I was about to add my usual, polite qualifier: It all depends on whether those performance parameters are important to you. But screw that. The fact is, contemporary audio consumers are even worse than contemporary audio designers when it comes to letting go of the things they think they know, in an effort to…
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The result is that, in certain aspects of their performance, many audio products made in the 1930s through the 1960s outperform virtually everything made since that time, often by generous margins. Those breathtaking levels of realism have yet to be matched, let alone exceeded.
The second I encountered Dynaudio's Focus 200 XD powered loudspeaker at the High End 2015 show in Munich, Germany, it called to me. I wasn't so much drawn to its unique functions—which I describe below—as by the fact that it could help fill the black hole left by the dismantling of my reference system for my move from big, badass Oakland, California to the small, magical town of Port Townsend, Washington.
Until the completion of renovations to our future music room, my reference system would have to be my desktop system, built around a pair of Dynaudio Focus 110A powered loudspeakers,…
I listened to the Dynaudio rig both on my desktop and in the large classroom at nearby Peninsula College, where I taught classes in "Voices that Touch the Heart." Finally, I gave the setup a workout in my large, cathedral-ceilinged living room using Dynaudio's Stand 6 stands ($499/pair.) No matter where I played the Focus 200 XDs, they inspired a mixture of profound appreciation and disappointment. While the sound was clear, powerful, laudably neutral, and free of distortion, I consistently heard a bit of dryness at the centers of the voices of singers I've heard in person. That dryness lay…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way rear-ported, powered, stand-mounted loudspeaker with remote control. Drive-units: 1.1" (28mm) soft-dome tweeter, 6.7" (170mm) one-piece, magnesium-silicate-polymer (MSP) cone woofer with 3" (75mm) pure-aluminum-wire voice-coil. Crossover frequency: 2500Hz. Crossover slope: 18dB/octave. Adjustments and calibrations: Treble, +1/0/–1dB; Input Sensitivity (Analog In), +6/0/–6dB (1/2/4V RMS); Speaker Position, Neutral/Wall/Corner (continuous adjustment); Channel Mode, Master/Slave/External; Wireless In via Dynaudio Connect, up to 24/96 to 1 zone…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: Apple MacBook Pro laptop computer with Intel i7, SSD, 8GB RAM; Apple iMac desktop computer with 3.4GHz Intel Core i7, 12GB RAM; G Drive 4TB external hard drive; Oppo BDP-93 NuForce Edition universal BD player; Benchmark DAC-1 USB DAC. M2Tech HiFace 192kHz Digital Audio Interface.
Loudspeakers: Dynaudio Focus 110A.
Cables: Digital Interconnect: Nordost Odin 1 (BNC with RCA adapters). Analog Interconnect: Nordost Heimdall 2 (USB) & Odin 1 (RCA). AC: Nordost Odin 1 & Odin 2 & Valhalla.
Accessories: Nordost Thor power…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Dynaudio Focus 200 XD's frequency response in the farfield; and, for the nearfield frequency responses, an Earthworks QTC-40, which has a ¼" capsule and thus doesn't present a significant obstacle to the sound.
I measured the Dynaudio at its analog input. As the Focus 200 XD is a powered speaker, my estimate of its voltage sensitivity can't be directly compared with those I publish for conventional speakers. But with a pink-noise input at 115mV RMS, the 200 XD's rotary…
Picture your typical high-end audio manufacturer.
It can be a spontaneous, self-generated hybrid of black shapes, brushed metals, and varying wooden finishes. You need not limit yourself to a single component or a single manufacturer. Whatever comes to mind first, really.
Got it?
Now picture the exact opposite of that.
That, reader, is Oswalds Mill Audio.
I first learned of Oswalds Mill Audio's (OMA's) existence a couple months ago, when I received an email from Jonathan Weiss (founder & CEO of OMA) inviting me to visit their showroom in Dumbo (…
Friday, September 30, 4–8 pm and Saturday, October 1, 4–8 pm, Lavish HiFi (1044 4th Street, Santa Rosa CA 95404) are presenting special listening events featuring the premiere of GamuT's new flagship speaker, the Zodiac. Featured guests will be GamuT's chief designer, Benno Baun Meldgaard, and US president Michael Vamos.
John Atkinson reviewed GamuT's RS7 loudspeaker a year ago and was impressed by what he heard. Space will be limited, so call (707) 595-2020 to RSVP or via Facebook for Friday or for Saturday.
Has it really been more than seven years since I reviewed Bel Canto's REF1000M monoblock? According to the Bel Canto website, that model, based on Bang & Olufsen's ICEpower class-D modules, is no longer available. But now, like so many manufacturers, Bel Canto has adopted for its new models the NCore class-D module from Hypex—although the REF600M monoblock ($4990/pair) is not Bel Canto's first product to use it . . .
Last year, Michael Fremer reviewed Bel Canto's nearly all-digital Black amplification system, which comprises one ASC1 Asynchronous Stream Controller (essentially a…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid-state, class-D monoblock power amplifier. Input: single-ended RCA or balanced XLR. Output: one pair WBT NextGen five-way binding posts. Power output: 300W into 8 ohms (24.8dBW), 600W into 4 ohms (24.8dBW). Peak output current: 27A. Minimum load: 2 ohms. Voltage gain: 27dB (single-ended or balanced input). Frequency response: 0Hz–50kHz, ±3dB, all loads. THD+N: 0.003%, 1W, 1kHz, 4 ohms. IMD (CCIF): 0.0003%, 1W, 14/15kHz, 4 ohms. Input impedance: 100k ohms (RCA), 200k ohms (XLR). Input voltage for max output: 2.3V RMS Output noise (RMS, A-…