Analog Source: VPI Classic turntable & tonearm, Lyra Delos cartridge.
Digital Source: Krell Cipher SACD/CD player.
Phono Preamplifier: Nagra BPS (battery-powered).
Integrated Amplifier: Simaudio Moon Evolution 700i.
Loudspeakers: Revel Ultima Studio2.
Cables: Nirvana
Accessories: Bybee Technologies Signature Power Purifier (not with amplifier or, sometimes, CD players), Black Diamond Mk.4 Racing Cones (sometimes not used), Audio Desk Systeme LP cleaner.—Fred Kaplan
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Sidebar 3: Measurements
To measure the Audio Research Reference CD9, I used Stereophile's loan sample of the top-of-the-line Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see www.ap.com and the January 2008 "As We See It"); for some tests, I also used my vintage Audio Precision System One Dual Domain. To test the CD9's performance via USB, I used my MacBook Pro, running on battery power, with ARC's supplied USB2.0 driver (v.2.03.14), and played test-signal files with Bias Peak Pro, using Apple's AudioMIDI utility to ensure that the sample rate and bit depth were correctly set for each file.
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The third iteration of SME's 3009 is one of the most versatile tonearms around. For the same reason, it is also one of the most tedious to set-up because, since every parameter is adjustable, every parameter must be adjusted.
Unlike most arms with plug-in headshells, the SME has a plug-in arm, which accomplishes the same thing but places the additional mass of the plug and socket back near the tonearm base, where its effect on the cartridge-system effective mass is minimal.
The arm is available with an optional viscous-damping system, presumably for the benefit of those…
Sidebar: Specifications
Description: Low-mass tonearm with plug-in arm tube. Accepts phono cartridges weighing up to 12gm. Adjustable mass. Damped cueing control. Adjustable viscous damping on arm.
Dimensions: Stylus-to-base distance: 9". Overall length: 11". Requires 2" depth below top surface of armboard and 1.75" above turntable platter mat.
Price: $294 (1980); no longer available (2013).
Manufacturer: SME Ltd., Steyning, Sussex BN4 3GY, England. US distributor: Sumiko, Berkeley, CA (1986–2012); Acoustic Sounds, Salina, KS (2014). Tel: (785) 825-8609. Fax: (510) 843-7120.…
Last month, I'd intended to compare the overachieving Pioneer SP-BS22-LR stand-mounted loudspeaker ($129.99/pair) with the Wharfedale Diamond 10.1 ($349/pair). In fact, I was deep into the process—surrounded by pages and pages of scribbled notes, thumbs swollen and sticky with Blu-Tack—when it occurred to me that something was wrong with the Wharfedales.
When I noticed the problem, I wasn't really paying attention to the music. I wasn't even sitting in the sweet spot—a fact that I find slightly annoying and, even more, disturbing. Maybe all critical listening should be done in the…
Partnered with my NAD C 316BEE integrated amplifier ($380) driving the Wharfedale Diamond 10.1 speakers, the new C 516BEE sounded a lot like its predecessor: clean, clear, smooth, engaging. There were times—such as when Jenny Hval really lets loose in the title track of Innocence Is Kinky (CD, Rune Grammofon RCD3142), her voice rising and rising like heat from asphalt—that I thought the new player sounded slightly more extended on top, slightly more effervescent and polished overall. But I'm not entirely sure about that. I do know, however, that the NAD wasn't out of place when matched…
Sidebar: Contacts
AudioQuest, 2621 White Road, Irvine, CA 92614. Tel: (949) 585-0111. Web: www.audioquest.com.
NAD Electronics International, 633 Granite Court, Pickering, Ontario L1W 3K1, Canada. Tel: (905) 831-6555. Web: www.nadelectronics.com.
Wharfedale. US distributor: Sound Solutions, 1811 W. Bryn Mawr Avenue, Chicago, IL 60660. Tel: (312) 738-5025. Web: www.soundsolutionsus.com.
The 2013 Burning Amp, the DIYAudio forum's "annual experiment in temporary community dedicated to radical self-expression and self-reliance," got off to a slow start. Although a semi-hidden posting about the one-day, all-volunteer event, held in six rooms at San Francisco's Fort Mason Center on Sunday, October 6, appeared months ago, the email blast to the Burning Amp mailing list only went out late on October 3. As a result, attendance was light, making it much easier to listen to music in the extremely live, audio unfriendly rooms.
Central to every Burning Amp is Nelson Pass (above),…
Long experience has convinced me that many audiophiles' stereo systems substantially underperform compared to what they could sound like. This is not because people haven't spent enough money on their electronics or speakers. Instead, people aren't getting all the performance they've paid for because they haven't devoted enough attention to all aspects of the initial setup, and/or to maintenance and updating.
Reduced to its essentials, a stereo system is a machine designed to convert the electricity that comes out of your wall outlet into mechanical motion by the loudspeakers, which…
The high-quality outlet I'm most familiar with is Shunyata Research's SR-Z1, widely available for ca $95. Unless you're an experienced home handyman, hiring a licensed electrician to do the changeover pays dividends in peace of mind. If you do swap out these outlets yourself, an inexpensive outlet-polarity checker such as Klein Tools' RT-100 (ca $5, available at Home Depot) will confirm, before you've touched any wires, that you've turned off the power to the correct outlet; and, later, that you've properly reconnected the neutral and hot wires.
During installation of a better outlet,…