Digital Sources: Aurender N10 music server; Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP universal player; Meridian Ultra DAC; PS Audio PerfectWave DirectStream D/A converter with Bridge II network adapter; AudioQuest JitterBug, UpTone Audio ReGen USB cleaner-uppers; Mac mini running Pure Music 3, Audirvana, Tidal HiFi, Vinyl Studio apps; Ayre Acoustics QA-9 USB A/D converter.
Power Amplifiers: MBL Corona C15, Pass Labs XA60.5 (both monoblocks).
Loudspeakers: Aerial Acoustics 5T, Bowers & Wilkins 805 D3, Dynaudio Contour 20, Rockport Technologies Avior II.
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured the Chord DAVE with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"), using both the Audio Precision's optical and electrical digital outputs and USB data sourced from my MacBook Pro running on battery power with Pure Music 3.0 playing WAV and AIFF test-tone files. Apple's USB Prober utility identified the Chord as "Dave" from "Chord Electronics Ltd," with the serial number "413-001." The DAVE's USB port operated in the optimal isochronous asynchronous mode. Apple's AudioMIDI utility revealed that, via USB, the DAVE accepted 32-…
Was just listening to the deluxe edition of Singles: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, which is to be released tomorrow, May 19, when the news of Chris Cornell's unexpected death was announced. Very sad news and our sympathies go out to his family and all who loved his music in Soundgarden and Audioslave, and on the solo records.
Sappy as it is, Singles, Cameron Crowe's big, sloppy valentine to the Seattle music scene, is redeemed primarily by the soundtrack in which Cornell plays a prominent part, and Matt Dillon's hilarious portrayal of the almost famous dunderhead Cliff Poncier, lead…
If, like me, you're a dues-paying audiophile who's circumnavigated the upgrade block a few times, you've seen a lot of gear and set up many systems. I've carried 80-lb line conditioners up the six knee-crunching flights to my bachelor's penthouse, managed 50-lb loudspeakers downstairs to a waiting van, and made more trips to FedEx than I can count. I've owned dozens of audio products and reviewed dozens more.
In hopes that with perseverance comes wisdom, I of course practice what I consider to be the skills of precisely executed system setup, even—or especially—in the case of…
After kitty-cornering each speaker into my listening room, Roberts handled setup duties, aiming the Rivals at roughly the same listening position that John DeVore had carved out for his Orangutan O/93s. I wasn't satisfied. Placing the Rivals too deep in their corners cheated the sound of punch and definition; too close to my listening seat and the bass response diminished. After some trial and error, I lessened their degree of toe-in from 45° to where I could just see each inner side panel. In short, the Rivals ended up 66" from my listening chair, with the centers of their panels 32" from…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way, front-ported, horn-loaded, floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" compression tweeter mounted to elliptical Tractrix-flare horn, 3.5" phenolic-diaphragm midrange driver with neodymium magnet mounted to wooden midrange horn with 2" throat, 15" paper-cone woofer. Crossover frequencies: 400Hz, 6kHz. Frequency range: 32Hz–20kHz. Sensitivity: 100dB/W/m. Nominal impedance: 6 ohms. Recommended amplification: 3–100Wpc continuous.
Dimensions: 41.5" (1050mm) H by 19" (480mm) W by 16" 410mm) D. Weight: 125 lbs (56.7kg).
Finishes: Birch;…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Kuzma Stabi S turntable & Stogi S tonearm; Music Hall MMF-7.3 turntable; Denon DL-103, Goldring Elite MC, Ortofon 2M Bronze cartridges.
Digital Sources: Apple MacBook computer running Audirvana Plus; Halide DAC HD, PS Audio NuWave DACs; LG BD player; Western Digital T2 Mirror Drives (2).
Preamplification: Auditorium 23 A23 moving-coil step-up transformer, Heed Audio Quasar phono stage, Shindo Laboratory Allegro preamplifier.
Power Amplifier: Shindo Laboratory Haut-Brion.
Integrated Amplifier: Heed Audio Elixir.
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Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Volti Rival's frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 for the nearfield responses. (I measured Rival serial no.001.) Before carrying out any measurements, which were performed without the grille, I ensured that all the crossover resistor and capacitor choices on the rear panel were set as recommended in the manual.
The Volti's voltage sensitivity is specified as an unbelievable 100dB/W/m; ie, the Rival will play as loudly when fed 1W as a tiny LS3/5a…
It's a given that anyone who loves records and had the experience of working in a record store has vivid memories of being at work on Tuesdays when the UPS truck would bring the new releases for that week. The ritual was almost always the same. Like starved animals, vinyl-mad clerks, all in rock'n'roll t-shirts, many in an altered states even at 11 in the morning, would rip into boxes from Warner Bros, or Columbia, or whoever, and snatch their copies of the LPs they had to have—blowing most of their meager pay in the process. It took me years to realize that it might be best if I worked…
Twenty-four years after The Hilliard Ensemble and saxophonist Jan Garbarek recorded Officium, the first of their three haunting, century-crossing collaborations for ECM New Series, Trio Mediaeval has done something similar with trumpeter Arve Henriksen. On their latest ECM New Series album, Rímur, the vocal trio of Anna Maria Friman, Linn Andrea Fugiseth, and Berit Opheim teams up with Henriksen to produce timeless versions of chants, hymns, folk songs and improvisations based on Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish sources from earlier times.
Equal praise goes to the beauty of Rímur's early…