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In my May 2009 Follow-Up review of DeVore Fidelity's Gibbon Nine loudspeaker (footnote 1), I said it was quite wonderful. I bought a pair. Though I heard a slight "woody" coloration, I didn't consider that a flaw. In my subsequent conversations with the speaker's designer, John DeVore, he disagreed with my characterization, arguing that what I was hearing was authentic, natural sound—the sound captured on the recordings of acoustic music that I was listening to.

What DeVore said was plausible; maybe other…

During the listening for my review of Dynaudio's Contour 20 loudspeaker in the April 2017 issue, it became embarrassingly obvious to me that I needed a reasonably priced high-power amplifier that could look down the barrel of a 4-ohm loudspeaker impedance and not flinch or buckle. I needed said amp to be light and small enough that I could lift it and move it about with ease—something, perhaps, based on Bruno Putzeys's well-regarded NCore class-D module, and with a well-regarded audio pedigree. I needed an…

All of the above is built into a steel enclosure somewhat bigger than the Masseto's—approximately 715 vs 560 cubic inches—but that breaks…

From various sites whose names begin with O or M, and which can lead to S or M with a stranger who may or may not be who or what she claims to be, I've had private zones tickled silly, and as often have found the process to be confusing, depressing, or both. I've been happily hijacked by a flexible Broadway singer, met a she who was really a he, and even found…

When a new product enters my reference rig, I listen for tone, dynamics, texture—and, to lesser degrees, resolution, soundstaging, and leading-edge definition. For me, replicating music is ultimately about color…

Description: Two-channel, tubed integrated amplifier. Tube complement: four Tung-Sol KT150, two 12AU7, one 6072/12AT7. Line-level inputs: 6 (1 XLR, 5 RCA) plus 1 home-theater bypass (RCA). Line-level outputs: 2 (RCA). Output power: 120Wpc into 4 ohms (17.8dBW), 80Wpc into 8 ohms (19dBW). Input sensitivity: 300mV (RCA, XLR). Input impedance: 40k ohms (RCA), 25k ohms (XLR). Channel balance: 0.5dB to –70dB on volume control. Crosstalk: left/right, 60dB; input–input, –105dB. Gain at pre out: +12dB. Frequency response: 10Hz–80kHz. THD: 0.1% at 10W into 4 ohms. Signal…

Analog Sources: Kuzma Stabi S turntable & Stogi S tonearm; Music Hall MMF-7.3 turntable; Denon DL-103, Goldring Elite MC, Ortofon 2M Bronze cartridges.
Digital Sources: Apple MacBook computer running Audirvana Plus; Halide DAC HD, PS Audio NuWave DACs; LG BD player; Western Digital T2 Mirror Drives (2).
Preamplification: Auditorium 23 A23 moving-coil step-up transformer, Heed Audio Quasar phono stage, Shindo Laboratory Allegro preamplifier.
Power Amplifier: Shindo Laboratory Haut-Brion.
Integrated Amplifier: Heed Audio Elixir.
…

I measured the Octave Audio V 80 SE using my top-of-the-line Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It" and www.ap.com). Measurements were taken with the Octave's rear-panel switch set to High Power, as recommended for the KT150 output-stage tubes. (I didn't use the Super Black Box power-supply capacitance booster.) After warming up the amplifier for an hour, I checked the bias for each of the four output tubes, using the central LED array and the right-hand rotary switch on the front panel. All tubes were correctly biased for KT150s, with…

While everyone, or most jazz fans at least, have their favorite guitarist, their preferred stylist as it were, Abercrombie has always stood out in my mind as much for what he didn't play as for what he did. Uncommonly generous as a leader, he was a master of understatement and had impeccable taste in his playing, composing and choice of cover…