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I measured the Boulder 2110's electrical performance with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see www.ap.com and the January 2008 "As We See It"). As set up for the review, the volume control operated in accurate 0.5dB steps, the 2110 preserved absolute polarity (ie, was non-inverting, with pin 2 of the XLR jacks hot), and its maximum gain was exactly 20dB, as specified, for both the balanced and unbalanced inputs. The input impedance was very high, at an estimated 170k ohms (the specification states 333k ohms, but the voltage-drop method I use is not accurate for…

For a welcome change from my usual routine, I drove 250 miles north, into snowy upstate New York, to measure Wilson Audio's Duette Series 2 in situ chez Dudley. I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Wilson's frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 for the nearfield and spatially averaged room responses. The amplifier used for the quasi-anechoic responses was the solid-state Musical Fidelity 250W monoblock that I bought 10 years ago to use for all my speaker measurements. For the in-room response…

Art Dudley received the v.1.1.4 firmware upgrade for PS Audio's PerfectWave DirectStream ($5999) toward the end of his time with this superb-sounding, DSD-capable D/A processor, so was able to write only a brief report on the change this made to the review sample's sound. "For those who've waited for a computer-friendly DAC that offers, with every type of music file, the best musicality of which DSD is capable, the PerfectWave DirectStream may be in a class by itself," he concluded. In my own auditioning of the PS Audio with the…

Sam Tellig wrote about Spendor's D7 loudspeaker in his column, "Sam's Space," in the September 2014 issue, concluding that this English floorstanding speaker was "a splendid Spendor," and that "one might seriously question the need to spend any more than $6495 for a pair of speakers" (footnote 1). What he found especially rare, for a relatively small speaker, was the D7's "authority, weight, and speed. You could spend far more for a speaker and not get such a fast, highly resolving sound, and such a sweet midrange."

We don't…

Beethoven: 33 Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli, Op.120. Piano Sonata No.31 in A-Flat, Op.110.
Leonard Shure, piano
Audiofon 2001 (LP, subsequently released on CD as CD 72001) Julian Kreeger, prod., Peter McGrath, eng.

Audiofon is an audiophile record company with a difference. Instead of going for good sound and hoping the performance is satisfactory, Audiofon…

The 1980…