Digital sources: 16" MacBook Pro M1 Max running Roon 2.0. Lenovo ThinkCentre running Roon ROCK. Aurender A20. HiFi Rose RS520.
Preamplifiers: Audio Research LS16 MkII, Balanced Audio Technology VK-90, Benchmark HPA4 line stage.
Power amplifiers: Krell FPB 200c, two Margules U280sc (used as monoblocks), PrimaLuna Evo 400 integrated with Tung-Sol KT150 and Gold Lion platinum-grade 12AU7 tubes, Balanced Audio Technology REX 500.
Loudspeakers: Focal Utopia Scala Evo, Tekton Moab (original version).
Cables: Clarus Crimson pure copper OCC…
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Sidebar 3: Associated Equipment
Sidebar 4: Measurements
I measured one of the Tekton Moab Be loudspeaker, serial number 0001L, in RvB's listening room, driving it with his Krell FPB 200c amplifier. I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system with a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to examine the speaker's behavior in the farfield and an Earthworks QTC-40 mike for the nearfield responses. It wasn't possible to raise the 157lb loudspeaker off the floor for the measurements, so the first reflection from the ground occurs earlier than is usually the case with my testing. I therefore measured the response and dispersion with the microphone…
It was almost Christmas, a perfect, chilly, blue-sky day to visit the Met Museum and see the Manet/Degas show before it ended. On my way, walking north on Madison Avenue, I passed the uptown branch of Gagosian Gallery and noticed a brightly lit poster behind thick glass announcing their exhibition of American artist Brice Marden's last paintings. The title of the show was "Let the painting make you," which sounded like an invite and a challenge, so of course I had to go in. I was in the perfect mood to ride in Gagosian's swanky private elevator and see how a famously serious painter with a…
Goldring's Ethos moving coil plays like a cartridge costing much more than its $1599 asking price. Not only that, it's built like one: aircraft aluminum body, neodymium magnet, plus a nude 0.3 × 1.4 mil line-contact stylus on an aluminum cantilever. With a 4 ohm internal resistance, the Ethos puts out 0.5mV at 1kHz and 5cm/s and plays happily into its recommended load of 100 ohms. Its dynamic compliance is specified at 15mm/N, static compliance at 25mm/N.
I mounted the Ethos in an LP Gear H4 headshell and attached it to my Sorane SA-1.2 tonearm, which was mounted on my Dr.…
Photo: Jason Victor Serinus
Though I'm writing this in early March, this As We See It column will be published in the May issue, which is the issue that will go to AXPONA, America's largest audio show, held each non-pandemic year at the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel & Convention Center near Chicago. This year's show takes place Friday–Sunday, April 12–14. The show opens each day at 10am and closes at 6pm Friday and Saturday; Sunday's closing time is 4pm. If you're going to the show, don't forget to stop by the Stereophile booth, Location 9213 in the exhibit hall.
According to…
I've been to a few bowling parties and passed a bottle around a few fire pits, but I've never watched an audiophile unboxing video. Lately though, I have been paying closer attention to my first impressions of each new audio product as it enters my realm.
I'm finding it interesting to notice how a device previously unseen and unheard declares itself one small step at a time as I open its box, feel its heft, observe its form, study its manual, and, finally, wire it into my system. Those start-up experiences, plus my gut feelings during my first moments of music listening, establish a tone…
The phono input
I auditioned the ARCAM's moving magnet–only phono input with three well-known, well-respected cartridges, two moving magnets—Ortofon's $695 2M Black and Audio-Technica's $69 AT-VM95E—and Grado Labs' $400 Platinum3 High Output moving iron.
I started with the Ortofon because I wanted to see how refined the A25's phono stage could sound. The 2M Black uses a nude Shibata stylus to scrape disc grooves clean and make listeners feel like they are getting all the micro-information they paid extra for. Ortofon's 2M Black is the smoothest, quietest, best-tracking, most-…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid state, class-G stereo integrated amplifier outputting up to 100Wpc into 8 ohms (20dBW), 165Wpc into 4 ohms (19.2dBW). Analog inputs: 3 single-ended, one MM phono, all on RCA. Digital inputs: 2 S/PDIF coaxial, 1 TosLink, and 1 USB-C. The DAC is based on a ES9280A PRO chip with three user-selectable filters, supporting PCM sampling rates up to 384kHz and DSD up to DSD1024. Bluetooth including Qualcomm AptX Adaptive, AAC, and SBC. Analog outputs: loudspeaker, variable pre-out (RCA), and (1/8" 3mm) front panel headphone jack.
Dimensions: 17" (…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: Dr. Feickert Analog Blackbird turntable with a Sorane SA1.2 tonearm with the Ortofon 2M Black and Audio-Technica AT-VM95E moving magnet cartridges plus Grado Labs's High Output Platinum3 moving iron cartridge feeding PrimaLuna's EVO 100 phono stage.
Digital sources: Roon Nucleus+ music server; Denafrips Terminator Plus and Ares II DACs; Onkyo C-7030 CD player.
Integrated amplifier: Rogue Sphinx V3.
Headphone amplifiers: LTA Z10e, Feliks Envy, dCS Lina.
Headphones: Grado Prestige SR325X, Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro, AKG K812, Meze…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I performed a full set of measurements on the ARCAM A25 using my Audio Precision SYS2722 system. The amplifier is specified as having a maximum output power of 100Wpc into 8 ohms; I preconditioned the A25 before the measurements by following the CEA's recommendation of running it at one-eighth that power into 8 ohms for 30 minutes. Following that period, the top panel was warm, at 98.4°F (36.9°C), and the grilles over the internal heatsinks warmer, at 102.8°F (39.3°C).
Looking first at the A25's unbalanced line inputs, the amplifier preserved absolute…