Description: Closed-back, circumaural headphones with planar-magnetic drive-units featuring V-Planar and TrueFlow technologies. Frequency response: "We don't publish a spec because too many vendors shamelessly exaggerate the response of their headphones to inflate their numbers, making any comparison of specs irrelevant." Impedance: 13 ohms. Sensitivity: 93dB/1mW. Supplied accessories: carrying case, foam-pad filters, detachable fabric-covered headphone cable with "Hirose-style" connectors at headphone end and ¼" and 3.5mm dual-tip plug at other end.
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Sidebar 1: Specifications
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: Mac mini running Roon 1.3 & 1.4; Ayre Acoustics QX-5 Twenty D/A processor–headphone amplifier; PonoPlayer.
Headphone Amplifier: Naim Audio Uniti Nova.
Headphones: Audeze LCD-X, Thinksound On2.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest Vodka (Ethernet). Headphone: manufacturers' own. AC: manufacturers' own, AudioQuest NRG (Niagara 1000).
Accessories: AudioQuest Niagara 1000 Low-Z Power/Noise-Dissipation System, Quik-Lok stand.—John Atkinson
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I didn't measure the MrSpeakers Æons' frequency response, as I lack the necessary simulated head and torso, and estimating the optimal response of headphones is far from simple. (Tyll's review includes a full set of acoustic measurements.) However, I used my Audio Precision System One to measure the Æons' impedance and electrical phase with the headphones mounted on my head. The impedance was a constant 13.4 ohms across the audioband, and the phase angle was 0° up to 10kHz, suggesting that each drive-unit behaves as a pure resistor up to that frequency; the…
The hoary question of tubes vs transistors, once certain and clear, is made ambiguous by recent products from a few solid-state specialists, not the least being Ayre Acoustics—the company that endures in the wake of the passing of its founder, the widely admired Charley Hansen. In their solid-state preamplifiers and amplifiers of the past decade in particular, Ayre has enshrined a number of technologies that are more than just variations on the audio-engineering status quo, and that appear to pay real sonic dividends.
Consider Ayre's Variable-Gain Transconductance (VGT) circuit,…
Even when I began playing music, the KX-5 Twenty's user interface hindered rather than helped: With a CD playing in my Sony disc player, and with the appropriate input selected and the preamp's volume turned up to "20" (of a range of "0" to "46"), the signal still wasn't making its way through my amplifier and speakers. I'd assumed the Ayre wasn't muted because, according to the manual, when Mute is activated, whether via the remote or the front panel, this "temporarily [turns] the volume of the KX-5 to 'zero'"—and the front-panel display still read "20." It turns out that when Mute is…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid-state line-level preamplifier. Inputs: 4 balanced (XLR), 2 single-ended (RCA). Outputs: 2 balanced (XLR), 1 single-ended (RCA), 1 tape out (XLR, line-level). Frequency range: DC–250kHz. Maximum input level: 8V RMS (single-ended inputs), 16V RMS (balanced inputs). Input impedance: 1M ohm (single-ended inputs), 2M ohm (balanced inputs).
Dimensions: 17.25" (440mm) W by 13.25" (340mm) H by 3.75" (100mm) D. Weight: 23 lbs (10.5kg).
Finishes: Silver, Black.
Serial number of unit reviewed: 24B0113C.
Price: $9950. Approximate number of…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Thorens TD 124, Garrard 301 turntables; content/listening-182-audio-creative-groovemaster-ii-tonearm">Audio-Creative GrooveMaster II, EMT 997 tonearms; EMT TSD 15, Ortofon SPU #1S pickup heads.
Digital Sources: AudioQuest DragonFly Red, Halide Design DAC HD USB DACs; Apple iMac computer (late 2015) running OS 10.12.1 & Roon v.1.2, Build 165; Sony SCD-777ES SACD/CD player.
Preamplification: Auditorium 23 Hommage T1 & T2 step-up transformers; EMIA Phono transformer (copper); Sentec EQ11 phono preamplifier; Shindo Laboratory…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured the Ayre Acoustics KX-5 Twenty's electrical performance with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"). The volume control operated in 1.5dB steps, the maximum gain obtained when it was set to "46." The maximum gain for both balanced and unbalanced inputs to balanced outputs was just 0.2dB. This is lower than the norm, but it's something I welcome because preamplifiers in general are used to attenuate, not amplify, the levels of source signals. The maximum gain from unbalanced input to unbalanced input was –5.8dB; ie, an…
It seems to me that my review of Monitor Audio's Silver 8 loudspeaker was published only a few months ago. Actually, it's been three years. The Silver 8 so impressed me that I bought three of them, along with two Silver 2 bookshelf speakers, for my multichannel system in Connecticut—and still greet them as the newcomers to my system. So installing and reviewing their successors, the 300, from the sixth generation of Monitor's Silver line, seemed very familiar.
Description
The Silver 8 and Silver 300 are quite similar three-way speakers. Their external dimensions differ by only…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way, bass-reflex tower loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (25mm) C-CAM gold-dome tweeter, 4" RST midrange driver, two 6" RST woofers. Crossover frequencies: 570Hz, 3.5kHz. Frequency response: 32Hz–35kHz, –6dB. Impedance: 8 ohms nominal, 3.5 ohms minimum at 146Hz. Sensitivity: 90dB/W/m. Maximum SPL/pair: 116.0dBA. Power handling: 200W. Recommended amplification: 80–200W RMS.
Dimensions: (including outrigger plates, feet, spikes) 40.7" (1034mm) H by 9.9" (252mm) W by 14.5" (367mm) D. Weight: 44.1 lbs (20kg).
Finishes: Black Oak, Rosenut,…