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Somehow, I managed to cover 19 rooms on the second day of LAAS. That included taking in a special half-hour MQA demo with Bob Stuart and Peter McGrath in the large Sunny Components room—reports from me and John Atkinson to come—and a bit of an after-hours presentation by JC Calmettes of Jadis in the Brooks Berdan room. While I certainly can tell you a fair amount about the sound in those 19 rooms, I have no idea what the temperature was like beyond the confines of the over-conditioned Sheraton Gateway LAX, because I first set foot outside the front door after dark on Sunday evening, when I…
Grand Prix Audio, whose attractive isolation racks, amp stands, turntables and other products featured prominently in multiple rooms at LAAS, debuted their less expensive Grand Prix Audio Parabolica turntable ($16,500). Here shown with TriPlanar 2SE tonearm ($7500) and Lyra Etna cartridge ($8995), the Parabolica rested on a Grand Prix Formula shelf upgrade ($2495) to the 4-shelf Monaco Modular isolation system ($10,250) that was supported by Apex Feet with levelers ($1320). I was told by the company's Jesse Luna that the Grand Prix Parabolica, which is based on the Monaco 2.0 turntable ($37,…
Saturday June 10 at 3pm, Kyomi Audio (4454 W Berteau Avenue, Chicago, IL) is having a Jadis event. JC Calmettes from Jadis will be the gust of honor and Kyomi's George Vatchnadze will be working his magic with the new JA200 tube amplifier. Also on demonstration will be the Jadis JP200 preamp, Vivid G1 Spirit loudspeakers, Air Force 3 turntable, MBL Reference Transport, Chord DAVE DAC, and more. Please RSVP here or by calling (312) 513-2759.
Also on Saturday June 10, from 1–6pm, Esoteric Audio (111 W. Monroe Street, Suite 100, Phoenix, AZ 85003) is holding an event featuring the…
"So how did it sound?" they like to ask as I'm walking out. If I enjoyed the sound, I'll be honest. But what if I didn't?
Option 1: Lie. Even though it'll be obvious, because I'm a horrible liar, aren't I?
Option 2: Tell the truth—kindly, if at all possible. Even though it'll be difficult, because I'm a horrible person, aren't I?
Right. So audiophiles are often eager to share their thoughts on forums, at their local dealer, or at the monthly local audio society meet up. But try looking a designer in the eye, knowing how much they've dedicated to their product, and how much…
Having visited the Aurum Cantus loudspeaker factory in China in 2009, and experienced every stereotype of shoddy Chinese manufacturing practices destroyed by what, to these eyes, were meticulous production practices, keen concerns for worker health and safety, and comprehensive testing, I am always delighted when Roger DuNaier of Audiophile Direct brings Aurum Cantus speakers to shows. Here, the Aurum Cantus V30M 2 stand-mount with aluminum-ribbon tweeter ($2600/pair) joined the Wells Audio Majestic 150Wpc integrated amplifier with phonostage ($4399; $3599 without the phono section), Sound…
One of my greatest personal discoveries at the LA Audio Show this past weekend was that I absolutely love Harbeth speakers. I adored every system I heard them in. In the Gene Rubin Audio/Fidelis Distribution room, there was a beautiful pair of Harbeth Monitor 30.1 two-way speakers ($5495/pair), driven by an LFD NCSE Mk.II Plus integrated amplifier ($6795), with the source being an Acoustic Signature Challenger Mk.III turntable ($4995) with an Acoustic Signature TA 2000 9" tonearm ($2395) and a DynaVector 20X2 cartridge ($995), through an LFD LE/SE phonostage ($1790). Also pictured but not…
This low-output moving-coil cartridge can be fitted with different styli. The basic DL-103 has a 0.5-mil spherical tip, the DL-103S a Shibata tip. As of the spring of 1975, the '103S is being imported by American Audioport, Inc., in Columbia, MO. the '103 is being brought in directly from Japan by a few dealers. Our '103 was loaned by Music & Sound of California, the '103S came from Audioport.
They are not too similar in sound. The DL-103S is incredibly clean-tracking, with a light, airy high end, a subtle zizz on string tone, and a very slightly withdrawn quality similar to the sound…
Sidebar: Specifications
Description: Moving-coil phono cartridge available with spericla, elliptical, and Shibata styli. Frequency range: 20Hz–45kHz. Output voltage: 0.25mV. Output Impedance: 40 ohms (1975–2007), 14 ohms (2017). Compliance: 5x10–6cm/dyne at 100Hz. Downforce: 2.5gm (spherical stylus version).
Weight: 8.5gm.
Price: $229 (2007); $379 (2017).
Manufacturer: Denon, Japan. US Distributor: D&M Customer Service, 100 Corporate Drive, Mahwah, NJ 07430-2041. Tel: 201-762-6500. Fax: 201-762-6670. Web: usa.denon.com/us.
The Decca Mark V is the latest version of that English firm's unique "tip-sensing" stereo-matrix-ing pickups. The "matrixing" apellation refers to the fact that the Decca pickups do not use 45°–45° sensing coils, but use instead a combination of vertical and lateral-sensing coils. There is a single coil for lateral sensing, with its pole pieces brought down next to the tip. This is the tip-sensing feature, whose major attribute is that the stylus motions don't have to be conveyed along the length of an armature before reaching the transducing pole pieces. Thus there is virtually no…
Yet there was no visible waveform distortion in the pickup's outputs over most of the audio range, and the overall sound gave every indication of very low distortion. (The Magneplanar speakers, remember, are single-ended devices, and seem to have extremely low distortion.) Only at low frequencies did we find the Mark V to have substantial distortion, and then only on vertical groove modulations. The distortion was entirely harmonic (not mistracking buzz), and was observed only on test discs, mainly below 80Hz. It seems Decca knew what they were doing here, for no such distortion was audible…