My system now sounded like shit: pinched highs, no texture, a compete…
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We began our listening with a borrowed sample of the Hommage T1, which had been in my system for a few months, and which had impressed me all the way to hell and back. The T1 was my favorite, and I made no secret of it. Sure enough, the T1-fueled system sounded great that day. But before moving on to a different trannie, I had to leave the house for a short while and collect my daughter at school. I returned home about 20 minutes later, and my visitor and I decided to spin one more record before making any changes.
With the atomization of the playback of digital files into storage, servers, streamers, format converters, and DACs, I find that I've accumulated many miniature power supplies: small pods and wall warts. Most of these are generic switching devices made by companies other than the manufacturers of the components they power, and even those not designed for audio systems are, of necessity, at least adequate for the task. Because many of these supplies are indistinguishable from each other, I've taken to labeling them with sticky notes to remind me which goes with which component. Nonetheless, I…
The Multichannel-8's Ethernet interface (gigabit Ethernet only) is used for the playback of computer-based files through a Ravenna ASIO driver at any resolution up to 384kHz, DXD, and DSD256, as well as through up to eight channels. Incoming data are placed in a large memory buffer and clocked by a precision clock. Along with Ravenna's IEEE1588 Precision Time Protocol (PTP), this is intended to eliminate the jitter problems associated with other interfaces. The Multichannel-8 also handles AES/EBU and S/PDIF digital inputs up to 192kHz, and will accept DSD over PCM (DoP).
The case is a…
Product debuts galore were only one of the reasons that March 3's Music Matters 11, the latest installment of Definitive Audio Seattle's annual four-hour evening marathon, was a model event of its kind. Another, articulated by Definitive's president Craig Abplanalp to exhibitors less than an hour before the doors opened at 5pm, was that, at this Definitive Audio 40th Anniversary celebration, music rather than long-winded product spiels was the focus of each 20-minute listening session.
Certainly audiophiles heard the call. Music Matters 11 drew over 500 people. This means that, in the…
In an announcement made yesterday on their corporate website, UK-based Chester Group—which, in recent years, has sponsored consumer-audio shows in Vancouver, Brooklyn, and Brighton, UK, among other locales—revealed that they are "deferring" this year's Salon Son et Image, which had been scheduled to take place March 18 through 20 at the Bonaventure Hotel in Montreal.
In the post, Chester Group Marketing and Creative Director Scott Humphrey points to "a substantial drop in companies interested in exhibiting at this ongoing event." In a reference to SSI's founders, from whom Chester Group…
Two weeks shy of the Ides of March, Cary Audio has announced its transition from an all-dealer sales model to a direct-to-consumer web store in the U.S. it calls "CaryDirect." But rather than leaving its brick'n'mortar US dealers in the dust, the North Carolina-based company says it has assimilated them into a rather novel hybrid business model.
"We've changed the whole way we do things," company founder Billy Wright explained by phone of the company he began with Dennis Had in 1989. "We always sold through our website. Now, as the number of good dealers is declining, we have established…
The April Issue features an extensively revised "Recommended Components" feature—often copied, never equaled—while April Music's stylin' Aura Note V2 CD receiver gets the full review treatment from Art Dudley. In addition, we have:
Great analog playback gear from Abis, Jasmine, Mørch, Reed, SME, and TechDAS
A US-premier review of the AR-M2 hi-rez portable player from one of the great names in hi-fi, Acoustic Research, now under new ownership
A high-end server from Aurender is put through its paces
An interview with blues-ish singer/guitarist, Bonnie Raitt
And…
Great analog playback gear from Abis, Jasmine, Mørch, Reed, SME, and TechDAS
A US-premier review of the AR-M2 hi-rez portable player from one of the great names in hi-fi, Acoustic Research, now under new ownership
A high-end server from Aurender is put through its paces
An interview with blues-ish singer/guitarist, Bonnie Raitt
And…
Dr. Feickert Analogue's top-of-the line turntable, the Firebird ($12,500), is a generously sized record player designed to easily accommodate two 12" tonearms. Its three brushless, three-phase DC motors, arranged around the platter in an equilateral triangle, are connected to a proprietary controller in a phase-locked loop (PLL); according to the Firebird's designer, Dr. Christian Feickert, a reference signal from just one of the motors drives all three—thus one motor is the master while the other two are slaves. (Man, today that is politically incorrect, however descriptively accurate.)…
So, when Axxis Audio's Art Manzano offered a Reed 3P for review, I chose the 9" version and attempted to mount it in the Firebird's right-hand corner, with my Kuzma 4Point in the left. But that didn't work—the Reed's pivot assembly was where the Kuzma's long headshell wanted to be.
Nor was it possible to mount and conveniently use the Reed arm on the left with the Mørch DP8 arm (9.25" effective length) on the right. These shorter arms have a shorter pivot-to-spindle distance, which puts both of them closer to the platter; when correctly set up, these arms, too, interfered with each…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Continuum Audio Labs Caliburn turntable, Cobra tonearm, Castellon stand; Dr. Feickert Analogue Firebird, Kuzma 4Point, Reed 3P, SAT tonearms; Lyra Atlas & Etna, Miyajima Labs Zero (mono) and Madake, Ortofon Anna cartridges.
Preamplification: Ypsilon MC-10L & MC-16L step-up transformers; darTZeel NHB-18NS, PureAudio Vinyl, Viva, Ypsilon VPS-100 preamplifiers.
Power Amplifiers: darTZeel NHB-458 monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Marten Coltrane 3, Wilson Audio Specialties Alexandria XLF.
Cables: Interconnect: Snake River…
Preamplification: Ypsilon MC-10L & MC-16L step-up transformers; darTZeel NHB-18NS, PureAudio Vinyl, Viva, Ypsilon VPS-100 preamplifiers.
Power Amplifiers: darTZeel NHB-458 monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Marten Coltrane 3, Wilson Audio Specialties Alexandria XLF.
Cables: Interconnect: Snake River…