AC Nexus Advanced Power Distribution & Ground Enhancement System: $20,000
Steve McCormack, once the proprietor of The Mod Squad, is the man who introduced the concept of accessory isolation feet—his Tiptoes were aluminum cones with flat tops and sharply pointed feet. Now he's brought to market this passive AC-power filter, whose Panzerholz enclosure contains two fist-sized silver-conductor capacitors from Duelund. The IEC AC inlet is a Bocchino Audio Marriner10 and the AC outlets are four Furutech Nano Crystal Formula duplexes. Four Cardas ground posts of…
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Powerline Accessories
Signal Processors
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DEQX PreMate D/A preamplifier/equalizer: $3995 ★
In a field where, as KR puts it, "all automatic EQ systems conflate speaker correction with room correction," the DEQX PreMate stands out: In use, this DSP engine begins by measuring and analyzing the speakers—in exclusion of the listening room, to the greatest extent possible—then generates filters to correct frequency response, optimize time alignment, and, if desired, create a customized active crossover for that speaker. After that, the user can, if he or she wishes, completely discard the speakers'…
Miscellaneous Accessories
AI Technology ELGR-8501: $160.75/1 oz
AI Technology's ELG-8501 is thermal grease made of more than 80% silver. JM uses a light smear on the mating surfaces of wall-wiring connections to prevent oxidation. He warns: "Never use any kind of silver paste on audio connections such as RCA plugs or amplifier speaker terminals." (Vol.36 No.10 WWW)
Audio Research Tube Damping Rings: $4 each ★
Damping rings for all AR products are now available to the public at large. They're made of a proprietary polymer material that converts kinetic energy to heat,…
Interconnects
AcroLink 7N-DA2090 Speciale: $2375/1.5m pair ★
The less-than-snappily named 7N-DA2090 Speciale is technically laudable; commendably, AcroLink publishes the specs for this product's resistance (18milliohm/meter) and electrostatic capacitance (56pF/meter). It's made of 99.99999% pure multistrand copper, arranged in what AcroLink calls a "balanced twin core structure." According to MF, substituting the AcroLink interconnect for his TARA Zero Evolution "produced sharper but not unnaturally defined transients, shorter sustain and decay, and an overall well-detailed and…
John Atkinson wrote about the Step Plus in April 2019 (Vol.42 No.4):
When Ken Micallef reviewed the Audio Physic Step Plus ($2599/pair) in our February issue, he found it relatively difficult to optimize the positions of this two-way stand-mounted speaker. However, once he'd done so, he noted that the Step Plus could produce "serious lower-register heft for such a small speaker," and that the pair of them "disappeared" as the sources of the sound, leaving only the instruments in space before him. Ken summed up by saying that the Step Pluses "proved overachievers to the nth degree," and…
Don't be fooled by Definitive Audio of Seattle's intentionally understated exterior. In my five years covering the annual four-hour Music Matters showcases, I have never heard such stellar sound from the store's six showrooms and head-fi listening area. In fact, four of the exhibits at Music Matters 14, held on Thursday March 7, together offered the finest sound I have ever experienced at any show or store event. And I'll swear by that statement.
Let's start with the all-audio system, housed in a 23' x 18' x 10' space, that featured Wilson Audio's large Alexx speakers ($111,200/…
High Performance Loudspeakers: Optimising High Fidelity Loudspeaker Systems, Seventh Edition, by Martin Colloms. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2018. Paperback, 696 pp., $95. Available as an eBook, $79.99.
"Listen to that—that's what I mean by 'cone cry!'"
It was 1979. I'd been taking part in a blind listening test of loudspeakers organized by Martin Colloms (footnote 1) for the British magazine Hi-Fi Choice and, after the formal sessions had ended, had asked Martin to explain something I'd heard. A drive-unit's diaphragm produces cone cry when it resonates at a frequency…
The late Julian Vereker, the sharp-minded former racing driver who founded Naim Audio and designed its first products, did so because he wanted audio amplification of a quality he felt no one else was making at the time, reasoning that if he wanted such a thing, so might others. Thus came about Naim's first domestic-audio product, the distinctive NAP200 solid-state amp (1973).
Throughout the 1980s, I closely followed Naim's work, buying a few of their products, lusting after others, and seeing in many of them the same originality of engineering that had characterized the NAP200. At the…
Because the ND5 XS 2 is described as being Roon-ready, I was at first a bit peeved that this functionality, too, isn't even hinted at in the Quick Start Guide or the full owner's manual. Not knowing what else to do, I booted up the MacBook Air on which I keep Roon and most of my music files, launched Roon, went first to Settings, and then to Audio . . . and there on the screen before me, under the newly appeared heading Networked, were the words "Naim Audio ND5 XS 2" and a software button labeled Enable. Apparently, my Roon installation and Naim's network player had found each other! I…