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Is audio reviewing a futile pursuit? As much as we reviewers may strive, through subjective observation and objective measurement, to accurately describe how a component looks, sounds, and performs, we frequently find words and numbers inadequate to communicate the mysteries that abound in the transcendent realm of music. How can we fully share what we feel when a component allows us to experience, sometimes afresh, often in a new way, sounds that elicit joy, sorrow, terror, or more subtle emotions? How do we encapsulate in words and measurements the sonic equivalent of the wide-eyed wonder…
Setup and software challenges
I placed the Absolute Stream on the top shelf of my Grand Prix Monza double rack, on the same Wilson Audio Pedestals I use under my reference streamer. Streaming data was delivered to the Absolute Stream from a Small Green Computer/Sonore opticalModule Deluxe via the Innuos PhoenixNet reclocking network switch. Output from the Absolute Stream was delivered to the dCS Vivaldi Upsampler Plus via the Absolute Stream's USB audio output.
The Absolute Stream has two USB outputs intended for audio, one of which supplies 5V to the receiving device and…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description (Ideon Absolute Stream Meta Edition (2024): Dedicated Music Server/Streamer with Qobuz integration and Roon Core/Server. Input: Ethernet (RJ45), two USB 3.0 for external HD music libraries or USB audio input/output. Digital audio output: two USB with proprietary femto-level reclocking (one with 5V rail, one without). Supported formats: Up to 32/384 PCM or 8×DSD native. Internal storage: standard 4TB SSD (8TB SSD optional). Power supplies: Four discrete, ultralow-noise linear (for different voltage needs). Rectification: FET-based, proprietary,…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: dCS Vivaldi Apex DAC, Vivaldi Upsampler Plus, Vivaldi Master Clock, and Rossini Transport; EMM Labs DV2 Integrated DAC, Meitner MA3 Integrated DAC; Innuos Statement Next-Gen Music Server and PhoenixNET network switch; Small Green Computer Sonore opticalModule Deluxe (2); Broadcom/Avago AFBR-5718PZ 1GB SX-SFP, Gen 5 Fiber Optic modules; Nordost QNet switch and QSource linear power supply (2); Sonore Audiophile Linear Power Supply; Synology 5-bay 1019+ NAS with Ferrum Hypsos linear/switching hybrid power supply; Linksys MR9000 mesh router and…
AV Therapy is set to host its annual Groove-tober celebration on October 18th from 6 to 9 PM at its Nashua location, 216 Daniel Webster Hwy. The event honors the memory of Mark “Groove Champion” Terletzky, the company’s co-founder, who had a profound love for Groove-tober.
Groove-tober has become a cherished tradition for AV Therapy, blending community, music, and the latest in audio-visual technology. This year’s festival will feature a variety of attractions, including great food, refreshments, costumes, exciting prizes, and live music, continuing the legacy that Mark Terletzky helped…
Active speakers make sense. The amplifiers, crossovers, and drivers are designed as a unit, so the design isn't compromised by the need to interface with components with unknown electrical or acoustical characteristics (except for the room, and that can't be helped). Concurrent design and testing of the various pieces can result in an integrated, through-designed system. Plus, the elegant simplicity that active speakers bring to a system just appeals to me.
Like many audiophiles, I've found myself intrigued by the variety of approaches that are taken to achieve the same goals: point…
Step two is to set the relative levels of the midrange and highs using two sturdy three-way switches, choosing among 0, +1.5dB, and –1.5dB for treble and midrange. The crossover from the midrange horns to the treble horns is at 3.5kHz, a frequency that conveniently caps the fundamental frequencies of common musical instruments. (On a standard piano, the four highest notes, including the black keys, are in the range of the tweeter; the rest are in the midrange.) I went back and forth but ultimately left the tweeter flat and set the midrange level to +1.5dB.
Next, I adjusted the…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way, semi-active or fully active, floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive units: Fully active, Spherical Horn, 180° aperture angle Tweeter, 8" (200mm) diameter bell, 1" (25.4mm) annular driver with 500W current-amplification iTRON amplifier; Fully active, Spherical Horn, 180° aperture angle Midrange, 26.5" (670mm) diameter bell, 7" diameter, celluse cone, soft mesh driver and 2 × 100W, current-amplification iTRON amplifier; Fully active, fully digital, 12" (300mm) diameter, long-fiber paper/carbon fiber composite, vented subwoofer with 500W class-D…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: Spiral Groove SG-2.1 turntable and Centroid tonearm, VPI HR-X turntable and JMW Memorial tonearm; Grado Epoch, The Reference, and Signature Reference; MicroBenz SL, Audio-Technica AT-MONO3/LP phono cartridges.
Digital sources: Audio Research CD6E CD Player,
Mytek Brooklyn DAC+.
Preamplification: Line: BAT VK-90 and Sutherland Line Blocks. Phono: Sutherland Phono Blocks Refined and Phono Loco.
Amplification: BAT VK-90t and VTL Ichiban Signature.
Loudspeakers: T+A Solitaire S 530, Magnepan 30.7x, Wilson Audio Sasha DAW, ELAC…
T.H.E. Show in Costa Mesa wasn't large, but there were a few debuts including several in the six rooms presented by Common Wave HiFi. In room 327, the Accuphase C‑57 phono stage ($13,975) was part of a demo setup that also included an Accuphase E‑3000 integrated amplifier ($8950), which was shown on static display at AXPONA but was in use here for the first time in the US. When I was in the room, the class-A Accuphase E‑700 stereo integrated amplifier was in use, driving a pair of DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/93 speakers ($8950/pair, more for custom finishes).
Records were spun…