How are these factors impacting hi-fi sales? Is the hi-fi buying binge over? To find out, I spoke with several industry folks, mainly dealers and manufacturers.
Among many diverse opinions, there was one thing everyone agreed on:…
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How healthy is the hi-fi market? One widely reported silver lining of the pandemic was increased sales of anything to do with home entertainment, including hi-fi. Recently, though, inflation has broken out and the stock market tanked. Higher prices all around—from shipping and logistics to necessary parts and raw materials—added pressure from all sides.
One of my favorite comments by an actual participant in rock history is from Bonnie Raitt: "I miss Little Feat like I miss being eight years old." That remark was included in the liner notes for the Feat's 1981 album Hoy-Hoy (Warner Bros. 2BSK 3538), which was released two years after front man Lowell George's passing in 1979. The original group began recording in the latter 1960s and continued to the end of the '70s, when analog tape technology was at its peak. Following George's passing, after a pause of some years, surviving members of the band re-formed and continued to tour and record…
Patches was the first to exit the car, sporting a nose like an overripe tomato. Amid the sawdust-and–tiger-dung smell that wafted through the bigtop, he nimbly extracted himself from the multicolored Mini Cooper, face beaming with vows of slapstick and mischief. Patches gestured behind him, to Chuckles, who emerged with floppy shoes the length of baguettes. Next to squeeze out of the Mini were Bozo, Klutzy, Wiggle, Dinky, Cletus, Peewee, Pinhead, Joey, Sparkles, and Poppy—all wearing baggy pants in shouty hues and huge smiles applied with grease paint. I shuddered with delight. I was 8.
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After the speakers arrived at my home, I tricked myself into a repeat of that experiment. One of the first songs I listened to was Malia and Boris Blank's "Celestial Echo" (16/44.1, Qobuz), whose opening drum pads and fat bass notes sounded almost punishingly deep. I mildly chastised myself for having forgotten to turn off the two 3000 Micro subwoofers that SVS had sent along (my oversight was no bueno considering that my goal was to take the measure of the Prime Pros solo). But when I sauntered over, I found out that I had switched off the subs.
That experience alleviated some…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Rear-ported, active, two-way, wireless loudspeaker. Drive units: 1" aluminum-dome tweeter; 5.25" polypropylene-cone mid-woofer. Crossover: digitally controlled at 2kHz, 12dB/octave slope. Play-Fi, AirPlay 2, Chromecast, Tidal Connect, Spotify Connect, Bluetooth 5.0 with AAC and aptX. Two 24/192 DACs. Class-D power amps deliver 200W (4 × 50W) RMS. 3" front-panel OLED display. Infrared remote. Analog inputs: RCA and 1/8" (3.5mm) Aux. Digital inputs: TosLink, HDMI ARC and eARC, Ethernet, USB service port. Outputs: Subwoofer (RCA), front 1/8" (3.5mm)…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: 16" MacBook Pro M1 Max running Roon 2.0, Roon ROCK on Lenovo ThinkCentre, Naim Uniti Atom, controlled through iPad Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max, Auralic Vega.
Loudspeakers: Tekton Moab (powered by an Anthem STR integrated amp), Vanatoo Transparent One, KEF LS50 wireless. Two SVS 3000 Micro subwoofers.
Listening room: 22' × 14' 6" with 9' 8" ceiling, lath and plaster. Hardwood floor over reinforced joists. Moderately damped by large, medium-thick rugs, furniture, and a tall bookcase. Wooden stairs on rear wall lead to an open second-…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system, a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone, and an Earthworks microphone preamplifier to measure the SVS Prime's frequency response in the farfield. I used an Earthworks QTC40 mike, which has a ¼" capsule, for the nearfield responses. The TosLink optical input locked to data with sample rates from 44.1kHz to 192kHz. I performed a complete set of measurements using the Prime's analog Line input, repeating some of the tests using the TosLink input. For these tests, I converted the MLSSA signal to 24/96 digital using my Ayre QA-9 Twenty A/D…
Sometimes when the world shouts too loudly, I immerse myself in other sounds: in music. I escape the cacophony by diving into my stash of vinyl records (not literally, although that's a fun image) and reveling in the soundwaves they release. The soundwaves liberated from those physical grooves, combined with impressions stored deep in my hippocampus, never fail to soothe, energize, fascinate, excite.
Reviewing new analog equipment allows me to explore this sonic corporeality and gives me a chance to hear my cherished vinyl discs anew, with a different focus. Sound patterns and song…
The InPoL Remix MkII uses what the company calls "double-InPoL circuitry," in which two InPoL circuits are bridged, their inputs driven 180° out of phase, those aforementioned inductors wound in opposite directions around a single core. Double InPoL dramatically increases output-power potential. While this topology is said to be capable of up to 200W in class-A, the Remix is designed to deliver much less: a maximum of 25Wpc into 8 ohms or 38Wpc into 4 ohms.
While the Remix MkII is said to be pure class-A, the bias is variable. "Fixed bias is always at the max power, but this means a lot…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Stereo, balanced, class-A, two-channel integrated amplifier with double InPoL technology and digital bias/gain set technology. Tube complement: 1 pair ElectroHarmonix ECC88.Output power: 25Wpc into 8 ohms (14.0dBW), 38Wpc into 4 ohms (12.8dBW). Frequency response: 2Hz–150kHz ±0.5dB. Input sensitivity: 470mVRMS. Input impedance: 47k ohms. Output impedance: 0.9 ohms. Output polarity: Selectable by remote control. Volume control: Two Burr-Brown PGA2310 (180 steps, 0.5dB). THD: 0.1% at 25W. S/N ratio: >100dB. Gain: 31dB unbalanced, 37dB balanced.…