Analog Sources: Garrard 301, Thorens TD 124 turntables; Abis SA-1.2, EMT 997 tonearms; EMT OFD 25 & OFD 15 & TSD 15 pickup heads; Denon DL-103, Miyajima Premium BE Mono II cartridges.
Digital Sources: Halide Designs DAC HD USB D/A converter; Apple iMac G5 computer running Audirvana Plus 1.5.12; Sony SCD-777ES SACD/CD player.
Preamplification: Hommage T2 step-up transformer, Shindo Laboratory Aurieges Equalizer Amplifier phono preamplifier & Masseto preamplifier.
Power Amplifiers: Shindo Laboratory Corton-Charlemagne (monoblocks)…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
An open letter from myself and AudioQuest to the community—to everyone who cherishes the truth, regardless of their opinions about audio and digital cables, regardless of their opinions about AudioQuest.
For good reason, there is growing internet “buzz” about the recently published findings of Mark Waldrep on his Real HD-AUDiO blog.
Mark’s findings are very relevant, and the implied malfeasance is extremely serious.
I was first made aware of Mark’s post this last Friday, January 22. I immediately wrote to everyone at AudioQuest who either is in contact with Home…
Meridian Audio's hotly anticipated firmware update for its MQA-ready electronics has arrived. Starting February 4, owners of Meridian's Explorer2 DAC (above), Prime headphone amplifier, 808v6 Reference CD player, 818v3 Reference Audio Core, Special Edition loudspeakers and 40th Anniversary systems will be able to upgrade their products and hear the full benefits that MQA-encoded files can deliver.
Free firmware updates for the above mentioned personal audio products will be available for download from the "Support" pages at www.meridian-audio.com on February 4. Owners of 800 Reference…
To be Springsteenesque about it, are two records, like hearts, really better than one? It’s the question that’s hovered over The River since its release in 1980 and is at least part of the motivation behind, The Ties That Bind, the latest extras-loaded boxed set to focus on Springsteen’s glorious back catalog. To focus the question even more, was the single record, the first version of the The River which was also called The Ties That Bind, that Springsteen turned into his label in 1979, a more coherent record, than the 20 track, double LP, The River that it had morphed into by October 1980…
The movement towards a super premium vinyl “experience,” and the larger notion of vinyl as a lifestyle is getting another eager supporter as a new subscription-only label, Newvelle Records, launched this week via a Kickstarter campaign. To see their pitch click here.
The twist here is that Newvelle is specializing in jazz recorded in New York City at East Side Sound studio exclusively for them. I’ve spoken with the principals of the label, Elan Mehler and Jean-Christophe Morisseau several times and their plan seems quite sound and from what I’ve heard of their first two releases, a…
"With all due respect, what the hell is the matter with you?"
Over the years, I've felt obligated to ask this question of several friends who somehow concluded that their life's work involved founding a record label.
"That is the best question isn't it?" Shane Buettner said with a big laugh. "Why do I want to hurt myself this badly and spend a lot of money doing it?" He smiled again, with a mild shake of the head.
"Actually, yes—that's exactly what I mean."
So went the conversation between the former Home Theater editor and me, conducted over Cobb salads (hold…
Ten years ago, our family was joined by my son-in-law, who was raised in Dublin, and spent his university years in London. I was editing this review during a recent visit with our daughter and grandchildren, and Justin became interested in the fact that I was reviewing a subwoofer made by Tannoy. He reminded me that, in the UK and Ireland, Tannoy had long been a generic term for public-address systems, just as Hoover had come to describe any vacuum cleaner, regardless of manufacturer. Although Justin admitted that this usage was probably "old school," he teased me that I was reviewing a PA…
Playing my favorite pipe-organ recordings, I was delighted by the deep-bass response. JA's recording of the Widor Toccata had solid, room-locking pedal notes that lifted the 32Hz display bar of Audio Tool's RTA display higher than adjacent frequencies. The lowest pedal notes underpinning the soprano singing the "Pie Jesu" of John Rutter's Requiem, with Timothy Seelig conducting the Turtle Creek Chorale (CD, Reference RR-57CD), thundered with an authority, solidity, and clear pitch definition that I didn't hear from the Quads alone. The massive pedal note that concludes organist James Busby'…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Closed-box, side-firing, powered subwoofer. Drive-units: one powered 12" cone woofer, one 12" Auxiliary Bass Radiator (ABR). Inputs: unbalanced (RCA) for two channels, LFE or stereo. Outputs: unbalanced for two channels, LFE or stereo. Rear-panel controls: Volume, Phase (continuously variable, 0–180°), Low-Pass Crossover Filter (settings for 50, 100, 150Hz, and Bypass), Turn-On Mode (signal-sensing or always on), On/Off. Low-pass filter: 12dB/octave slope. Internal amplifier: class-D, 500W RMS. Input voltage sensitivity: N/A. Input impedance: N/A.…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Linn Sondek turntable with Lingo power supply, Linn Ittok tonearm, Spectral cartridge; Day-Sequerra 25th Anniversary FM Reference tuner.
Digital Sources: Bryston BCD-1 CD player, BDP-2 media player with IAD sound board, BDA-2 DAC. Lenovo W510 laptop computer running Windows 7, Mark Levinson USB driver, JRiver Media Center 20.
Preamplifier: Bryston BP26.
Power Amplifier: Mark Levinson No.334.
Integrated Amplifier: Mark Levinson No.585.
Loudspeakers: Quad ESL-989, Revel Salon Ultima2.
Cables: Digital: Wireworld…