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When I unpacked the Amp No. 2, the volume control knob was loose in the box. I reattached it, but its operation was intermittent. I controlled the amplifier's volume with the supplied Apple remote for the testing.

I measured the Fern & Roby Amp No. 2 with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system, checking some of the test results with the magazine's APx555. Fern & Roby specifies the amplifier's maximum power as 25W; that presumably is into 8 ohms. I preconditioned the Amp No. 2 before the measurements by following the CEA's recommendation of running it at…

We want to thank the team at Stereophile for reviewing Amp No. 2. We are very pleased to have earned high praise and approval from Herb Reichert, and we're grateful for the technical analysis from John Atkinson. There is always something valuable to be learned, and an opportunity to improve a design, when someone else runs your product through a rigorous independent analysis. All the items in the technical review have already been addressed in our production units.

We are committed to delivering the highest-quality experience in every way possible for our…

When I reviewed the new version of PS Audio's classic D/A processor (footnote 1) in the June 2023 issue, I enjoyed its sound quality, but some aspects of its measured performance concerned me. The impulse and frequency responses, the behavior of the reconstruction filter, the channel separation, the low intermodulation distortion, and the balanced and single-ended output impedances were all beyond reproach, and though harmonic distortion was higher in level than I was expecting, it was still sufficiently…

Jazz leads a hand-to-mouth existence. It was born in the red light district of New Orleans in the early 20th Century, and has never fully overcome its disreputable origins. Jazz lacks the support from governments, foundations, and rich donors that other, more decorous art forms enjoy. Jazz is too much of the street to be considered high culture, yet its audience is tiny compared to the masses who consume popular music. Pop stars like Taylor Swift perform in huge stadiums. Important jazz musicians play the Bar…

Mark Turner's profile has never been higher. He is now an ECM recording artist, and he finished in the top 10 in the tenor saxophone category of the 2023 Downbeat Critics Poll. But he told me, "Most of my career has been as a sideman. It's how I make my living. I'm a hired gun. When I work as a leader, my income takes a hit. But my wife and I will be empty nesters soon, and I want to do more of my own projects and make more of my own records."

Turner's last two albums were…

Billy Hart Quartet: One Is The Other (ECM)

Ethan Iverson: Technically Acceptable (Blue Note)

Mark Turner Quartet: Live At The Village Vanguard (Giant Step Arts)

Anat Cohen: Clarinetwork: Live At The Village Vanguard (Anzic)

Artemis: In Real Time (Blue Note)

Christian McBride & Inside Straight: Live At The Village Vanguard (Mack Avenue)

Kenny Barron/Dave Holland Trio: Without Deception (Dare2)

Joe Farnsworth: In What Direction…

Beyoncé's latest, Cowboy Carter, is being widely called her "country album," and the country influence is obvious. Some of the songs are even getting airplay on country radio. Cowboy Carter, though, is not a country album: It's much more ambitious than that.

The first track on Cowboy Carter is operatic. ("American Requiem" credits 14 songwriters including John Batiste, Shawn Carter, Stephen Stills, and Rhiannon Giddens…

The first impression of this record is the freshness and richness of its sonic palette. There may never have been a jazz album with this exact instrumentation: vibraphone (Patricia Brennan); trumpet (Kenny Warren); trombone (Jacob Garchik); viola (Joanna Mattrey); violin (yuniya edi kwon). Stephan Crump's acoustic bass leads this band from within. His compositions and arrangements configure six…

Otra Noche, the most recent release on Todd Garfinkle's M•A Recordings, is a continuation of Será Una Noche, a project begun in 1998, then continued with La Segunda in 2003. Twenty years later, Otra Noche is here, and it strikes me as one of the most perfect examples of digital recording I've ever encountered.

Otra Noche is a simple, spaced-omni stereo recording of real people performing together in real…

With that in mind, here…