Digital Sources: Apple 2.7GHz i7 Mac mini running OS 10.10.3, iTunes 12, Pure Music 3.0; iPad mini running Bluesound app; Ayre Acoustics QX-5 Twenty, PS Audio PerfectWave DirectStream D/A processors; Ayre C-5xeMP disc player.
Power Amplifiers: MBL Corona C15, Pass Laboratories XA60.8 monoblocks.
Integrated Amplifier: NAD M32.
Loudspeakers: GoldenEar Technologies Triton Reference, KEF Reference 5.
Headphones: Audeze LCDi4 & LCD-X.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest Coffee (USB) & Vodka (Ethernet), Esperanto Audio (S/PDIF), Kimber Kable…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The NAD M50.2's analog inputs have an impedance of close to 20k ohms, and the analog input signals appear to be converted to 24-bit digital with a sample rate of 48kHz. Playing a 1kHz, –20dBFS tone from Editor's Choice (CD, Stereophile STPH016-2) on my Ayre C-5xeMP player, which has a maximum single-ended output level of 2.1V, resulted in digital data with a maximum level of –21.35dBFS. The gain of the M50.2's analog inputs will work well with sources that don't peak above 2V RMS. The resultant digital-domain spectrum (fig.1) had a clean noise floor, with the…
Tonight, Thursday November 29, at 7pm, Iconic.systems (1707 Waugh Drive, Houston, TX 77006) presents the launch of the series II Alexia loudspeaker from Wilson Audio. Meet Peter McGrath from Wilson Audio for an evening of fine music and demonstrations. MSB Technologies will showcase the latest in DAC technology and amplifiers, while representatives from Transparent Cable will be presenting new cable and power products. Drinks and light bites will be provided. Please RSVP by email here or by calling (713) 933-0606.
This review began when I ran into Gary Yacoubian, president of SVS, in a crowded hallway at Las Vegas's Venetian Hotel, during the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show. He smiled and introduced himself. "Larry, I enjoyed your review of our SB13-Ultra. If you liked that subwoofer, we have something coming soon that should really interest you. I can't say anything more now."
He'd gotten my attention. But it wasn't until the next year's CES that I learned about SVS's newest and largest subwoofer, the SB16-Ultra, which deploys a 16" driver and a radically different magnet structure, voice-coil…
SVS's Merlin—a portion of the company's website that offers loudspeaker-specific recommendations on SVS subwoofers and settings—recommends low-pass filter settings of 60Hz (high-pass) and 40Hz, 12dB/octave (low-pass). Because the CR-1 couldn't use different slopes for high- and low-pass filters, I set its high-pass filter at 60Hz, 24dB/octave for the Quad ESL-989s, and the SB16-Ultra's internal low pass filter to 40Hz, 12dB/octave. I then used the SVS app's parametric equalizer to reduce peak room modes at 43 and 160Hz, and played the same recordings as before. The integration of the sub's…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Front-firing, sealed, powered subwoofer. Drive-unit: 16" cone with 8" edge-wound voice-coil and four toroidal ferrite magnets. Inputs: balanced (XLR) and unbalanced (RCA) for two channels (right-channel input designated for LFE input), 3–12V trigger. Outputs: balanced (XLR) for each channel to additional subwoofer. Rear-panel connections: Power switch, IEC connector for detachable power cord. Low-pass filter: 30–200Hz (continuously variable); 6, 12, 18, or 24dB/octave slopes. Parametric equalizer: 3 bands. Boost: –12dB to –6dB (0.1dB steps). Q…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Linn Sondek LP12 turntable & Lingo power supply & Ittok tonearm; Spectral cartridge; Day-Sequerra 25th Anniversary FM Reference tuner.
Digital Sources: Bryston BCD-1 CD player & BDA-3 DAC & BDP-2 media player with IAD soundboard; Oppo Digital BPD-103 universal BD player; Lenovo P50 computer running Windows 10 Pro (64-bit), Bryston USB driver, JRiver Media Center 22.
Preamplifiers: Bryston BP-26 & No.526.
Power Amplifiers: Mark Levinson No.536 monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Quad ESL-989; JL Audio Fathom f212v2,…
John Atkinson asked me to review the dCS Network Bridge ($4250), which was designed to be paired not just with the dCS Vivaldi DAC ($35,999) running the current v.2.02 software, but with any DAC. This meant I was forced to endure several months with the state-of-the-art Vivaldi as a replacement for my reference dCS Rossini ($23,999). Oh, how I suffered.
Michael Fremer, in his January 2014 review of dCS's four-piece Vivaldi system ($114,996), of which the Vivaldi DAC is part, called it "the best non–digital-sounding digital system I've heard." John Atkinson, in his measurements for that…
After everything settled in, I used the Bridge app to play the first movement of Lou Harrison's Concerto for Violin with Percussion Orchestra, with soloist Tim Fain and Angel Gil-Ordóñez conducting the Post-Classical Ensemble (24/48 WAV, Naxos 8.559825/HDtracks). The Bridge-Vivaldi combo painted the solo violin and percussion with far more believable body and substance than I'd heard before, at home or at audio shows. Textures of drums, gongs, and chimes were far more realistic and transparent, with copious air around percussion. I was astounded by the percussion's lifelike visceral impact…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I took these measurements while setting up the SVS SB16-Ultra, to optimize its match with my Quad speakers by adjusting the sub's position. Although I used the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) module of Studio Six Digital's AudioTools, my measurements should not be compared with the in-room responses taken by John Atkinson that accompany all loudspeaker reviews published in Stereophile. Mine were taken in a room very different from his, and JA uses a better microphone, and bases his averaged results on more data points.
I took my measurements with Studio Six…