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).…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
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…
The Heed Quasar did a terrific job of resolving the music on these Blue Notes, the preamplifier's powerful presentation bringing focus and force to the recordings of Milt Jackson, Grachan Moncur, Kenny Dorham, and Tina Brooks. While the road to satisfaction was fraught with the twists and turns of various interconnects, much plugging and unplugging of equipment, and the not-infrequent curse or temper tantrum, the Quasar always kept its classy, consistent character.
Listening
The Heed manual advises settings of 100µV sensitivity and 100 ohms impedance for the Denon DL-103. After I'd…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid-state moving-coil/moving-magnet phono preamplifier with standalone power supply. RIAA accuracy: 20Hz–20kHz, ±0.5dB. Frequency response: 3Hz–150kHz, ±3dB. Voltage gain: 50dB (MM), 62–78dB (MC). Moving-coil sensitivity: 100, 220, 600µV. Input impedance: 47k ohms (MM); 100/470/1000 ohms (MC). Output voltage: High Out, 775mV (0dBm)/22 ohms; Low Out, 220mV/100 ohms. Maximum output voltage: 7V (p–p). Output impedance: 50 ohms (High Out), 600 ohms (Low Out). Signal/noise (A-weighted): 80dB (MM), 66dB (MC). Channel separation: >90dB. Distortion (…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Kuzma Stabi S turntable & Stogi tonearm; Music Hall MMF-7.3 turntable; Denon DL-103 (MC), Goldring Elite (MC), Ortofon 2M Bronze (MM) cartridges.
Digital Sources: Apple MacBook computer running Audirvana Plus; Halide DAC HD, PS Audio NuWave, Mytek HiFi Manhattan DACs; Western Digital T2 Mirror Drives (2), LG BD550 BD player (as transport).
Preamplification: Auditorium 23 A23 moving-coil step-up transformer, Shindo Laboratory Allegro preamplifier.
Power Amplifier: Shindo Laboratory Haut-Brion.
Integrated Amplifiers: Heed…
Sidebar 2: Measurements
I measured the Heed Audio Quasar phono preamplifier using my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"). As always with phono stages, I experimented with the grounding between the preamp and the Audio Precision system to get the lowest level of noise. I ended up floating the Audio Precision's outputs from ground and connecting the Quasar's grounding post to the analyzer ground.
The Quasar preserved absolute polarity with both moving-coil and moving-magnet settings and inputs, and from both its High and Low outputs. There are…
Captured in the corridor: Music Hall's Roy Hall (left) tells Herb Reichert about a system tweak that always results in better sound.
Here’s our second (of three) video show reports from the New York Audio Show that took place earlier this month at Manhattan’s Park Lane Hotel.
After monitoring the feedback on our first video report, I realized that I should have been clearer about the footage in the room. For those of you who were concerned about the placement of the microphones from the different types of footage of Herb listening, please understand that it’s difficult for us to…
Years ago, when I was young and foolish (instead of old and foolish, as now), I was hanging out with a friend at a strip-mall strip club in a small southeastern city. A youngish lady approached our table in G-string and pasties and did a tableside dance. My friend's jaw scraped the floor; I, noting her lack of enthusiasm, was unmoved. The stripper noted my impassivity and stated, with irony that at the time I somehow missed, "You're a hard man."
John Atkinson, too, is a hard man, at least when it comes to audio gear. When, in January 2014, he reviewed the Pass Laboratories XA60.5…
I frequently attend concerts, from lieder, chamber music, and small-ensemble jazz to operas and big symphonies. I know what live music sounds like. Since moving to New York, I've had some great experiences, from the Jazz Standard club through the 92nd Street Y to the Metropolitan Opera and Carnegie Hall. I also regularly attend, at a neighbor's place, house concerts by professional musicians who are preparing for a competition, tour, or recording date. Usually I sit in a folding chair near the right elbow of a string player, or a few feet behind the Steinway's lower keys. Always a great…