An audio engineer specializing in mastering and analog-to-digital transfers, Fine is best known for his current work on the Mercury Living Presence catalog of 300 mono and stereo LPs, most created by his father, recording engineer C. Robert (Bob) Fine, and his mother, recording producer Wilma Cozart…
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Rabbits figure frequently in chats with Tom Fine—not the little creatures per se but the holes they burrow into. Because when you question Fine about matters present and past, his encyclopedic memory and fascination with all things great and small take you down what he calls "rabbit holes."
"It's pretty amazing how far digital technology has come since my mother started CD remastering in 16/44.1," Tom says. "We don't have the budget to go back and do everything all over again; it's never going to happen. Besides, we like my mother's CD-resolution remasters. It's a shame her work couldn't have been preserved as the 24 bits that emerged from the dCS converter, but there was no storage system at the time to preserve it."
How Tom entered the business
In 1964, Wilma Cozart Fine retired to Harrison, New York (footnote 4), to better raise the family that eventually grew to…
SACD, DVD-A, & CD Players & Transports & Media Players
Editor's Note: SACD and DVD-A player ratings are based on how they sound with their respective hi-rez media, not CD.
A+
Aurender N10: $7999 with 4TB storage ★
Designed in California and manufactured in South Korea, Aurender's N10 is a computer running a modified version of the open-source Linux operating system, and is dedicated to retrieving audio files from an external NAS drive, or a drive plugged into one of its USB ports, or its internal storage, and sending the data to its Class 2 USB output port…
Digital Processors
Editor's Note: The sound of any particular CD transport/digital processor combination will be dependent on the datalink used-see "Bits is Bits?" by Christopher Dunn and Malcolm Omar Hawksford, Stereophile, March 1996, Vol. 19 No.3 (WWW). Unless mentioned, processors are limited to 32/44.1/48kHz sample rates. To be included in Class A+, a digital processor must be capable of handling DSD or 24/96 LPCM data.
A+
Ayre Acoustics QX-5 Twenty: $9950
Ayre may not be the only consumer-audio manufacturer whose digital processors have found success in pro-…
Music Surround-Sound Components (other than speakers and disc players)
A+
exaSound e38 Mk. II (balanced): $4299
The e38 was introduced in 2017 as the third-generation version of exaSound's multichannel DAC, preceded by the e18 and the e28. In 2019, exaSound introduced the e38 MkII, which replaced the ESS ES9028PRO chip of the original e38 with ESS's new ES9038PRO DAC, said to have four times as many internal paralleled DAC channels. There are also redesigned reference voltage sources and master clock power circuits as well as redesigned mainboard and output stages. Reviewing…
Two-Channel Preamplifiers
Editor's Note: Apart from the Bespoke, CAT, Placette, and Shindo, all the Class A preamplifiers offer balanced inputs and outputs. And unless noted, the preamplifiers listed do not have phono stages.
A
AVM Ovation PA 8.2: $8599 base price; $19,900 as reviewed
A modular preamplifier that can be configured in a variety of ways, the Ovation PA 8.2 prevents the listener from having to invest in unwanted features, while taking into account the ever-changing world of digital audio: As technology progresses, AVM's current digital-input card ($3395…
Two-Channel Power Amplifiers
Editor's Note: Because of the disparity between typical tube and solid-state "sounds," we have split Class A for separate power amplifiers into two subclasses. Nevertheless, even within each subclass, Class A amplifiers differ sufficiently in character that each will shine in an appropriate system. Careful auditioning with your own loudspeakers is therefore essential. Except where stated, output powers are not the specified powers but rather those we measured into an 8 ohm resistive load. All amplifiers are stereo models, except where designated.
A (…
Integrated Amplifiers & Receivers
A
Anthem STR: $4499 $$$
Anthem's solid-state STR integrated amp offers 200Wpc (into 8 ohms) of class-AB power, along with seven analog inputs—one balanced, four single-ended, and two phono (one MM, one MC). It also offers a 32-bit/192kHz D/A processor with six digital inputs—four S/PDIF (two RCA, two TosLink), one AES/EBU (XLR), and one USB. A subwoofer output is provided, but, curiously, there's no headphone output. Of interest to users with problematic listening rooms is the STR's built-in Anthem Room Correction (ARC) processor: using…
Loudspeaker Systems
Editor's Note: Class A "Loudspeakers" are sufficiently idiosyncratic and differ enough from one another that prospective customers should read Stereophile's original reviews in their entirety for descriptions of the sounds. We have therefore just listed every system or combination that at least one of Stereophile's reviewers feels, as a result of his or her experience, approaches the current state of the art in loudspeaker design. (Note that, to be eligible for inclusion in Class A, the system must be full-range—ie, feature bass extension to 20Hz. It must also be…
Subwoofers & Crossovers
A
JL Audio CR-1: $3000 ★
The CR-1 crossover has continuously variable high- and low-pass filters built around two banks of precision Linkwitz-Riley filters that can be set for 12 or 24dB/octave via. Front panel switch. Upon encountering the CR-1, LG "wondered where it had been all [his] life;" he's been using it ever since. "It's beautifully made, sonically transparent, performs a critical role in the optimal setup of subwoofers, and has ergonomic bypass and mute functions that let you immediately hear the sonic iprovements of good bass management…