Digital Sources: dCS Paganini SACD/CD transport & Scarlatti clock & Rossini DAC; Linksys router with two TP-Link gigabit Ethernet media converters and multimode duplex fiber-optic cable; Intel NUC7i7BNH with 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD running Roon; Apple MacBook Pro computer with Intel i7, SSD, 8GB RAM; external hard drives, USB sticks, iPad Pro.
Preamplifiers: Audio Research REF 6, Lamm Industries Reference L2.1.
Power Amplifiers: Dan D'Agostino Master Audio Systems Progression monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Wilson Audio Specialties Alexia 2.
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured the Esoteric N-01 with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"), using both the Audio Precision's AES/EBU digital output and USB data sourced from my MacBook Pro running on battery power with Pure Music 3.0 playing WAV and AIFF test-tone files. Apple's USB Prober utility identified the Esoteric N-01 as both the "N-01" and "ESOTERIC USB AUDIO DEVICE" from "TEAC Corporation," its serial number as "0 (none)," and confirmed that its USB port operated in the optimal isochronous asynchronous mode. Apple's AudioMIDI utility…
A highlight of my visit to AXPONA, held last April in the Chicago suburb of Schaumburg, was the Dynaudio room, where the two-way, stand-mounted Special Forty loudspeakers ($2999/pair) were being driven by a tubed Octave integrated amplifier. "The stereo image was superb," I wrote in my show report; "even more impressive [were] the solidity and believability of the softly struck bass drum that punctuates the Ramirez Misa Criola." I concluded that this dem "illustrated how matching a relatively small speaker to a smallish room can produce optimal and excellent sound quality."
As its name…
The 1/3-octave bass-warble tones on Editor's Choice sounded powerful down to the 50Hz band, with the 40Hz warble a little lower in level than the bands above them, and the 32Hz warble exaggerated by the lowest mode in my room. The 25 and 20Hz warbles weren't audible at normal listening levels. The half-step–spaced tonebursts on Editor's Choice spoke cleanly above 63Hz; Dynaudio claims that the Special Forty's woofer offers low levels of distortion and, given the lack of audible "doubling" with this track, I'm inclined to believe them. However, some slight emphasis was audible between 200 and…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way, reflex-loaded, stand-mounted loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1.1" (28mm) Esotar Forty soft-dome tweeter, 6.7" (170mm) MSP (magnesium-silicate-polymer) cone woofer. Crossover: first-order, at 2kHz. Frequency response: 41Hz–23kHz, ±3dB. Sensitivity: 86dB/2.83V/m. Nominal impedance: 6 ohms. Maximum amplification: 200Wpc.
Dimensions: 14.2" (360mm) H by 7.8" (198mm) W by 12.1" (307mm) D. Weight: 17.9 lb (8.1kg).
Finish: Grey Birch High Gloss, Red Birch High Gloss.
Serial numbers of units reviewed: 03988517 & '18, "Made in Denmark."…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Source: Linn Sondek LP12 turntable with Lingo power supply, Linn Ekos tonearm, Linn Arkiv B cartridge.
Digital Sources: Roon Nucleus+ file server; Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP universal player; PS Audio PerfectWave DirectStream D/A converter; Ayre Acoustics QA-9 USB A/D converter.
Preamplification: Channel D Seta L phono preamplifier.
Power Amplifiers: Constellation Centaur II 500, Lamm Industries M1.2 Reference monoblocks.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest Vodka (Ethernet), Canare (15', AES/EBU), DH Labs (1m, AES/EBU), Esperanto Audio (S/PDIF…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Dynaudio Special Forty's frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 for the nearfield and spatially averaged room responses.
The Special Forty's voltage sensitivity is specified as 86dB(B)/2.83V/m; my estimate was a little lower, at 84.4dB/2.83V/m. Specified as a nominal 6 ohm load, the Special Forty's impedance drops below 6 ohms between 125 and 320Hz, with a minimum magnitude of 4.9 ohms at 178Hz (fig.1). However, the impedance remains above 8 ohms for…
No violinist is more equipped to perform the music of Krzysztof Penderecki than Anne-Sophie Mutter. The composer dedicated his Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No.2, Metamorphosen (1992–1996), to her after hearing her perform at a young age and then conducting her in Prokoviev's First Violin Concerto in 1988. Mutter subsequently recorded Metamorphosen with Penderecki conducting the London Symphony Orchestra in 1997, and she has commissioned three works from him. He, in turn, dedicated each of them to her. If anyone can be said to have Penderecki's music in their blood, it is Anne-Sophie…
Sunday, September 30, 8:30am–8:00pm, the Burning Amp Festival 2018 takes place at San Francisco's Fort Mason Center. Held annually in the fall since 2007, BAF celebrates DIY audio technology both new and old, tube and solid-state, analog and digital. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own gear—DIY amps, speakers, turntables, DACs, servers, etc—and there will be free admission to anyone bringing a DIY project.
There will be displays, demos, auction and raffle items, and freebies, plus lectures at the Firehouse, given by three prominent figures in audio engineering design: Nelson Pass…
Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade
London Symphony Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski, cond., Erich Gruenberg , solo violin.
London Phase 4 SPC-21005 (LP). Recorded September 22, 1964. Kingsway Hall, London. Marty Wargo, prod., Tony D'Amato, recording dir., Arthur Lilley, eng.
London Symphony Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski, cond., Erich Gruenberg , solo violin.
London Phase 4 SPC-21005 (LP). Recorded September 22, 1964. Kingsway Hall, London. Marty Wargo, prod., Tony D'Amato, recording dir., Arthur Lilley, eng.
This is infuriating. Along comes the performance of Scheherazade that we've been waiting for, and the powers that be at London Records decide, God knows why, to bestow upon it the dubious blessing of Phase 4 recording. The sound is positively vast and cavernous, the bass booms, the highs scream, the harp sounds like…