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PS Audio PerfectWave DirectStream D/A processor Robert Deutsch February 2015

Robert Deutsch wrote about the DirectStream DAC in February 2015 (Vol.38 No.2):

Ayre Acoustics' CX-7e CD player came on the market in 2002. I bought one in 2007, and enjoyed its smooth, musical sound, which in 2009 was further advanced by the MP upgrade.

Time passed. The high-resolution disc formats of DVD-Audio and SACD failed to catch on, and I stayed with CDs. Then came hi-rez downloads and streaming. I stayed with CDs. Now we have the apparent rebirth of DSD, the codec used for SACD, as a download format—and there's PonoMusic, with the promise of a hi-rez format for the masses…

PS Audio PerfectWave DirectStream D/A processor New Firmware

A couple of weeks before I was to submit this Follow-Up, I received an e-mail from Paul McGowan saying that he wanted to send me new firmware for the DirectStream that was to be released to the general public in a few days. The firmware is in the form of a computer file that can be e-mailed, transferred to an SD card, and inserted in a slot on the DS. According to McGowan, the new firmware, the work of Ted Smith, not only fixes the bass-distortion problem that John Atkinson had identified in his measurements, but represented an overall improvement in sound quality.

I was e-mailed the new…

VPI Nomad LP player

I wish I'd had a VPI Nomad when I was in college. I was in a fraternity, and for most of my time there I had to rely on others' sound systems to play my music. My sophomore and junior years, some freshmen were rotated through my room, and several of them had nice sound systems and were accommodating about letting me play my music. When I wanted to really crank it up, I visited the stoners, who had the best systems and were happy to spin my collections of King Crimson and ELP, assuming I could get them to stop listening to Jefferson Starship for five minutes (footnote 1).

By my senior year…

VPI Nomad LP player Page 2

The Nomad's impressive low-level dynamic capabilities made it easy to analyze individual phrasing techniques in jazz-piano solos, such as McCoy Tyner's on his The Real McCoy (LP, Blue Note BLP 4264) and Herbie Hancock's on his Empyrean Isles (LP, Blue Note BN 84175). But there was a loss of detail in high-level, highly modulated dynamic passages on the Tyner LP and in Chick Corea's piano solo in "Humpty Dumpty," from his The Mad Hatter (LP, Polydor PD-3-6130).

The Nomad's transient articulation was superb. In Charles Wuorinen's Speculum Speculi, with Fred Sherry conducting Speculum…

GoldenEar Technology Triton One loudspeaker

I reviewed GoldenEar Technology's first speaker, the Triton Two ($2999.98; all prices per pair), in February 2012. It was and is an outstandingly good speaker, but I thought then that if GoldenEar would apply the same expertise to the design of a speaker with fewer cost constraints, the results could be better still. Sandy Gross, president and CEO of GoldenEar, must have been thinking along similar lines when he named the speaker Triton Two, leaving One for a more ambitious future product.

But the Triton One was slow in coming. Meanwhile, in the three years following my review, the…

VPI Nomad LP player Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Description: Belt-drive turntable with integral phono preamplifier, headphone amplifier, and Ortofon 2M Red moving-magnet phono cartridge. Motor: 24V AC synchronous. Platter: machined MDF, 11.7" (300mm) diameter. Speeds: 331/3 & 45rpm. Wow: 0.06% (in accordance with DIN specification). Flutter: 0.04% (in accordance with DIN specification). Rumble: <–80dB (IEC 98A, unweighted). Effective tonearm length: 9.8" (251.4mm). Overhang: 0.64" (16.4mm), Löfgren A. Offset: 21.8°. Tonearm mass: 10gm (without cartridge). Stylus-pressure adjustment range: 0–3gm (with…

GoldenEar Technology Triton One loudspeaker Page 2

The Triton One proved extraordinarily revealing of the effects of the various comparisons and tweaks I was making with the DS-PW. The effects of using different cables (three HDMI, one XLR) between the PW and DS were easily audible. The same with the beneficial effect of substituting Hi-Fi Tuning Supreme fuses for PS Audio's stock ones. And when, late in the listening period, PS Audio sent me updated firmware for the DS, the resulting improvements were obvious. The Triton One is a high-resolution loudspeaker, which had its payoff in listening to music as well as listening for the effects of…

VPI Nomad LP player Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Analog Sources: Music Hall Ikura record player; Rega Planar 3 turntable; Syrinx PU-3 tonearm; Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood, Ortofon 2M Blue phono cartridges.
Integrated Amplifier: Creek Destiny.
Loudspeakers: Dynaudio Excite X14, Emotiva Airmotiv 4S, Epos Elan 10.
Headphones: Grado SR125.
Cables: Interconnect (all MIT): MI-350 CVTwin Terminator, MI-330SG Terminator. Speaker: Acarian Systems Black Orpheus, Accent Speaker Technology Blue Thunder. AC: manufacturers' own.
Accessories: Various by ASC, Bright Star, Celestion, Echo Busters,…

GoldenEar Technology Triton One loudspeaker Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Description: Three-way floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1.06" by 1.31" High-Velocity Folded Ribbon (HVFR) tweeter, two 5¼" midrange cones, three 5" by 9" woofers powered by an internal amplifier, four 7" by 10" passive radiators. Crossover frequencies: 100Hz, 3.5kHz. Frequency range: 14Hz–35kHz. Sensitivity: 92dB/2.83V/m. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms. Recommended amplification: 20–650Wpc. Built-in subwoofer amplifier: 1600W, class-D.
Dimensions: 54" (1385mm) H (with base, no spikes) by 5¾" (150mm) W front by 8" (205mm) W rear by 165/8" (425mm) D. Weight…

GoldenEar Technology Triton One loudspeaker Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Digital Sources: Ayre Acoustics CX-7eMP CD player, PS Audio DirectStream DAC & PerfectWave Memory Player CD/DVD transport.
Preamplifier: Convergent Audio Technology SL-1 Renaissance.
Power Amplifier: McIntosh Labs MC275LE.
Cables: Digital: Nordost Valhalla 2 XLR (AES/EBU), Nordost Blue Heaven HDMI, PS Audio HDMI 10. Interconnect, Speaker, AC: Nordost Valhalla 2.
Accessories: PS Audio P5 Power Plant AC regenerator, Arcici suspense rack, PolyCrystal amplifier stand, Furutech RD-2 CD demagnetizer.—Robert Deutsch