After two-and-a-half years with Wilson Audio's Alexia serving as my reference loudspeaker ($52,000/pair), I was eager to hear the differences between it and its successor, the Alexia Series 2 ($57,900/pair). My first serious listen to the Alexia 2 speakers took place at Definitive Audio Bellevue, before my review samples arrived. That system's dCS Rossini DAC and clock, D'Agostino Progression stereo amp, and Transparent Audio cables and interconnects were sonic familiars, but Definitive's music collection was…
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Jason Victor Serinus wrote about the Alexia 2 in August 2018 (Vol.41 No.8):
Given how much fuller and more natural I find hi-rez audio sounds, I rarely review recordings that are only available in Red Book quality in the US (footnote 1). But when the soprano is Sandrine Piau, whose voice conveyed the essence of springtime when I heard her live at UC Berkeley a little over six years go, and she sings as marvelously as she does on Chimère, her latest song recital with pianist Susan Manoff, I throw such self-imposed strictures out the window.
Piau and Manoff's recital mixes songs in German, French, and English that, in some manner, address either the mythological…
Sssssshhhhhh—I forget what music was playing, but as the sound faded away, I could hear a loud hissing coming from the 2011 i7 Mac mini I was operating headless with Roon 1.3 to play files over my network. Checking the mini's shared screen on my MacBook Pro revealed that it was completely unresponsive, so I yanked its AC cord, after which it wouldn't boot up.
This was the second time the Mac mini had died. The first time, in 2015, the local Apple Genius Bar had repaired it. This time, the hipster at the Genius Bar turned me away: "We don't offer repair work on vintage computers."
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The Nucleus also has an internal bay for a 2.5" drive, either HDD or SSD, but this drive can't be more than 7mm in height. The Nucleus+ is powered by a wall wart—a linear power supply should be available later this year—and is turned on or off with a rear-panel pushbutton. With its minimal system overhead, it boots up incredibly quickly. One of Roon's goals for the Nucleus was that it dissipate heat only passively, without a cooling fan, and even after prolonged use the prominent heatsink fins on the top and sides of its dark gray case barely got warm. I measured the top panel's temperature…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Dedicated music server using an Intel i7 microprocessor with 8GB RAM, 64GB SSD, and internal, 7mm-high, 2.5" HDD/SSD bay (basic Nucleus uses an i3 processor, 4GB RAM, and 64GB SSD). Ports: Gigabit Ethernet, 2 USB 3.0, HDMI, Thunderbolt 3. Power consumption: 10W.
Dimensions: 8.3" (211mm) W by 2.95" (75mm) H by 6.1" (155mm) D. Weight: 5.5 lb (2.5kg).
Finish: Dark Matte Gray.
Serial number of unit reviewed: 1749 I 700005 (Rev.A1) per bottom panel; 94C691125C36 per app.
Price: $2498 (basic Nucleus: $1398). Approximate number of dealers:…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: PS Audio PerfectWave DirectStream D/A converter with Bridge II network adapter; Ayre Acoustics QX-5 Twenty D/A processor; iPad mini running Roon app; Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP disc player; Netgear router; QNAP NAS drive.
Integrated Amplifier: NAD Masters Series M32.
Power Amplifiers: Constellation Centaur II 500, Lamm Industries M1.2 Reference monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: KEF LS50, Wilson Audio Specialties Alexia 2.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest Coffee (USB) & Vodka (Ethernet), generic CAT-5 (Ethernet), DH Labs (1m, AES/EBU).…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
It's difficult to see what measurements would be meaningful with a product like the Roon Nucleus+. However, in his measurements of the Nucleus+ in the May 2018 issue of Hi-Fi News (p.53), Paul Miller reported finding differences in both the absolute levels of jitter and the spectra of the jitter with some USB-connected DACs. I therefore examined the outputs of two of the DACs I had to hand, an original Meridian Explorer and the Ayre Acoustics QX-5 Twenty, while they decoded 16- and 24-bit J-Test data.
I found no differences in the bus-powered Meridian's…
It's after 5pm on Wednesday, and I'm finishing up the listening part of my review of Apple's wireless speaker, the HomePod ($349). On a whim, I've just asked Siri to play me some drinking songs.
I mention this because the HomePod's "smart" features—its integration with Siri and the Apple Music streaming service—is a big part of its appeal. In its natural element, the HomePod provides a way of accessing music that, although as old as our century, to me is still new and unfamiliar: Forget your hoary music collection, your Rolling Stones and Beethoven. Decide what kind of music you want to…
In less than a minute, music was playing. That's when, for the first time, Siri offered me a trial subscription to Apple Music, which spoiled the mood. Still, she had a point. If you're going to get a HomePod, you'll want an Apple Music subscription. It's Siri's home turf, where she lets her hair down.
Alternative sources and voice commands
I wrote that the HomePod was playing music within seconds —but where was it coming from? The music it was playing was stored on my iPhone, but the phone's Music app wasn't playing music, and the music kept playing when I closed the app. I…
I use Tidal mainly because it integrates well with Roon's music-server software. Can Tidal be integrated with the HomePod? It can. Just run the Tidal app on an iPhone or iPad or laptop that's connected to the same wireless network and, via Apple AirPlay, choose the HomePod as the output device. I was able to get both Tidal and Roon to work this way, with one caveat: With services other than Apple Music, Siri can't respond to spoken requests. More important, this experience was at the mercy of my wireless connection, which is not the most robust. My Apple Airport Extreme router is two rooms…