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I'm a music lover first, not the most Type A of audiophiles. Sure, I clean my records, but I'm not obsessive about keeping them immaculate like my audiophile father is; he cleans each record ultrasonically before it lands on his turntable platter, writing the date of each record's last bath and which cleaning machine he used on the outside of a fresh plastic inner sleeve before sliding the LP back inside. I don't think his cleaning schedule is rigid—he has far too many LPs for that—but it's regular. Whenever I visit with LPs in tow, they must pass through the record-cleaning machine (RCM)…
Sidebar: Specifications
Description: Electronic record cleaning machine with motorized turntable platter, built-in fluid tank and suction turbine system, and aluminum record clamp. Turntable speed: 30rpm. Maximum noise level: 57dB. Suction system tank content: 450ml. Power consumption: 18W in cleaning mode, 175W in suction mode, <1W in standby mode.
Dimensions: 12.9" (330mm) W × 9.8" (250mm) H × 11.8" (300mm) D. Weight: 15.4lb (7kg).
Finish: High-gloss black acrylic with chrome and stainless steel accents.
Serial number of unit reviewed: ESL203AB000171. Manufactured in…
As soon as I entered the room hosted by distributor / reseller Distribution Phonographe's room, I thought, "where's all the gear?" There wasn't much around, and of the few items that were around, one was so small as to be nearly imperceptible at first glance.
The first component to hit my eye was the one sitting front and center against the far wall, under a banner that contained the only word I saw at the show with an umlaut over one of its vowels. That word was brand name—Thöress—and the umlaut is a clue to the country of origin: Germany. Thöress is also the family…
Beautiful strains of music lured me into the Audiophile Experts room, where the song "Göttingen," written in 1964 by French chanteuse Barbara (real name Monique Andrée Serf) as an ode to the German city by the same name, was playing. As well as having become a hit in her native country, the song has been credited as having helped improve relations between France and Germany in the years following the Second World War. Barbara called the song "a hymn to Franco-German reconciliation".
It's a melancholy song, sung in a style reminiscent of Edith Piaf. Along with vocals, it includes…
Hygge might not be the first word that comes to mind when contemplating the Primare PRE35 Prisma preamplifier, but in Limhamn, Sweden, that is how Primare likes to describe their products. It means "cozy," and it's a very important concept in the Nordic countries, almost a way of life. Another term that appears in Primare's product descriptions is lagom, which loosely translates as "not too little, not too much—just right."
For me, none of this is lost in translation. I'm all for folksy adjectives for high-tech equipment. After spending hygge time with the new PRE35 Prisma preamplifier, I…
Upstairs
I have three separate audio systems, at three price levels. This allows me to introduce a component under review into a matching system, where components complement each other harmoniously and musically.
What I had been calling my reference system, I am now calling the upstairs system. This system is built around the Wilson Audio Sasha DAWs, which I reviewed in December 2019, driven by the mighty McIntosh MC462 solid state stereo amplifier, which I reviewed in April 2019. Phono stage and preamplifier are tubed, from Audio Research. The upstairs system is where I…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Streaming D/A processor/preamplifier. Digital inputs: four TosLink (supports up to 24/192), two RCA (supports up to 24/192), one USB-A (supports up to 24/192 and up to DSD128), one USB-B (supports up to 32/768 and up to DSD256). Analog line inputs: three pairs unbalanced (RCA), two pairs balanced (XLR). Analog outputs: one pair unbalanced (RCA), one pair unbalanced fixed-volume line-out (RCA), two pairs balanced (XLR). Digital output: one pair (RCA). Connectivity: two Ethernet LAN ports, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi antennas. Streaming: AirPlay, Bluetooth,…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: VPI HW-40 turntable, VPI 12" Fatboy tonearm, Pro-Ject Classic EVO turntable, Lyra Etna cartridge, Ortofon Bronze Cadenza cartridge, Sumiko Amethyst cartridge.
Digital sources: MacBook Air running Qobuz, Bricasti M1SE DAC, Musical Fidelity M1 CDT transport, Pro-Ject CD Box RS2 T transport.
Preamplifiers: Audio Research Corporation REF3SE phono preamplifier, Audio Research Corporation REF6SE preamplifier.
Power amplifiers: McIntosh MC275 VI stereo tube amplifier, McIntosh MC462 Quad Balanced stereo amplifier.
Loudspeakers:…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured the Primare PRE35 with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system, repeating some tests with the magazine's higher-performance APx500 system. Looking first at the analog inputs, the balanced and single-ended line input impedances are specified, respectively, at 30k ohms and 15k ohms. I measured, for the balanced inputs, 29.6k ohms from 20Hz to 20kHz, and for the unbalanced inputs, 14.8k ohms at 20Hz and 1kHz and 13k ohms at 20kHz.
The maximum gain at the balanced outputs was 16.7dB for the balanced inputs and 22.75dB for the single-ended inputs. There are…
Register to win a Cleer Audio SCENE Water Resistant Bluetooth Speaker (value $99.99) we are giving away.
"The SCENE Water Resistant Bluetooth speaker is portable and supports up to 12hrs of playback. IPX7 waterproof rated, giving you a high-quality music experience for any adventure. Scene features a digital amplifier, dual 48mm drivers and passive radiators bring the beats."
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