The next day, Béla announced he was about to use my Audeze LCD-X headphones and AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt to play Flack's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," which he'd ripped to his laptop. "Honey," I replied, "forget about your computer. Let's listen to this in the music room. I've…
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"Roberta Flack has Lou Gehrig's disease and can no longer sing," Béla, my visiting friend, yelled from the guest bedroom. The news rekindled in me the same mixture of sadness and foreboding I get every time I read about the decline or death of an iconic musician who rose to fame during my aeonian youth.
Preparing to listen
With Giolas temporarily grounded by COVID, installation of the Vivaldi was entrusted to Definitive Audio's Gary Bruestle. We began by re-spacing a shelf on the Grand Prix Monza to accommodate three Vivaldi components plus equipment supports.
Lately, an Innuos Statement Next-Gen music server running Roon has been handling file playback on my system. I wanted to sample the Innuos proprietary playback software (which I'll discuss in a future follow-up review), but it wasn't yet equipped to work with the Vivaldi Apex DAC. Because Innuos prefers USB to Ethernet…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-box networked upsampling D/A processing system with volume control and remote. Vivaldi Apex DAC features dCS proprietary Ring DAC topology with a choice of 3MHz or 6MHz operation. Analog outputs: 1 pair balanced on XLR. Output levels: 0.2V, 0.6V, 2V, 6V RMS for full-scale input, set in the menu. Output impedance: 3 ohms. Minimum load: 600 ohms (10–100kohm recommended); 1 pair unbalanced on RCA. Output levels: 0.2V, 0.6V, 2V, 6V RMS for full-scale input, set in the menu. Output impedance: 52 ohms. Minimum load: 600 ohms (10–100k ohms recommended…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: dCS Rossini Apex DAC, Rossini Clock; Innuos Statement Next-Gen Music Server; Uptone Audio EtherREGEN with AfterDark Giesemann Emperor Double Crown Master Clock, and Nordost QNet Ethernet Switch, all powered by Nordost QSource linear power supplies (2); Small Green Computer Sonore Deluxe opticalModule, Linksys mesh router, and Arris modem, all powered by HDPlex 300 linear power supply; Apple 2017 iPad Pro.
Preamplifier: Dan D'Agostino Momentum HD.
Power amplifiers: Dan D'Agostino Progression M550 monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Wilson…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured the dCS Vivaldi Apex with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system, repeating some measurements with the higher-performance APx500. I performed the testing with the AES3 and USB inputs. The Vivaldi's AES3 input accepted data sampled at all rates up to 192kHz, and the dual-AES3 input will accept data sampled at rates up 384kHz. With the Vivaldi Apex set to USB Class 1, Apple's AudioMIDI utility indicated that the maximum sample rate for USB data was 96kHz. With it set to Class 2, the dCS processor accepted 16- and 24-bit integer data via USB sampled at all rates…
If you live in Maine, and it's wintertime, and a kind magazine editor calls offering a getaway to the Florida International Audio Expo, what do you say? In my case, it was Yes please. And so, yesterday, I arrived at the Embassy Suites Westshore in sunny Tampa, suddenly without the need for scarves and double-insulated boots, but with my usual hankering for a serious hi-fi fix. I'll be getting a three-day series of them, in fact. Lucky me.
The fourth edition of the sold-out Florida show, with almost 80 exhibit spaces, promises to be a more worldly affair than before, thanks to the…
If admiring a pair of Acora Acoustics speakers up-close inspires a sudden desire to cut some broccoli or wash the dishes, it's probably because they're handcrafted from naturally flecked granite, similar to some bespoke countertops. But there's nothing wishy-washy—or cold—about the sound of the Acoras I briefly auditioned at the Florida show. Beguiling and authoritative is more like it. In Tampa, Acora paired its brand new VRC speakers with VAC Statement 452 monoblocks ($150,000/pair), an Aurender digital front end consisting of an N30SA streamer ($25,000) and an MC20 clock ($30,000), and a…
What does the MC in MC Audiotech stand for? Marvelously Cutting-Edge? Master 'Coustician? I would've guessed Mark Conti; Conti is, after all, the founder of the Pennsylvania-based boutique brand. But the man himself told me—tongue in cheek, I reckon—that MC is actually short for Musica cordis, a Latin phrase that means "Music from the heart." Works for me, especially after I heard his latest loudspeaker, a blond beauty called the TL-12.
With this newcomer (the TL-12 made its debut at Capital Audiofest last fall), MC Audiotech has successfully married its wideband line-source drivers to a…
Remarkably, much of the Embassy Suites' 10th floor was taken up by relative newcomer Fidelity Imports, an import and distribution company started four years ago by industry veteran Steve Jain, who'd held management positions at Klipsch and Pioneer. Jain, 46, likes to move fast. After first signing three British companies in short order—Cyrus Audio (amplification), Q Acoustics (speakers), and QED Cable (duh)—he looked to other parts of the globe for further expansion. These days, his stable includes 17 brands, including Slovakia's Neo (high-end audio racks), Italy's Audia Flight (amps, preamps…
It's a personal thing, perhaps a shortcoming: I don't care for harps, having never heard a piece of harp music I found appealing. Truthfully, that didn't suddenly change when I heard French Canadian harpist Isabeau Corriveau perform in the Embassy Suites room outfitted with hi-fi gear from On a Higher Note, distributor Philip O'Hanlon's company. (O’Hanlon can be seen on the right in the photo.) But Corriveau is a fetching presence and a helluva musician, and it was impressive to listen to her play along to A Leap of Faith, a vinyl disc of her own music. With eyes closed, I had a hard time…