search

High End by Oz's Ozan Turan was showing beautiful equipment in the Kennedy Room, including an Esoteric X-05 CD/SACD Player ($12,000), Thrax Audio Maximinus Silver DAC ($38,500), Viva Audio Solista MK II class A 22Wpc integrated amplifier ($29,500), and Lansche Audio Model 5.2 speakers in white ($57,000/pair). Hifistay Mythology racks ($6,500) held the gear and Albedo provided their Silver signal and power cables ($6,000–$23,000) and a S.I.N. Audio PSD Unlimited Power Distributor ($23,500).

The sound of the Oz High End rig was exceptionally pure and clean in the upper…

An exploration of the artistry and expertise behind the Mediterraneo X is a journey through Italian craftsmanship.

Easy setup
The Gold Note Mediterraneo X arrived protected in a robust cardboard package. Four precisely cut foam rubber sections cradled several turntable parts, each illustrated in the accompanying manual.

The tonearm was premounted and calibrated; all I needed to do was follow the instructions regarding platter placement. Gold Note even supplied a thick "lifting eye bolt" that screws into the platter, making moving it from the box to the turntable a breeze. That done, I mounted a VPI Shyla MC cartridge on the headshell, looped the nylon antiskate wire around the provided…

Description: Belt-driven turntable with variable torque motor, touchscreen user interface, and attached, smoked acrylic dustcover. Speeds: 33 1/3 and 45rpm. Platter: 12" (304.8mm), 15.5lb (7kg) aluminum and high-density POM. Wow & flutter: <0.1%. Rumble: –82dB. Motor: 12V synchronous. Tonearm: 9" B-7 Ceramic, gimbal-style with titanium wand, aluminum headshell, and ceramic ball bearing. Total length: 325mm. Effective length: 242mm. Pivot-to-spindle distance: 9". Overhang: 19mm. Offset angle: 24°. Effective mass: 10gm. VTA: adjustable on collar. Azimuth:…

Analog sources: VPI Avenger Direct turntable with VPI Fatboy tonearm, VPI Shyla cartridge. Thorens TD 124 turntable with The Wand tonearm, Luxman LMC-5 MC cartridge.
Preamplifiers: Marchand Electronics LN 110 (phono), Aurorasound Vida MKII (phono), Sugden LA 4.
Integrated amplifiers: PrimaLuna EVO 400, Triode Labs 45 EVO (in for review).
Power amplifiers: LKV Research PWR-3, Shindo Haut Brion, Pass Labs XA-25.
Loudspeakers: DeVore Fidelity O/baby, Heretic AD614, Volti Audio Razz.
Cables: Interconnects: AudioQuest Mythical Series Pegasus…

There's something about Black Ice Audio (formerly Jolida) that puts me in the frame of mind to enjoy some great tunes. It could be CEO Jerred Dunkerson's welcoming demeanor, or it could be the way the company's tube-centric gear renders smooth, eminently listenable sound without costing a fortune.

The demo system in this room featured two sources: On the analog side, a Pure Fidelity Harmony v.2 ($7995) with a Pure Fidelity Stratos cartridge ($1995) fed a Black Ice Audio F159 phono stage ($1875); on the digital side was the Bel Canto Stream 2 network bridge/DAC ($1999). Both were…

There are always a few truly eccentric rooms at audio shows. And at FIAX 2024, the Davina Loudspeaker commanded one.

I first became aware of this speaker system because my hotel room was adjacent to it, and I noticed the unusual intensity of the sound coming through the walls. My first thought was "so this is what it's like to have a bass addict as a neighbor." I am usually the offender when this happens, but I wasn't in Tampa. Anyway, I am drawn to good bass when I hear it, like bugs to a lightbulb.

Once I saw the speaker system and grasped the concept, I knew I had to…

One of the first digital processors I encountered that offered 21 bits of resolution was the Weiss DAC202, which Erick…

The clarity of the soundstage was just as superb, as I remember from my time with the DAC502. This was particularly evident on a new album of jazz duets produced by erstwhile Stereophile writer Michael Fremer: Rufus Reid Presents Caelan Cardello (16/44.1 WAV files, Liam Records), one of the last albums mastered by Bob Ludwig before he retired. Reid's round-toned double bass and Cardello's Fazioli piano were palpably present in the rather dry club acoustic, the instruments superbly well-defined in both space and tonal balance.

As I was finishing writing this review a few days…

Description: Roon-Ready, two-channel, digital/analog converter with volume control, color LCD touchscreen, DSP, and remote control. Digital inputs: AES3 on XLR, S/PDIF on RCA jack and TosLink optical connector, USB Type A, USB Type B, Ethernet on RJ45 jack. PCM sample rates supported: 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz, 192kHz, 352.8kHz, and 384kHz, plus DSD64 and DSD128 (not all frequencies are supported with all inputs). Maximum input word length: 24 or 32 bits depending on input. Analog outputs: 1 pair balanced XLR, 1 pair single-ended RCA, all short…