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; dCS Rossini CD player & Rossini Clock; PS Audio PerfectWave DirectStream D/A converter with Bridge II network adaptor; Meridian UltraDAC; AudioQuest JitterBug, UpTone Audio ReGen USB cleaner-uppers; Mac mini running Pure Music 3, Audirvana, Twonky server; iPad Mini running PlugPlay, Aurender apps; Ayre Acoustics QA-9 USB A/D converter.
Phono…
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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 Bowers & Wilkins 805 D3's frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 for the nearfield and in-room responses. The B&W's voltage sensitivity is specified as 88dB/2.83V/m; my estimate was slightly higher than this, at 88.4dB(B). The nominal impedance is 8 ohms; the solid trace in fig.1 reveals that the magnitude drops below 8 ohms between 100 and 750Hz and above 8kHz, with minima of 4.6 ohms at 180Hz and 22kHz. The electrical phase angle (fig.1, dotted trace)…
Does having commercial leanings make you a traitor to the purity of your art? Can you make money in music and still have integrity? These eternal questions came to mind upon the death of singer Al Jarreau. Often savaged by critics and fans for his success, Jarreau cut his own path and by the time he died, at the age of 76, of respiratory failure on Sunday, February 12, he'd had more than a few last laughs on his detractors. One thing not up for debate is that speaking from experience; the man was sweetheart in person, a mensch, a giver of legendary proportion. His smile was unforgettable.…
This past weekend, John Atkinson and I attended the debut of Vivid Audio's new flagship speaker, the G1 Spirit, at a private home in Itasca, IL (to the west of Chicago.) The event was hosted by concert pianist and audio retailer George Vatchnadze of Kyomi Audio. Prior to the event's start, JA and Vivid speaker designer Laurence Dickie had a stimulating conversation about speaker design, focusing on the G1 Spirit loudspeaker.
As well as the Giya G1 Spirit loudspeakers ($93,000/pair including external crossovers), the entire setup included a TechDAS Airforce 3 turntable ($29,750) with a…
There was a time when throwing "everything but the kitchen sink" into a record was considered a warning sign. Something was amiss. The act was desperately searching for an identity or a sound. They were floundering. But today, as songwriting continues to recede as the basis for most popular music and beats take over as the key ingredient, records are built rather than written. And so adding ideas, often many ideas, to a recording is now a very common occurrence. The best part of this process is that if it works, music like this confounds all attempts to genre-ize it.
On Moon Saloon, Rhode…
For the first time in a decade, Grammy Award-winning audiophile label Reference Recordings (RR) has updated its website. Filled with new features, including new blog posts and an "Audiophile Corner," the website offers physical media and hi-rez downloads of a host of Reference Recordings made by legendary, Grammy-feted recording engineer/digital pioneer Keith O. Johnson, along with Sean Royce Martin, and other recordings on the RR Fresh! label recorded by the SoundMirror team. Booklets for all digital recordings may be downloaded gratis.
RR has come a long way in the downloads department…
In contrast with such line-level source components as DACs and CD players, record players generate a lower-voltage signal that requires extra gain (footnote 1) from either a standalone phono preamplifier or the phono stage of another, more comprehensive component in one's system—typically, a full-function preamplifier or an integrated amp.
But when the phono cartridge of choice is a moving-coil (MC) type, which generates even less voltage than its moving-magnet (MM) and moving-iron (MI) friends, even more gain is required. This presents the user with an additional choice: he or she can…
Arguably more important, the Sky 40 delivered as much impact, drama, and overall involvement as the more expensive Hommage, so much so that I felt compelled to listen to the album all over again, beginning to end. By the end of "Love You To," I caught myself playing air tabla on my desktop (it seems the Sky 40 also allowed the music its fullest sense of drive), and I enjoyed, among other delights, the enhanced realism of the sound of Ringo's drum entrance—a ride-tom beat followed by a floor-tom beat—in "Here, There and Everywhere." (And, yes, as my dog could probably tell you, it was one of…
Long-lived loudspeaker models are rare. So it's surprising that the two-way, stand-mounted Model 5, the smallest speaker made by Massachusetts-based Aerial Acoustics, was revised just once between 2015 and April 1997, when Robert Harley favorably reviewed it and it cost $1800/pair. The revised 5B was equally favorably reviewed by John Marks in July 2009. This kept the original's 1" titanium-dome tweeter and sealed-box woofer loading but replaced the 7" polypropylene-cone woofer with a 7.1" laminated-fiber–cone woofer. Despite more than a decade's worth of inflation, the price rose only…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way, stand-mounted, port-loaded loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (25.4mm) ring-radiator tweeter, 6.7" papyrus-blend–cone woofer. Crossover frequency: 2.7kHz. Frequency response: 48Hz–25kHz, ±2dB. Sensitivity: 87dB/2.83V/m. Nominal impedance: 4 ohms. Minimum impedance: 3 ohms. Recommended amplification: 25–200W.
Dimensions: 15" (380mm) H by 7.9" (200mm) W by 12.6" (323mm) D. Weight: 23 lbs (10.45kg) each, 56 lbs/pair (25.45kg/pair) shipping.
Finishes: High-gloss Rosenut or Ebony, Nero metallic black.
Serial numbers of units reviewed:…