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Analog Corner #314: OMA K3 turntable & Schröder tonearm

Photo: Vincent Dixon

If you're going to spend a year-plus in COVID lockdown, it doesn't hurt to have a million dollars' worth of turntables keeping you company, right? That's been my good fortune. Sounds like a roomful, but it's only three: the SAT XD1, the TechDAS Air Force Zero, and the OMA K3 ($360,000, footnote 1).

You'll find this issue's cover girl either strikingly beautiful or homely. Visitor reactions fall strongly into one of those two camps, with nothing in between. I love the looks. Whatever your opinion, the K3's visual distinctiveness cannot be denied. The innards…

Analog Corner #314: OMA K3 turntable & Schröder tonearm Page 2

Atmospheric pressure maintains a special grade of viscous oil at bearing height within the pressurized inverted bearing upon which the 14", 30lb platter rides.

The "high tech" bearing sleeve, which is fabricated from a newer, more advanced material related to PTFE (think Teflon), requires no lubrication. The bearing is not of the typical polished variety but instead has a microscopically rough surface, because the Teflon sleeve is designed to ablate under pressure and shed microscopic particles that then become embedded in the bearing shaft, producing a smooth, durable mating surface…

Antipodes Audio K50 music server

On the face of it, playing and streaming digital music files is a straightforward process. You direct data from various sources—some local, some "in the cloud"—perhaps via a reclocker/signal conditioner to a digital-to-analog converter (DAC). "And the music comes out here."

Not so simple. Bits, it seems, aren't bits, or not only. A digital datastream is also an analog signal. Noise and other signal errors endemic to multi-function computers not designed primarily for music playback can affect how music sounds. And then there are the practical issues of setting up and connecting…

Antipodes Audio K50 music server Page 2

"It takes a K50 about 2 months to burn in properly," he told me. "It sounds too thin and sharp for the first 200 hours. If you turn it off for any length of time, it will take about 3 days to get back to optimum performance."

Ranking outputs in order of sound quality, Jenkins greatly prefers the K50's I2S, AES3 (aka AES/EBU), and S/PDIF digital outputs to USB. "You really don't want to use USB," he said. "I could bore you with why the sound quality of USB has been negatively impacted by the evolution of the USB standard, but I won't." What did not bore me was the prospect of comparing…

Antipodes Audio K50 music server Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

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…

Antipodes Audio K50 music server Associated Equipment

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…

Re-Tales #13: Getting your hi-fi fix(ed)

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…

Stenheim Alumine Three loudspeaker

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…

Stenheim Alumine Three loudspeaker Page 2

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…

Stenheim Alumine Three loudspeaker Specifications

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:…