Analog Source: Linn Sondek LP12 turntable with Lingo power supply, Linn Ekos tonearm, Linn Arkiv B cartridge.
Digital Sources: Aurender N10 music server; Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP universal player; Arcam irDAC-II, Ayre Acoustics QX-5 Twenty, Chord DAVE, PS Audio PerfectWave DirectStream D/A converters; AudioQuest JitterBug, UpTone Audio ReGen USB cleaner-uppers; Mac mini running Vinyl Studio, Pure Music 3, Audirvana 1.5, Roon 1.3; Ayre Acoustics QA-9 USB A/D converter.
Phono Preamplifier: Channel D Seta L.
Preamplifier: Ayre Acoustics KX-5 Twenty…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Rockport Avior II's frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 for the nearfield and in-room responses. A complication was that the 220-lb loudspeaker was too bulky for me to move it outside for the testing, or to lift it onto my computer-controlled turntable. I therefore had to do the quasi-anechoic measurements in my listening room, where the proximity of room boundaries led to more than usually aggressive windowing of the time-domain data, which in turn reduced…
Jim Austin wrote about the BHK Signature 300 in August 2017 (Vol.40 No.8):
When I came up for air after reviewing PS Audio's BHK Signature preamplifier for our June 2017 issue, there was still a pair of BHK Signature 300 monoblock power amplifiers ($14,998/pair) sitting on the floor of my listening room. (PS Audio had provided them to use while reviewing their preamp.) Also sitting there, next to the monoblocks, was a pair of DeVore Fidelity's Orangutan O/96 loudspeakers, their lovely wood baffles gleaming. (They're in for a Follow-Up.)
It was an intriguing match: The BHK…
Have I told you about my objectivist friend—the left-brain audiophile who puts a lot of trust in measurements? He has a high natural intelligence and is an extremely experienced listener, but once he knows a component doesn't measure well, he can never again experience it impartially.
I don't want to embarrass my friend, so in this story I will call him O., for Mr. Objectivity.
One day, O. and I made a little pilgrimage to hear a mutual friend's million-dollar audio system. We listened for hours: LPs, CDs, hi-rez files—you name it. At the end of the session, both of us…
"Can't you hear the Blessed Savior calling you?"
Genuine artists seldom need fashion tips; and some, like mountain-music master Ralph Stanley, are always so damn fashion-forward that none of us will ever catch up. I know, 'cause I've spent my whole life imitating Dr. Stanley's personal style and attitude of gratitude. The cover photos on Ralph Stanley (CD, DMZ/Columbia CK 86625) will show you exactly what I mean.
While I still mourn Stanley's passing—he died in 2016—he remains an inspired minister in my Bed-Stuy church. So many times, his version of Hank Williams's "Calling You…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid-state stereo power amplifier. Inputs: 1 balanced (XLR), 1 unbalanced (RCA). Power output: 300Wpc into 8 ohms (24.8dBW), 550Wpc into 4 ohms (24.4dBW), 800Wpc into 2 ohms (23dBW). Broadband frequency response: 20Hz–80kHz (+0/–0.15dB). Voltage gain: 29dB. Input impedance: 33k ohms balanced, 23.5k ohms unbalanced. Input sensitivity: 1.5V. Damping factor (8 ohms): >500. THD: <0.005% at 100W, 1kHz, 8 ohms. Signal/noise (A-weighted): >117dB ref. FTC rated power, unbalanced input; >91dB ref. 1W, unbalanced.
Dimensions: 17" (430mm) W by…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Analogueworks Zero, Linn LP12, Palmer 2.5, Roksan Series 7 turntables; Audio Origami PU-7, Roksan Nima, SME M2-9 tonearms; AMG Teatro, Dynavector DV-20X2L, EMT TSD 75, Hana EL, Mighty Cala Sound TNT 15 (silver), Zu Denon DL-103 MC cartridges; Ortofon 2M Black, Roksan Coral Silver MM cartridges.
Preamplification: Parasound Halo JC 3+, Tavish Design Adagio phono preamplifiers; Lounge Audio LCR Mk.III phono preamplifier & Copla JFET-MC step-up stage; Auditorium 23 (for EMT), Bob's Devices CineMag 1131, Dynavector P75 + SUP-200 step-up…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured the two-channel version of the Emotiva XPA Gen3 with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"). Before performing any tests, I ran it at 100Wpc into 8 ohms for an hour. (With a class-AB or -B amplifier, one-third full power is when the heat dissipation in the output devices is at its maximum.) At the end of that time, the louvers on the top panel above the two circuit boards were hot, at 134.4°F (56.9°C), though the rest of the exterior case was cooler. This may be an inexpensive amplifier, but it has adequate heatsinking…
The English saying "putting the cat among the pigeons" has an obvious meaning in a general sense, but when applied to commerce it conveys something more specific: bringing to market a product that will make mincemeat of the competition, presumed complacent by comparison.
The phrase winked at me from the margins of an e-mail I received last year from Gary Dayton, Bryston Audio's VP of sales and marketing, whom I know from my visits to the Montreal Audio Fest. Referring to my ongoing series of reviews of ca-$10,000 CD players—the best of which one might consider for the title The Last CD…
That good physicality stayed with the Bryston as I moved on to a few of my favorite piano CDs. Ivo Janssen's recording of J.S. Bach's Prelude in e-flat (BWV 853), from his recording of The Well-Tempered Clavier for the Nederlands Bach Collegium (4 CDs, Void 9805 AB/9808 AB), moves along at a more or less steady, gracefully flowing pace—at the other end of the spectrum is Ralph Kirkpatrick's engagingly idiosyncratic phrasing in his 1959 recorded performance on an Arnold Dolmetsch clavichord (2 LPs, Archiv 198 311/12)—and the Bryston found enough nuances in dynamics and touch that Janssen's…