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Bellevue, Washington: On Wednesday and Thursday, Nov 13 and 14, Definitive Audio in Bellevue hosted multiple by-invitation showings of Wilson Audio’s just-unveiled Chronosonic XVX loudspeaker ($329,000/pair). Designed by Daryl Wilson, the XVX was envisioned as a smaller version of the late Dave Wilson’s magnum opus, the huge WAMM Master Chronosonic ($850,000/pair with Master Subsonic subwoofers). The XVX is intended for music lovers who lack a space big enough to allow the WAMM to shine. It will remain in production indefinitely, while the top-of-the-line WAMM is limited to 70 pairs.
In 2007, Luxman Corporation released the SQ-N100 tubed integrated amplifier as part of the company's NeoClassico Series, which focused on smaller, space-saving designs. The 12Wpc (into 6 ohms) SQ-N100 proved very popular, both in Japan and internationally, possibly owing to its use of EL84 pentode power tubes, cherished among audiophiles and electric guitar players alike for their midrange-to-treble luster and visceral sense of drive. (For evidence of the EL84's shimmering-yet-gutsy sound, listen to the Beatles' 1963 debut album, Please Please Me, where guitarists John Lennon and George…
The Luxman pulled off similar feats on Tower of Power's "Ebony Jam," from 1975's In the Slot (LP, Warner Bros. Records BS 2880). Near the track's end, organist Chester Thompson holds a long bass pedal note, radiating what should be massive, Leslie speaker–generated bass frequency swells. Though lacking definition, the SQ-N150 recreated the bass pedal fundamentals with appropriate color, warmth, impressive weight, and low-end growl. This recording also played to the Luxman's spatial strengths, again producing a soundstage that was wider than it was deep.
An acoustic bass-centric track I…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Tubed integrated amplifier with remote control. Tube complement: 4 EL84 output tubes, 2 12AX7/ ECC83 small-signal tubes. Inputs: 3 line, single-ended (RCA), phono MM/MC (RCA). Maximum power output: 10Wpc into 6 ohms (8.25dBW). Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz ±0.5dB (phono); 20Hz–80kHz, –3dB (line). THD (1kHz, 10W into 6 ohms): 1% or less. Sensitivity/Input impedance: 3.0mV/47k ohms (phono, MM); 0.33mV/100 ohms (Phono, MC); 180mV/47k ohms (line). S/N (IHF-A): >84dB (phono, MM); >64dB (phono, MC); >95dB (line). Power consumption: 98W.
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: Kuzma Stabi R & Kuzma 4Point 11" tonearm; Thorens TD 124 turntable & Jelco TS-350S tonearm; Hana ML and Denon DL-103 phono cartridges.
Digital sources: Apple MacBook computer running Qobuz and Tidal; BorderPatrol DAC SE, Tascam CD-200iL CD player; Western Digital T2 Mirror Drives (2).
Preamplification: Auditorium 23 A23 and Bob's Devices moving-coil step-up transformers, Shindo Allegro.
Power amplifier: Shindo Haut-Brion.
Integrated amplifier: Cary SLI-H80.
Loudspeakers: DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/93, Klipsch…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
Nostalgia struck when I unpacked the Luxman SQ-N150 and hoisted it onto the test bench. This compact integrated amplifier uses a pair of EL84 tubes for each channel's output—I used to own a sweet-sounding Vox AC30 guitar amplifier back in the 1960s, which also used a quartet of EL84s.
Down to business: I measured the Luxman using my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"). Looking first at the line inputs, the voltage gain with the volume control set to its maximum was 32.8dB into 8 ohms at the loudspeaker terminals and 27.45dB…
Stephen Mejias
Meshell Ndegeocello: Ventriloquism
Naïve M6702 (2 LPs). 2018. Meshell Ndegeocello, Jebin Bruni, prods.; S. Husky Hoskulds, eng.; Pete Min, mix, mastering. DDA? TT: 53:29
When I was a kid and felt overwhelmed by various fears and foes (asthma attacks, roaches, rats, guard dogs, dark halls, ghosts), I locked myself in my bedroom, wrapped myself around a little GPX boom box, and found comfort on the FM dial. Z100, Hot 97, and Power 105 gave me Lisa Lisa's "I Wonder if I Take You Home," Ralph Tresvant's "Sensitivity," The System's "Don't Disturb This…
Kalman Rubinson
Mendelssohn: Piano Concertos 1 & 2, Rondo Brillant, Hebrides Overture
Roberto Prosseda, piano; The Hague Residentie Orchestra, Jan Willem de Vriend
Decca 4817207 (5.1-channel DXD download, CD). 2018. Bert van der Wolf, prod., eng. DDD. TT: 62:08
Bert van der Wolf of Northstar Recording, producer of many wonderful albums for Channel Classics and other labels, now has a license to release on his website, www.spiritofturtle.com, the projects he records for Decca "in all the High Resolution versions that I have available." I hope his model…
January 26 & 27: Florida retailer Bending Wave USA (10404 West State Road 84, Suite 101, Davie, FL 33324) is holding a Grand Opening celebration.
The new sound room is equipped with $750,000 worth of high-end luxury speakers and cables from Göbel High-End in Germany and reference-quality amplifiers, preamplifiers, and digital/analog convertors from CH Precision in Switzerland.
Bending Wave USA is the US distributor for Göbel High End. For more information, call (954) 716-7407 or visit www.BendingWaveUSA.com.
To celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and the recent Women's March, we turn the spotlight on Symphonies Nos.1 & 4 of Florence Beatrice Price (1887–1953), the first African American woman to have her music performed by a major American orchestra. In doing so, I extend a big thank you to Naxos, whose invaluable American Classics series continues to record works by American composers both famous and relatively unknown.
Price, who was born in Little Rock, AR, first encountered prejudice at a young age, when her city's most highly regarded white music teachers refused to welcome her…