I flashed back…
search
In February 2013, I was taking part in a "Music Matters" evening at Seattle retailer Definitive Audio, playing some of my recordings and talking about my audio philosophy. I love taking part in these events—in addition to Definitive's, in recent years I've participated in evenings organized by North Carolina's Audio Advice, Colorado's Listen-Up, and Atlanta's Audio Alternatives—but, as might be obvious, at each one I use a system provided by the retailer. The February 2013 system comprised Classé electronics and, to my surprise, Bowers & Wilkins Nautilus loudspeakers.
And the G3s could indeed play at high levels without the sound saturating or coarsening. I could play at insanely loud levels the cleanly recorded drum samples in "Fit Song," from Cornelius's Sensuous: la musique de 21° siäcle (ALAC files ripped from CD, Warner Japan EVE016). In fact, my ears gave up while the speakers were still rolling up their shirtsleeves and asking for more!
For reasons that remain mysterious, I missed the English band XTC in their early-1980s heyday, but my friend Casey McKee recently decided to remedy that situation by sending me three of their CDs. (Thanks,…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Four-way, five-driver, floorstanding loudspeaker with vented enclosure. Drive-units: 1" (25mm) aluminum-dome tweeter, 2" (50mm) aluminum-dome upper-midrange driver, 4.9" (125mm) aluminum-cone lower-midrange unit, two 5.5" (135mm) aluminum-cone woofers. Crossover frequencies: 220Hz, 880Hz, 3.5kHz. Frequency response: 36Hz–33kHz, ±2dB on reference axis. Frequency range (–6dB): 33Hz–36kHz. Sensitivity: 87dB/2.83V/m. Impedance: 6 ohms nominal, 4 ohms minimum. Harmonic distortion: <0.5% second and third harmonic over frequency range. Power handling:…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Linn Sondek LP12 turntable with Lingo power supply, Linn Ekos tonearm, Linn Arkiv B cartridge.
Digital Sources: Marantz NA-11S1 media server; Astell&Kern AK100 media player; Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP universal player; Apple 2.7GHz i7 Mac mini running OS10.7, iTunes 10, Pure Music 1.89; dCS Vivaldi SACD/CD player–D/A system; Auralic Vega, NAD M51, D/A converters; Ayre Acoustics QA-9 USB A/D converter.
Preamplification: Channel D Seta L phono preamplifier; Pass Labs XP-30 line preamplifier.
Power Amplifiers: MBL Corona C15, Pass…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Vivid Giya G3's frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 for the nearfield and spatially averaged room responses. The G3 is specified as having a voltage sensitivity of 87dB/2.83V/m; my estimate was slightly lower than this, at 86dB(B). How the Giya G3's impedance magnitude and electrical phase angle vary with frequency is shown in fig.1. The impedance drops below 6 ohms only in the bass, otherwise remaining above 4 ohms, as specified. There is a current-hungry…
It's Friday, March 28, about 11 am. I'm on the Toronto-to-Montreal train, checking the Stereophile website. Art Dudley has a SSI 2014 show report posting up already! A travelogue is a good idea; I'll try to follow Art's lead. Alas, the scenery is not the most photogenic, and shooting from a moving train has its challenges. For me, travelling by train has an association with Hitchcock: North by Northwest and The Lady Vanishes. I look at my fellow passengers; none of them bears a resemblance to Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, or Margaret Lockwood. There seems to be nothing sinister going on.
…
I’ve reported from Salon Son et Image almost every year since joining Stereophile in 2003, and as much as I enjoy the show itself, my favorite part remains the evening before the opening day. That’s when, in accordance with an informal tradition, members of the industry and the press gather together at the Hilton Bonaventure’s hotel bar—which also happens to serve the best food of any hotel bar in my experience—to shake the dust of the town from our boots, as it were. Pictured here, from left to right, are Peter McGrath (Wilson Audio), Mike Manousselis (Dynaudio), Lionel Goodfield (Simaudio…
In addition to AudioQuest cabling, the demo system put together by Montreal retailer Audioville comprised a pair of KEF Blade loudspeakers ($30,000), stirred into action by Chord electronics: the SPM5000 amplifier ($25,000), CPA3000 preamplifier ($10,000), and DSX1000 DAC/streamer ($13,000). The sound, as noted in Steve Silberman's demonstration, was explicit without being relentless about it: Music flowed naturally, and with decent color and very good impact, especially at the louder end of the spectrum.
AudioQuest also announced their entry into the world of Ethernet cables, with a line that includes nine distinct models; seen here is the Audioquest Cinnamon Ethernet cable, priced at $69 for a 1.5-meter length. "USB won't go away," said the company's Steve Silberman, "But Ethernet will continue to grow. Silberman then conducted a demonstration comparing Audioquest Cinnamon with generic wire—after comparing the latter with wireless transmission from computer to router—which left little doubt of the superiority of the former in terms of nuance, texture, and touch.
It only looks as though Steve Silberman of Audioquest is trying to ignore a corpse behind the loudspeakers; in actual fact he's explaining the finer points of JRiver playback software—a topic in which he is remarkably conversant—while a colleague works on their system's cabling.
At SSI 2014, AudioQuest used an early-show press conference to announce a new distributor for Canada—themselves—and to announce that, by the end of 2014, there will exist four distinct variations on the well-received AudioQuest Dragonfly digital-to-analog converter. Silberman also hinted at a forthcoming line of…