featured on the cover and also reviewed in this issue are speakers from Revel and Audio Physic; amplifiers from Air Tight, CH Precision, and First Watt; and tonearms from Swedish Analog Technologies and Sorane. And don't…
It happened 30 years ago, but I remember it as if it were yesterday: My best friend's brother's friend showed me his record player—an AR turntable equipped with an SME 3009 Mk.III tonearm and a Shure V15 Type V-MR cartridge—and offered to sell it to me at a price that, until that moment, I would never have considered spending for a complete system. "It's audiophile gear," he said with a knowing smile.
Audiophile? The word sounded exotic—and grown-up.
It was love at first sight, even before I'd heard a single note played on this nonconformist record player—a product category, I…
The Beatles: The Beatles—50th Anniversary Edition
Apple B0028831-01 (2 LPs). 1968/2018. George Martin, orig. prod.; Geoff Emerick, orig. eng.; Giles Martin, reissue prod., remix; Sam Okell, reissue eng., remix; Miles Showell, mastering. ADA. TT: 93:27
Performance *****
Sonics *****
Apple B0028831-01 (2 LPs). 1968/2018. George Martin, orig. prod.; Geoff Emerick, orig. eng.; Giles Martin, reissue prod., remix; Sam Okell, reissue eng., remix; Miles Showell, mastering. ADA. TT: 93:27
Performance *****
Sonics *****
The Beatles, aka the "White Album," was first released on November 22, 1968. On November 9, 2018, in honor of that event, Apple Corps Limited issued the new 50th Anniversary Edition. My comments here refer to listening to the two-LP edition of the newly remixed The Beatles, pressed for Apple by…
That's the question raised by Antheil: Orchestral Works (Chandos 10982), the latest anthology of symphonic music by composer/pianist George Antheil (1900–1959). This second Antheil title from John Storgårds and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra finds Storgårds exploring music written on both sides of Antheil's successful Symphony No.4, which can be found on Vol.1 of what looks to be an ongoing Antheil series.
Born in Trenton, NJ, Antheil initially made his considerable mark in Europe. After a number of riot-causing concerts in Paris, including the infamous 1926 premiere of his Ballet…
It's a high-end audio truism: Successful companies are founded by a creative engineer or entrepreneur with a vision. So what happens when the founder is no longer around? While Mark Levinson is an example of a brand that not only survived the exit of its leader but thrived, speaker manufacturer Thiel dwindled after co-founder Jim Thiel died in 2009, and eventually closed up shop. Colorado company Ayre Acoustics was faced with this problem when founder Charley Hansen passed away in November 2017.
What Thiel didn't have and what Ayre does have is institutional memory. As is often the case…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-channel integrated amplifier with optional AES/EBU, S/PDIF, USB, and Roon Ready Ethernet digital inputs. Analog inputs: 1 pair balanced, 2 pairs unbalanced. Digital inputs: 1 coax, 2 TosLink S/PDIF (PCM 16/20/24-bit, 44.1–192kHz, DSD64 on DoP); USB (PCM 16/20/24-bit, 44.1–384kHz, DSD64/DSD128 on DoP); network (PCM 16/20/24-bit, 44.1–192kHz, DSD64); digital. Outputs: 1 pair speaker binding posts; 1 pair each XLR/RCA preamplifier out; ¼" unbalanced headphone, 2x3.5mm balanced headphone, word clock. Continuous power output: 100Wpc into 8 ohms (20dBW…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: Roon Nucleus+ media server, iPad mini running Roon 1.5; Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP disc player; Chord Electronics Qutest, PS Audio PerfectWave DirectStream D/A processors.
Integrated Amplifier: Cambridge Audio Edge A.
Power Amplifiers: Lamm M1.2 Reference monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: KEF LS50, Rogers LS3/5a (1978), Wharfedale Diamond 11.2, Tidal Akira.
Headphones: Audeze LCD-X.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest Coffee (USB) & Vodka (Ethernet), generic 15' TosLink, Esperanto Audio (S/PDIF). Interconnect: Canare (unbalanced).…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured Ayre Acoustics' EX-8 Integrated Hub with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"). Before performing any testing, I updated the firmware over my network and ran the EX-8 at one-third power into 8 ohms. At the end of that period its top panel was warm, at 107.1°F (41.8°C). However, the bottom panel, which acts as the heatsink for the output devices, was hot, at 124.8°F (51.6°C). EX-8 owners should make sure the amplifier is well ventilated.
Looking first at the line-level analog inputs: With the volume control at…
When we premiered this feature in 1991, we felt that, rather than a selection of all-time (or year's) best recorded performances or a list of audiophile reference albums, we should choose recordings that were, in then music editor Richard Lehnert's words, "both musically and sonically impeccable—in other words, the best, the tops, to die for." As RL went on, "such a list also makes for some strange procrustean bedfellows—obscure recordings that would never make the proverbial 'desert island' list snuggling up next to towering classics of the concert hall and control room."
Now, 28 years…
John Atkinson
Van Morrison/Joey DeFrancesco: You're Driving Me Crazy
Van Morrison, vocals, alto saxophone; Joey DeFrancesco, soprano saxophone, Hammond organ.
Exile/Legacy 19075820041 (CD). 2018. Van Morrison, Joey DeFrancesco, prods.; Jim Stern, eng. DDD. TT: 70:35
The 39th studio album by Sir George Ivan Morrison, OBE, was recorded live to Pro Tools at 24-bit/96kHz in a Sausalito studio over two days. It has a wonderfully loose feel, as Van Morrison and Hammond organist Joey DeFrancesco's quartet—the other players are Troy Roberts, soprano & tenor…