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Performance: Measurements made with the Shaknspin2 speed-measuring device showed that the DG-1S was running about 0.4% fast—not terrible but a little disappointing at the price, and not adjustable (footnote 4). More importantly, the peak wow and flutter was around 0.18%, an excellent result.

After several days of casual use to get everything bedded in, I started a round of more intent listening with "Round Midnight" from Chick Corea's 1982 album Trio Music (ECM 1232/33). Right out of the gate, I heard the hallmarks of a Touraj Moghaddam design, the kind of forward momentum and…

When Ayre founder Charley Hansen passed in late 2017, Ariel Brown, who is now Ayre's vice president and chief technology officer, was ready, waiting in the wings. Brown has worked for Ayre since he was a sophomore in college. As John Atkinson wrote in his February 2019 review of Ayre's EX-8 Integrated Hub, "Brown says that for better or worse, he was indoctrinated in Hansen's way of thinking and design…

Description: Solid state balanced stereo power amplifier. Inputs: 1 balanced pair (XLR), 1 single-ended pair (RCA). Output power: 100Wpc into 8 ohms (20dBW), 170Wpc into 4 ohms (19.3dBW). Frequency response: DC–250kHz (–3dB). Voltage gain: 26dB. Input impedance: 1M ohm unbalanced, 2M ohm balanced. Max line/subwoofer output: 4.0V RMS balanced, 2.0V RMS single-ended.
Dimensions: 17.25" (438.15mm) W × 4.5" (114.3mm) H × 13.00" (330.2mm) D. Weight: 24lb (11kg).
Serial number of unit reviewed: 30A0001. Designed and manufactured in Colorado.
Finishes:…

Analog sources: VPI Avenger Direct turntable with VPI 12" Fatboy Gimbal tonearm and Hana Umami Blue MC cartridge.
Digital sources: HoloAudio May DAC, Sonore opticalRendu, Roon Nucleus+, Small Green Computer power supply, TRENDnet switch, Apple iPad mini.
Preamplifiers: Sugden LA-4, Ayre K-5xeMP line preamplifiers; Manley Labs Chinook, Goldnote PH-5 phono stages.
Power amplifier: Pass Labs XA-25.
Loudspeakers: Volti Audio Razz SE.
Cables: Interconnects: AudioQuest Pegasus Zero-Tech, Triode Wire Labs Spirit II (RCA). Speaker: Analysis Plus…

I measured the Ayre Acoustics VX-8 with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system. Before performing the measurements, I preconditioned the VX-8 following the CEA's recommendation, operating it at one-eighth the specified power into 8 ohms for 30 minutes. At the end of that time, the top panel was hot, with a temperature of 113.4°F (45.3°C). Unusually, the bottom panel was even hotter, at 144.5°F (63.1°C). To reduce the possibility of overheating, I continued the testing with the amplifier raised off the test bench with inverted ceramic cones.

The Ayre VX-8…

Cellist Terry King, a protégé of the great Gregor Piatigorsky and the first American-born teacher to teach a Tchaikovsky Competition Gold Medal winner, long wondered what the original quintet sounded like. He sent me this quote, from Clara Schumann, from just after she read…

The Manley Mahi
No matter what manufacturers may claim about the neutrality, transparency, and vanishingly low distortion of their products, every audio component has a flavor, something you might justly call a personality. (If they didn't, what would we write about in these pages?) This is particularly true of tube amplifiers, the patchouli-and–rose-quartz–wearing art students of hi-fi. At this moment, I have a good half-dozen tube amps living in my loft, and each has a vividly expressed character that I can describe in a few sentences.

Except one. Well, two. Over a good…

Although I reviewed the original version of this elegant South Korean streamer not too long ago, in the December 2021 issue, it has already been updated. The RS250A ($2695, footnote 1) replaces the RS250's ESS ES9038Q2M two-channel DAC chip with the higher-performance ESS Sabre ES9028PRO chip and now supports PCM data formats up to 32/768 and DSD formats up to DSD512.

MoFi Distribution sent me a sample of the new RS250A. I installed the Rose HIFI app on my iPad mini and connected the RS250A to my NetGear…