search

Recording of January 2021: <I>Rainbow Sign</I>

Ron Miles: Rainbow Sign
Ron Miles, cornet; Jason Moran, piano; Bill Frisell, electric guitar; Thomas Morgan, bass; Brian Blade, drums.
Blue Note (CD, 2LPs). Ron Miles, prod.; Colin Bricker, eng.
Performance *****
Sonics *****

If Ron Miles lived in New York instead of Denver, he would have become a jazz star long ago. With Rainbow Sign, his 12th album as a leader but his debut on a major label (at age 57), now's his time—or should be anyway.

Miles led the same stellar quintet on his last record, I Am a Man, in 2017, and he has played with these musicians several…

KEF LS50 Meta loudspeaker

KEF's LS50 loudspeaker was introduced in 2012 to celebrate the English manufacturer's 50th anniversary. Usually, anniversary models are large, floorstanding "statement" designs with a price to match, but the LS50 was a minimonitor, priced at $1500/pair. I reviewed the Anniversary Edition LS50 in December 2012 (footnote 1), writing that it was rare to find a loudspeaker that offers this combination of clarity and neutrality and concluding that within its limits of dynamic range and bass extension, the KEF LS50 "will provide Class A sound for those with small rooms."

Sam Tellig agreed with…

KEF LS50 Meta loudspeaker Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Description: Two-way, reflex-loaded, stand-mounted loudspeaker. Drive-units: 12th-generation Uni-Q driver array with 1" (25mm) vented aluminum-dome tweeter, 5.25" (130mm) magnesium/aluminum alloy-cone woofer. Crossover frequency: 2.1kHz. Frequency range (–6dB): 47Hz–45kHz. Frequency response: 79Hz–28kHz, ±3dB. Sensitivity: 85dB/2.83V/m. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms. Minimum impedance: 3 ohms. Harmonic distortion (second and third harmonics, 90dB, 1m): <0.4%, 175Hz–20kHz; <0.1% 300Hz–10kHz. Amplifier requirements: 40–100W. Maximum output: 106dB.
Dimensions…

KEF LS50 Meta loudspeaker Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Analog source: Linn Sondek LP12 turntable with Lingo power supply, Linn Ekos tonearm, Linn Arkiv B cartridge, Channel D Seta L phono preamplifier.
Digital sources: Roon Nucleus+ file server; Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP universal player; PS Audio PerfectWave DirectStream, MBL N31, and Okto Research dac8 Stereo D/A processors, Ayre Acoustics QA-9 A/D converter.
Preamplifier: MBL Noble Line N11.
Power amplifiers: Parasound Halo JC 1+ monoblocks.
Integrated amplifier: NAD M10.
Loudspeakers: Bowers & Wilkins 705 Signature, KEF LS50, Marten…

KEF LS50 Meta loudspeaker Measurements

Sidebar 3: Measurements

I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the KEF LS50's frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 for the nearfield and spatially averaged room responses. My estimate of the LS50 Meta's voltage sensitivity was 84.5dB(B)/2.83V/m, which is the same as that of the original LS50 and within experimental error of the specified 85dB.

The solid trace in fig.1 shows how the Meta's impedance magnitude varies with frequency. Below 200Hz, it is almost identical to that of the 2012 LS50 (fig.2, solid trace), but…

"Truthiness" in hi-fi

Stereophile has discussed the pandemic occasionally because of its relevance to our industry and our listening lives. But for the most part, I've steered the magazine away from politics and current events, and I will continue to do so. In this essay, though, I will engage, glancingly, not with politics or current events but with an idea that's drawn from them. I'm doing it to make a point about audio.

It's hard to believe that it's been 15 years since Stephen Colbert—then of The Colbert Report (pronounced in the French style)—coined the word "truthiness" to describe statements that feel…

Tim de Paravicini, RIP

Editor's Note: This article will be updated to add new remembrances as they come in.

Dammit! Tim de Paravicini, the Baron as he was known, passed from this mortal coil on December 17th, 2020. I loved the guy. His deep, steeped, sharp-elbowed engineering bona fides in matters of electronics, cars, planes, and life earned him plaudits from all over the world.

Tim was as tall as a Redwood tree, towering over friends and acquaintances at shows. He was also never short of an opinion. His social graces online, of which there were none, created a good deal of heat and frustration. If he…

Marantz Model 30 integrated amplifier

DeKalb, Illinois, 1971: When I was in college, my anthropology professor would invite me and a few of his other favored students to his house for fondue parties. We sat on shag carpet around a glass-topped coffee table, drank wine, and dipped vegetables in molten cheese. The stated purpose of this rite was to discuss Margaret Mead or Franz Boas, but that was obviously a ruse. The gathering was really about excessive pot smoking accompanied by coughing fits and the telling of ridiculous stories, all while playing LPs on his top-of-the-line Dual turntable/record-changer.

I can't remember…

Marantz Model 30 integrated amplifier Page 2

The Model 30's phono stage sounded awake and luxuriously detailed with the $755 Shibata-tipped 2M Black. I wondered how it would fare with the $199 Shibata-tipped Audio Technica AT-VM95SH.

The next record I played, Black Uhuru's Sly & Robbie– produced 1981 album, Red (LP, Mango ZCM 9625), demonstrated that, with the right phono stage and record player, a modest cartridge like the AT-VM95SH is able to play some recordings more effectively than middle- or top-shelf cartridges. In this case, I thought the Audio-Technica's distribution of force, bass weight, transient slam, and…

Marantz Model 30 integrated amplifier Marantz SACD 30n networked SACD/CD player

Sidebar 1: Marantz SACD 30n networked SACD/CD player

Marantz offers a matching networked SACD player–DAC, the SACD 30n, which is designed and, according to Marantz, "precisely tuned" to integrate with the Model 30 amplifier. This new streamer-radio-headphone amp–CD player was created to sit handsomely atop the cool-running Model 30, making a complete (except for speakers) audio system designed to add an aura of worldly sophistication to any college professor's home.

I installed the SACD 30n for fun and to get a brief feel for the complete Marantz "30" experience. Setup…