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To be a poet is to be tormented. And singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt's demons were relentless: mental illness, addiction, willful recklessness. He constantly complicated his life and the lives of those around him. Even fans who felt lucky just to have him play their town were unwittingly drawn in, often exhilarated but occasionally aghast. Yet judged by his recordings, he was indisputably a songwriting genius—often sad and confused but gifted nonetheless. The scion of a storied and wealthy Texas clan, he was that rare artist who was compelled to create art.
Before this month, I'd never experienced Rotel amplification in one of my own systems, but I have memories of how their amplifiers sounded back in the early 1990s. In those days, at audio shows, I would audition every Rotel amp I could find; I was especially interested in their $369, 60Wpc RB-960BX. I was curious about that model because it was the number-one competitor to the 60Wpc darling of the audiophile proletariat: Adcom's GFA 535 II. My friend Corey Greenberg compared these two popular amps in Stereophile and concluded, "The Rotel is for the budget-minded music lover who wants a good…
The 4-CD set of Ligeti's complete Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, and Philips recordings entitled Clear or Cloudy (Deutsche Grammophon 00289 447 6443) held my attention for two long nights. The sound from the Rotel DT-6000 sourcing the RA-6000 was moderately shy on reverb and atmosphere but fully alive and dramatic. Like most avant-garde music, Ligeti's art directs listeners' attention to dramatic contrasts of volume, force, and tone—and, more dominantly, the passage of time. The Rotel excelled at the volume, force, and time-passage parts but fell a breath short on recovering a full harmonic…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid state stereo integrated amplifier with DAC. Analog inputs: 1 pair balanced (XLR), 4 pair unbalanced (RCA). Digital inputs: 1 aptX/AAC wireless Bluetooth; 3 RCA, 3 coaxial, 3 TosLink S/PDIF; 1 Ethernet, 1 asynchronous PC-USB up to 32/384; 2 trigger ports. Outputs: 4 pairs of 3-way speaker binding posts: 2 for Speaker A and 2 for Speaker B; mono subwoofer and preamplifier out; 12V trigger; USB Power Port; RS232 connector for custom integration; 1/8" (3mm) unbalanced headphone output on the front panel. Output power: 200Wpc (RMS) into 8 ohms (…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog source: Music Hall Stealth turntable with Ortofon 2M Black and Goldring Eroica HX phono cartridges.
Digital sources: Roon Nucleus+ music server; HoloAudio Spring3 DAC, Rotel DT-6000 DAC Transport; dCS Bartók DAC/Streamer.
Preamplification: HoloAudio Serene, SunValley SV-EQ1616D phono equalizer.
Integrated amplifiers: Pass Labs INT-25, Rogue Sphinx V3.
Loudspeakers: Falcon Acoustics LS3/5a Gold Badge, GoldenEar BRX, Klipsch RP600M II.
Headphones: Sony MDR-Z1R.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest Cinnamon USB. Interconnect: Siltech…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I performed the measurements of the Rotel RA-6000 with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system. I preconditioned the amplifier by operating it at 1/8 power into 8 ohms for 30 minutes. At the end of that time, the temperature of the top-panel grilles over the heatsinks was almost too hot to touch, at 130.4°F/54.2°C. The RA-6000 needs to be well-ventilated.
Looking first at the line-level analog inputs, the Rotel RA-6000's maximum voltage gain from the loudspeaker output at 1kHz into 8 ohms was 22.14dB for the balanced input and 27.8dB for the unbalanced inputs.…
Almost five years after I submitted my review of Dynaudio's Focus 200 XD class-D active bookshelf loudspeaker—my first product review for Stereophile—word of its imminent successor, the digital Focus 10 class-D active bookshelf loudspeaker ($5500/pair), and its two larger siblings arrived via Mike Manousselis, Dynaudio North America's president, Americas. Then came the near-ubiquitous parts shortages and COVID-related slowdowns that have plagued high-end manufacturers worldwide.
More than 18 months later, the new Focus line debuted at Munich High End 2022. I recall my excitement as I…
The Focus 10's class-D modules are manufactured by Pascal, whose "robust and bullet-proof" devices are used in many PA applications; Entwistle calls the company "the biggest manufacturer you've never heard of." When Dynaudio first tried Pascal modules in their flagship Pro range, they didn't like the sound. When the company told Pascal's engineers that their modules sounded like they put a compressor on the amplifier, their engineers fessed up that they included a compressor to prevent blow-ups in PA systems. Blow-ups, however, are not an issue in studio and home situations. It took Pascal's…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way standmount active wireless streaming loudspeaker with class-D amplification, DAC, and Bluetooth remote control. Drive units: 1.1" (28mm) Cerotar soft-dome tweeter, 5.5" (140mm) Esotec+ mid/bass driver. Inputs, Primary speaker: 2 RCA analog, 1 Ethernet, 1 TosLink. 1 RCA digital (client, for interspeaker link). Outputs, Primary speaker: 1 RCA (for interspeaker S/PDIF link), 1 Sub RCA analog, 1 12V Trigger. Wireless interspeaker connection: WiSA (up to 24/96). Network: Wi-Fi, Ethernet. D/A conversion: 24/48 or 24/96 wireless; 24/192 when wired…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Active loudspeakers: Dynaudio Focus 200 XD.
Front end: Linksys Mesh router as wireless child node; Roon Nucleus+ music server; HDPlex 300 linear power supply. Cables Digital: Nordost Odin 1 and 2 (BNC), Wireworld Platinum Starlight Cat8 (Ethernet). AC: Nordost Odin 1 and 2, Valhalla 1; AudioQuest Dragon HC. Umbilical cord (HDPlex): Ghent Audio Canare.
Accessories: AudioQuest Niagara 1200 power conditioner; Nordost QK1 and QV2 AC enhancers; Stein Super Naturals and Q1 Quantum Organizer; iPhone 12 Pro.—Jason Victor Serinus