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Needle Doctor AudioEngine 5+ Speakers Sweepstakes

According to the company:

Audioengine continues to manufacture powered speakers that are among the best you’ll find for the money. They’re a very focused company, and for that, we’re lucky. With resources pouring into a relatively centralized field, Audioengine is able to dream of and produce poignant products that entirely meet the needs of many listeners.

The A5+ powered speakers sound bold and brilliant. They seem unbothered by challenges holding other powered…

Devialet's Ensemble System premiers in Delaware Saturday

Devialet's new Ensemble system will be featured at Overture Audio/Video, 2423 Concord Pike, Wilmington, DE this Saturday, December 6. Shows are from 12–4pm.

Devialet's Julien Bergère and John Bevier will be on hand to both demonstrate and answer questions about the Devialet Ensemble System, which features Devialet's SAM (Speaker Active Matching) technology. SAM processes the music signal in real- time to ensure that the sound pressure reproduced by the speaker, matches exactly the one recorded by the microphone.

Devialet says that there are now 150 speaker systems that can…

Listening #144

No doubt every model in the current Jaguar lineup is at least good, if not great. Their specs speak of high power, nimble handling, blinky acceleration, and no shortage of creature comforts. Yet for all that, modern Jags don't interest me in the least, partly because I know I'll never have the money to buy one, and partly because the Jaguars of the 21st century lack the character of their mid-20th century forebears. It seems to me that Jaguars have, over the years, gone from being in a class of their own to being scarcely more than upmarket versions of everydamnthing else.

But imagine if…

Listening #144 Page 2

Through it all, the A95's natural, colorful timbral presentation endured. Playing Norman Blake's simply arranged and beautifully recorded The Fields of November (LP, Flying Fish 004), the newer SPU actually outpaced the old in giving a better sense of body to fiddle and cello alike, and Blake's singing had a bit more chest. The same could be said of the SPU 95's portrayal of Dame Janet Baker's voice on her French Songs, with the Melos Ensemble of London (LP, L'Oiseau-Lyre SOL 298); additionally, the new SPU handled that record's many peaks—as in Ravel's "Mefiez-vous des blancs"—without…

And What's Christmas Without a Catalog?

`Tis the season and yeah, I’ve been self–gifting, so what? At this time of the year, when you should be out there, fighting the credit card clutching crowds, thinking of others, trying to buy things that will surprise and delight your loved ones, it’s nearly impossible not to find a few things that you want as well right? That process just got a whole lot easier this week when the Music Direct catalog arrived. If you’re a gear or music geek, it doesn’t get much better than this annual 200 page tome, which this year has a really killer photo of young Bruce on the cover and a John Varvatos ad…

Brothers And Sisters

And so the first item to catch my eye was Mobile Fidelity's newly remastered LP pressing of Brothers and Sisters (1973) by The Allman Brothers Band. It also comes as an SACD if you prefer. This is the second time that MoFi, which is now owned by Music Direct, has reissued this album, the first being in 1994 (on CD) and 1995 (LP).

The second album released after the motorcycle accident that killed Duane Allman (1971) and the first after yet another motorcycle accident—three blocks from where Duane died—killed bassist Berry Oakley (1972), B&S became the Brothers biggest seller and…

The Fifth Element #88

It's time for another holiday gift list:

12. Holst: The Planets (24/96 download): $18
The Planets is the definitional crowd-pleasing orchestral warhorse—there are more than 40 recordings of it currently available in a dizzying array of over 90 couplings, sets, and formats. Add versions on synthesizer, pipe organ, brass ensemble, et al, and the total exceeds 100. There are good reasons for the work's enduring popularity: inspired orchestration, brief movements alternating between drama and repose, and memorable, rollicking big tunes.

The audiophile-approved recordings of The…

The Fifth Element #88 Page 2

For the hard core, StroboSoft offers not only historical tunings (eg, Kellner, Rameau, Werckmeister III), but also proprietary Peterson "sweetened" tunings for guitars and other instruments. These tunings redistribute the error-allocation scheme of a piano's usual equal temperament, in the interest of making fourths and fifths ring more sweetly. I found StroboSoft to be challenging and educational, and it does work! (usually discounted; www.petersontuners.com)

To get the best results with StroboSoft, you'll need a good USB microphone (unless your computer already has a soundcard). Audio-…

Music Hall Ikura LP player & Ortofon 2M Blue phono cartridge

The call I received from Music Hall's Leland Leard surprised me: "Hey, Bob, I think you'd be the perfect guy to review our new Ikura turntable!"

Hmm. It had been four years since I'd reviewed a record player: Pro-Ject's Debut III, in the February 2010 issue. And with the surging popularity of vinyl—hell, Rough Trade NYC's enormous new record store, in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, even sells turntables—the thought of a plug-and-play turntable-tonearm-cartridge combination for $1200 intrigued me. Sure, Leland—send it on.

Design
The Ikura features a two-plinth design…

Music Hall Ikura LP player & Ortofon 2M Blue phono cartridge Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Music Hall Ikura Turntable and Tonearm: Motor: DC synchronous. Speeds: 331/3 & 45rpm (manual change). Speed deviation: ±0.9%. Wow & flutter: ±0.15%. Rumble: below –70dB max. Platter diameter: 11.81" (303mm). Platter weight: 2 lbs (0.91kg). Armtube material: aluminum. Effective tonearm length: 8.92" (228.6mm). Tonearm weight w/o counterweight: 250gm. Effective tonearm mass: 11gm. Overhang: 0.7" (18mm). Mounting distance of arm base: 212mm. Compatible cartridge weights: 2.0–16.0gm. Power supply: 115V/60Hz or 230V/50Hz. Power consumption: 2VA.
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