Defining noise is tricky business.
In high-end audio, noise is often defined as the enemy—of music, beauty, truth. Engineers and enthusiasts alike spend significant amounts of time, energy, and money attempting to minimize or control noise so that it has the least possible impact on the source signal: music. In this way—if we are intelligent, careful, and fortunate—we can extract from our stereos cleaner, clearer, more…
Which amp?
I had…
Description: Full-range, floorstanding electrostatic loudspeaker. Drive-units: 6 electrostatic panels with total height 54". Frequency response: 32Hz–21kHz, –6dB. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms. Impedance variation: 4–20 ohms. Maximum output: 2N/m2 at 2m on axis. Sensitivity: 86dB/2.83V/m. Maximum input, continuous input: 10V RMS. Program peak for undistorted output: 40V. Permitted peak input: 55V. Distortion: <0.15% above 1kHz, <0.5% above 100Hz, <1% above 50Hz. AC input: 110–120V, 220–240V. Power consumption: 6W.
Dimensions: 57.9" (1470mm) H by 27.2" (…
Analog Source: Acoustic Signature WOW XXL TA-1000 turntable & tonearm, Soundsmith moving-iron cartridge.
Digital Source: PS Audio PerfectWave Memory Player & DirectStream DAC.
Preamplifier: Convergent Audio Technology SL-1 Renaissance Black Path Edition.
Power Amplifiers: McIntosh Laboratory MC275 LE, Theta Digital Prometheus (monoblocks).
Loudspeakers: Monitor Audio Platinum PL300 II.
Cables: Interconnect, speaker, AC: Nordost Valhalla 2.
Accessories: PS Audio PerfectWave Power Plant 5 power conditioner, Nordost QB8 power…
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Quad ESL-2912's frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 for the nearfield responses. My estimate of the Quad's voltage sensitivity was approximately 84dB/2.83V/m, somewhat lower than the specified 86dB. Fig.1 shows how the ESL-2912's impedance magnitude and electrical phase angle vary with frequency. It's basically identical to that of the ESL-2912's predecessor, the ESL-989 (reviewed by Larry Greenhill in November 2002), with a high value in the bass dropping…
This is Russian-Dutch pianist Evelina Vorontsova's second recording; the first was in 2002. Born in 1972, she took fourth prize in the Rachmaninoff Competition at 18, and second prize at the International Franz Liszt Piano Competition two years later; in 2006, she won second prize in the International Piano and…
Recent conversations with high-resolution advocate Marc Finer, of the Digital…
Coleman has long been fascinated with patterns of motion in nature, and his brilliance is rooted in having solved how to translate this into music.…
Who is Art Dudley? A devout Listener, a friend to all bunnies—and some humans—John Atkinson's right-hand man, and an invaluable voice, not just within Stereophile, but within the industry as a whole.
Herb Reichert puts it best: "People would love reading Art even if he wrote about lice creams. He thinks he's writing about cartridges and bunnies—he is too humble to realize that he is mentoring a large part of our industry."
That is the allure of Art. And that is the Art we…