I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the KEF Reference 5's frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 for the nearfield and in-room responses. The Reference 5's specified sensitivity is 90dB/2.83V/m; my estimate was slightly lower, at 89.1dB(B)/2.83V/m. Its impedance is specified as 8 ohms with a minimum magnitude of 3.2 ohms. Fig.1 shows how the impedance and electrical phase vary with frequency. While the impedance lies above 8 ohms in the low treble, it remains between 4 and 5 ohms throughout the…
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It's a debate as old as those fateful moments when Bob Dylan first plugged in and went electric: are you the kind of listener who prefers singer songwriters to perform and record acoustically? Do drums and electrical current automatically add a taint? Must singer songwriters always be alone?
Still not as well known in the States as he should be, Australian Paul Kelly, started his musical life as a solo player with just his voice and a guitar. He later spent time in bands, the best known of which was initially called the Coloured Girls, a name later changed for obvious reasons to the…
How to describe music that is so personal, so deeply reflective and rooted in Buddhist contemplation that only listening to the music itself, without distraction, will suffice? Such is the conundrum that, hopefully, will lead you from this page to Channel Classics' hybrid SACD, Sounds & Clouds: Works by Hosokawa & Vivaldi.
I first learned of the music of Hiroshima-born Toshio Hosokawa (b. 1955) from an overview of his oeuvre in Gramophone. Intrigued, I was delighted to discover that one of the discs recommended in the article—one that is also available as a hi-rez DSD download—had…
Register to win a copy of Murray Head's Nigel Lived 2-Disc 45 RPM Set from Intervention Records (retail value $38) we are giving away.
According to the company:
Murray Head's Nigel Lived is a groundbreaking classic and one of the boldest, most daring and inventive albums of all time. Recorded by the great recording engineer Phill Brown, Nigel Lived is from the golden era of all-analog recording, a sonic and musical masterpiece that every music lover and audiophile simply must have.
Nigel Lived is an ambitious, experimental album full of great songs that required…
The first time I heard a CD player in my own system was in 1983, the first year of the format's introduction in the West. CD players were generally hard to come by, but I had a friend who worked for Sony, and he came over with his new toy: Sony's next-to-top-of-the-line CD player. (I think it was a CDP-501.) We connected it to my system—at the time, Quad ESLs driven by a Luxman tube amplifier, with a Linn turntable—and listened to some Sony demo CDs.
My friend was delighted with the results. "There's no noise! No clicks, no pops, no rumble!" I had to agree—the lack of noise was…
As well as having a Stereo/Two-Channel digital output through its I2S/HDMI connection, the DMP can also accommodate multichannel SACD via two additional I2S/HDMI connections. But before multichannel fans get too excited, they should keep in mind that getting high-resolution multichannel playback requires three DirectStream DACs—two channels per DAC—with no convenient way of adjusting channel balances.
Listening
In comparing the sound of a new audio component with that of a familiar reference, there are three possibilities:
1) The sounds of the two products may be extremely…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Universal transport}: CD, HDCD, SACD, BD-Audio, DVD-Audio, AVCHD, HRx, CD-R/RW, DVD±R/RW, DVD±R DL, BD-R/RE. USB flash-drive playback of AAC, AC3, APE, AIFF, DSF, DTS, FLAC, M4A, MKA, MP3, OGG, PCM, WAV, WMA files. Digital outputs: Stereo XLR, Front (Stereo) Coax, Rear Coax, Center/Sub Coax, Front (Stereo) I2S, Rear I2S, Center/Sub I2S. Ethernet network connection. USB flash-drive data input. Full-color LCD touchscreen.
Dimensions: 17" (430mm) W by 4" (100mm) H by 14" (360mm) D. Weight: 22 lbs (13.5kg).
Finishes: Silver, Black.
Serial…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Source: Acoustic Signature WOW XXL & TA-1000 turntable & tonearm, SoundSmith MIMC cartridge.
Digital Source: PS Audio PerfectWave transport & PerfectWave DirectStream DAC.
Preamplifier: Convergent Audio Technology SL-1 Renaissance Black Path Edition.
Power Amplifiers: McIntosh Laboratories MC275LE, 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…
I have always been fascinated by audio power amplifiers. I even tried building about a hundred of them. My best friend in high school, Bill Brier, taught me the basics of soldering, wire management, and reading schematics. He loaned me his Dynaco Stereo 70, and gave me a hot-running, 20W, class-A transistor amp that he'd built on his mother's kitchen table. Bill took me to concerts, and taught me about classical and jazz music. He had perfect pitch, tuned pianos for money, played every instrument in the orchestra, and had memorized the complete keyboard works of J.S. Bach before he turned 16…
"Truth of timbre is the mother's milk of perfectionist audio," Bill Brier used to say. It's a simple fact: the more any hi-fi system makes instruments and voices sound like themselves, the more diverse recordings it will enjoyably reproduce. By that important measure, the Zu speakers are marvels of sonic lactation. The Woo WA5 delivered a full spectrum of saturated natural tones with the Soul Supremes. The ZOTL40 did not.
Driving DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/93s
My first impressions of the ZOTL40 Mk.II driving DeVore's two-way Orangutan O/93 speakers ($8400/pair) was of tight…