Those mesmerizing moments were precipitated not by nature but by spending several previous hours listening intently for differences between three stellar preamplifiers: the solid state Dan D'Agostino Momentum HD ($40,000),…
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Have you ever walked through fresh snow in the woods with all your senses heightened? When I did, shortly before the New Year, it was as if I was seeing nature for the first time, through a fresh lens. Never had white-coated surfaces appeared so white. Nor had shapes seemed so magical. It felt as if I had happened upon a pristine landscape unexplored by human or beast.
The earlier Monica used Russian 6H30Pi double-triode tubes. "Because a lot of the tubes we bought we could no longer match, we switched to new old stock E182CC and sometimes 5687WB, depending upon what we can find. These tubes have nearly the same data as 6H30Pi but are of better quality." Today, the 5687WB tubes are preferred because they're less microphonic than the others. My review sample of the Mk3 Monica uses four NOS 5687WB preamp tubes.
The power supply unit uses ECC83 and 6080WC tubes, one each, newly manufactured by JJ Electronic.
According to Lars, the Monica, which…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Fully balanced stereo tube line stage preamplifier with mono switch, separate power supply, and app-based remote control. Tube complement: Philips ECG 5687WB (4) in the analog line stage, JJ Electronic ECC83 (1) and Philips ECG 6080WC (1) in the power supply unit. Inputs: 3 pairs balanced (XLR), impedance 40k ohms; 3 pairs single-ended (RCA), impedance 40k ohms. All inputs transformer-coupled. Outputs: 2 pairs balanced (XLR), impedance 75 ohms @1kHz, 400 ohms @20Hz; 2 pair single-ended (RCA), impedance 43 ohms @1kHz, 80 ohms @20Hz. Maximum input…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
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…
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…