Digital sources: 15" MacBook Air M2 Max running Roon 2.0; Lenovo ThinkCentre running Roon ROCK; Eversolo DMP-A8; Grimm Audio MU1; Aurender A20.
Preamplifiers: Benchmark HPA4 line stage; Eversolo DMP-A8.
Power amplifiers: Krell FPB 200c (recapped).
Integrated amplifiers: Audia Flight FLS10; PrimaLuna EVO 400.
Loudspeakers: Focal Utopia Scala EVO; Estelon X Diamond Mk II.
Cables: Speaker: AudioQuest Thunderbird Zero and Bass. Power and interconnect: RSX and Clarus Crimson pure copper OCC power cables; AudioQuest WEL Signature AES3, Coffee…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
A recent high point in my career as a reviewer was writing about the MoFi Electronics SourcePoint 10 standmount loudspeaker for the February 2023 issue of Stereophile. Priced at $2999/pair, the two-way SourcePoint 10 featured an innovative 10" coaxial (HF/LF) drive unit and impressed me with its clean, superbly well-defined low frequencies, natural-sounding midrange, and the ability to play loudly without strain.
The SourcePoint 10 was the first MoFi speaker to be designed by Andrew Jones, whose earlier designs for KEF, Infinity, Pioneer, TAD, and ELAC had all taken up residence in…
Keeping the bottom ports closed, I played a series of tracks with well-recorded double bass. Whether it was Scott LaFaro's instrument on "Waltz for Debby (Take 2)," from the 1962 album of the same name (16/44.1, 321kbps AAC, Riverside Records), Gary Peacock's on "Autumn Leaves," from the Keith Jarrett Trio's After the Fall (16/44.1 WAV, ECM), or Ray Brown's on "Exactly Like You" from Soular Energy (DSD64, Concord Jazz)—all were reproduced by the MoFi speakers with an impressive combination of weight, tonal evenness, and definition.
Playing these tracks from three renowned jazz…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way, reflex-loaded, floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive units: two 8" (254mm) paper-cone woofers, 8" paper-cone midrange unit with concentrically mounted 1.25" (32mm) soft-dome tweeter. Crossover frequencies: 130Hz, 1.6kHz. Frequency range: 32Hz–30kHz. Nominal impedance: 6 ohms. Minimum impedance: 4.5 ohms. Sensitivity: 87dB/2.83V/1m. Maximum power handling: 200W. Supplied accessories: magnetically attached grilles, locking cones, and flat-bottomed feet.
Dimensions: 42.13" (1070mm) H × 12.6" (320mm) W × 16.14" (410mm) D (without grille), 16.73…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: Roon Nucleus+ file server; Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP universal player; MBL N31 CD player/DAC; Ayre Acoustics QA-9 A/D converter; NetGear Nighthawk router.
Power amplifiers: Parasound JCA100 Tribute monoblocks.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest Vodka (Ethernet), AudioQuest Coffee (USB), DH Labs (1m, AES3). Interconnect: Ayre/Cardas (balanced). Speaker: AudioQuest Robin Hood. AC: AudioQuest Dragon Source & High Current, manufacturers' own.
Accessories: Ayre Acoustics Myrtle Blocks; ASC Tube Traps; RPG Abffusor panels; AudioQuest…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone with an Earthworks microphone preamplifier to measure the MoFi SourcePoint 888's farfield frequency behavior and dispersion. I used an Earthworks QTC-40 mike for the nearfield and in-room responses and Dayton Audio's DATS V2 system to measure the impedance magnitude and electrical phase angle. I couldn't carry the 96lb loudspeaker up the stairs to the large room where I usually perform speaker measurements, so I measured the SourcePoint 888 in my basement listening room. Although I lifted the…
Manufacturer's Comment
Thank you for the review of the SourcePoint 888. I hope by naming it 888 it brings me the prosperity I need to one day retire. Until then I will continue using other peoples financing to design speakers . . .
I have some comments with regard to the technical evaluation. For most of the range, the impedance is quite even with a low phase angle. This is achieved through using impedance compensating elements in the crossover.
I did this both to minimize peak current demands and also reduce its sensitivity to frequency response errors when driven by high…
Old friend Jonathan Halpern of Tone Imports and Elliot Goldman of Bending Wave are experts at show setups. While some exhibitors take perfectly good gear and set it up willy nilly, Jonathan and Elliot are old school, big eared/serious listening guys, and the sound of their room at the Florida International Audio Expo 2025 was what I expected: fantastic.
Elliot brought a Wadax Studio Player ($39,800), which fed a new Riviera Labs APL-02 Preamplifier ($26,000) driving the new Riviera Labs AFS-32 Power Amplifier ($28,000). He also brought his exceptional Gobel Divin Cometesse…
Just off covering the debut of new Fyne products at Resolution AV in New York, I sauntered into the Harmonia Distribution room, where the company’s vice president Jesse Luna held court, making great sounds from an engrossing collection of fine equipment.
The active system consisted of a Grimm Audio MU2 Media Player/Streamer/Preamplifier ($17,500), feeding a Pathos Synapse Reference Stereo Preamplifier ($26,995) into Pathos Adrenalin Monoblock amplifiers ($23,995/each) driving Fyne Audio Vintage Classic Gold X SP floorstanding loudspeakers ($12,999/pair).
Nearby a static…
Although King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band was indubitably led by Joe Oliver himself, this deluxe box set, marking the centennial of the band's recorded debut, focuses on its second cornetist, Louis Armstrong, who was making his own debut. These landmark jazz recordings, nearly the first by a black band from New Orleans, had a profound impact on the jazz that came afterward. They were recorded acoustically, without the use of electricity, and previous reissues have suffered from terminal murk, to the point that individual horn lines could hardly be discerned. Richard Martin and the Archeophone…