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The Dire Straits <I>Money For Nothing</I> Sweepstakes

About the prize:

On June 17, Rhino will reissue Money For Nothing, the first Dire Straits greatest hits collection (featuring songs from the band's first five albums), which was originally released in October 1988. Newly remastered by Bob Ludwig, Money For Nothing will be made available in digital and double vinyl formats in early 2023.

Fully remastered by Bob Ludwig, and cut by Bernie Grundman, the Money For Nothing double vinyl reissue includes "Telegraph Road (Live…

Gramophone Dreams #69: Trance Dancing on Maxwell Street & the Rotel DT-6000 "DAC Transport"

Everyone knows I'm a lucky guy. I was born in Chicago in nineteen-hundred and forty-nine, and as far as I can tell, that was the perfect year to be born. I missed the war, plague, and Depression horrors of the first half of the 20th century, and I witnessed the art, music, and cinema inventions of the second half. Best of all, I was in the right city at the right time, walking down the right streets with the right people, to experience America's new electrified blues—as it was being born on the sidewalks in front of me. At least that's how it seemed looking through my WWII aviator glasses.…

Gramophone Dreams #69: Trance Dancing on Maxwell Street & the Rotel DT-6000 "DAC Transport" Page 2

When I discovered this omission, I huffed and puffed and stamped my little foot: "What do you mean I can't play my CDs through the DAC of my choice?" For me, this was a deal killer. In my 30 years of digital, I have only once (that $100 Oppo) stooped low enough to use one of those Cracker Jack–prize DACs that come inside CD players.

Somewhat indignantly, I asked Jeff Coates, managing director of Fine Sounds (Rotel's US distributor, footnote 2): Why no digital out? He told me, "The DT-6000 started its development as the CD-6000 with a continuation of the DAC topology we had been using, […

Among the Musical #2: Beyoncé, Jay-Z, and Albert Murray

Three or four years ago, coming back from hip surgery, I put in a stint of physical therapy. The assistant trainer, a 24-year-old named Caitlin, was a big pop music fan, as am I, although, to borrow from one of Hank Williams Jr.'s songs about his daddy, Caitlin's kind of pop and mine ain't exactly the same.

One afternoon at Procore Physical Therapy, the talk turned to Beyoncé and Jay-Z's video, shot in the Louvre, for their 2018 collaborative single "Apeshit," released under their marital name, the Carters. Caitlin didn't bat an eyelash at the idea of pop music's power couple posing…

Audio Note Meishu Tonmeister Phono integrated amplifier

My first high-end component was an Audio Note M2 preamplifier, which I bought from former Audio Note distributor/current Stereophile contributor Michael Trei. (Senior Contributing Editor Herb Reichert was Michael's partner in that 1990s-era Audio Note venture.) Herb can regale you with tales of motoring across the Soviet Union in an unheated Mercedes, trunk full of Audio Note components and American dollars, but that's a story for another review (most likely to be written by Herb).

The Audio Note M2 preamplifier was one of the most transparent audio products I'd ever heard, its single…

Audio Note Meishu Tonmeister Phono integrated amplifier Page 2

On the outside, the Tonmeister's facade includes four gold-plated control knobs labeled function (tuner, aux, CD1, CD2), record (source, tape), volume, and balance. Around back, things are similarly straightforward, with RCA jacks denoted Tuner, Aux, CD1, CD2, Tape-In, Tape Out, and Phono. There are three loudspeaker binding posts for each speaker lead, 8 ohm, and 4 ohm, and common. There's an IEC connector for power, two ground pins (signal ground and chassis ground), and an on/off switch. That's it.

Setup
The Tonmeister I reviewed was seen at the New York Audio Show, but it wasn't…

Audio Note Meishu Tonmeister Phono integrated amplifier Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Description: Two-channel SET integrated amplifier with phono stage. Tube complement: 5U4G plus two each 300B, 5687, ECC82, ECC88, and ECC83. Power output: 8Wpc into 4 ohms (6dBW) or 8 ohms (9dBW). Input impedance: 100k ohms, line; 47k ohms, phono. Input sensitivity: 240mV for full output. Channel balance: ±0.3dB. Moving magnet phono stage loading, 47k ohms, 47pF (fixed); gain, 37.3dB; input sensitivity, 10.8mV for full output; channel balance, <0.25dB; noise <1mV. Max. power consumption: 200W.
Dimensions: 18.1" (460mm) W × 8.7" (220mm) H × 20.9" (530mm…

Audio Note Meishu Tonmeister Phono integrated amplifier Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Analog sources: Thorens TD 124 turntable/Jelco MS350S tonearm/EMT TSD 15N MC cartridge.
Digital sources: HoloAudio May DAC augmented with Sonore opticalRendu, Roon Nucleus+, Small Green Computer power supply, TRENDnet switch, streaming Roon/Tidal/Qobuz via Apple iPad Mini.
Preamplifiers: Shindo Allegro, Audio Note S9SUT.
Power amplifier: Shindo Haut-Brion.
Loudspeakers: DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/96.
Cables: Interconnects: Triode Wire Labs Spirit II (RCA), Analysis Plus Silver Apex (RCA), Shindo (RCA). Speaker: Analysis Plus Silver…

Audio Note Meishu Tonmeister Phono integrated amplifier Measurements

Sidebar 3: Measurements

I performed the measurements of the Audio Note Meishu Phono Tonmeister with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system. The tubes were already installed when I received the review sample. I removed the cover to check for proper installation. All was well. I waited for 30 minutes after powering up the amplifier before starting the testing.

Looking first at its line inputs, the Meishu Tonmeister preserved absolute polarity, ie, was noninverting, from both the 4 ohm and 8 ohm output transformer taps. The maximum voltage gain at 1kHz was a moderately low 29.65dB from…

CH Precision C1.2 D/A processor

If you're reasonably handy, you can probably build your own digital-to-analog converter. It won't cost much, and if you're careful, and knowledgeable enough to understand and follow some rather technical instructions, or if you have patience enough to follow advice from a few different online discussion forums—and the judgment to distinguish the good advice from the bad—then the DAC you make may end up sounding very good.

So it's no surprise that you can buy very good Chinese-made DACs that measure very well, very cheaply. Those Chinese DACs are probably designed by first-rate engineers,…