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[16] Chromatic Scale (left channel, then right channel) (DDD) 1:30

This and the next three tracks are intended to enable audiophiles to get a handle on how their systems and loudspeakers interface with their listening rooms—even if they don't have any test equipment.

Rather than a conventional frequency sweep, I decided to use a test signal that's musically relevant. This track features sinewaves tuned to the frequencies of the modern equal-temperament scale, sweeping up from the low C1 at 32.7Hz, on the space five ledger lines…

[21] Home Theater Reference & Demagnetizing Tone (DDD) 0:23
1kHz at -20dBFS in both channels

The first 10 seconds of this track consist of a steady tone with a frequency of 1kHz. During the subsequent 15 seconds, it decays in level to silence. Its level of -20dBFS—20dB below the maximum peak level of a CD or laserdisc player—corresponds in a THX-specified system to an acoustic level of 85dB spl. To determine the maximum output level of your CD player, feed its output into an AC voltmeter—Fluke, Beckmann, and Radio Shack all…

Stereophile Test CD 3 STPH006-2
Total Playing Time: 76:08

[1] Home Theater & Stereo Channel Identification 2:05
(Left, Right, Center, Subwoofer, Surround)

[2] Stereo Channel Phasing 0:34
(Stereo channels in-phase, out-of-phase)

[3] Empire Brass Quintet: "Sibley Sanctus Lydian" 3:59
(from Passage 138 B.C.- A.D.1611, Telarc CD-80355, Surround-encoded)

[4] Dick Hyman: "Topsy" (HDCD-encoded) 6:11
(from From the Age of Swing, Reference Recordings RR-59CD)

[5] Sara K.: "History Repeats Itself" 5:54
(from…

Even after years of intensive Small Business Therapy, it appears my audemporiphobia will remain a destructive, debilitating syndrome (after all, I make my living selling to these places).

For maximum therapeutic effect I shall not presume with this article merely to perpetuate a manufacturer's biases; I confess to having owned a hi-fi store at one time, and working years as a salesperson in another; this message is directed at the music-loving consumer rather than at the few sincere and knowledgeable audio merchants, or the (regrettably larger) quantity of…

"J-10, you won't believe this component!"

For sure.

"It'll redefine the listening experience and blow away everything else you've ever heard!"

Yadda yadda yadda. We'll see.

I try not to become blasé about things. Really, I do. Fortunately, Kathleen is such an earthy person that somehow she keeps me from floating completely away.

But the buzz around the Nagra/dCS room at HI-FI '98 was sizzling hot. Steve Lee (footnote 1) was preaching to the converted by upsampling commercial 16-bit/44.1kHz recordings to a…

And mostly it did. But I learned to lower the volume when changing from CD to DVD or back again. Sometimes the Elgar would…

Description: Digital to digital converter with bit activity, error, and level meters and digital control of polarity, level, and balance. Input frequencies: 192kHz, 176.4kHz, 96kHz, 88.2kHz, 48kHz, 44.1kHz, 32kHz, 24kHz, 22.05kHz, 16kHz, 12kHz, 11.025kHz. Output frequencies: 192kHz, 176.4kHz, 96kHz, 88.2kHz, 48kHz, 44.1kHz, 32kHz, 24kHz, 22.05kHz, 16kHz, 12kHz, 11.025kHz. Syncs to word clock on both input and output. Input data formats: AES/EBU (XLR), Dual AES (XLR), S/PDIF (Phono, BNC, TosLink), SDIF-2 (BNC). Output data formats: AES/EBU (XLR), Dual AES (XLR),…

Source transport was the Theta DaViD, a 24/96-capable machine.. It sat atop a trio of Black Diamond Racing Cones screwed into Those Things carbon-fiber squares atop a Signal Guard II anti-resonance platform. The Signal Guard was itself suspended on four PolyCrystal-coated brass footers and set up on the top shelf of a PolyCrystal Rack. This effectively decoupled the DaViD from the environment at large. For whatever reason, the DaViD sounded better with its display left on.

I used a number of digital datalinks between the DaViD and the 972. For 16/44.1…