My first exposure to the perils of dating happened when I was 12. For my mother's birthday, my grandparents gave her a membership in a computer…
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No one I know enjoys dating. Some friends detest it so much they won't go near it. Maybe they believe the love of their life is waiting to be discovered at a Zumba class or in line at the King Kullen. Or maybe they've quietly given up. Admit it: Dating offers a low probability of success, and if you think too much about just how low, the whole thing begins to seem ridiculous. Yet how do you meet a potential partner without, well, meeting them?
The Sound of Red October
I have to start this section with a caveat for can heads: Though I've been using good headphones for much of my adult life, I strongly prefer listening through speakers. So my impressions of the Red October's headphone capabilities lack the subtlety and knowhow of a true headspace aficionado like Herb Reichert. That said, I used four sets of cans—the Audeze LCD-3, the Sennheiser HD 650, the HiFiMan HE-R10P, and the Meze Elite—and listened to both vinyl and streaming.
Though the Ampsandsound flagship lacked the near-silent backgrounds of some solid…
German audio manufacturer beyerdynamic has launched updated versions of its premium studio headphones: the DT 1770 PRO MKII and DT 1990 PRO MKII. These models feature the newly developed TESLA.45 driver, designed to improve sound quality and reduce distortion. Priced at $599, both headphones are available now through beyerdynamic's online store and Amazon.
The latest iterations are tailored for modern music production environments, offering an impedance of 30 ohms to ensure compatibility with a wide variety of playback devices. According to the company, this adjustment addresses…
Hi-fi's vintage-tech revival feels like a Don Draper fever dream. You know Draper, right? The smooth-talking ad man from Mad Men? In one episode, he pitches a new Kodak slide projector, but instead of focusing on the science and the specs, he calls it a "carousel"—think bouncing painted horses—and says it will take people back to a simpler time.
For its early-'60s moment, that slide projector is high-tech—and "technology is a glittering lure," Draper tells the assembled group of cigarette-smoking suits around a conference room table. Draper mentions Teddy, a Greek former colleague Draper…
Aesthetics? Forget the clunky wooden box speakers that made your father drool (although the Corner Ribbon was and is lovely): The Revela 1 (which for the remainder of this review I'll occasionally call the R1) would not seem out of place in a billionaire bachelor pad. The cabinets are gorgeous, with real walnut veneer finished with several layers of high-gloss lacquer. The baffle is a similarly glossy piano black. (The Revela 1 is also available in Piano Black all over.) Those rounded corners and edges contribute to a striking silhouette. The speaker seems to float above its dedicated…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way, bass-reflex, standmount speaker. Drive units: 1.6" × 2.36" (27mm × 60mm) True Ribbon high-frequency driver and 6.5" (165mm) wood pulp/para-aramid cone mid/bass driver. Crossover frequency: 2.9kHz. Nominal impedance: 6 ohms; minimum 4.1 ohms. Peak SPL: 102dB. Frequency response: 54Hz–24kHz, ±3dB; –6dB at 40Hz. Sensitivity: 86dB/2.83V/m. Peak power handling: 120W. Recommended amplifier power: 30–120W.
Dimensions: 15½" (395mm) H × 10" (246mm) W × 12" (312mm) D. Weight: 24lb (10.8kg).
Finishes: Piano Walnut/Piano Black, Piano Black.
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: VPI Avenger Direct turntable with 12" VPI FatBoy tonearm, 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: Tavish Audio Design Adagio (phono), Rogue Audio RP-7.
Power amplifier: Rogue Audio Stereo 100.
Integrated amplifiers: PrimaLuna EVO 300 Hybrid, Riviera Labs Levante.
Loudspeakers: GoldenEar Bookshelf Reference X.
Cables: Interconnects: Agent Pur, AudioQuest Pegasus, Analysis…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system, a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone, and an Earthworks microphone preamplifier to measure the Quad Revela 1's quasi-anechoic frequency response and time-domain behavior in the farfield. I used an Earthworks QTC-40 microphone for the nearfield responses and Dayton Audio's DATS V2 system to measure the impedance magnitude and phase.
Quad specifies the Revela 1's sensitivity as 86dB/2.83V/m; my estimate was higher, at 87.6dB(B)/2…
In my early years in audio, I witnessed the rise and fall of the AM-FM receiver, first in vacuum tube mono and later in solid state stereo. Some of them grew to be behemoths, supporting multiple inputs, equalizers, dual speaker zones, and powerful amplifiers. When radio sources receded in popularity and with the rise of CDs, cable TV, and DVD, radio receivers were replaced by A/V receivers in the mainstream market.
Today, the ascension of streaming as the conduit for both audio and video content has nudged these, too, from the center stage. One can stream content from the bewildering…
NAD's documentation does not tell us what specific solution they implement—normally it's a simple matter of reducing the maximum level by a dB or two—but testing it is easy, since you can switch it on and off in the BluOS app. I pulled up a classic recording of Stravinsky's L'histoire du Soldat recorded in 1956 for Westminster Records, with Robert Mandell conducting Ars Nova (an all-star ensemble) and Stanley Drucker and Herbert Sorkin playing the crucial clarinet and violin parts. It's a transfer from two-channel tape to digital (24/96 FLAC High-Definition Tape Transfers HDTT10464). It…