Description: Portable music player. Apps include: WiFi (802.11 b/g/n, 2.4GHz), Bluetooth v.4.1 (A2DP, AVRCP, aptX HD), Tidal, Groovers+, Parametric EQ, 256GB internal memory, microSD card slot (256GB), 5" touchscreen (1280x720). Compatible file formats: AAC, AIFF, ALAC, APE, DFF, DSF, FLAC, MP3, OOG, WAV, WMA. Compatible sample rates: up to 384kHz, DSD256. Compatible bit depths: 8–32. Outputs: headphone/optical (3.5mm jack), balanced (2.5mm, only 4-pole supported). Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz, ±0.062dB, unbalanced. Maximum output: 2.2V RMS/balanced 3.9V RMS.…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: Simaudio Moon Evolution 780D streaming DAC, Wolf Audio Systems The Cub server.
Amplification: Marantz AV8801 preamplifier-processor & SR6011 A/V receiver.
Headphones: AKG AK701, Audeze LCDi4, Jerry Harvey Audio Layla, Westone E50.
Loudspeakers: Pioneer SP-FS52, REL T-7 subwoofer.—Michael Fremer
Sidebar 3: Measurements
After copying the necessary test tones to its internal memory, I measured the Astell&Kern A&ultima SP1000 with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"). I couldn't obtain a 2.5mm balanced connector, so all measurements were taken from the single-ended 3.5mm headphone jack, with the volume control set to its maximum of "150" unless otherwise noted. (The volume control appears to operate in 0.5dB steps.) The SP1000 was running the 1.01CM firmware when I performed the measurements. (As I was packing up the unit to ship to our…
It's day five of our planned month-long stay à Paris, late April through most of May. My wife is here for work—for me, it's strictly for pleasure—and we're enjoying Paris's rich, sensual goodness: food, museums, architecture, coffee, people, food. And yet, earlier today, when we were out for a walk—we've been walking close to 10 miles each day, exploring the city—I realized that my life here has been missing something important.
As we approached one of Paris's many bridges over the Seine, I heard music. The source, I soon learned, was an organ grinder—tall, bearded, upended Greek…
As we motored across Paris, Gold Phantoms on our laps, Leblais told me that many customers buy just one Gold Phantom at first and use it solo—mono—until they save up enough to acquire another. A lone Gold Phantom can be thought of as a heavy, high-end Bluetooth speaker (though it's not limited to Bluetooth); as a standalone mono sound system; as a modernist sculpture that makes music.
Once that hypothetical customer acquired a second Phantom, a pair of Trees, and a Dialog, she or he will own a serious stereo hi-fi system—that, anyway, is Devialet's claim. Just add a source—a laptop or…
If you do a Google search for "loudspeaker" combined with "full-range," "line source," "one-way," and "modular," you'll get results that match some, but not all, of the characteristics of the Ruel Audio R7. The Audience ClearAudient 16+16 comes the closest, with 16 drivers firing forward and 16 to the back, but its small full-range drivers are supplemented with eight 6x9" passive radiators, and it does not have modular construction. Plus, it appears not to be in production. For that matter, Google misses Ruel, but it has been granted a provisional patent.
It's a very interesting,…
How many times can one write "beautiful" before the word loses all meaning? And yet, what else can I say when Brahms' sole violin concerto, as well as his first Violin Sonata, are so profoundly touching, and played so exquisitely by violinist Vadim Gluzman, the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra under James Gaffigan, and pianist Angela Yoffe?
Although Vadim Gluzman has yet to receive the same attention as some of his contemporaries, in no small part due to his embrace of a long-term contract with the BIS hi-rez record label rather than Universal Classics, Sony, or Warner, his schedule for the…
Totem Acoustic has always impressed me with their ability to get big sound from small boxes, but never more so than when I listened to the Tribe Tower ($US5300/pair) at this year's TAVES. Designer Vince Bruzzese has surpassed even his own high standards here. My first impression, before I heard the speakers, was that this is a "lifestyle" product: stylish in a modern way, with a small footprint that allows it to blend into most home environments. Almost by definition, sound quality is not top priority with lifestyle products
And then Vince played some music. I don't remember what it was…
Dear Reader,
Not long ago, I lost patience with coffee.
Before that, I'd never quite made it to coffee-nerd status, but I had all four wheels on the onramp. A few years ago I got rid of my cheap coffeemaker and switched to a French press, because it was more hands-on. I started buying whole beans instead of ground coffee, and grinding them in the store's grinder, on its coarsest setting. When that wouldn't do, I bought an inexpensive electric coffee grinder. When that wouldn't do, I bought a manual grinder. There was only one brand of bean I liked, and I had to drive 45 minutes…
Highlights of the considerably more expensive Goofus system were some of the hottest and newest products of the day, including a SOTA Star Sapphire turntable with Sumiko Premier MMT tonearm and Talisman Sapphire cartridge, a Spectral DMC-5 preamp, a BEL 1001 power amp, and a pair of Thiel speakers whose model designation I can't recall. Any or all of those might have been great when used with other products—I foolishly assumed that they'd all work well together—but after months of straining to convince myself that the system as a whole was great, I realized that Goofus was a screechy mess…