Digital sources: Custom Intel/Win11 music server running JRiver Media Center v33 and Roon 2, Merging Devices Hapi II DAC. QNAP TVS-873 NAS. Oppo Digital UDP-103 universal disc player.
Power amplifiers: Benchmark AHB2 used as a bridged monoblock, Buckeye Purifi Eigentakt 1ET9040BA monoblock.
Loudspeakers: 3 KEF Blade Two Metas with IsoAcoustics GAIA II feet.
Cables: Digital interconnects: Mogami Gold AES TD DB25-XLR0 snake. Analog interconnects: Mogami Gold AES TD DB25-XLR snake, Benchmark Studio&Stage XLR–XLR. Speaker cables: Blue Jeans…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used my Audio Precision SYS2722 system to measure the Lyngdorf Audio MXA-8400. Although the MXA-8400 is an eight-channel amplifier, I performed a complete set of tests with one channel driven in 2-Channel mode (footnote 1), repeated some of the tests with two channels driven in this mode, then performed more tests with two channels operated in Bridge mono mode.
Because class-D amplifiers emit relatively high levels of ultrasonic noise, I inserted an Audio Precision AUX-0025 passive low-pass filter between the test load and the analyzer. This filter…
You gotta love press releases. “This May in Munich, history won’t just be written—it will be heard.” Thus opened the invitation to a joint press conference of “two Norwegian powerhouses” whose system “doesn’t whisper innovation—it roars it.”
Roaring, however, was not the bottom line of Electrocompaniet and Ø Audio’s personnel and system—not even from Ø’s towering, axe-toting cofounder, Jonathan Magnus Cook. Cook may be huge and he may carry an ax, but I found him soft-spoken when not on camera.
Roaring, however, was not the bottom line of Electrocompaniet and Ø Audio’s personnel and system—not even from Ø’s towering, axe-toting cofounder, Jonathan Magnus Cook. Cook may be huge and he may carry an ax, but I found him soft-spoken when not on camera.
Instead of bluster, I sat through blessedly short, level-headed…
Over three years ago, when I reviewed Accustic Arts’s AMP V stereo power amplifier, I called it "the most intelligently designed hunk I’ve ever put my hands on, and one of the finest and most musically satisfying amplifiers to ever enter my system." I wish it were still here so I could reevaluate it with my current system, which has become exponentially more revealing.
Not content to rest on its laurels, Accustic Arts has since replaced AMP V with (what else) AMP VI. The new product has a redesigned power supply that includes a new transformer and larger capacitors. US distributor Philip…
It wasn't long ago that bottom-shelf DACs had this dry, gray, punchy, grainy sound, emerging from a weird mechanical clarity. Their sound reminded me of cheap whisky. The ones that didn't sound like $1 shots replaced the dry grain with some blurry gel. No vitality. No subtle contrasts. No nuance. No air. No atmospherics, no reverberance, and nothing I would call transparency.
Digital's rapidly evolving technology made the next wave of DACs sound strikingly clear and quiet, with some touchy-feely hints of wetness to suggest a more natural transparency. Unfortunately, most of these…
That was through the super-transparent Voxativs. Now seemed like a good time to try the Fezz through my forever reference Falcon Gold Badges. Every time I go back to these speakers, it feels more like a marriage, with decades of memories to use as comparison fodder.
I turned twenty-one in prison doing life without parole
You can blame it on the sound quality of the Fezz Equinox or the persuasiveness of Alex Halberstadt—take your pick—but during this review period I climbed off my high horse and accepted Merle Haggard as my three-in-the-morning savior. Alex helped me recognize…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-channel D/A processor using a Burr Brown PCM1794 converter chip with a 12AU7 output tube and no oversampling. Digital inputs: One USB Type B, one coaxial S/ PDIF RCA, two optical (TosLink). Analog outputs: stereo pair single-ended (RCA). S/ PDIF receiver: AKM4118 PCM. Sampling rates: 32kHz–192kHz, 16–24 bit, USB up to 384kHz, 32-bit. THD: <0.05%. Power consumption: 10W.
Dimensions: 14" (355mm) × 15" (380mm) × 3.9" (100mm). Weight: 19.8lb (9kg).
Serial number of unit reviewed: 0074531F. Designed and built in Poland.
Price: $2995.…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: Denafrips Terminator Plus DAC, HoloAudio May Level 3 and Spring 3 KTE DACs, dCS Lina DAC with Master Clock; TEAC VRDS-701T CD transport.
Preamplifier: HoloAudio Serene line.
Power amplifiers: Elekit TU-8900 with Brimar 6067/ECC82 and Psvane T Series MKII 300B tubes; First Watt SIT-4.
Headphone amplifiers: dCS Lina, Linear Tube Audio Z10e.
Loudspeakers: Falcon Acoustics Gold Badge LS3/5a, Voxativ Hagen2 Monitor.
Headphones: Audeze CRBN.
Cables: Digital: Kimber Kable D60 coaxial, AudioQuest Cinnamon USB. Interconnect:…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
After making sure the single Electro-Harmonix 12AU7/ECC82 dual-triode tube was firmly plugged into its socket under the top-panel window, I used my Audio Precision SYS2722 system to perform a full set of measurements on the Fezz Equinox. I then repeated some of the tests with the magazine's APx555 analyzer. (The results with the two systems were consistent.) As HR had told me he used the Equinox's USB and coaxial S/PDIF inputs for his auditioning, I used those inputs for the testing. I didn't use the two TosLink inputs, as these only worked with data sampled at 44.…
The Munich unveiling of dCS’s Lina DAC X network music player ($15,500) drew significant attention from lovers of the Lina DAC ($14,400). The debut occurred alongside a static display of the top-of-the-line Varèse transport, due in June.
The DAC X includes a new physical volume dial, IR remote control, support for high-resolution streaming via Qobuz Connect, the option to connect CD/SACD transports, and a larger, standard-width chassis machined from solid billet aluminum. For those who prefer the appearance of the original Lina three-box DAC, headphone amplifier, and Master Clock, the…