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Bob Ludwig first worked with a digital recording in 1978. Telarc Records brought a Soundstream machine to Masterdisk, and he cut one of their early classical recordings. From that time forward, Ludwig worked with almost every format and key piece of equipment in digital sound's evolution.

"Soundstream and the 3M Digital system sounded good, early on," he said, but then the Compact Disc was launched, and Sony came to rule the digital roost. "When I was starting out with digital mastering, we had the first Sony systems that were going to be used for CD production. ... I remember…

Aside from the gold and platinum records decorating every wall of his Gateway Mastering Studios facility, Bob Ludwig has quite a trophy case. He has mastered countless Gold and Platinum singles and albums plus 15 RIAA Diamond Award records.

Ludwig is most proud of his Audio Engineering Society Gold Medal, presented in 2015. He is also an AES Fellow.

He won 13 of the original TEC Awards, which was presented to a mastering engineer representing a year's best mastering work, and 11 of the newer TEC Awards, which include the mastering…

If you're going to Germany to immerse yourself in big-city excitement—churning dance clubs, matterful contemporary art, visitors and food from around the world, and street life that goes on all night—you'll probably find it in Berlin. Though rents have been climbing and there's no shortage of dirty sidewalks and petty crime, the German capital remains one of the most youthful and vibrant cities in Europe, an art and culture center with large expatriate communities and endless…

The occasion was a "listening party" at a friend's apartment. The guest list included me…

Fun and danger: The Benz Gullwing SLR arrived in a swanky hardwood box with gold-plated screws securing a clear plexiglass top where, when I looked in, I could see no stylus guard protecting the SLR's exposed cantilever. This didn't scare me; I've installed more than a few cartridges without stylus protection, and I have never broken any. I have of course broken a few cantilevers by dropping tonearms, but those "droppings" happened long ago. My most recent cantilever mishaps resulted from removing recalcitrant stylus guards. I fear stylus guards.

The best thing about the Gullwing…

The journey begins with booze and bong money spent instead on an entry-level turntable and cartridge; it did for me anyway. Then starts the churn, through many components and configurations seeking that elusive, blissful audio fix until finally we find our audio oasis, our own sonic peace, our gearhead nirvana. We achieve a system that satisfies our listening indulgences, whether it be based on streaming or spinning, class-D or tubes, with…

Setup
"Overall response is optimized for use away from walls," states a document on the Harbeth website. I followed that direction, assisting Swanbon, who visited for setup. We ultimately positioned the speakers roughly 3' from the front wall, 5' apart, and 4' from sidewalls.

I began my evaluation with vinyl but soon jumped to digital, including the over-performing HoloAudio May DAC fed data from a Roon Nucleus+ powered by Andrew Gillis's excellent Small Green Computer power supply, via a Sonore OpticalRendu and a TRENDnet switch. I controlled Roon with my Apple iPad mini. A…

Description: Three-way, reflex-loaded, standmount loudspeaker. Drive units: 0.787" (20mm) aluminum dome super tweeter, 0.984" (25mm) ferrofluid-cooled aluminum tweeter; 7.87" (200mm) Harbeth RADIAL2 polymeric composite-cone bass/mid driver. Frequency response: 40Hz–20kHz, ±3dB. Impedance: 6 ohms. Sensitivity: 86dB/2.83V/m.
Dimensions: 28" (711.2mm) H × 13" (330.2mm) W × 12" (304.8mm) D. Weight: 40lb (15.8kg) each.
Finishes: cherry, rosewood, walnut, okoume.
Serial number of units reviewed: 1759L, 1759R. Designed and manufactured in the UK.
Price…

Analog sources: VPI Avenger Direct turntable, VPI Fatboy tonearm, VPI Shyla MC cartridge.
Digital sources: HoloAudio May DAC, Sonore opticalRendu, Roon Nucleus+, Small Green Computer power supply, TRENDnet switch, Apple iPad mini.
Integrated amplifier: PrimaLuna EVO 400.
Preamplifier: Sugden LA-4.
Power amplifiers: Ayre VX-8, LKV Research PWR-3.
Loudspeakers: Spendor BC-1.
Cables: Interconnects: AudioQuest Pegasus, Triode Wire Labs Spirit II. Speaker: Analysis Plus Silver Apex Speaker. AC: Triode Wire Labs Obsession NCF.
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