While the 40W RMS power handling may seem low, 101.5dB sensitivity (1W/1m) ensured plenty of output from modest amplification.
The Alpine speaker is designed to be used in conjunction…
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The Van Zyl Audio Alpine mid-horn speaker ($12,000/pair) is designed to cover a frequency range of 125Hz up to 20kHz. It uses a horn-loaded 8" Tang Band full-range driver that connects to the amplifier directly, free of crossover componentry. The design adds a physically time-aligned AMT tweeter—implemented as a super tweeter—to extend the highs with a simple first-order crossover applied.
With the consumer version of the Planet Venus Spectral Coherence Control Essential plugin ($189), adventurous audiophiles can experiment with removing distortion inherent to a recording, independent of the playback system.
In this demo, you can hear the technology's effect and explicitly listen to the distorted sound it filters from the source content. It's important to note that the listener controls how much correction is applied.
The main catch with this technology is that music needs to be digitized to be processed. However, the distortion that the software removes…
Ted Denney used a top-tier stereo system to demonstrate Synergistic Research's latest product, the Voodoo Streaming Server ($14,995), at the inaugural Southwest Audio Fest. The demo also included the Vibratron SX ($3995), a passive resonator design from the company's early days.
Magico speakers, McIntosh amplification, and Synergistic Research cables and power conditioning round out the gear for this demo. Check it out with good headphones.
Ken Songer of Songer Audio must be on to something because his demo led me to experience a heart rate of 141 while listening to "Sharkey's Day" from Laurie Anderson's Mister Heartbreak. This was a highly unusual physiological response to a familiar track, triggered by the high fidelity sound I experienced.
In the video Ken explains various details about his S1x loudspeaker ($45,000) featuring the Nova field coil driver, which is the source of this aural excellence. It works in conjunction with the Songer Audio variable power supply, which creates the magnetic field in the field…
Over the last 50 years, I must have installed well over 1000 phono cartridges, but I still remember the very first one: a Goldring G850 I put into the family Garrard Autoslim turntable when I was 11 years old. In 1973, the G850 was the least expensive moving magnet cartridge Goldring made. The change from the flipover-stylus ceramic cartridge that came with the Garrard wasn't an attempt to satisfy a youthful audiophile itch but, rather, a result of my first encounter with a system compatibility problem.
A few months earlier, I had convinced my nonaudiophile dad to upgrade the family…
DS Audio has made it clear that their goal is to promote optical cartridges as a concept, not just to profit from their own products. Instead of trying to lock down the company's work behind patents and hidden "secret sauce" circuitry, they have made their design specifications public while supporting manufacturers who want to create their own optical cartridge platforms. A page on the DS Audio website includes a list with photos and specifications of optical cartridge equalizers made by companies such as Meitner, its sister company EMM Labs, Soulution, Soulnote, and Uesugi Research…
Some fresh, high quality products making their U.S. show debuts—not to mention the excellent sound quality that was achieved—made this system a fun one to audition.
German Physiks Unicorn MKII speakers ($27,000-$31,000/pair, depending on finish) were driven by an Accuphase A-80 ($25,975), a pure class A 60Wpc amplifier.
The preamp for the system is an Ypsilon PST-100 MKII ($37,000) which offers active and passive modes.
The Accuphase DP-770 ($26,575) was tasked with immaculate CD and SACD playback. An EMM Labs NS1 network streamer ($4500) served digital tunes…
Edmund (Ed) Manfred Meitner's name and reputation have long been synonymous with pioneering achievements in the fields of digital audio, especially DSD. In 1971, after designing the first fully automated studio console, Ed identified what he calls "the jitter problem." He worked with Sony and Philips to help create and refine SACD and subsequently designed the first complete six-channel DSD playback system for home use.
In 1998, while developing the eight-channel A/D and D/A DSD converters still used to create most SACDs, Ed founded EMM Labs (footnote 1) and became head of design, with…
The sound
Of all the amps I've reviewed in recent memory, the MTRS immediately and continually struck me as the most honest and neutral of the lot. It neither glamorized nor warmed the sound. Every acoustic instrument sounded as I knew it to sound; every distinctive voice sounded unique and timbrally true. The inherently sweet sounded sweet; rasping rasped; emphatic exclamations resounded with force.
Music intended to tug at the heart or break it open, such as the Adagietto from Mahler Symphony No.5 is wont to do, did precisely that. When I played Rafael Payare and the…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid state class-AB power amplifier with custom Kimber Kable PK10 Ascent 30A power cable. Inputs: 1 pair each balanced (XLR) and single-ended (RCA). Output: 2 pairs Furutech loudspeaker binding posts. System: RS-232 communication port. Rated output power: 400Wpc peak power, 330W RMS continuous power per channel into 4 ohms (22.18dBW). Voltage gain: 30dB. Frequency response: 0.1Hz– 200kHz (full rated power). S/N ratio: >120dB (A-weighted). Both THD+N and IMD: <0.01% (20Hz–20kHz at full rated power). Slew rate: >100V/µS. Damping factor: >…