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…
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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.
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…
When I applied for this fabulist audio-preacher gig, John Atkinson protested, "But Herb, aren't you a triode-horn guy?"
"No, that was decades ago! Today I'm still a bit of a Brit-fi guy, but my mind remains wide open."
However: As a professional reviewer, I am biased toward affordable, lovingly engineered audio creations made by family businesses with traditional artisanal values. I enjoy solid-state as much as tubes—often more!
Full disclosure: Decades ago, I and some other broke, dodgy friends of Walt Bender (Audiomart, footnote 1) and Joe Roberts (Sound Practices,…
There's no peace in my cubbyhole when Nina Simone begins to sing. She disturbs me. The slave-chant beat of "Be My Husband," from her Pastel Blues (LP, Philips PHS-600-183), strips away my ego to let me feel her soul and mine, and the American history we both share. If any other song better plumbs the depths of the male-female African and American experience, I haven't heard it. The WA5-O/93 marriage revealed, without mercy and in full color, the abyss of shame and dehumanization Simone tapped into with her art. (This song was written by Simone's husband and manager, Andrew Stroud.)
If…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Line-level integrated amplifier for headphones and loudspeakers. Tube complement: 300B x2, 6SN7 x2, 5U4G/274B x2. Inputs: 2 pairs RCA, 1 pair XLR (all single-ended). Outputs: 1 pair speaker terminals, one ¼" headphone jack; one 4-pin XLR headphone jack. Output power: 10Wpc into 8 ohms (10dBW), loudspeaker output; 500mW into 32 ohms, 750mW into 60 ohms, 8000mW into 120 ohms, 6000mW into 300 ohms, 4000mW into 600 ohms, headphone output. Frequency responses: 10Hz–60kHz, –2dB (headphone amp), 16Hz–38kHz, –2dB (speaker amp). Input impedance: 100k ohms.…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Palmer 2.5 turntable, Audio Origami PU7 tonearm, AMG Teatro cartridge; Roksan Radius 7 turntable & tonearm & Corus Silver cartridge; Dynavector DV20X2L, Hana EL, LP Gear The Vessel A3SS cartridges.
Digital Sources: AudioQuest DragonFly Red, Schiit Audio Yggdrasil DACs; Integra DPS-7.2 DVD-A/CD player.
Preamplification: Dynavector SUP-200, Bob's Devices CineMag 1131, Lounge Audio Copla MC step-up devices; Dynavector P75, Lounge Audio LCR Mk.III+, Parasound Halo JC 3+, Tavish Design Adagio phono preamps.
Power Amplifier:…