Analog sources: SME 30/12 (original version) with Series V-12 tonearm. Phono cartridges: Ortofon Windfeld Ti, Ortofon Verismo; Lyra Etna λ Lambda.
Preamplification: Line: Pass Laboratories XP-32, CH Precision L1. Phono: Sutherland Big Loco.
Power amplifiers: Pass Laboratories XA60.8 monoblocks, CH Precision M1.1, Burmester 216.
Loudspeakers: Wilson Audio Specialties Alexx V.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest Carbon, Cinnamon, & Coffee USB; CAD USB; Wireworld Platinum Starlight 8 Ethernet. Interconnect: AudioQuest ThunderBird (XLR and…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured the Pass Labs XP-27 phono preamplifier with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system, repeating some tests with the magazine's higher-resolution APx500 analyzer. To minimize noise, I connected a wire from the grounding terminal on the preamplifier chassis's rear panel to the analyzer ground connections. The XP-27 gets warm. The temperature of the top panel after an hour of testing was 99.5°F (37.5°C).
The inputs preserved absolute polarity from both the balanced and single-ended outputs. The gain from the balanced outputs was fairly close to the numeric…
Ah, Denmark. Land of the Vikings and blue-eyed, blond-haired folk with faces sculpted just so. I loved my week there as a Stereophile correspondent and member of a scraggly scrum of audio journalists whisked to DALI headquarters on a promotional junket.
Aside from its universal attractiveness, what struck me during my stay in the southernmost and smallest of the Scandinavian countries was how by North American standards the more densely populated cities I visited, Copenhagen and Aarhus, seemed orderly and clean. Cars, pedestrians, and cyclists kept tightly to their lanes. I saw no…
My pre-Contour impression of Beck's Morning Phase (CD, Capitol Records B001983802) was of an intentionally lo-fi album interspersed with moments of hi-fi splendor (footnote 1). The Contours raised the hi-fi quotient, with color-saturated tones and bloomy harmonics. The Danish speakers made the notes on this CD sound more fully sprouted, like a flower in summer, not early spring.
The acoustic guitar strings at the beginning of "Morning" twirled in the air like actual strings. Beck's voice, which is recorded with a diffuse bullhorn echo effect, flared out netlike from the core of…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: 2.5-way bass-reflex floorstander with two rear ports. Drive units: one 1" Esotar 2i dome tweeter, two identical 7.1" (18cm) MSP drivers, one used as a mid-woofer, the other as a woofer. Crossover frequencies: 300Hz, 2200Hz, second order. Frequency response: 32Hz–23kHz, ±3dB. Nominal impedance: 4 ohms. Sensitivity: 87dB/2.83V/m. IEC power handling: 300W.
Dimensions: 46" (1169mm) H × 11.8" (300mm) W × 15.9" (403mm) D, including feet and grille. Net weight: 76lb (34.4kg).
Finishes: Walnut Wood, Black high Gloss, Nordic Silver.
Serial numbers…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: Rega P5 turntable with RB700 tonearm and Audio MusiKraft Denon DL-103 cartridge.
Digital sources: Simaudio Moon 260D CD transport, iFi iDSD Diablo DAC.
Integrated amplifier: Grandinote Shinai.
Loudspeakers: Focal Aria K2 936.
Cables: Interconnect: Audience Studio ONE (RCA), Kimber Kable 1016 (RCA). Speaker: Kimber Kable Monocle-XL (w/banana plugs). Digital: Kimber Kable D60 (RCA S/PDIF). Power: Shunyata Research Black Mamba CX, LessLoss DFPC.
Accessories: Shunyata Research Venom PS8 power conditioner; a component rack and…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured a Dynaudio Contour 30i loudspeaker with serial number 10154186. I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system, a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone, and an Earthworks microphone preamplifier to measure the quasi-anechoic frequency- and time-domain behavior in the farfield. I used an Earthworks QTC-40 microphone for the nearfield responses and Dayton Audio's DATS V2 system to measure the impedance magnitude and phase.
Dynaudio specifies the Contour 30i's…
At this late date, it seems impossible that there could still be "lost" albums lingering in the vaults by musicians as important and successful as Johnny Cash and Paul McCartney. And yet Universal Music has just released "new" albums by both artists that significantly add to their already hallowed recording catalogs.
In 1993, just prior to meeting producer Rick Rubin, Johnny Cash, who was then between record label deals, tracked an album's worth of demos in Nashville. Longtime Cash pal Waylon Jennings sang on two tracks. The idea was to shop all the recordings to record labels.
…
Ron Sutherland makes a strong case for being crowned the king of all phono preamps, though I expect he would blush at any such suggestion. In 1979, with degrees in physics and electronic engineering (where his final project involved designing and building a digital logic–controlled preamp), he teamed up with Gayle Sanders to found electrostatic speaker company MartinLogan. ("Martin" and "Logan" are Sanders' and Sutherland's middle names, respectively.) But after a few years, he found the increasingly corporate mindset at M-L a bit stifling, so he decided to go his own way. Ron wanted to build…
Dynavector XX-2A Low-Output Moving Coil
Almost every Friday, I meet with a tightknit group of friends for a casual lunch where we yak away a couple of hours about anything and everything to do with hi-fi. Last Friday, my friend Bill chimed in with, "Why do so many of you reviewer guys have Dynavector cartridges?" It's true, and it's a good question. Dynavector cartridges are not the most talked-about or the most glitzy, glamorous cartridges, but people who own them sure seem to like them. I have owned a Dynavector DRT XV-1s cartridge for many years, and coming back to it after a…