Description: Dedicated audio server running Fedora Linux. Contains an Intel i7 processor with 16GB RAM, up to 24TB user-provided/ installed SSD. Digital data inputs: Gigabit Ethernet (RJ45), two USB3-A for data discs, dual USB-A for external ripper, two servicing ports, BNC TTL 75 ohm for word clock. Digital audio out: Direct stream Ethernet (RJ45) to streamer; USB 2.0 outputs PCM to 32/768, DoP to DSD512, Native DSD to DSD512; S/PDIF (RCA and BNC) outputs PCM to 24/192, DoP to DSD64; AES3 outputs PCM to 24/192, DoP to DSD64; I2S HDMI and I2S RJ45 outputs PCM to…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: dCS Rossini SACD/CD transport, Rossini DAC, and Rossini Clock; Synology 5-bay 1019+ NAS; Roon Nucleus+ music server, Uptone Audio etherREGEN, Small Green Computer Sonore opticalModules (2) and Deluxe opticalModule, Linksys routers (2), and Arris modem, all powered by HDPlex 300 four-component linear power supplies (3); Apple 2017 iPad Pro and 2017 MacBook Pro laptop with 2.8GHz Intel i7, SSD, 16GB RAM.
Preamplifier: Dan D'Agostino Momentum HD.
Power amplifiers: Dan D'Agostino Progression monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Wilson Audio…
Lately I've been hearing stories about people getting back into hi-fi, often from the people themselves. Some are buying new gear, but others have dug out and dusted off older equipment. Demand for electronics repair services was surging even before the pandemic. Once it struck, once and future audiophiles stuck at home plumbed their basements, attics, and storage units and pulled out old hi-fi components, hoping to resurrect them, only to find they weren't working, or not well.
Should they get 'em fixed?
There's much to consider: The type, age, quality, and condition of the…
The made-in-Switzerland Stenheim Alumine Three floorstanding loudspeaker sells for $32,900/pair. It is not only the most expensive component I've reviewed for Stereophile; it costs more than 10 times (!) as much as my $3000/pair reference Falcon Acoustics Gold Badge LS3/5a speaker. So naturally I wondered: Will it sound 10 times better? And if it does sound 10 times better, what might the nature of the improvements be?
The Alumine Three (footnote 1) is a slender, floorstanding speaker measuring 41.3" high, 9.8" wide, and just 13" deep. Because it contains four sturdy drivers bolted to a…
According to Panchard, "the listener should form an equilateral triangle with the speakers, or an isosceles triangle where the speakers are closer together than they are to the listener. This will likely result in the most faithful stereo image." He added, "The distance from the back wall should be between 18 and 60 inches."
In my room, the Stenheim Alumine Threes appeared to take up less cubic space and felt smaller and less bulky than the Harbeth M30.2s (on stands) or my floorstanding DeVore Fidelity O/93s. My partner, "bb," said, "They make your room look bigger ... and nicer." I…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: 3-way floorstanding speaker with two 8" coated paper-cone woofers, a 5.25" paper-cone midrange driver and a silk-dome tweeter with neodymium magnets, enclosed in an aluminum cabinet with two chambers, one with laminar-flow front port. Frequency range: 32Hz–35kHz. Sensitivity: 93dB/2.83V/m, half space. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms (minimum 3 ohms). Power handling: 150W RMS, 300W peak. Minimum recommended amplifier power: 10W.
Dimensions: 41.3" (1050mm) H × 9.8" (250mm) W × 13" (330mm) D including adjustable feet. Weight: 154lb (70kg).
Finish:…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: Dr. Feickert Analogue Blackbird turntable with Schick 10.5" tonearm, Koetsu Rosewood Signature Platinum, My Sonic Lab Ultra Eminent Ex, Hana Umami moving coil cartridges; DS Audio DS003 optical phono cartridge (with equalizer/energizer).
Digital sources: Roon Nucleus+ music server; HoloAudio May (Level 3) D/A processor; dCS Bartók DAC/Streamer with Mosaic control app.
Preamplification: Lundahl LL1931Ag step-up transformer, Kitsuné KTE LCR-1 MK4 and EAR Phono Classic phono stages; Rogue Audio RP-7 linestage.
Power amplifiers:…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Stenheim Alumine Three's frequency response in the farfield and an Earthworks QTC-40 mike for the nearfield responses. (I measured serial number 20030028.) Owing to the Alumine Three's weight—approximately 154lb—I wasn't able to lift the loudspeaker as high off the ground as I like to do for the farfield measurements. As this meant that the reflections of the speaker's output from the floor were closer in time to the direct sound, I had to window the impulse response data more…
Register to win one of two Rhino Déjà vu 50th Anniversary Deluxe D2C Vinyl Editions (value $250.00 each), or a limited edition 16"x20" Henry Diltz photo signed by all four members of CSNY (value: $1,500/priceless) we are giving away.
According to Rhino:
This version is only available for purchase on the official CSNY store and Rhino Store, and features the remastered original album and four additional LPs of demos, outtakes, early versions, and alternate versions of songs recorded during the Déjà vu sessions.
Presented as a 5 LP set in a beautiful box with a 12 x 12…
New York City is a dream you can't have—glitz, glamor, grime, too much to take in from within, too much to understand from afar. It's a metropolitan manifestation of the Heisenberg principle, its nature changing with how you look at it. No matter how you try, you can't see the forest for the skyscrapers.
Seen from the distance of my Illinois adolescence, New York was Woody Allen movies and Barney Miller reruns, intellectuals and petty criminals, the intoxicating and the incomprehensible. It was a rock'n'roll city, the rock'n'roll city, home of Kiss (my first love), then the Ramones, then…