Analog source: Linn Sondek LP12 turntable with Lingo power supply, Linn Ekos tonearm, Linn Arkiv B cartridge, Channel D Seta L phono preamplifier.
Digital sources: Roon Nucleus+ file server; Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP universal player; PS Audio PerfectWave DirectStream, Weiss DAC502, and HoloAudio May D/A processors, Ayre Acoustics QA-9 A/D converter.
Power amplifiers: Parasound Halo JC 1+ monoblocks.
Integrated amplifier: NAD M10.
Loudspeakers: KEF LS50, Vimberg Mino.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest Vodka (Ethernet), AudioQuest Coffee (USB),…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the GoldenEar BRX's frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 mike for the nearfield and in-room responses.
GoldenEar specifies the BRX's sensitivity as 90dB/W/m; my estimate was somewhat lower, at 87.5dB(B)/2.83V/m. The BRX's impedance is specified as "compatible with 8 ohms." However, the impedance magnitude (fig.1, solid trace) drops well below 8 ohms in the midrange and mid-treble region, with a minimum value of 3.24 ohms at 194Hz. There is also a…
Used copies of Sonny Rollins's classic 1957 record Way Out West are easy enough to find. The album has been reissued some 30 times on vinyl, most recently in 2018 on Craft Recordings (but read Michael Fremer's take on that reissue before buying). You can still buy Original Jazz Classics reissues from 1988—sealed —for about $20.
If you want an early pressing, though, your opportunities are limited. If you want an early pressing in collectable condition, expect to pay real money. And if you want that early pressing in pristine condition, good luck with that.
This is the niche the…
UPDATE: This webinar is now expired
NAD M33 DAC Amplifier Webinar Now Expired LIVE: Thursday, August 27, 2020 - 12:00PM ET
Join us when NAD Electronics presents a deep dive into the NAD M33 BluOS Streaming DAC Amplifier, with an overview of features and benefits, including an in-depth look at their novel Eigentakt amplification technology.
On hand to present the product and answer your questions during the live webinar:
Greg Stidsen, Chief Technology Officer for Lenbrook International
Cas Oostvogel, Product Manager, NAD
Bruno Putzeys, Co-founder,…
I am fascinated by DACs and the shifting sands of today's digital-audio marketplace. This month, I am reporting on two more DACs, both made by Denafrips: the $4498 Terminator, until recently their flagship DAC, and the $768 Ares II, the company's least expensive model. Like the HoloAudio May DAC I described last month, both Denafrips converters employ R-2R conversion schemes, and both render recordings into direct, unprocessed sound.
The Denafrips Terminator is not new. It has been around since March 2017 and has been reviewed and discussed (but not in Stereophile). When I checked,…
My first exposure to Manger Audio loudspeakers, which are based on the "bending-wave" technology invented years ago by the company, was to the Manger p2, their passive flagship speaker, at the 2019 AXPONA. I heard it again a month or so later at High End Munich. I was impressed both times, especially by its transient and spatial performance.
I don't remember what music I heard at AXPONA, but in Munich, I asked to hear Duke Ellington's Jazz Party in Stereo, which (despite being first released in mono, as Duke Ellington Jazz Party) is one of the more profoundly stereo issues of its era. The…
Going with the flow, I put on the digital version of the recent Charlie Parker Savoy 10" LP Collection (16/44.1 FLAC, streamed from Qobuz; Art Dudley wrote about the LPs, Craft Recordings CR00010, for Revinylization #5). It sounded like this recording sounds—vintage to be sure but with rich, textured, immediate, impactful horns playing directly into the microphone, bass and drums set farther back, and piano somewhere in the middle sounding clear and articulate, not at all recessed.
Next, I turned to Nathan Milstein's 1954/1956 recording of the Bach Partitas for Solo Violin (EMI Classics…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way, floorstanding loudspeaker with built-in class-AB amplification (250W into 8 ohms, woofer; 180W into 8 ohms, bending –wave driver) and "Room Acoustics Correction" and "High-Frequency Trim" controls. Drive-units: Flat Manger Sound Transducer (MST), 8" (200mm) carbon-fiber/paper sandwich-cone woofer in sealed enclosure. Crossover frequency: 330Hz. Frequency range: 30Hz–40kHz. Input Impedance: 10k ohms (XLR).
Dimensions: 44.8" (1139mm) H × 10.6" (270mm) W × 8.4" (214mm) D. Weight: 105.7lb (48kg).
Finishes: Satin, wood veneer, or high…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: Thorens TD 124 turntable (reconditioned by Schopper AG) with Thomas Schick 12" tonearm; Ortofon Xpression cartridge; SME 30/12 turntable with V-12 tonearm and Ortofon Windfeld TI cartridge (in for review).
Digital sources: Intel NUC computer with SSD drive running Roon Optimized Core Kit; Synology DS918+ Diskstation 4-bay Network Attached Storage device with 16TB; TP-Link 8-Port Gigabit network switch (unmanaged); PS Audio DirectStream DAC; Mytek Brooklyn DAC+.
Preamplification: Auditorium 23 Standard step-up transformer, Sutherland…
Yamaha: The name evokes memories of my youth when those much-coveted receivers were out of financial reach, leading me to rely upon entry-level Kenwoods and Pioneers and others that sounded worse. Everyone who ever had a cheap receiver blow up—that's what caused me to move from Kenwood to Pioneer—or heard an old Akai that made LPs sound like 128kbps MP3s, please raise your hands.
Yamaha was in a different league (footnote 1). Hence, when Jim Austin proposed that I review the brand-new, top-of-theline Yamaha A-S3200 integrated amplifier ($7499.95), I was eager to discover just how far the…