Listening: Kuzma, PS Audio, Shindo
Could these little wonders go deep with few watts to spare? Yes and no. The Trenner & Friedl Suns cleanly produced bass notes of substance when present on the recording, and with apparently fewer watts than Clarke had said they needed. Time after time, playing everything from New…
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Bob Clarke had noted that the Suns "start to get fun at about 50Wpc. Beyond that, the more [power] the better, given equal sound quality of the amps." My Shindo Haut-Brion puts out a maximum of 22Wpc. How would the Suns fare with a lower-than-optimal amount of power?
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way, ported stand-mounted loudspeaker. Coaxial drive-unit: 1" (254mm) fabric-dome tweeter, 4.7" (120mm) black-anodized, aluminum-cone mid/woofer. Crossover frequency: ca 2500Hz. Frequency response: 55Hz–25kHz, +0/–3dB. Sensitivity: 82dB/2.83V/m. Impedance: 4 ohms. Recommended amplification: 30–200Wpc.
Dimensions: 8.3" (210mm) H by 6.3" (160mm) W by 5.5" (140mm) D. Weight: 7.5 lbs (3.2kg).
Finishes: Walnut nature, Walnut amaranth, Walnut mocca; others on request.
Serial numbers of units reviewed: 505A & B.
Price: $3450/pair.…
In 1999, when I first heard a Super Audio Compact Disc, I felt certain that the new format was destined for commercial dominance. Ten years later, when I first played PCM music files through a USB DAC, I felt certain that the SACD was deader than Julius Caesar's dog.
In 2016, it's apparent that I'm not qualified to predict how anything will perform in the marketplace. In my defense, I'm not the only industry bigwig who's made those mistakes; on the other hand, one happily notes that technology and commerce, those inseparable sweethearts, carried on anyway, heedless of our thudding…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Kuzma Stabi S turntable & Stogi tonearm, Music Hall MMF-7.3 turntable; Denon DL-103, Goldring Elite MC, Ortofon 2M Bronze cartridges.
Digital Sources: Apple MacBook computer running Audirvana Plus; Halide DAC HD, PS Audio NuWave DACs; Western Digital T2 Mirror Drives (2).
Preamplification: Auditorium 23 A23 moving-coil step-up transformer, Heed Audio Quasar phono stage, Shindo Laboratory Allegro preamplifier.
Power Amplifier: Shindo Laboratory Haut-Brion.
Integrated Amplifier: Heed Audio Elixir.
Loudspeakers: DeVore…
The Luxman D-06u was much faster at loading CDs and SACDs than is my Sony, which approaches that task with all the smartness of a New York State DMV clerk during a work stoppage. From placing a disc in the Luxman's motorized drawer—the smoothest and most solid such device of my experience—to hearing music never took more than 12 seconds.
Listening
Have I mentioned what a pleasure it is to be able to buy more than a relative handful of titles on SACD? During the format's first few years, the commercial SACD repertoire was limited mostly to labels owned by Sony Music, and most of the…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Trenner & Friedl Sun's frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 for the nearfield responses. My estimate of the Sun's voltage sensitivity was 82dB/2.83V/m, which confirms the specified figure but is well below average. This is hardly surprising considering that the woofer cone has an effective diameter of just 3.5" (footnote 1). The Sun's specified impedance is 4 ohms; the graph of its impedance magnitude and electrical phase angle against frequency (fig.1)…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: SACD/CD player with USB DAC. Digital inputs: 1 coaxial (RCA), 1 optical (TosLink), 1 USB. Digital outputs: 1 coaxial (RCA), 1 optical (TosLink). Analog outputs: 1 single-ended (RCA), 1 balanced (XLR). Sampling frequencies supported, USB: PCM to 32-bit/384kHz, DSD to 5.64MHz. Signal/noise: CD, 122dB; SACD, 104dB; USB, 123dB. Total harmonic distortion: CD, 0.0015%; SACD, 0.0011%; USB, 0.0009%.
Dimensions: 17.3" (440mm) W by 5.2" (133mm) H by 16.1" (410mm) D. Weight: 34.6 lbs (15.7kg).
Finish: Silver.
Serial number of unit reviewed:…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Garrard 301, Thorens TD 124 turntables; EMT 997, Thomas Schick tonearms; EMT OFD 15 & TSD 15, Shindo Laboratory SPU pickup heads.
Digital Sources: Halide Designs DAC HD, AudioQuest DragonFly Black & Red USB DACs; Apple iMac G5 computer running Audirvana Plus 1.5.12; Sony SCD-777ES SACD/CD player.
Preamplification: Auditorium 23 Hommage T2 & T1 step-up transformers, Shindo Laboratory Masseto preamplifier.
Power Amplifiers: Shindo Laboratory Corton-Charlemagne (monoblocks) & Haut-Brion (stereo).
Loudspeakers:…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured the Luxman D-06u with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"). As well as playing test CDs and the "provisional" test SACD produced by Sony, I examined the behavior of the digital inputs with either S/PDIF signals fed from the SYS2722, or WAV and AIFF test-tone files played with Pure Music 3.0 by my MacBook Pro running on battery power and fed via USB. Apple's USB Prober utility identified the processor as the "Super Audio CD Player D-06u" from "Luxman," and confirmed that the D-06u's USB input operated in the optimal…
Just in time for the New Year, Audio High has released a new set of 23 of Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas, performed live by Robert Silverman and available in MQA, hi-rez, CD-quality, and MP3 formats. If the prospect of one of Canada's most feted pianists offering his mature thoughts on Beethoven in superb sound is not, in and of itself, sufficient reason to tempt you, the fact that the MP3 files can be obtained for free, with the others available for a donation to the Silver Linings non-profit charity, certainly will be. 100% of the proceeds will fund Silver Linings' many projects, which…