Analog sources: SME 30/12 turntable; Ortofon Windfeld Ti cartridge.
Digital sources: CH Precision D1.2 D/A converter with X1 power supply. Roon Nucleus + Roon server; Synology DS918+ 4-bay Network Attached Storage device with 16TB.
Preamplification: CH Precision L1 and Pass Labs XP-32 line preamplifiers; Pass Laboratories XP-27 phono preamplifier.
Power amplifiers: CH Precision M1.1 stereo amplifier; Pass Labs XA60.8 monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Wilson Audio Specialties Alexx V.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest Carbon & Cinnamon & Coffee…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The Burmester 216 can be operated as a conventional two-channel amplifier or, by bridging the two output stages using the supplied adapter cable, as a monoblock. I performed a complete set of measurements in both modes on one of the review samples (serial number 9216060) with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system. I preconditioned the 216 by following the CEA's recommendation of running it in stereo mode at one-eighth the specified power into 8 ohms for 30 minutes. At the end of that time, the temperature of the top panel was 96.4°F (35.8°C) and that of the side panels…
The first Beatles music is more than 60 years old, and the group broke up 53 years ago. Yet they and their music remain relevant. So when Apple Corps announced "The Last Beatles Song," on October 26, the world's media ran with the story (footnote 1).
Beatles fans span at least four generations, and the group's promotion machine is looking to hook today's youth, and perhaps rekindle old flames, with 50th Anniversary deluxe reissues of the "Red" (1962-1966) and "Blue" (1967-1970) compilations. These expanded editions—12 new tracks on Red and nine on Blue, including the new-old single "Now…
The Warsaw show's biggest site really is a stadium. (Photos by Jason Victor Serinus.)
At the risk of writing hyperbole, I will state that Audio Video 2023, held October 27–29, 2023, was unlike any other audio show I've attended. At no other audio show have I encountered so many young people, so many women, and so many brands unknown in the United States. Not even in Munich have I encountered crowds as dense as those that mobbed the show's biggest site, the National Stadium of Poland, PGE Narodowy, on Saturday. A press badge counts for nothing when you're 11" short of 6'3", attempting to…
Final Day Discoveries
My goal on the final day was to visit all the remaining Polish brands recommended by show founder Adam, and then to explore the Blu Sobieski and nearby Hotel Golden Tulip.
My goal on the final day was to visit all the remaining Polish brands recommended by show founder Adam, and then to explore the Blu Sobieski and nearby Hotel Golden Tulip.
Closer Acoustics demoed their new 94dB-sensitive Forlane loudspeakers in an all-Polish system that also included an Elins Audio amplifier and preamplifier and Tentogra turntable. The company's smallest floorstander, the Forlane utilizes 60-year-old distributor resonance cabinet technology. The design eschews damping and funnels sound…
In my house, I have a little stack of CDs that I bring out once a year—for Christmas Eve and Christmas day. I then put them away on the shelf until the following year. This annual Festival of Christmas Albums is met with varying degrees of pleasure and resignation by the family members present; listening is non-negotiable, though we may not make it through all of them. Once in a while a new Christmas album will make the cut and be added to the stack, but not every year.
First up, because it always gets played, is Elvis Presley's If Every Day Was Like Christmas (RCA 07863-…
I've been running a 5.1 system for years. Recently, I expanded it to 5.3 with the addition of two more subwoofers. This system is manageable with one of my eight-channel DACs.
Even more recently, I dipped my toe into Dolby Atmos, which made it necessary to lash up at least four more channels. That was a big problem, since neither JRiver nor Roon can support and sync more than one output device at a time, and the multichannel DACs I already owned tap out at eight channels.
I turned to the Arvus H2-4D Renderer, which offers 16 channels of digital output over AES3 and 16 channels of…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used my Audio Precision SYS2722 system to measure the Vitus RI-101 Mk.II, repeating some tests with the magazine's Audio Precision APx555. I connected the amplifier's Line 1 balanced inputs to the Audio Precision's balanced outputs and immediately discovered that one channel's output had been damaged during shipping. US distributor Aldo Filippelli therefore arranged for a second sample to be shipped to me from Manhattan retailer Park Avenue Audio. Jason's sample had the serial number US-D0017; that of the new sample was US-D0005.
Both channels of this…
I stalk a few audio forums because the chatter shows me what different varieties of audiophiles are thinking about, what's pleasing them, what's making them angry, and—potentially—what issues reviewers like me are failing to address.
Similarly, I watch a lot of DIY and audio review videos on YouTube. I especially love watching my friend Steve Guttenberg's Audiophiliac "Viewer System of the Day" videos (footnote 1), which provide a global view of the gear choices real people in normal houses have made. I am especially fascinated by how these diverse audiophiles place their components in…
Impressively, "Bonaparte's Retreat" showed me upfront what Fern & Roby's Amp No. 2 was capable of, at least as far as powering my 15 ohm Falcons. While playing Stepp's "Bonaparte," it showcased its talent for spirited rhythm keeping and tone truthfulness. Instrumental and vocal textures were marginally less pronounced and less contrasty than I experience with Elekit's TU-8900 or the Parasound Halo A 21+ amplifier driving the same speakers. But this does not mean the No. 2 plays dull or blurred; it does not. Its demeanor is crisp, naturally focused, and superathletic, with excellent…