Description: Three-way, acoustic suspension, standmount loudspeaker with three-position Mid-HF attenuation switch and included metal-frame slant-riser base. Driver complement: 1" aluminum-dome tweeter; 4" pulp-paper cone midrange driver; 10" pulp-paper cone woofer. Crossover frequencies: 380Hz and 2850Hz (both 2nd-order). Frequency response: 42Hz–20kHz ±3dB. Low-frequency extension: –10dB at 32Hz. In-room sensitivity: 90.5dB/2.83V/m. Free-field sensitivity: 87.5dB/2.83V/m. Power handling: 200W, 800W peak. Recommended amplification: 20–200W. In-room maximum SPL:…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: Kuzma Stabi R turntable with 4Point tonearm, Denon DL-103 phono cartridge.
Preamplification: Tavish Audio Design Adagio phono.
Integrated amplifiers: Ayre EX-8 2.0, Parasound Hint 6 Halo, Schiit Audio Ragnarok 2.
Power amplifiers: LKV Research Veros PWR+.
Loudspeakers: DeVore Fidelity O/96, Spendor BC1.
Cables: Interconnect: Shindo Laboratory, Triode Laboratory Spirit II. Speaker: 8' pair AudioQuest Robin Hood. Digital: AudioQuest Forest USB. AC: Triode Wire Labs Obsession NCF, manufacturers' own.
Accessories: Pro-…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the KLH Model Five's frequency response in the farfield. The manual doesn't specify a vertical listening axis, but with the loudspeaker sitting on its Slant Riser Base, it appears that the tweeter axis will be typical for a seated listener. My reference axis for the measurements was therefore in line with the tweeter. I used an Earthworks QTC-40 mike for the nearfield responses and Dayton Audio's DATS V2 system to measure the impedance.
KLH specifies the Model Five's free-field…
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…
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…
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…
"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…
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…
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…