The Stereo Exchange event will feature manufacturer representatives from AudioQuest, Astell&Kern, Audeze, Bowers & Wilkins, Etymotic, HiFiMan, McIntosh Laboratories, NAD, Stax, Woo Audio, and more who…
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Today, Wednesday, June 22, 11am–7:30pm: Stereo Exchange (627 Broadway, Manhattan) will host an open house and personal-audio listening event featuring special guests, giveaways, and more, and tomorrow, Thursday, June 23, 5–8pm: HiFi Sales (1732 Route 70 East, Cherry Hill) will host a personal-audio listening party, featuring products from Amarra, Amps and Sound, AudioQuest, and more.
It would be an understatement to say that in 2001, when Nordost introduced their original Valhalla cables, they were a revelation for me. Their focus and resolution of detail were like nothing I'd ever heard, and revealed in recorded performances a startling energy and realism. Throw in their seemingly absolute transparency, and similarly unique levels of spatial and temporal precision, and the Valhallas established a new standard of sound quality in audio cables. Although their tonal balance was cool, as I reported in my first review of them in the November 2001 issue, they were the only…
One Nibble at a Time: Valhalla 2 Reference analog interconnect
I listened extensively to both unbalanced (RCA) and balanced (XLR) Valhalla 2 Reference analog interconnects, but decided to focus most of my listening on a pair of 1m-long interconnects with unbalanced terminations. In part, I did so to establish consistency, to make all of the cable-swapping I'd be doing as easy as possible. A second reason for the choice was my hope that it would make my observations relevant and easily understood to the greatest number of readers: 1m RCA interconnects are the most commonly used in…
I listened extensively to both unbalanced (RCA) and balanced (XLR) Valhalla 2 Reference analog interconnects, but decided to focus most of my listening on a pair of 1m-long interconnects with unbalanced terminations. In part, I did so to establish consistency, to make all of the cable-swapping I'd be doing as easy as possible. A second reason for the choice was my hope that it would make my observations relevant and easily understood to the greatest number of readers: 1m RCA interconnects are the most commonly used in…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Valhalla 2 Reference analog interconnect: Holo:Plug RCA or XLR.
Serial numbers of units reviewed: V0021 (RCA); V1251, V1262 (XLR).
Price: $7599.99/1m pair; add $1100/additional 0.5m.
Valhalla 2 Reference speaker cable: Holo:Plug spade or banana.
Serial number of unit reviewed: V0148.
Price: $14,849.99/3m pair; $1500/additional 0.5m.
Valhalla 2 Reference Tonearm (phono) cable: Holo:Plug RCA, XLR, straight or 90° DIN.
Serial number of unit reviewed: V0021.
Price: $4799.99/1.25m, $600/additional 0.5m.
Valhalla 2 Reference power…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Spiral Groove SG-2 turntable & Centroid tonearm, VPI HR-X turntable & tonearm, Grado Master Reference & Statement Reference cartridges.
Digital Sources: Primare CD32 CD player, Simaudio Moon Evolution 750D CD transport–DAC.
Preamplification: Sutherland Engineering Duo & Phono Block phono preamplifiers; Placette Audio Active, Sutherland Engineering Line Block line stages; Simaudio Moon Evolution 850P preamplifier.
Power Amplifiers: Simaudio Moon Evolution 880M, VTL Ichiban monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Wilson…
In 1999, I visited a friend, professor of Italian history Bill Adams, at his castle lair in the mountain village of Panzano, in Chianti, Italy. The 10th-century Castello di Panzano towers over the lush Tuscan hills, offering stupendous views. Each morning we'd walk down the mountain to the town below, where squat old men drank espresso and watched soccer at the all-in-one café/general store/post office. We toured the Roman ruins at Volterra and San Gimignano, gorged ourselves on pasta, and admired the fashionable young women.
In Italy, my pulse seemed to slow. I fell into the rhythm of…
Around back are the Primo's power receptacle, four pairs of Taiwanese-made speaker binding posts, a hefty ground screw, and seven pairs of gold-plated RCA jacks: Sub Out, Tape Out, Tape, Tuner, CD, Aux, and Phono. The Primo measures 17" wide by 3.7" high by 16.8" deep and weighs 30.8 lbs.
Listening
All sorted at last, I began listening to the Primo in my funhouse rig: Kuzma Stabi turntable with Kuzma Stogi tonearm, and DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/93 speakers. The Primo's phono board is set at the factory to moving-magnet mode. (To switch it to moving-coil, you shift two jumpers.) I…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-channel, hybrid integrated amplifier with MOSFET output stage. Tube complement: one ECC83 (12AX7). Inputs: 5 analog (RCA), optional MM/MC phono stage. Outputs: Tape, Subwoofer. Power output: 80Wpc into 8 ohms (19dBW). Frequency response: –0.2dB at 10Hz, –0.5dB at 100kHz. Total harmonic distortion: 0.15% at 10W, 1kHz. Channel separation: 83.7dB, 1kHz. Signal/noise: 90dB. Phono input impedances: MM, 47k ohms/220pF; MC, 100 ohms/440pF. Negative feedback: 10dB. Damping factor: >50. Power consumption: 380W max.
Dimensions: 17" (435mm) W by 3.7…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Kuzma Stabi S turntable & Stogi tonearm; Music Hall MMF-7.3 turntable/tonearm; Denon DL-103 cartridge.
Digital Sources: Apple MacBook computer, Halide DAC HD, Western Digital T2 Mirror Drive.
Preamplification: Auditorium 23 A23 moving-coil step-up transformer, Shindo Laboratory Allegro preamplifier.
Power Amplifier: Shindo Laboratory Haut-Brion.
Loudspeakers: DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/93, Elac B6, Snell Type J/II.
Cables: Interconnect: Shindo Laboratory. Speaker: Auditorium 23, AudioQuest Castle Rock & GO-4.…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I performed a full set of measurements on the Unison Research Unico Primo using my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"). As always before performing any measurements on an amplifier, I preconditioned it by running it with both channels driven at one-third power into 8 ohms for 60 minutes. Thermally, this is the worst-case situation for an amplifier with a class-B or class-A/B output stage, as one-third power is when the maximum heat dissipation occurs in the output transistors. As the Unico Primo's maximum power is specified in the…