search
Give Jack White credit. What other rock star has ever been so passionately interested in music history that he'd actually spend his own money to preserve old records? Not only that but his motives seem fairly pure. While he's probably not losing money on things like the beautifully done Paramount Records Wonder Cabinets that were released by his Third Man Records label four years ago, those were very specialized products, done in limited quantities, at a fairly reasonable price. White's unlikely turn towards becoming the most high profile and effective preserver of recordings, most…
Stick with me through this introduction, girls and boys, because the wild and wacky music I'm about to discuss is worth it! Scan any "A" list of living American composers, and the names of two Pulitzer Prize in Music recipients with the last name of Adams inevitably appears: John Adams (b. 1947, Worcester, MA), and John Luther Adams (b. 1953, Meridian, MS). Although a third Adams, John Adams' son Samuel Adams (b. 1985, San Francisco, CA) is fast emerging as a major composer, we'll spend the next two weeks exploring new recordings of music by the two elder Johns.
Few recent recordings of…
Taj Mahal & Keb' Mo': TajMo
Concord CRE00432 (LP). 2017. Taj Mahal, Keb' Mo', prods.; Zach Allen, John Caldwell, Alex Jarvis, Jesse Nichols, Casey Wasner, engs.; Ross Hogarth, mix; Richard Dodd, mastering; Bernie Grundman, vinyl mastering. AAA? TT: 45:20
Performance ****
Sonics ****
Concord CRE00432 (LP). 2017. Taj Mahal, Keb' Mo', prods.; Zach Allen, John Caldwell, Alex Jarvis, Jesse Nichols, Casey Wasner, engs.; Ross Hogarth, mix; Richard Dodd, mastering; Bernie Grundman, vinyl mastering. AAA? TT: 45:20
Performance ****
Sonics ****
The blues, that wonderful basis of so much American popular music, has for many listeners grown a bit stale and old-fashioned. It's not much of a draw outside bar bands, and other than Alligator Records, most of the biggest blues labels have folded or gone dormant. Losing many of the music's…
There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it: Headphones sound different from speakers. For different reasons, I like both, but all speakers come with one undeniable disadvantage: the room you play them in. I don't care if you're running pint-size Falcon Acoustics LS3/5a's or giant Wilson Audio Alexandria XLFs—they're at the mercy of your room's acoustics. Losses are inevitable.
Sure, some rooms are better than others, but their size, shape, and furnishings alter your speakers' sound in ways their designers can never fully anticipate, leaving it up to you to dial in the best sound you can.…
Zesto's Téssara tube phono preamplifier takes pride of place on the July Stereophile's cover, to accompany Mikey Fremer's review inside. Add to that Jason Victor Serinus on the expensive Audionet Max monoblocks from Germany, John Atkinson on an affordable DAC from Arcam, Larry Greenhill on the awesome No.536 monoblock from the revitalized Mark Levinson company, Art Dudley on the Lamm L.21 preamplifier and the Serbian Soulines Kubrick DCX turntable, and Herb Reichert on turntables from Analogueworks and Palmer, and you'll see why we think this issue is rad! (JA's daughter says "Don't say that…
Three years ago, when I first heard Audionet's Max monoblock power amplifiers, I described their pairing with YG Acoustics Hailey loudspeakers "an absolute winner" and "definitely one of the finer systems at T.H.E. Show Newport Beach." At subsequent audio shows, no fewer than four other Stereophile Contributing Editors enthused about different pairings of YG loudspeakers with Audionet amplification. Herb Reichert, at the 2014 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest: "Everything had a kind of just right quality. Totally impressive!" Sasha Matson, at RMAF 2015: "Marvelous" on vocals, "rockin' and tight" on…
Joe Kubala agreed to send what amounted to an 80-lb tub filled with Elation! cables and a Kubala-Sosna Xpander power distributor. Although in price the Elation!s are far more comparable to Nordost's Valhalla 2s than their Odin 2s, Kubala felt I wouldn't be disappointed.
While awaiting that shipment, I reinstalled my Pass Labs XA200.8s so that I could review recordings without pain. But when the Passes now sounded bad as well, I went into a full panic. Check the connections, check the ground . . . everything checked out except my composure.
Many days later, but before I'd settled…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid-state, MOSFET monoblock power amplifier. Inputs: 1 balanced (XLR), 1 unbalanced (RCA). Outputs: 2 pairs binding posts. Power outputs: 400W into 8 ohms (26dBW), 700W into 4 ohms (25.4dBW), 1100W into 2 ohms (24.4dBW). Frequency response: 0Hz–500kHz, –3dB. Input impedance: 3k ohms, 100pF (balanced); 37k ohms, 100pF (unbalanced). Damping factor: >1800 at 10kHz, >10,000 at 100Hz. Intermodulation distortion (SMPTE 100Hz and 20kHz, 4:1): <–110dB at 50W into 4 ohms. THD+N: <–106dB, 1kHz at 25–700W into 4 ohms. Signal/noise: >125dB.…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: dCS Paganini SACD/CD transport & Rossini DAC (6V output) & Scarlatti clock; Oppo Digital BDP-93 NuForce Edition universal BD player; Apple MacBook Pro computer with Intel i7, SSD, 8GB RAM; external hard drives, USB sticks.
Power Amplifiers: Pass Labs XA200.8 (monoblocks).
Loudspeakers: Wilson Audio Specialties Alexia.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest Diamond (FireWire, Ethernet), Kubala-Sosna Elation!, Nordost Odin 1 & Odin 2 & Valhalla 2 (USB). Interconnect, Speaker, AC: Kubala-Sosna Elation! (all), Nordost Odin 2 (…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured one of the Audionet Max monoblocks (serial no. 9.16.20) with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"). Before doing any testing of a power amplifier, I precondition it by running it at one-third its specified power into 8 ohms for 60 minutes with a 1kHz tone: This power level results in the highest thermal stress on the output devices of an amplifier having a class-B or -AB output stage. The Max turned itself off after 42 minutes, its front panel displaying the message "SEVERE ERROR OVERHEATING." The Audionet's top panel…