Digital sources: dCS Rossini DAC and Clock; Synology 5-bay 1019+ NAS, Roon Nucleus+ music server, Uptone Audio EtherRegen with AfterDark Giesemann Emperor Double Crown Master Clock, Small Green Computer Sonore opticalModules (2) and Deluxe opticalModule, Linksys routers (2), and Arris modem, all powered by HDPlex 300 (3) and HDPlex 200 linear power supplies (3); Apple 2017 iPad Pro and 2017 MacBook Pro laptop with 2.8GHz Intel i7, SSD, 16GB RAM.
Preamplifiers: Dan D'Agostino Momentum HD, darTZeel NHB-18NS.
Power amplifiers: Dan D'Agostino…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured the Engström Monica Mk3 with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system, checking some of the results with the magazine's top-line APx500. (I made sure that the inputs were set to Stereo, as indicated on the front-panel display.) The volume control appeared to operate in approximate 1.5dB steps at the top of its range and 1dB steps at lower settings. The maximum gain was 4.8dB at the balanced outputs for both the balanced and unbalanced inputs. The gain with the single-ended inputs at the single-ended outputs was –1.2dB, ie, 6dB lower, as specified. With its…
In February 2017, for the first time in almost 20 years, I visited Rega Research's factory in Southend-on-Sea, UK. I found a company that had added to its just-built factory a second building of the same size, had added an upper level within that space, and already was running out of space. Corridors and walkways were being used for assembly and storage. Rega was finding it a challenge to meet the growing demand for new turntables, while continuing to design and manufacture lines of loudspeakers and electronics. Nonetheless, Rega's commitment to maintain and improve quality control remained…
I used Dr. Feickert Analogue's PlatterSpeed app, running on an old iPhone 4, to measure the RP10's accuracy and consistency. The results were superb: The PlatterSpeed test record's 3150Hz tone measured 3154.4Hz—too fast by only 4.4Hz—while the 2-Sigma wow was ±0.12% and dynamic wow was ±0.10%. All three measurements (figs.1 & 2) are among the most consistent and best I've measured, including of the direct-drive Technics SL-12000G.
Rega RP10, speed stability data (left). Rega RP10, speed stability (raw frequency yellow; low-pass filtered frequency green).
Rega…
Axiomatically, audiophile audio is about quality of reproduced sound. Experientially though—for me at least—it's about visions in the mind's eye. The older I get, the more attentively I listen to recordings, the more importance I assign to the myriad moving pictures I see between my speakers.
As I walk about my garden under the dome of city noise and sky, the mixed sounds that enter my brain are of two types: those whose source is within my field of vision, and those I can't see directly but can still picture in my mind. Every time I hear a jet passing overhead, I'm aware of "seeing" a…
Jonathan Ward, a historian of recorded sound, has some surprising news. Thousands of early 78rpm recordings were made not to preserve music but as disposable materials for selling gramophones. With manufacturers hoping to expand their sales globally, demo records featured regional music aimed at appealing to regional. On his blog Excavated Shellac—and now on a 100-track compilation, Excavated Shellac: An Alternate History of the World's Music (1907–1967), curated and produced by Jonathan Ward and remastered by Michael Graves—Ward has lovingly plucked a selection of these artifacts from music…
In the 1990s, I was a globetrotter, interviewing musicians in diverse locales for several publications. My habit when arriving in London was to hit the duty-free shops for Cuban Montecristo cigars, move on to the newsagent for the latest issues of Hi-Fi News and Hi-Fi Choice, then take a leisurely romp through Oranges & Lemons, Richer Sounds, and Sevenoaks Sound & Vision—three major London audio stores.
On at least one of those trips Cyrus Audio caught my eye. With its sleek, sculpted half-width façades, Cyrus equipment looked like it belonged in the dash of the Aston Martin DB5 I…
I'm a jazz-vinyl guy, but much recorded American jazz from the CD era—let's say, the last 30+ years—is unavailable on vinyl. However, it can be heard on silver discs. As I learned over the course of this review, much of the music in my 200+ collection of CDs isn't available on Qobuz, Tidal, or the other streaming apps—a very good reason to keep a disc player around. Some titles, of course, were available streaming, so I was up for a CD-vs-streaming comparison, egged on by Cyrus's contention that well-reproduced CD sounds better than streaming.
Bassist John Hébert's Sounds of…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: CD player with32-bit, second-generation QXR (Sabre) DAC, Servo Evolution technology, iR14 remote control. Disc compatibility: Audio CD, CD-R. Two stereo pair (RCA) analog outputs. One stereo pair each input/output via the proprietary MC-BUS system for use with Cyrus amplifiers. Digital outputs: TosLink, RCA S/PDIF. Power-supply connection for the PSX-R/PSX-R2 power supplies. Output level: 2.1V. Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz, ±0.25dB. Channel separation: >110dB at 1kHz, >90dB at 20kHz. S/N ratio (using silent track): >106dBA. THD: at –10dB…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: Denafrips Ares II DAC augmented with Sonore opticalRendu, Small Green Computer sonicTransporter i5, Small Green Computer power supply, TRENDnet switch, streaming Roon/Tidal/Qobuz via Apple iPad mini.
Preamplification: J E Sugden Masterclass LA-4.
Power amplifier: LKV Research Veros One PWR+.
Loudspeakers: DeVore Fidelity O/96.
Cables: Interconnect (RCA): Triode Wire Labs Spirit II. Digital: Hosa DRA-502 RCA to RCA coaxial cable. Speaker: Auditorium 23. Power cable: manufacturers' own. Sonore systemOptique fiberoptic…