Sidebar 2: Recordings in the Round
Stravinsky: Music for Violin, Vols. 1 & 2
Vol.1: Pastorale; Excerpts from L'Oiseau de Feu; Chanson russe from Mavra; Danse russe from Pétrouchka; Suite from Pulcinella; Duo Concertant; Excerpts from Le Rossignol; "La Marseillaise" (de Lisle)
Ilya Gringolts, violin; Peter Laul, piano
BIS 2245 (SACD/CD).
Vol.2: Pastorale; Ballad; Suite Italienne from Pulcinella; Divertimento from The Fairy's Kiss; Apollo's Variation from Apollon Musagète; Violin Concerto; Elégie; Tango (arr. Dushkin)
Ilya Gringolts, violin; Peter Laul, piano;…
Virtually all of the active components in your system—DACs, preamplifiers, power amplifiers—work by modulating the DC output of their power supplies with an AC music signal. Surely, then, the more perfect your household AC is, the more perfect your audio system's output will be. Analogies abound—to dirty water used in distilling good whiskey, to inferior thread used to weave fine fabrics—and all amount to the same thing: you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
The problem with that thinking, like so much of what passes for thought in high-end audio, is that it's qualitative.…
Tuesday, November 6, Basil Audio (22183 Villa Oaks Lane, Saratoga, CA 95070) is holding its first annual "It's About the Music" event. The open house will begin at 10am, with demonstrations available until 10pm. Representatives from Focal, Naim Audio, and McIntosh Laboratory will be on hand to demonstrate their products and answer questions. Manufacturer presentations will take place 7–9pm.
Among the highlights will be the first North American demonstration of Melco's N100 Digital Music Library. Focal's complete headphone range will be demonstrated, including the Utopia, Clear, Elear, and…
By the time I arrived in Rockville, MD—a personal commitment kept me away until around 2:00pm on Friday— Capital Audiofest 2018 was already in full swing, with brisk traffic in the halls of the Rockville Hilton, and standing room only in some of the exhibits.
My first stop was the room sponsored by a new loudspeaker manufacturer called IMC Audio. Designed by Paul Paddock and manufactured in North Wales, PA, the IMC Forty-10 ($21,000/pair factory-direct is the projected price) uses an array of "bending-wave" (as opposed to cone-and-dome) dynamic drivers to handle frequencies between 100Hz…
Listening to music in the Emia Labs room was one of those moments when I was reminded of how very little I know—that and how distressingly easy it has become for me to acclimate to different levels of audio goodness when confronted with different levels of build quality and design ingenuity. Earlier in my first day at Capital Audiofest 2018, I had heard other things I had thought were very good—and they were, in their way. But listening through the Emia system to recordings I know well—especially LP reissues from the Electric Recording Company, which co-sponsored the Emia room—was an…
It's all happening on Thursday November 8. Starting at 5pm, Ohio retailer Audible Elegance (9464 Montgomery Rd, Montgomery, OH 45242) will presenting the brand-new ND555 audio streamer from Naim and the new Totem Element Metal loudspeakers powered by a complete Naim 500 series preamp and amp. From 5–10:00pm, Audio Visual Solutions Group/WOM (400 South Rampart Boulevard #180, Las Vegas, NV 89145) are presenting what they call "the finest Audio Systems in the world," featuring amplification and source components from Naim Audio and loudspeakers from Focal. Attendees are requested to RSVP to (…
Of the three systems I heard at CAF 2018 that had been assembled by retailer Tenacious Sound—I think there were eight in all—the one that sang through a pair of TAD ME-1 loudspeakers ($14,995/pair) was the most impressive. I requested some Richard Thompson, and my guitar-pickin' friend Lenny Mayeaux, whose day job is with manufacturer Audience AV, put on "Vincent Black Lightning." It was sonically wide-open—the system would not have wanted an atom more treble, but it was smooth and fine and inviting just as it was—and musically soul-refreshing: I almost cried. (If he had played "Beeswing," I…
Friday November 9, starting at 6pm, AnalogPlanet editor Michael Fremer will appear at Ovation A/V (6609 East 82nd Street, Indianapolis, IN 46250) as part of the retailer's two-day 31st Anniversary event. Mikey will be playing vinyl and files from vinyl, telling stories, and answering questions. Ovation promises big 31st Anniversary savings, free T-shirts, and a drawing for a pair of Klipsch Heritage powered loudspeakers.
Visit https://ovationav.com/ to enter to win the Klipsch speakers and RSVP to attend the event by calling the store at (317) OVATION.
When I reviewed PS Audio's PerfectWave P10 Power Plant AC Regenerator,1 I found that it significantly improved the way music sounded through my system. I bought one. The main limitations I found with the P10 were its power—a maximum continuous load of 1200 volt-amps (VA, footnote 1)—and the number of AC outlets it provides: 10. When driving a 4 ohm load at even half its rated power, one PS Audio BHK 300 monoblock consumes 800W—and while 10 outlets sounds like a lot, I've run out more than once.
PS Audio's DirectStream Power Plant 20 AC regenerator (for short, they call it the P20)…
The P20's touchscreen display is large. The menu's most comprehensive screen shows four meters, indicating the power being used by connected devices, the total harmonic distortion in the incoming waveform (currently about 3.5% in my system) and in the outgoing waveforms (currently an impressive 0.2%), as well as an Improvement Factor, which I presume is the ratio of those two numbers.
Let's not forget that the P20 doesn't just improve the quality of the power your system sees; it also protects your system from destructive electrical power, such as voltage surges. The owner's manual…
