Digital Sources: Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP universal player; Apple 2.7GHz i7 Mac mini running OS10.10.1, iTunes 11, Pure Music 2.0, Audirvana Plus 1.5.10, PonoMusic World 20.0.50; Ayre Acoustics QB-9 D/A processor; Astell&Kern AK100 portable player.
Preamplification: Ayre Acoustics KX-R Twenty.
Power Amplifiers: Ayre Acoustics MX-R Twenty monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Audioengine A2+, DALI Rubicon 8, KEF Blade Two.
Headphones: Audeze LCD-X, Sennheiser HD650, Ultimate Ears 18 Pro and JH Audio JH16 Pro in-ear monitors.
Cables: Digital:…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Sidebar 3: Measurements
With its battery fully charged and using both its unbalanced Headphone and Line 3.5mm output jacks, I measured the PonoPlayer with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see www.ap.com and the January 2008 "As We See It"). I uploaded WAV and AIFF files of the test signals to the player's internal memory using the JRiver-sourced PonoMusic World app.
The volume control operates on the headphone output only; the output with a 1kHz tone at 0dBFS from the headphone jack with the volume control set to its maximum was the same as from the line output: 961.3mV. Both…
Manufacturers' Comments
Editor: Way back in 1979, when I was a staff producer for Columbia Records, I was asked to produce Jerry Goldsmith's seminal music score for Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
I started looking around for something futuristic that would be compatible with the movie's ethos, and while I was at the Audio Engineering Society (AES) convention in downtown Los Angeles, at the Biltmore Hotel, I happened to stumble on a small exhibit in a Sony demo room. They were showing a PCM-1600 digital recording system that processed sound at 16-bit/44.1kHz, as well as a hand-…
Now that spring has sprung, the moon has gone super, the sun has eclipsed, and more polar ice has melted, it's time to welcome the 28th edition of the Montreal Audio Show. Known to French Canadians as Le Salon Son et Image, the show occupies the consciousness of audiophiles worldwide on March 27–29 from its customary location, the Hilton Bonaventure.
This year's Montreal Audio Show is on track to welcome a good 3000 attendees to active exhibits in 55 rooms. One of its unique features is the presence of a host of Canadian manufacturers. Showings by 10 Canadian companies—double that of last…
"Too much Stokowski."—Sergei Rachmaninoff in 1940, reacting to a demonstration of a stereo recording of Leopold Stokowski conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra
I don't remember when, but at some point during the past few years I realized that, in my home, mono cartridges outnumber their stereo counterparts. A few weeks ago, my collection of phono equipment took another step in the same strange direction: After receiving from Ortofon a sample of their CG 25 DI Mk.II mono pickup head ($902) for review, I was so impressed with its sound that I asked if I could buy the review sample. Now,…
Having said that: When the choice existed, those same artists and producers often pointed to mono as the sound in which they wanted their music to be clothed. Even now, audio enthusiasts and record collectors praise the same qualities that appealed to the artists of the day: Mono LPs tend to offer considerably more substance and impact—more sonic flesh and blood—than their stereo counterparts, which can sound wan by comparison.
And to wring from today's mono reissues those selfsame qualities, it does, in fact, help to have a mono cartridge in your analog arsenal. The primary reason: A…
The CD era was well underway. Rudy Giuliani was about to sweep the crack hoes and squeegee humans off New York's garbage-filled streets. Disney was conquering Times Square. It seemed the perfect time for artists and audio weirdos like myself to go underground. Seeking economic sustainability, I hunkered down in my Seaport bunker and started a little business called Eddie Electric. I found a 23-year-old Japanese business partner named Ryochi who was dealing in big-E Levi's, bubble-back Rolexes, and antique Abarth cars. He was my Seaport, New York–Akihabara, Tokyo connection.
Ryochi had…
"I'm intrigued how Emotiva can offer an active speaker for so little."
This was John Atkinson's response to my request to review Emotiva's Pro Airmotiv 4s ($299/pair). My colleague Steve Guttenberg had been discussing this speaker with me at a recent industry event, and I'd realized that it had been some time since I'd reviewed an entry-level loudspeaker. I'd reviewed Emotiva's X-Ref XRT-5.2 floorstanding speaker in the August 2012 issue and had been impressed with its combination of sound quality and price. I requested samples for review.
Design
Emotiva designs and makes a…
Birds of Fire is a difficult record for any hi-fi to decode. Four out of five times I've played this album, the compositions have seemed annoying and pretentious. But the Enzo XLs, driven by a Roksan K2 B2 integrated amplifier, presented "Thousand Island Park" in such a relaxed and edifying fashion that I wondered why I hadn't "gotten" this music before. Musical moments naturally morphed one into the next. I could watch the music unfold.
The Enzo XLs reminded me ever so much of Snell's gloriously hypermusical Type A speakers, albeit with a slightly more hesitant, tighter, but perhaps…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way, bass-reflex, powered bookshelf speaker. Drive-units: 1" (26mm) by 1.25" (32mm) Airmotiv high-frequency folded-ribbon tweeter, 4.5" (135mm) Airmotiv mid/woofer with Curv polypropylene-composite cone. Crossover frequency: 2700Hz. Frequency response: 58Hz–23kHz, ±2dB; 52Hz–27kHz, +0/–6dB. Total amplifier power: 50W RMS. High-frequency amplifier: 25W RMS, S/N >90dB; THD+N, <0.05% at 15W, 10kHz. Low-frequency amplifier: 25W RMS, S/N >90dB; THD+N, <0.05% at 20W, 100Hz. Adjustments and calibrations: High-frequency tilt control: 4kHz…