"When it comes to video, most audiophiles are insufferable snobs."—J. Gordon Holt, 1984
Those who have followed the arguments between audiophiles and home-theater enthusiasts in the pages of Stereophile—I lifted the Murrow quote from a 1996 battle between Steve Guttenberg (representing the former community) and Joel Silver (representing the latter)—will have no doubt over which side of the argument I am on. As I wrote in our March 1993 issue, recorded music is a "hot" medium in Marshall…
This compact cleaner can be thought of as a very high-tech, automatic version of the Spin Clean Record Washer ($79.95), which I reviewed in my February 2010 column. Like the hand-cranked Spin Clean, the Audio Desk Systeme Vinyl Cleaner ($3995)…
In his June 2012 "Analog Corner," Michael Fremer hailed the German-made Audio Desk Systeme Vinyl Cleaner as "the best record-cleaning machine in the world" (also see www.analogplanet.com/content/worlds-best-record-cleaning-machine). Then came the punch line: it cost $3995. That seemed just silly.
In April 2013, the machine was on display at the New York Hi-Fi Show, and I asked its importer, Robert Stein of Ultra Systems, Inc., what the big deal was. I'd just bought a two-LP 45rpm album, Rickie Lee Jones's…
Description: ultrasonic LP cleaning machine.
Price: $3995.
Manufacturer: Audiodesksysteme Gläss, Seestrasse 1, D 89551 Kînigsbronn, Germany. Tel./Fax: (49) 07328-7138. Web: www.audiodesksysteme.de. US distributor: Ultra Systems, 127 Union Square, New Hope, PA 18938. Tel: (800) 724-3305, (215) 862-6570. Fax: (215) 862-4871. Web: www.ultrasystem.com
VPI Classic turntable/arm, Lyra Delos cartridge, Nagra BPS battery-powered phono preamp, Simaudio Moon 700i integrated amp, Krell Cipher CD/SACD player, Revel Ultima Studio2 speakers, Nirvana cables, Bybee Technologies Signature Model Power Purifier (except for the amp), Black Diamond Mk. 4 Racing Cones.—Fred Kaplan
I’ve been so happily preoccupied with my review of NAD’s new D 3020 integrated amplifier that I’ve again fallen behind on my “Payday Albums” posts. My review of the D 3020 will appear in our November issue. I used many of the albums listed below as demo material for that review.
It’s been a seriously great time.
Payday Albums: 7/26/13
Mayer Hawthorne: Where Does this Door Go (CD, Republic Records)
We had been planning a feature on Mayer Hawthorne, to be published in…
Coleman, 56, is a fascinating figure in modern jazz. Born and raised in Chicago, he moved to Brooklyn in the late '70s, apprenticed in several top big bands (ranging from Thad Jones' to Sam Rivers'), and linked up with a group of other young Brooklyn musicians—including Greg Osby, Graham Haynes, Geri Allen and Cassandra Wilson—who formed a movement of sorts that they called M-Base, short for "micro-basic array of structured extemporization," which explored new and conceptually…
The Aqvox's designer was a hired gun: Carlos Candeias. Now he's back, this time with the Phono MCCI balanced phono preamplifier ($3890), another current-input design,…
The ideal phono cable to be used with the Phono MCCI is a twisted-pair cable with shielding connected to XLR pin 1. An unshielded cable can be used, but it must be a noise-…
Description: Solid-state, current-mode moving-coil phono preamplifier. Frequency response: RIAA ±0.25dB. Subsonic filter: –6dB at 10Hz. Input impedance: <3 ohms. Gain: see text. Output impedance: 100 ohms. Maximum output voltage: 8.4V (1% THD). THD at 1kHz, 4V: 0.025%. THD at 1kHz, 2V: 0.007%. S/N Ratio: >80dBA (no reference level quoted). Power consumption: 18–20W.
Dimensions: . 17.1" (435mm) x 3.6" (91mm) H x 13.8" (350mm) D. Weight: (8kg).
Price: $3890.
Serial number of review samples: Not noted (auditioning); PH101 1014101 (measurements).…