Another example is "Lotte," German singer Stephan Sulke's portrayal of a dying love affair. The devastatingly wistful chanson is burdened by a mawkish orchestral track—the equivalent of glitterbombing an Edward…

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The REX 500 is a class-AB amplifier that uses 24 high-current output devices per channel, giving it stupendous power: 500Wpc into 8 ohms, 1000Wpc into 4 ohms. (There's no official rating into 2 ohms.) Considering that amplifiers have to produce only a few continuous watts to make most speakers sing (very low-sensitivity and low-impedance loads excluded), you might think that such specs are overkill. To justify such a beast, Bednarski cited JA's measurements of Wilson Audio's Alexx V speakers, whose equivalent peak dissipation resistance (EPDR) drops…
Description: Fully balanced, dual-mono, class-AB stereo amplifier heavily biased into class-A with high-current differential driver stage, dual power transformers, no global negative feedback, and fuseless protection circuit. Power output: 500Wpc into 8 ohms, 1000Wpc into 4 ohms (both 27dBW). Input impedance: 215k ohms. Bandwidth: 3Hz–250kHz. Slew rate: 200V/µs. Gain not specified. Power consumption: 400W at idle, 3000W at full power.
Dimensions: 19" (482mm) W × 10" (254mm) H × 23.5" (597mm) D. Weight: 140lb (64 kg).
Finish: Silver or black anodized…
Digital sources: Aurender A20 streamer and DAC, controlled via the Conductor 4 iOS app; HiFi Rose RS520; 16" MacBook Pro M1 Max running Roon.
Preamplifiers: Benchmark HPA4; BAT VK-90.
Power amplifier: Krell FPB 200c (recapped).
Integrated amplifiers: Anthem STR; PrimaLuna EVO 400.
Loudspeakers: Focal Utopia Scala Evo; Tekton Moab Be.
Cables: Speaker: AudioQuest Thunderbird Zero. Interconnects and power cords: AudioQuest, RSX, Clarus Crimson.
Accessories: Townshend Seismic Podiums. Finite Elemente Pagode HD-10 amp stand. AudioQuest…
I examined the Balanced Audio Technology REX 500's measured behavior with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system. Before I started the testing, I made sure that the four Reset buttons, two for each channel, were pushed in, as advised in the manual. I preconditioned the REX 500 by following the CEA's recommendation of running it at one-eighth the maximum power into 8 ohms for 30 minutes. At the end of that time, the temperature of the top panel was 99.9°F (37.8°C) and that of the heatsinks 134.0°F (56.7°C). The REX 500 has sufficient heatsink capacity for its high output…
After 27 years, yesterday was the final day AVTech's webmaster Jon Iverson was responsible for overseeing the company's websites, including this one. Now in his mid-60s, Jon felt it was time for him to retire while he still had the energy to explore his other interests.
Jon was a successful audio retailer in California's Central Coast region in the 1980s (footnote 1), though he took a year off to study gamelan music in Bali (footnote 2). After selling his business, he contacted…
My skeptical visitor, to whom I'd just pointed out some of the acoustic treatments and other accessories in my listening room, wasn't trying to push my buttons. He just wanted my opinion.
"No," I said. "Some things make the sound worse—way worse—but after all these years, I'm convinced that just about everything that can be done to a room or a system produces an audible difference, for better or worse."
Which is one reason that having on hand multiple full sets of more than one brand of interconnects and cables isn't merely…
When Dr. Ted and his crew began experimenting in order to re-create the soothing, late-evening RF environment we all know and love, they found instead that extra-low-frequency (ELF) and super-low-frequency (SLF) generators, tuned to various frequencies and combinations thereof, could affect soundstage width, depth, and height, as well as shift the perceived frequency balance, especially in terms of low-frequency "stiffness."
The product that resulted from this research is the Atmosphere: a black tower, 3' 3" tall, that plugs into the wall, is controlled via Bluetooth, and costs $…
This Analog Corner is reprinted on Stereophile's sister site Analog Planet website.