This room's sound shifted between that heard on the first day,…
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Is this report's title referring to sound, substance, or more than a bit of both? As you ponder the not-exactly-hidden nuances of this decidedly less-than-metaphysical tease, you may also wish that you could have experienced both and more in the room sponsored by Audio Advisors of Palm Beach, FL, headlined by Wilson Audio's Sasha DAW loudspeaker ($37,900/pair) and Audio Research's Ref 160M monoblocks ($30,000/pair), Ref 6 stereo preamplifier ($15,000), Ref Phono 3 phono preamp ($15,000), and Ref CD9 CD player/DAC ($14,000).
As I began Day Three of the FAE, I was surprised to discover that I only had four rooms plus the sole hallway exhibit left to cover. With the realization that I could actually spend some time in the sun before flying home during the Pacific Northwest's most paralyzing Snowmaggedon episode in many a decade, I allowed myself to take more time in each room.
It certainly wasn't hard to linger in the mbl room on the second floor. Thanks to Jeremy Bryan's set-up acumen, Nat King Cole's impeccably enunciated "Stardust" and Blue Tofu's "A Battle Between" both sounded warm and spacious, with fast…
I've attended a lot of audio shows since I started writing for the high-end press close to two decades ago. Yet rarely have I experienced one with a vibe as upbeat and optimistic as the inaugural Florida Audio Expo's. Despite the fact that the majority of exhibitors know me from previous shows and feel comfortable sharing their bitches and peeves with me, I received nothing but positive feedback from everyone I spoke with.
Certainly no one complained about the attendance. Some were surprised by Friday's considerable turnout, which included far more than retirees, or by Sunday's smaller…
One of my great musical regrets in leaving the Bay Area for the Pacific Northwest is our far greater distance from Music@Menlo's extraordinary summer chamber music festival. One of the finest chamber music festivals in the United States, some of whose concerts are held in the extraordinary acoustic of the Menlo School's Stent Family Hall in Menlo Park, CA, Music@Menlo is guided by America's "Power Couple of Chamber Music," ex-Emerson String Quartet cellist David Finckel and his wife, pianist Wu Han. Given that this duo also directs the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (from which they…
Hespèrion XXI & Jordi Savall: Ibn Battuta: The Traveler of Islam 1304–1377
Music of Afghanistan, Bagdad, China, Granada, India, Mali, Morocco, more
Alia Vox AVSA9930 (24/88.2, 2 SACDs). 2018. S.L. Sonjade, prod.; Harry Charlier, Manuel Mohino, engs. DDD. TT: 2:27:04
Performance *****
Sonics ****
Music of Afghanistan, Bagdad, China, Granada, India, Mali, Morocco, more
Alia Vox AVSA9930 (24/88.2, 2 SACDs). 2018. S.L. Sonjade, prod.; Harry Charlier, Manuel Mohino, engs. DDD. TT: 2:27:04
Performance *****
Sonics ****
Sixty years after Italian explorer and merchant Marco Polo chronicled his journey to Asia, Tangier-born Abu Abdallah Ibn Battuta (b. 1304, d. 1368–1377) spent close to 30 remarkable years traveling to what were then the four corners of the earth. Following the words of…
Easy pickup: Art’s Dog, Chatter, cozies up to Leif Johannsen of Ortofon A/S and Dee Hustinova of Ortofon USA. (Photo: Art Dudley)
According to the 2018 edition of the UN's World Happiness Report, Denmark is the third-happiest nation on Earth, trailing only its neighbors Finland and Norway.
I heard that yesterday afternoon, on NPR. The reporter even spelled out the word used by Danes to describe their feelings of happiness: hygge. Apparently, at present, Denmark is positively rotten with hygge.
But I was uncertain that I'd heard correctly. And I was dubious that the UN…
As Johannsen sees it, "the SPU sound comes from a different combination of components—the housing is one of them. It depends on what you want from the housing: Do you want it to contribute to the sound, to resonate? Or do you want to control [the housing]? I have made the decision that I want to control it—I do not want it to have its own life."
Johannsen went on to explain how Selective Laser Melting—which, in some previous Ortofon models, was used to manufacture small frame-style cartridge bodies—can be used to make a better SPU shell: "The lasers melt very fine powder. In some areas…
Friday, February 22, from 5pm, Alma Music and Audio (7847 Convoy Ct. #101, San Diego, CA 92111) will host Wilson Audio's Peter McGrath for the introduction of the new Sasha DAW loudspeaker. We're told it will be a fun night of music, celebrating Wilson's ambitious recreation of the seminal WATT/Puppy loudspeaker, as well as the man who started it all, the late David A. Wilson. The system will also showcase Audio Research's Reference 160M and MSB's Reference DAC.
To RSVP, email contact@almaaudio.com.
You know I'm a lucky guy. I maintain two separate audio reviewing systems.
The core component of my beloved, daily-driver desktop system is a Mytek Brooklyn DAC-preamp-headphone amp. Through this system I play high-resolution files and Internet sources (Tidal, Qobuz, Netflix, and YouTube). One of the Brooklyn's two line-level inputs delivers NPR news and baseball from my Kenwood KT-990D FM/AM tuner. I mostly use this system with headphones, but currently, the Brooklyn's line-out feeds a pair of Bel Canto Design's compact e.One REF600M monoblocks driving the shelf-mounted Dynaudio Excite…
At the left of its rear panel, the RH-5 had an optional RCA phono input. In contrast, the RP-7 has line-level inputs only. At the left of its rear panel are eight black XLR jacks: two pairs of balanced (MOSFET-buffered) outputs and two pairs of balanced inputs. These dark XLRs are followed by a regiment of bright gold RCA jacks: two unbalanced outputs, a unity gain input, a processor loop, a fixed output, and three line-level inputs. Happily, this arrangement gives me up to five line-level sources. Very nice. Stacked at far right are the main power rocker, a fuse bay, and a three-pronged…