First order of business was swapping out the casters the woofer cabinets had been shipped with and replacing them with the Acoustic Diode footers. First used in the Wilson Alexx V, these footers are conelike pieces assembled from stainless steel and a dollop of Wilson's newer V-material. Daryl Wilson explained to me, "There is coupling, and decoupling, designed into the Acoustic Diodes. Spikes are for coupling, to keep the cabinet from moving front to back, which causes blurring. The V-material is brilliant at decoupling: taking vibration, converting it to heat, ... just for damping."…
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Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way, bass-reflex, floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive units: 1" Wilson Convergent Synergy Carbon doped-silk fabric tweeter in a sealed carbon-fiber enclosure; one 7" QuadraMag alnico-doped paper-pulp composite midrange driver in a rear-slotted enclosure; two 8" paper-pulp composite woofers in rear-ported X- and V-material enclosure. Sensitivity: 88dB/W/m at 1kHz. Nominal impedance: 4 ohms. Minimum impedance: 2.36 ohms @ 82Hz. Minimum amplifier power: 20Wpc. Frequency response: 20Hz–32kHz ±3dB room average response.
Dimensions: 45.1" (1145mm) H…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: VPI HW-40 turntable, VPI 12" Fatboy tonearm, Pro-Ject Classic EVO turntable, Lyra Etna λ Lambda cartridge, Ortofon Bronze Cadenza cartridge, Sumiko Amethyst cartridge.
Digital sources: MacBook Air running Tidal, Roon, Qobuz. Bricasti M1 Series II. DAC, Musical Fidelity M1 CDT transport, Pro-Ject CD Box RS2 T.
Preamplification: McIntosh C12000.
Power amplifiers: McIntosh MC462 Quad Balanced Stereo Amplifier, McIntosh MA252 Integrated Amplifier.
Loudspeaker: Harbeth C7ES-3XD, Wilson Audio Specialties Sasha DAW.
Cables:…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
As I had done for the Wilson Sasha DAW, which Sasha Matson reviewed in January 2020, I measured one of the Sasha V speakers, serial number 0127, in Sasha's listening room. We lifted the speaker onto a small dolly so that we could rotate it for the off-axis response measurements. The inevitable reflection of the speaker's sound from the floor reduces the accuracy of the measurements in the midrange. All the measurements were performed without the grilles.
Wilson specifies the Sasha V's sensitivity as 88dB/W/1m. My estimate, in different units, was 91dB(B)/2.…
I can roll out of bed and install a $10,000 phono cartridge while finishing my coffee, but I postpone DAC installations until I am in the exact right mood to handle the potential stress—especially DACs with a touch screen and a complex menu. To my delight, Ferrum Audio's new Wandla digital converter was completely stress-free to install. It took only minutes to connect the USB-C cable, the Cardas Audio Clear Beyond interconnects, and 24V DC power adapter.
Connecting the power adapter caused a power-switch symbol to appear on the front panel touch screen. The moment I touched it, I smiled…
Next, I used Cardas's all-natural Clear Beyond interconnects and speaker cables to connect the Wandla directly to the RCA inputs of the Parasound Halo A 21+ amplifier driving the Heretic AD614 speakers. This is my highest-resolving, most uncompressed amp-speaker combo, and it gave me the feeling I was experiencing the "real" Wandla, which now sounded clear and solid and considerably more color-saturated than it had with the wire-wart supply. In my notes, I wrote "Studio sound with flair!"
The next thing I noticed with the 300W A 21+ powering the 97dB/2.83V/m–sensitive Heretics…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Digital/analog converter based around ESS Sabre's ES9038PRO chip. It is also a single-input (RCA) analog preamplifier. Digital inputs: AES3, PCM up to 192kHz, 24 bits, DoP 64; TosLink, PCM up to 96kHz, 24 bits; RCA, PCM up to 196kHz, 24 bits, DoP 64; USB-C, PCM up to 768kHz, 32 bits, DSD 256; ARC, PCM up to 196kHz, 24 bits; I2S, PCM up to 768kHz, 32 bits, DSD 256. Plus, MQA decoder and renderer (all inputs). Output impedance: balanced, 44 ohms; unbalanced, RCA 22 ohms. Power consumption: 10W (idle), 15W (max).
Dimensions: 8.6" (217mm) W × 8.1" (…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: Roon Nucleus+ music server; Denafrips Terminator Plus, HoloAudio Spring 3 DACs.
Preamplifier: HoloAudio Serene.
Power amplifiers: Parasound Halo A 21+, Elekit TU-8900.
Headphone amplifiers: LTA Z10e, Feliks Envy.
Loudspeakers: Falcon Acoustics LS3/5a Gold Badge, Heretic AD614, Genelec G Three.
Headphones: HiFiMan HE R10P and Susvara, JPS Labs Abyss Diana TC, Meze Elite, Koss ESP 950.
Cables: Digital: Manufacturer's own USB (with Wandla), AudioQuest Diamond USB (with Denafrips and HoloAudio DACs). Interconnect: Cardas…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured the Ferrum Wandla with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"). As HR had told me he much preferred the sound with the optional Ferrum HYPSOS power supply, I performed a complete set of measurements using that supply (set to the appropriate 24.0V), then repeated some of the tests with the wall-wart.
Looking first at the Wandla's behavior as a D/A processor, Apple's USB Prober utility identified the Wandla as "Ferrum WANDLA" from "HEM" with the serial number string "12 mb=HEM014964;serce=HEM015368." The USB port…
"When I first listened to the tape I thought, this is so good that if I do anything else in my life, I have to make sure the world hears this," David Prinz says with obvious intensity. "That's how I really feel. It makes me happy that all these Gram fans are finally going to get to hear what he was really like live."
The love of music can drive human beings to astonishing lengths. For Prinz, cofounder/owner of California's Amoeba Music chain, that fervor revolves around the work of country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons. Despite the often-outlandish mythology that's grown up around this…