Everything you know is wrong.—The Firesign Theatre
The Swissonor TA10, a contemporary tonearm designed for the Thorens TD 124 turntable (1959–1970), challenged me to set aside some of the things I thought I knew about phonography. On at least one of those counts, it succeeded.
Handmade in Switzerland and modeled on the Thorens TP 14 tonearm of the 1960s, the TA10 ($3990) improves on its predecessor with an effective length of 240mm, which Swissonor says is the longest that can be achieved with a stock TD 124 armboard (the TP 14's effective length was only 210mm), and replaces…
Once again, the reviewing assembly line shut down (and I rushed into production a different November-issue "Listening" column, about coffee). I contacted the head of Swissonor, Urs Frei, who agreed that something was amiss. His wife, Anne-Marie, mailed out a different sample the next day.
When this second sample arrived, I noted that its container—which arrived in perfect shape—was marked TA10 2.09. Only then did I take a closer look at the first box, which I now saw was marked TA10 2.06. The two arms looked outwardly identical.
But they weren't. The vertical bearings were…
Headphone listening has always been an important part of my audiophile life. In recent years I've been using at home Audeze's large, open-back, circumaural LCD-X headphones, which I bought after reviewing them for the March 2014 issue; and a pair of small Ultimate Ears 18 Pro in-ear monitors, which provide much better isolation on my subway commute to Stereophile's offices in Manhattan. I was intrigued by Audeze's iSine in-ear models, which were introduced in November 2016 and are unique in using planar-magnetic drive-units mounted outside the ear. I thought about reviewing a pair of the…
Manufacturers' Comment
Editor: There are several problems with Art Dudley's review of the TA10.
First Problem: Mounting on a Thorens TD 124 turntable. The original plinth was designed for 8" tonearms, later for 9" tonearms. Solution: There's no problem with Swissonor's #29.0 plinth, which is designed for tonearms up to 10" or longer than 11".
Second Problem: Bearing function. As with every item, this TA10 was tested on a TD 124, and several parameters, such as bearing preload, were fine-adjusted by ear, using an Ortofon SPU Classic cartridge. The complete job, from A to…
The 1/3-octave warble tones on Editor's Choice (ALAC files ripped from CD, Stereophile STPH016-2) were audible at full level down to 32Hz, and the 25 and 20Hz tones were just audible if I raised the volume. With the half-step toneburst track on Editor's Choice the Audezes spoke cleanly and evenly in the bass, though there was a slight reduction in energy in the 2–4kHz octave. Driving the LCDi4s with Faber Acoustical's SignalSuite app on my iPhone, I heard no distortion in the low bass. This is a difficult test to pass for conventional in-ear headphones that use armatures, though the Ultimate…
Sidebar: Contacts
Swissonor, Chemin de Roday 52, CH-1256 Troinex, Switzerland. Tel: (41) 22-784-63-69. Web: www.swissonor.ch
US distributor: Fidelis Music Systems, 460 Amherst Street (Route 101A), Nashua, NH 03063. Tel: (603) 880-4434. Fax: (603) 880-4433. Web: www.fidelisav.com
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: In-ear, universal-fit headphones with semi-open, 30mm-diameter, planar-magnetic transducers. Frequency range: 5Hz–50kHz. Impedance: 35 ohms, ±10%. Sensitivity: 105dB/1mW. THD: <0.2%, full spectrum at 100dB. Maximum power handling: 3W. Maximum SPL: >120dB. Supplied accessories: 1.2m OCC silver-plated braided cable fitted with 3.5mm stereo plug and 2-pin earpiece connectors, single-ended 3.5mm-to-¼" TRS adapter, soft rubber eartips in various sizes, ear clips in various sizes, travel case.
Dimensions: Cable: 47" (1.2m) L. Weight: 12gm per…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: NAD M50.2 music server; Ayre Acoustics QX-5 Twenty D/A processor/headphone amplifier; 160GB iPod Classic, PonoPlayer, Astell&Kern A&ultima SP1000 personal players; iPhone 6s; Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP disc player.
Headphone amplifier: Pass Laboratories HPA-1.
Headphones: Audeze LCD-X, Ultimate Ears 18 Pro.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest Coffee (USB), Canare (AES/EBU), Esperanto Audio (S/PDIF). Headphone: Cardas Clear, Surf Cable, manufacturers' own. AC: Audio Power Industries (components), AudioQuest NRG-2 (Niagara 1000).…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I didn't measure the Audezes' frequency response, as I don't have the necessary simulated head and torso, and estimating the optimal response of headphones is far from simple (footnote 1). However, I used my Audio Precision System One to measure the Audeze LCDi4s' impedance and electrical phase. The solid trace in fig.1 shows the impedance magnitude with the headphones inserted in my ears. The impedance is a constant 26.7 ohms across the audioband, and the phase angle is 0° up to 10kHz, suggesting that the planar-magnetic drive-unit behaves as a pure resistor up…
As a kid growing up in Milford, Michigan, my big brother always had the classiest clothes, latest records, and sharpest gear. He danced in Cuban-heeled leather boots, I climbed trees in lace-up Keds. He spun Rolling Stones vinyl on a fabric-wrapped Zenith portable with detachable speakers, I blasted the Beatles from a tinny transistor radio. Ten years my senior, big bro drove a Buick bomb (which, late one night, mysteriously caught fire in the garage) and had a girlfriend, Gail, whose plump cheeks and smart clothes embodied modern mid-century Midwestern appeal. I like to think that my brother…
