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Gramophone Dreams #97: Jamming With Cans at CanJam NYC Page 2

The 2.5W ZMF Aegis. Check out those transformer covers!

ZMF
At the end of the day Saturday, I met up with my peeps in ZMF's large double room, where a young woman in stylish black-and-white checkered pants was gathering up 121 tagged-and-numbered ZMF headphones that had been set out for attendee listening. Each of the large room's tables featured at least one DAC and two headphone amplifiers. That's a lot of wires and metal boxes and people shuffling about playing musical chairs, listening to their own choices of music. ZMF was giving head-fi aficionados access to their complete…

Re-Tales #54: Fidelity Imports Stays True to its Passions

Photo by Mark Henninger

Steve Jain, cofounder and managing director of Fidelity Imports, has been busy since launching the company six years ago in the Philadelphia area. In recent months, Fidelity has added two brands to their roster; they now represent 16 high-performance audio companies. Maintaining his early passions helped fuel his drive to start a business and continue its expansion and innovation—aspects Jain believes differentiate Fidelity Imports from the competition. "I constantly want to keep trying to innovate and keep us ahead," Jain told me in a recent conversation over Zoom…

Colloms on Cables

Underpinning a discussion about the merits of potentially costly specialist audio cables is an obvious question: Why do we need them? Doesn't almost all wire conduct audio signals with negligible distortion and very little loss of power? Specialist hi-fi cables seem expensive for what you get. Especially at the upper end, they seem like a worse value than electronics and loudspeakers. Depreciation is greater, too: Cables are almost a consumable.

But if you wish to finesse the quality endeavor of classic separates-based hi-fi systems, you cannot do without them. Fundamentally, it is not…

Colloms on Cables Page 2

Cable properties
The most obvious and easily quantified lumped-parameter electrical properties of cables are inductance, resistance, and capacitance—L, R, and C. Can variations of these parameters subtly alter the system sound? Yes, they can. Manufacturers rarely tell us what these values are, probably because it would undermine the frequently obscure technical claims made for their products. For a loudspeaker cable, the "complex" electrical load, which includes the loudspeaker, is connected back to the amplifier output port (and in many cases, in addition, to the inverting input via the…

An AudioQuest Cable Loom: Vodka network, Pegasus interconnects, Robin Hood speaker cables, Blizzard power cables

I began the test series I discussed in Colloms on Cables with the first company to respond to our request for review samples: AudioQuest (footnote 1). Their loom comprised a pair of Robin Hood Zero loudspeaker cables; Pegasus I/C interconnects, both unbalanced RCA and balanced XLR; Blizzard AC power cables; and Vodka Ethernet cables. AudioQuest has decades of experience with audio cables, supplying a huge range from high-quality "industrial" cables—some available in bulk for custom-install applications and manufacturing—to more familiar audiophile constructions. Their designs are highly…

An AudioQuest Cable Loom: Vodka network, Pegasus interconnects, Robin Hood speaker cables, Blizzard power cables Associated Equipment

Sidebar: Associated Equipment

Analog sources: Linn Sondek LP12 turntable with Keel chassis, Karousel main bearing, Radikal motor control, Naim ARO tonearm, and Lyra Delos cartridge.
Digital sources: Naim UnitiCore network server and S/PDIF source; Roon Nucleus +; Naim ND555 Streamer-DAC with dual 555PS(DR) power supplies.
Phono preamplifier: Naim SuperLine-SuperCap DR.
Preamplifier: Townshend Allegri Reference.
Power amplifier: Naim NAP 250 (2023/4 series).
Loudspeakers: BBC LS3/5a 15 ohm (Marshall), FinkTeam KIM, Wilson Audio Specialties The WATT/Puppy.
…

Meet Richard Vandersteen at West Coast Special Events

Meet audio legend Richard Vandersteen at three exclusive events on the West Coast. As the founder and head engineer of Vandersteen Audio he is renowned for groundbreaking speaker designs that have helped define high-end audio for decades. He's offering audio enthusiasts a unique chance to hear from him firsthand at these special events.

The first event takes place in San Diego on Wednesday, May 28, at Stereo Unlimited (3191 Sports Arena Blvd., San Diego, CA). The evening runs from 5:00 to 9:00 PM, featuring a detailed presentation at 5:30 PM, followed by a Q&A session and listening…

Auf Wiedersehen Munich, Hello Vienna!

Munich’s annual High End show took place May 15–18 at the MOC Event Center. Considered the biggest and most important audio show in the world, High End Munich is where distributors meet with brand principals and often expand their portfolios. The show also draws throngs of European audio lovers and journalists.

Now read that again but with all verbs in the past tense. That’s right: it’s auf Wiedersehen to the Bavarian capital, because starting in mid-May of 2026, the show will be held annually in Vienna's more modern ACV (Austria Center Vienna), 220 miles due east. Whether the sleek new…

Boulder 1151 monoblock power amplifier

For several decades—from well before I toured the Boulder factory in 2016—I've wanted to get a handle on the best sound the now–41-year-old company can offer. Multiple listening sessions at shows had more than hinted at excellence. But neither my time in Boulder's large, dedicated music room, which was intentionally dry, nor exposure at various hi-fi shows left me convinced that I'd heard Boulder's full potential.

My first opportunity for an in-home audition came in 2021, when I reviewed the 866 stereo integrated amplifier ($17,500 with DAC, $16,000 without). But that entry-level (by…

Boulder 1151 monoblock power amplifier Page 2

And the sound
My initial impressions were uniformly positive. More than positive. Boulder's 1151 monoblocks sounded really beautiful. I began by sampling unfamiliar recordings for possible review. Electric Fields (24/48 WAV, Download/Alpha), from Barbara Hannigan, the Labèque Sisters, and David Chalmin, struck me as a bit too Hildegard von Bingen meets new age immersive, but it was compelling and intriguing enough to warrant a review. As I continued to listen, the warm, glowing bath of sound from the 1151s kept drawing me in.

One of the first things I wrote in my notes was "I…