Description: Solid state, class-AB power amplifier (output stage biased into class-A operation up to 12W). Inputs: 1 pair single-ended (RCA), 1 pair balanced (XLR). Outputs: 2 pairs binding posts. Power output: 150Wpc into 8 ohms (21.76dBW), 300W into 4 ohms (21.76dBW), 600W into 8 ohms (27.8dBW) as bridged monoblock (BTL). Instantaneous maximum output power: 1200W into 1 ohm (21.76dBW), 2400W into 2 ohms (21.76dBW), BTL. Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz, +0/–0.1dB; 1Hz–130kHz, +0/–3dB. Voltage gain: 29dB. Input sensitivity (for 150W into 8 ohms): 1.24V. Input…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog source: Linn Sondek LP12 turntable with Lingo power supply, Linn Ekos tonearm, Linn Arkiv B cartridge, Channel D Seta L phono preamplifier.
Digital source: Roon Nucleus+ file server; Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP universal player; MBL N31 CD player/DAC; Ayre Acoustics QA-9 A/D converter.
Power amplifiers: Parasound Halo JC 1+ monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Golden Ear BRX, KEF LS50.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest Vodka (Ethernet), AudioQuest Coffee (USB), DH Labs (1m, AES/EBU). Interconnect: AudioQuest Wild Blue (balanced). Speaker: AudioQuest Robin…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I tested the Luxman M-10X with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system. I preconditioned the amplifier by following the CEA's recommendation of operating it at one-eighth the specified power into 8 ohms for 30 minutes. At the end of that time, the grilles over the internal heatsinks were hot, at 120.6°F (49.3°C), though the top panel was just warm at 90.9°F (32.8°C). Operating the amplifier for another 30 minutes at one-third the specified power, a level that results in the maximum heat dissipation in the output devices, increased the temperatures only slightly. The M-…
As early as 9AM on Friday, April 22, early registrants began wandering the halls of Chicago's Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel and Convention Center. By 9:30AM, the first semi-crazed rush for vinyl old and new had begun in The Record Fair. And by 10AM, music was resounding in all its glory in the 138 exhibit rooms and 10 floors that comprise AXPONA 2022.
Can anyone accurately count the number of brands? Perhaps all the angels who can dance on the head of a pin can. But for us mere mortals, enjoying music outside the confines of our shuttered dwellings and saying hello to people long unseen…
Nothing beats starting a show on a high note. Thanks to Musical Surroundings' Garth Leerer and the Quintessence Audio dealership of Chicago, that's what happened when Charlie Byrd played magnificently on a white vinyl direct-to-disc platter from the late 1970s.
The absolute clarity and timbral truth of drums, as well as the air around them, presented ample testimony to the success of the DS Audio Grand Master Optical set ($60,000), which is comprised of the Grand Master 3rd generation optical phono cartridge ($15,000, above) and two-chassis Grand Master equalizer ($45,000).
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The night before AXPONA's official kickoff, Krell's director of product development, Dave Goodman, was still assembling the latest offering from Connecticut's solid-state powerhouse: the yet-to-be-released KSA i400. (With that model name, no prizes for guessing the number of watts per channel.) The Krell and its associated components were set up in a large, cube-like room—on paper, far from ideal acoustically. But what resulted on Friday morning sounded powerful and impressive. I don't mean to say that anything was excessively muscular. Effortless, poised, and relaxed though? You'd best…
Peter Mackay of Magico Loudspeakers (pictured above) and Jeffrey Sigmund and John Pravel of Luxman America brought a fantastic-sounding system to the Prosperity room. Exceptional scale, resolution, depth, dynamics, precision, and juicy tone could all be heard—audio prosperity of the highest order.
Luxman granted AXPONA multiple North American product debuts, including the class-AB M-10X stereo power amplifier ($19,995, specified as delivering 150Wpc into 8 ohms, 300Wpc into 4 ohms, and 600W into 8 ohms (mono); reviewed by JA in the May 2022 issue), D-10X SACD player ($16,995; backordered…
For huge sound in a huge room, you needed to look no further than the Schaumburg Renaissance Convention Center's Schaumburg F. Played at full volume, the momentous, quasi-apocalyptic opening of Richard Strauss's Also Sprach Zarathustra, aka the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey, virtually knocked me back a row. Only the deep bass, which was eaten alive by the room's spongy air walls, suffered. Which means that the deepest organ pedals on the forthcoming superbly recorded 7-CD Strauss set from conductor Andris Nelsons (heard in 24/96) had about the same weight as on the hi-rez digital transfer…
Some audio equipment makes its presence felt simply by its elegance. With its Versailles-like appeal, the colossal Burmester rig in the Schaumberg A room was magnificent to behold, virtually an audio treatise in luxury. A legacy German brand that manufactures everything from nuts and bolts to speaker cabinets and drivers, Burmester, represented at AXPONA by its US distributor Rutherford Audio, brought some of their classiest, biggest, and boldest equipment—all the listener need do was indulge the senses.
A large-scale, relaxed sound was produced by the Burmester 217 belt-drive turntable…
"The road to the graveyard is littered with corpses of subwoofer companies that wanted to sell a range of regular speakers," Gary Yacoubian observes with a laugh. We're standing outside the SVS room at AXPONA while on yonder side of the door, a 7.2 SVS Dolby Atmos setup is testing the Renaissance hotel's structural soundness with an explosive fight scene from a Spiderman movie. Fittingly, Yacoubian is ready to, you know, rumble. His company has built a solid reputation by making and direct-selling excellent-value, powerful subwoofers and providing some of the friendliest pre- and post-sale…