While I had the B&Ws in my system, I acquired two new recordings of the full score of Stravinsky's ballet The Firebird. One is by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Simon Rattle (24/96 download, LSO Live LSO5096), the other by the Orchestre de Paris under Klaus Mäkelä, their young, new music director (16/44.1 download, Decca 4853946). This brilliant score is most popular as an orchestral-suite arrangement (footnote 3), but to fully appreciate Stravinsky's achievement in combining Rimsky-Korsakov's color palette with his own melodic mastery, one must listen to the full ballet…
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Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way stand-mounted loudspeaker. Drive units: 1" decoupled carbon-dome tweeter, 6.5" Continuum-cone bass driver in a vented enclosure. Frequency range: 45Hz–33kHz. Frequency response: 50Hz–28kHz (±3dB). Nominal impedance: 8 ohms (3.7 ohms minimum). Sensitivity: 88dB (2.83V/m). Recommended amplifier power: 30–120W. Harmonic distortion (2nd & 3rd harmonics, 90dB/m): <1% 100Hz–22kHz, <0.5% 150Hz–20kHz.
Dimensions: 16.3" (413mm) H × 7.6" (192mm) W x 13.3" (337mm) D including tweeter. Weight: 21.1lb (9.6kg).
Finish: Gloss Black, Satin…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: Oppo Digital UDP-105 universal disc player; Custom Intel/Win11 music server running JRiver Media Center v30 and Roon; exaSound s88 Mark II and Okto DAC8 PRO D/A processors; QNAP TVS-873 NAS.
Preamplifiers: Coleman Audio 7.1SW for balanced source switching.
Power amplifiers: Benchmark AHB2, NAD C 298.
Loudspeakers: KEF Blade 2 Meta; Revel Performa3 F206; SVS SB-3000 subwoofer.
Cables: Digital cables: AudioQuest Coffee (USB). Analog interconnects: Benchmark Studio&Stage XLR-XLR; Kubala-Sosna Anticipation (RCA); Cardas…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Bowers & Wilkins 705 S3's behavior in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 mike for the nearfield responses. I left off the grille that covers the woofer for the measurements.
B&W specifies the 705 S3's sensitivity as 88dB/2.83V/m. My B-weighted estimate was a little higher, at 88.9dB(B)/2.83V/m. The 705 S3's nominal impedance is specified as 8 ohms…
Servers, servers, servers. How we who embrace digital hi-fi love them for their potential to make files and streams sound better (more alive, vital, streams sound better (more alive, vital, musical, moving, transparent) than music served from a computer. How we curse them when we experience the limitations of their software. How we despair when, shortly after ascending to Peak Digital Mastery, we download a software update that hurls us back into the Valley of Digital Unknowns.
Having just written that, I'm picturing scores of vinyl lovers laughing smugly as they read about such server…
Input is by Ethernet. Simple. I went from the Uptone Audio EtherRegen, aided by an AfterDark Giesemann Emperor Double Crown Master Clock, to the Nordost QNet Ethernet switch then on to the Oladra.
Output is more complicated. Antipodes considers I2S (provided over HDMI or RJ45) the Oladra's best-sounding output. It's the only output that can deliver up to PCM 32/384, DSD256 via DoP, and DSD512 native DSD, but many DACs (including my three-piece dCS Vivaldi Apex stack) cannot accept I2S. Other choices, in Antipodes's order of sound-quality preference, are AES3, S/PDIF (BNC and RCA), and USB…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Dedicated music server/ streamer with R21 Reclocker. Input: Ethernet (RJ45). Outputs: Direct Stream Ethernet, USB 2.0 handles PCM to 32/768, DoP to DSD256, native DSD to DSD512; AES3 (XLR) handles PCM to 24/192 and DoP to DSD64; S/PDIF on BNC & RCA & TosLink (3 separate outputs) handles PCM to 24/192 and DoP to DSD64; I2S on HDMI & RJ45 handles PCM to 32/384, DoP to DSD256, and Native DSD to DSD512. Storage: 3-Bay SSD user-installable SSD Slide-Ins up to 24TB.
Dimensions: 17.5" (445mm) W × 15.7" (400mm) D × 3.2" (80mm) H. Weight: 46lb…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: dCS Vivaldi Apex DAC, Vivaldi Upsampler Plus, and Vivaldi Master Clock; Uptone Audio EtherRegen, AfterDark Giesemann Emperor Double Crown Master Clock, and Nordost QNet Ethernet Switch, all powered by Nordost QSource linear power supplies (2); Synology 5-bay 1019+ NAS, Small Green Computer Sonore Deluxe opticalModule, Linksys mesh router and Arris modem, all powered by HDPlex 300 linear power supply; Apple 2017 iPad Pro and 2017 MacBook Pro laptop with 2.8GHz Intel i7, SSD, 16GB RAM.
Preamplifier: Dan D'Agostino Momentum HD.
Power…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
Because the Antipodes Oladra, like music library/reclocker/server solutions from Melco, Aurender, Auralic, Innuos and others, is a data-storage and -delivery device, any technical or subjective uplift in performance—over a conventional NAS or PC/Mac USB solution—can only be inferred via an attached, third-party streaming player or DAC. Identifying any reduction in jitter or circulating RF interference from the Oladra also depends on the efficacy of the USB receiver's jitter suppression and/or galvanic isolation; a USB DAC with excellent data recovery/reclocking may…
My first car was a decrepit, mustard-yellow Peugeot 304 with a navy hood. The blue hue wasn't a fashion statement; after an accident, the previous owner had gone to a salvage yard where only a blue replacement could be procured. When he grew sick of the car—because it made him look "like a frickin' ad for Ikea"—I paid him 600 Dutch guilders for the old heap, the equivalent of about $300 US.
Nothing worked as it should. The stalk for the blinkers was missing; I substituted a screwdriver. The radio was like a wavering zombie: dead one day, sputtering to life the next. I got well acquainted…