A brief recap: At the 2018 High End show in Munich, UK-based SME announced that they had taken steps to reintroduce the classic Garrard 301, a transcription turntable that's been out of production for more than half a century (footnote 1). At the time of its introduction—production began in 1953—success for the British-built 301 was instant. It was also enduring; it…
search
Some loss of innocence is expected with both age and experience. Because I tick both boxes, and in spite of my best efforts to the contrary, I'm often a bit blasé in the face of new review samples. I wasn't with this one.
The 301 fastens to the plinth with four bolts that pass down through its cast-aluminum chassis; the chassis is isolated from the plinth with thick, pliant washers, both above and below the wooden slab—here is the explanation why, in all the photos we've seen of the new 301, there appears to be a slight gap between the motor unit and the top surface of the plinth—and the bolts are secured from beneath with thicker-than-average nuts, just as I've seen on most original Garrards. I wasn't surprised to note that those nuts were scarcely more than finger tight, given my own observations that the…
Unlike the world of recorded music, where streaming has decimated sales of physical products, book publishing is seeing the reverse trend: sales of eBooks are declining while those of both hardback and paperback books are recovering. I have been a book junkie all my life—the two long walls of my listening room are lined with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and I have many boxes of books in storage—but these days almost all my book reading is with the Kindle app on my iPad mini.
Before I retired at the end of March 2019, most of my eBook consumption took place on the subway as I commuted to…
I replaced the NightHawks with the brighter-balanced Audeze LCD-Xes I bought after reviewing them in March 2014, and despite the apparent incongruity of using $1500 headphones with a $300 D/A headphone amplifier, the pairing worked well. The double bass solo on Bill Evans's rendering of "Green Dolphin Street" (from Some Other Time: The Lost Session from the Black Forest, 16/44.1 Qobuz stream from Resonance Records) was reproduced with solidity and low-frequency weight; Evans's piano was way forward in the mix but didn't sound overly aggressive even when I played the music loud.
As you…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Portable, USB-powered, MQA-capable digital-to-analog converter with StreamLength asynchronous USB code. Supported operating systems: Apple OS 10.6.8 and later, Apple iOS 5 and later, Microsoft Windows 7–10, Android 4.1 and later, Linux capable (no support provided). Sample rates supported: 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96kHz. Digital input: USB Type A, male plug. Analog output: three-conductor, 3.5mm phone jack. Maximum output voltage: 2.1V RMS into 10k ohms or higher; 16 ohms minimum headphone impedance. Supplied accessory: AudioQuest DragonTail USB A-to-C…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Sources: Roon Nucleus+ server; PonoPlayer, AudioQuest DragonFly Red, iPad mini.
Headphones: Audeze LCD-X, AudioQuest NightHawk, Ultimate Ears 18 Pro.
Cables: Headphones: manufacturers' own with AudioQuests; Nordost Heimdall with Audezes. AC: manufacturers' own.
Accessories: AudioQuest Niagara 1000 Low-Z Power/Noise-Dissipation System.—John Atkinson
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured the AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"). I performed a full set of tests with WAV and AIFF test-tone files played with Pure Music 3.0 on my MacBook Pro running on battery power, and on my iPhone 6S using a Lightning to USB adapter.
A Drok USB tester (footnote 1) indicated that with no signal being passed, the Cobalt drew 50mA of current from the host's USB port, compared with the Red's 30mA. (Both measurements are ±5mA.) So while the Cobalt's microcontroller chip draws less…
The GoldenEar Triton One.R is the successor to the original Triton One (footnote 1), improving on that model in both appearance and function, with features that first appeared in the Triton Reference.
Externally, the Triton One.R is a 54" tall by 8" wide by 16.65" deep tower that appears even slimmer than those dimensions suggest. In lieu of the sock-like fabric covering used on GoldenEar's less expensive speakers, the One.R, like the Reference, is finished in a high-gloss black, with large rectangular grille-cloth panels on the lower portions of each side and a curved, full-height front…
So far, so good—really good—but let me get back to the regular process of analyzing individual performance elements. For example, I tested the low-frequency capabilities of the One.Rs with everything I had, and they did not disappoint. Organ pedals were tight, tonally defined, and extended. In fact my only criticism was that the lows were occasionally too good to be real and benefitted from turning down the bass level by 1–2 notches from the middle position. The facility to do this is very useful and, along with careful room placement and orientation, it helped the One.Rs get the bass right…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1.06" × 1.31" High-Velocity Folded Ribbon (HVFR) tweeter, two 5.25" cone midrange units, three 5" × 9" woofers powered by an internal amplifier, four 7" × 10" planar passive radiators. Frequency range: 13Hz–35kHz. Nominal impedance: "compatible with 8 ohms." Sensitivity: 92dB/W/m. Recommended amplifier power: 20–650W. Built-in subwoofer amplifier: 1600W, class-D.
Dimensions: 54" (1372mm) H × 8" (203mm) W × 16.62" (423mm) D; base increases width to 12.375" (314mm) and depth to 19.75" (503mm).…