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,…
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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.
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…
Given that the recording's air and depth is exceptional, and that I could only hear it in full measure when balanced interconnects ran between the dCS Rossini DAC and the A-S3200, I stuck with them save for when I listened, briefly, to the A-S3200 in amplifier-only mode, which required the use of single-ended interconnects from the volume-controlled Rossini DAC.
At first, I used the Rossini DAC's 6V output, which, in my opinion, usually delivers more colorful and nuanced sound than its 2V output. I detected distortion on a number of tracks (footnote 2), so I switched the Rossini to…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid-state integrated amplifier with phono stage and remote control. Inputs: 2 balanced line-level (XLR), 4 single-ended line-level (RCA), 1 single-ended pre-in (RCA), 1 single-ended phono (RCA). Outputs: 2 pairs binding posts, 1 pair single-ended Preamp-out (RCA), 1 pair single-ended. Rated output power (20Hz–20kHz, 0.07% THD): 100W into 8 ohms (20dBW), 150W into 4 ohms (18.75dBW). Input sensitivity (at 100W): Phono (MC) 150ÊV; Phono (MM) 3.5mV; single-ended 200mV; balanced 200mV. Main In: 1V. Headphone rated output power: 50mW. Frequency response…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: dCS Rossini SACD/CD transport, Rossini DAC & Rossini Clock; Synology 1019+ 5-bay NAS; Roon Nucleus+ music server with HDPlex 200 linear power supply; UpTone Audio EtherRegen; Sonore opticalModule; TP-Link gigabit Ethernet media converters plus multimode duplex fiber optic cable (2); Linksys routers (2); Small Green Computer linear power supply & Small Green Computer/HDPlex four-component 200W linear power supply (3); external hard drives, SSD USB sticks, iPad Pro.
Power amplifiers: Dan D'Agostino Master Systems Progression…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I tested the Yamaha A-S3200 with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"). I first preconditioned the amplifier by following the CEA's recommendation of operating it at one-eighth the specified power into 8 ohms for 30 minutes. At the end of that time, the top panel was warm, at 101.4°F (38.6°C). I subsequently performed my usual thermal stress test by running the amplifier at one-third power into 8 ohms for an hour. The Yamaha's top panel was only a little warmer than before, at 109.8°F (43.3°C). The A-S3200 appears to operate its…