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I measured the Sutherland Duo phono preamplifier using my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see www.ap.com, and the January 2008 "As We See It"). As always with phono stages, I experimented with the grounding between the Sutherland and the Audio Precision system to get the lowest level of noise, though the Duo's twin enclosures made this more complicated than usual. I ended up floating the Audio Precision's outputs from ground and connecting both Duos' grounding posts to the analyzer ground.

The Duo preserved absolute polarity, and the output impedance was a…

Description: Network-connected D/A processor with volume control. Digital inputs: 2 AES/EBU (XLR), 3 75-ohm coaxial (BNC), 3 TosLink, 2 USB (Type B), 1 Ethernet. Analog outputs: 1 pair balanced (XLR), 1 pair unbalanced (RCA), 3 headphone (¼" and 3.5mm, unbalanced; 2x3.5mm, balanced). AyreLink communication system. Digital formats supported: 16/20/24 bits/44.1–384kHz PCM; DSD64/128 (DoP). Frequency response and THD+N: not specified. Maximum output level: 4.5V RMS (balanced), 2.25V (unbalanced), line outputs; 9V (balanced), 4.5V (unbalanced), headphone outputs.…

Digital Sources: Aurender N10 music server; Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP universal player; Chord DAVE DAC; PS Audio PerfectWave DirectStream D/A converter with Bridge II network adapter; Ayre Acoustics QB-9DSD USB DAC; AudioQuest JitterBug, UpTone Audio ReGen USB cleaner-uppers; Mac mini running Pure Music 3, Audirvana, Tidal HiFi, Vinyl Studio, Roon 1.3 apps; Ayre Acoustics QA-9 USB ADC; NetGear router.
Preamplifier: Ayre Acoustics KX-5 Twenty.
Power Amplifiers: MBL Corona C15 monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Bowers & Wilkins 805 D3, Dynaudio Contour…

I measured the Ayre Acoustics QX-5 Twenty with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"), using both the Audio Precision's optical and electrical digital outputs, USB data sourced from my MacBook Pro running on battery power with Pure Music 3.0 playing WAV and AIFF test-tone files, and via Ethernet with Roon 1.3 playing the same files. Apple's USB Prober utility identified the Ayre as "Ayre USB Interface" from "Ayre Acoustics," and the serial number as "Streamlength(tm)." The QX-5's USB port operated in the optimal isochronous…

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…