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Kal Rubinson loaned me his 8-channel Okto dac8 PRO so I could compare its measured performance with that of the dac8 Stereo. From the front, the PRO looks identical to the Stereo. On the back, there are four AES/EBU inputs and one USB Type B port. Apple's USB Prober utility identified the multichannel DAC as "dac8PRO" from "Okto Research" with the serial number string "000032." The firmware version was 1.3. Like the dac8 Stereo, the PRO's USB port operated in the optimal isochronous asynchronous mode, and Apple's AudioMIDI utility…

It's déjà vu all over again in New York City.

1988: The bankrupt Fear City NYC of the 1970s had given way to the go-go '80s, with many missing the fruits of the Wall Street boom. AIDS ravaged the city, unabated, and a rash of violence and crime fueled by the crack-cocaine epidemic made for a grim underbelly of urban blight and neglect.

2020: A global pandemic…

While studying for her MBA at the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia, Lichtenegger (née Krahulkova) sold vacuum tubes for her brother-in-law, Alesa Vaic, then owner of Czech Republic–based tube brand VAIC. After VAIC shuttered in 2003, Lichtenegger founded her own retail business and engaged 100-year-old tube manufacturer Tesla Vršovice to supply 300B and KT88 tubes made to her specifications. When the owner of Tesla retired, she bought the company. She christened…

While my Tavish Audio Design Adagio phono stage is being serviced, the Luxman EQ-500 phono stage has taken up residence. Where the Tavish sounds warm, liquid, and lush, the Luxman is highly…

Description: Two-channel, tubed, class-A integrated amplifier. Tube complement: two 12AX7 & two 12AT7 signal tubes, four KT88 power tubes. Inputs: five pair unbalanced line-level (RCA). Outputs: Two sets of speaker posts, 4 and 8 ohm taps. Output power: 35Wpc into 4–8 ohms (12.44–15.44dBW) Ultralinear; 18Wpc into 4–8 ohms (9.55–12.55dBW) triode. Input sensitivity: 500mV for full output. Frequency range: 10Hz–50kHz ±0.5dB/5W. Input impedance: 30k ohms. THD: <0.05%/1kHz, 5W. Signal/noise: >95dB.
Dimensions: 19 5/8" (498.47mm) W × 7" (170mm) H × 16" (…

Analog sources: Kuzma Stabi R turntable and Kuzma 4Point 11" tonearm; EMT TSD15 N MC phono cartridge, Luxman EQ-500 phono preamplifier.
Digital sources: BorderPatrol DAC SE, Asus computer.
Integrated amplifier: Cary SLI-80HS.
Loudspeakers: DeVore Fidelity O/93.
Cables: Interconnect: Shindo Laboratory, Triode Wire Labs Spirit II. Digital: Furutech GT2 Pro Series USB. Speaker: Auditorium 23. AC: Triode Wire Labs Obsession NCF power cord, manufacturers' own.
Accessories: Kuzma Plastis 65 isolation platform, IsoTek EVO3 Aquarius line…

I measured the E.A.T. E-Glo I's behavior with my Audio Precision SYS2722 (see the January 2008 "As We See It") with the amplifier in all four of its operating modes: with the output stage in triode and Ultralinear modes and from the 4 ohm and 8 ohm output-transformer taps. The amplifier preserved absolute polarity (ie, was noninverting) in all four modes. The amplifier's maximum voltage gain at 1kHz into 8 ohms depended on the mode and output tap. The highest gain was in Ultralinear mode from the 8 ohm tap, at 30.8dB. In triode mode from this tap, the gain was 30.…

He used a wind-up Victrola sitting on a shelf directly in front of the cows, just below a framed reproduction of an Alpine landscape painting. He said the music and the mountain scene relaxed the cows, causing them to give better milk. Harold played the same Gustav Mahler symphony every day. I remember how quickly each disc ended, how I had to run over and change it, and how cross he got when I played the discs in the…

Carlos Cipa is a young (b. 1990), Munich-based, classically trained pianist, drummer, composer, and producer. Correlations (on 11 pianos) is his newest album. It might not be as musically deep or edgy as it pretends to be, but the exquisite textured tones and delicate reverb from its 11 radically different pianos was all the deep content I required.…

The Silkroad Ensemble represents a specific sort of intermingling. Founded by cellist Yo-Yo Ma and named for the ancient trading route that for centuries connected Asia, East Africa, and Southern Europe for commercial and cultural exchange, the ensemble seeks to promote global understanding through the blending of artistic traditions.

There may be no more powerful…