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The first and only time I heard a live performance of Mahler's five-movement Symphony No.7, from Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony, I left Davies Symphony Hall confused. The bad press that the 70+ minute work has received for over a century, mainly for its innate ambiguity, convinced me that it was, at best, a problematic work—one that Mahler might have eventually revised had he lived long enough. But after listening to DSD128 files of Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra's new recording of the symphony for Channel Classics, released March 29 in SACD format, I'…
Our conservative two-channel audio world doesn't easily accept change. Not that many years ago, even remote control was considered a sign of electronic moral decay certain to degrade sound quality. Today, home theater–like operating systems, with their fluorescent-screen hells and microprocessor-controlled functionality are commonplace, even in the highest of fi. Consumers accustomed to the convenience of audio/video processors now demand it on every price tier of two-channel hi-fi, though purists who think sound quality is commensurate with inconvenience can have that if they want it.
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Wow! Simply miked, recorded with an Ampex 354 tubed tape deck, and mastered by Bernie Grundman, this record is a stunner! Those two geezers are right! My bad—and my loss—for never having played it! Recorded live in a Montreal church, this production has it all: huge space, and a brass quintet that goes low with a bass trombone and high with a piccolo trumpet. And, of course, there's that pants-flapping pipe organ. Enrico O. Dastous's arrangement is so canny that I don't miss the orchestra—each movement sounds and feels fully fleshed out and complete.
I seriously enjoyed this album…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid-state, fully balanced, dual-mono preamplifier with built-in headphone amplifier and slots for optional phono preamplifier and DAC. Inputs: 2 balanced (XLR), 3 unbalanced (RCA). Outputs: 1 balanced (XLR), 1 unbalanced (RCA), 1 fixed-level Record out (RCA). Gain: –90dB to +10dB. Gain resolution: 0.5dB. Frequency response: 0.3Hz–500kHz, –3dB. THD: <0.05%. Signal/noise: 110dB. Input impedance: 47k ohms. Output impedance: <1 ohm. Headphone output: 12Wpc RMS into 8 ohms. Optional phono preamplifier gain: MM, 46dB; MC, 66dB.
Dimensions: 17.…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Continuum Audio Labs Caliburn turntable & Castellon stand; Rega Research Planar 8, Thales TTT Compact II turntables; Kuzma 4Point, Swedish Analog Technologies CF1-09, Thales Statement tonearms. Phono cartridges: Air Tight Coda; Grado Labs Epoch (mono); Lyra Atlas, Atlas SL, Atlas SL mono, Etna, Etna SL; Miyajima Laboratory Infinity (mono); Ortofon MC Century, Anna A95.
Digital Sources: dCS Vivaldi One CD/SACD and Network Player, dCS Rossini Player. Lynx Hilo A/D-D/A converter, Meridian Digital Media System, Pure Vinyl & Vinyl…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured the Audia Flight FLS1 using my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"). All of its outputs—balanced, single-ended, and headphone—preserved absolute polarity (ie, were non-inverting). The FLS1's volume control operates in 0.5dB steps, with the maximum level indicated as "+10.0dB" on the front-panel display. Setting the volume control to "0.0dB" reduced the gain by exactly 10dB, as expected. The FLS1's maximum voltage gain into 100k ohms was 15.8dB for balanced input to balanced output, 9.7dB for unbalanced input to unbalanced…
I first met Pro-Ject Audio Systems' founder and president, Heinz Lichtenegger, in 2016, at the US launch of the Austrian company's The Classic turntable. His passion for all things hi-fi was so intense I thought his head might explode. Gleeful in his mission to bring high-end audio to the people at less than typical high-end prices, Lichtenegger and Pro-Ject can fairly claim bragging rights for their entry-level Debut Carbon (DC) ($460 and up), one of the world's best-selling turntables.
On Pro-Ject's mammoth website, Lichtenegger bares his soul. "Our aim is to get as many people as…
When I used the Pre Box S2 as a headphone amp with my Asus laptop PC, I listened through AKG Acoustics K612 Pro Reference Studio ($250) or Master & Dynamic MH40 ($299) headphones. "The S2 can support any headphones," Goddard told me, "but may not have quite enough drive for some super-high-impedance cans." A Mytek USB cable connected the Pro-Ject to my laptop when I listened to Tidal or played files from an external hard drive. When I used the Pre Box S2 in my larger system as a DAC, a single run of Triode Wire Labs Spirit II interconnect joined my Tascam CD-200iL CD player's digital…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: DAC–headphone amplifier. Digital inputs: USB, coaxial (RCA), optical (TosLink). D/A-converter: two 32-bit ESS9038Q2M. Resolutions supported: USB: MQA, PCM up to 32-bit/768kHz, and DSD up to DSD512; optical and coaxial S/PDIF: PCM up to 24/192. Reconstruction filters: 8, selectable on front panel. Frequency range: 20Hz–20kHz. Analog outputs: ¼" (6.3mm) headphone, one pair RCA. Output voltage: 2.05V. Minimum recommended headphone impedance: 8 ohms. Headphone output power: 6.6mW into 600 ohms, 68mW into 32 ohms. THD: 0.0003% at 0dB, 2V RMS, 1kHz.…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Kuzma Stabi S turntable & Stogi tonearm; Thorens TD 124 Mk.I turntable, Jelco 350S tonearm; Denon DL-103, Hana EL, Ortofon Quintet Bronze cartridges.
Digital Sources: Asus laptop computer running Qobuz, Tidal; Tascam CD-200iL CD player; DragonFly Red, Halide DAC HD, BorderPatrol DACs; Western Digital T2 Mirror Drives (2).
Preamplification: Auditorium 23 A23 MC step-up transformer, Luxman EQ-500 phono preamplifier, Shindo Laboratory Allegro preamplifier.
Power Amplifier: Shindo Laboratory Haut-Brion.
Integrated Amplifiers…