Would I be judging the record's sound or the Téssera's? No way of knowing until I played the same album through a reference phono preamp. But Tom Nola had recorded the session on July 27,…
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While the usual way to start listening to a new audio component is to play familiar recordings, I thought it might be more interesting to start with an unfamiliar record. Les liaisons dangereuses 1960, Thelonious Monk's previously unreleased music for Roger Vadim's film Les liaisons dangereuses (2 180gm LPs, Sam 5 051083 116923), had just arrived, and I was anxious to hear this newly discovered Monk!
Sidebar: Specifications
Description: Tubed phono preamplifier: Tube complement: four 12AX7/ECC83, two 12AU7. Gain settings: 40, 45, and 50dB, MM mode; 60, 65, and 70dB, MC mode. ) Loading options: 47k ohms, 68k ohms, MM mode; 1000, 800, 700, 500, 400, 350, 300, 250, 200, 150, 100, or 50 ohms, MC mode. MM capacitance: 220pF. RIAA accuracy: within ±0.5dB. Noise: –90dBu ref. maximum output. Output impedance: 150 ohms.
Dimensions: 17" (432mm) W by 5.5" (140mm) H by 15" (381mm) D. Weight: 25 lbs (11.35kg).
Price: $12,000.
Manufacturer: Zesto Audio, 3138 Calle Estepa, Thousand…
That old adage about apples falling close to trees has never been more true than it is with the duo of Cody and Luther Dickinson, whose new North Mississippi Allstars record, Prayer for Peace, shows again what good use they have made of the solid foundation their father, the producer Jim Dickinson, left them.
In their solo projects and in the North Mississippi Allstars, they are dedicated traditionalists and modern proponents of the kind of music that was celebrated in the new T Bone Burnett, Robert Redford, and Jack White film and music project, American Epic.
While Cody…
In 2014, Chad Kassem, proprietor of Acoustic Sounds and Analogue Productions, released a 200-gram QRP vinyl pressing of Masterpieces by Ellington, one of the Duke's least-known but possibly finest and finest-sounding albums, to wild acclaim and (by audiophile standards) brisk sales. Now he's put it out at 45rpm, and while the 33 was a startler, the new version—spread out on two LPs, to accommodate the wider grooves—will leave you breathless.
Here's the shocker: this album was recorded in 1950. That is not a typo. It was recorded 67 years ago. It was Ellington's first "long-playing" album…
Want to go from yang to ying by the simple switch of a silver disc? Try seguing from the two supremely energetic, densely populated chamber symphonies of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Adams (b. 1947), which we explored last week, to the far milder and less complicated choral work, Canticles of the Holy Wind (Cantaloupe) from the other Pulitzer Prize in Music-winning Adams, John Luther Adams (b. 1953). Although just six years separate the men, their choices of where to set down roots—John Adams in Berkeley, with frequent sojourns to orchestral residencies and music festivals in major…
At the Los Angeles Audio Show, held June 2–4, John Atkinson spoke with Elac's Andrew Jones about speaker design, building affordable loudspeakers, and Elac's Adante AF-61 speaker, which made its debut at the show, driven by Audio Alchemy amplification.
Back in 2015, one of Andrew's first designs for Elac was the affordable Debut B6 ($279/pair), which Herb Reichert favorably reviewed in April 2016. But at an estimated price of $5000/pair, the new Adante tower occupies a very different price category. JA asks why.
Manufacturer’s Comment
Editor: Upon reading Michael Fremer's review of our VTM200, we were alarmed when Michael first "had to juggle at least two additional variables so I could listen..." As he had never run his Ayre preamp from its balanced outputs, and his only balanced cable was "so old it was growing hair...I'd never used it," we had the feeling our VTM200s were starting the review facing uphill.
And we were right. Since Michael was working under a tight deadline, it would have helped everyone if he had asked us for a cable recommendation or two, since we are more familiar…
Thursday evening, June 22, 5–9pm, F1 Audio (311 E Dundee Road, Palatine, IL 60074) is holding an event featuring Evolution series loudspeakers and electronics from TAD Labs and Isotek power conditioners. Attendees will also be able to audition rare, out-of-print Mobile Fidelity albums and test pressings from MoFi's UltraDisc One-Step series and take a test drive in the new Porsche 718 Boxster S and Macan Turbo, courtesy of The Porsche Exchange of Highland Park.
For digital playback, in recent months I've been breathing some rarefied air, pricewise. In December 2016, I reviewed dCS's Rossini Player and Clock, followed in May 2017 by Meridian's Ultra DAC, and in June by Chord's DAVE DAC. The Rossini Player costs $28,499 without the Clock, the Meridian $23,000, and though the DAVE is less expensive than either at $10,588, that's still a fair chunk of change. Even PS Audio's PerfectWave DirectStream DAC, which I bought following Art Dudley's review in September 2014, costs $6899 with the Network Bridge II, which hardly counts as "affordable."
High…
Listening with Headphones
As it did in the big rig, the Arcam irDAC-II's headphone output offered, in absolute terms, a somewhat light balance combined with clean highs and an excellent presentation of recorded detail. It worked well with both the Audeze LCD-X and AudioQuest NightHawk headphones, less so with the Thinksound On2s, where the highs sounded a little aggressive. However, it could readily swing enough volts to drive the high-impedance Sennheiser HD650s to satisfying levels. But I needed to hear how it compared with other D/A headphone amplifiers.
As it did in the big rig, the Arcam irDAC-II's headphone output offered, in absolute terms, a somewhat light balance combined with clean highs and an excellent presentation of recorded detail. It worked well with both the Audeze LCD-X and AudioQuest NightHawk headphones, less so with the Thinksound On2s, where the highs sounded a little aggressive. However, it could readily swing enough volts to drive the high-impedance Sennheiser HD650s to satisfying levels. But I needed to hear how it compared with other D/A headphone amplifiers.
The perfect comparison…