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How many who love Bernstein's "popular" music—everything from On the Town and West Side Story to the final Arias and Barcarolles—have actually spent time with his three "serious," gravely introspective symphonies? Perhaps the best way to do so in up-to-date sound is to dive into Warner Classics' superbly annotated and recorded Bernstein: The 3 Symphonies from Antonio Pappano and the Orchestra, Chorus, and "Voci Bianche" of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. Together with excellent soloists, Pappano presents the three symphonies on two CDs, with options of a 24/96 download and hi-rez…
I am finding hard to grasp that it is almost 50 years since I first went to a hi-fi show. That show, held at London's Olympia exhibition center, was notable both for Yamaha's launch of a loudspeaker with a speaker diaphragm shaped like a human ear, and for being the first time I saw the drop-dead gorgeous Transcriptors Hydraulic Reference turntable, which was later featured in the film A Clockwork Orange. The most recent show I attended was AXPONA, held last April in the Chicago suburb of Schaumburg. There I saw no ear-shaped drive-units, but the final room I visited featured sound that the…
Regarding the Centaur II 500's reproduction of low frequencies, even when the speaker had relatively limited extension—such as the Dynaudio Special Forty stand-mount I reviewed in September 2018—there was a surprisingly satisfying combination of weight and control. For example, when Jaco Pastorius drops down to a detuned low F and C at the start of "Overture—Cotton Avenue," from Joni Mitchell's Don Juan's Reckless Daughter (AIFF file, 24-bit/192kHz needle drop from LP, Asylum K63003), I didn't feel I was missing too much music with the Dynaudios. (And yes, I know—no one but a reviewer is…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid-state stereo power amplifier. Inputs: 1 pair unbalanced (RCA), 1 pair balanced (XLR), 1 pair Direct (XLR), 12V trigger (3.5mm jack), control (USB). Outputs: 2 pairs speaker binding posts. Power output: 500Wpc into 8 ohms (27dBW), 1000Wpc into 4 ohms (27dBW), 1600Wpc into 2 ohms (26dBW). Frequency response: 10Hz–100kHz, +1/–0.5dB. Voltage gain: 26dB (balanced & RCA), 14dB (Direct). THD+N: <0.05% at 1kHz, rated power. Noise: <70µV (500kHz bandwidth). Signal/noise: 116dB ref. 250W. Input impedance: 100k ohms unbalanced, 200k ohms…
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+ music 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: Bricasti Design M15, Lamm Industries M1.2 Reference (monoblocks).
Loudspeakers: Dynaudio Special Forty, Tidal Audio Akira, Wilson Audio Specialties Alexia Series 2.
Cables: Digital:…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured the Constellation Performance Centaur II 500 using my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"). Before I test an amplifier, I precondition it with both channels driving a 1kHz tone at one-third power into 8 ohms for an hour. At the end of that time, the Constellation's enclosure was hottest toward the rear of the top panel, at 101.3°F (38.5°C).
The voltage gain at 1kHz from the speaker terminals into 8 ohms measured 25.9dB for both balanced and unbalanced signals, and 12dB for the Direct input. All sets of inputs…
Those concerned that audio engineers on the whole are a meek lot, drawn to our hobby for its lack of physical mayhem, have clearly never met Jeffrey Jackson. The last time I saw him, he was wielding a rock the size of a small gravestone, applying it to the lock on a recalcitrant door in a series of blows that made me fear for the very fabric of reality. That this happened in glinty daylight in an industrial park with a steady stream of cars going by merely added to the sense of danger. Those concerned that motorists on the whole are lacking in vigilance would have had their fears confirmed:…
Electronics were all by Experience Music: a single-ended amp using French R120 indirectly heated triode tubes as output devices; an LCR phono stage; and a passive autoformer volume control. The source was a Saskia idler-drive turntable from Win Tinnon Audio, of Alabama, with a Thomas Schick tonearm and a newish Ortofon G-style SPU pickup head.
Jeffrey put on an album by the late R.L. Burnside, a country-blues singer and guitarist. A repeated acoustic-guitar phrase appeared from the direction of the speakers—an up-tempo, rhythmically driving sound that seemed physically whole and real,…
In 2015, the venerable Canadian audio company NAD introduced its soon-to-be-popular D 3020 integrated amplifier ($499), which combined 30Wpc output, streaming capability, and an onboard DAC in a slick, contoured case. NAD's latest D/A integrated also smartly combines trend with functionality, lifestyle convenience with technological advancement. The C 328 Hybrid Digital amplifier ($549) goes its older, smaller sibling a couple steps better in features, while reverting to NAD's traditional look: an unfancy box finished in a dark shade of matte gray with subtle white lettering and logo. Like…
Out of the gate, the C 328, like many, didn't cotton to Jackie's bag. Onto the platter of the Thorens I dropped Bluesnik, from 1961 (LP, Blue Note BLP 4067)—the sound was weak, thin, and musically lacked thrust and commitment. Overall tone was solid and resolution very strong, but there was no meat on the bones, no flesh-and-blood bodies blowing the tunes behind these hard bop notes. A cardinal sin: the NAD didn't let the collective genius of Freddie Hubbard, Kenny Drew, Doug Watkins, and Pete La Roca shine; instead, it clothed their majesty in ill-fitting clothes.
I've been on a major…