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Whenever I do turntable-setup seminars, I complain to the participants about the lack of cartridge-pin diameter and clip-opening standards. Anyone who does their own setup has experienced it: The connection is too tight or too loose. Forcing the clip onto the pin usually results in a broken-off clip that most end users don't have the soldering skills needed to repair; in the worst case, it can even result in damage to the cartridge when you try to remove the clip from the pin. Too loose a fit may result in a plier squeeze that irreparably collapses or breaks the clip, with the same end result…
In the Standard edition, the anodes of the signal output tubes connect to resistors "in" and capacitors "out." The Special replaces the resistors with chokes. Dr. Roschkow, the designer, says that choke-loading the anodes makes conventional resistor-loaded circuits sound "lame and dull in comparison."
What about the Balanced edition? It replaces both the choke at the anode input and the capacitor at its output with center-tapped output transformers; the output transformer provides for true-balanced output (footnote 5). Other differences: In the "Balanced" version, 6S45P triodes replace…
My little corner of Brooklyn happens to have a terrific little record shop. I like it for the usual reasons: well-chosen merchandise, fair prices, fun music on the speakers while you browse. But I like it just as much because great record stores tend to resemble one another in more idiosyncratic ways, and this one has the earmarks of the great record stores of my youth. It's run by a middle-aged guy with an ambiguous past, a lawyerly knowledge of recorded music, and the uneasy charisma of a carnie, and staffed by the guy's teenage male acolytes, who comport themselves like insiders privy to…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Ayazi Mk2: Description 32-bit digital/analog converter. Digital inputs: S/ PDIF electrical on RCA, up to 24 bits and 192kHz. Asynchronous USB Type 2 and up on USB-B, up to 32 bits, 384kHz. Analog outputs: one, stereo RCA. Maximum output level: 2.0V RMS. Output impedance: 250 ohms. Frequency response: 10Hz–25kHz, ±0.5dB. S/N ratio (DC–20kHz): >112dB. THD+N (1kHz FS, 96kHz/s): 0.002%. Crosstalk: –110dB.
Dimensions: 11.4" (290mm) × 6.7" (170mm) × 3.1" (80mm). Weight: 16lb (7.2kg).
Finish: Gray.
Serial number of unit reviewed: Z200027.
Price: $…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: Garrard 301 turntable in a Box Furniture Co. plinth; Thomas Schick 12" tonearm and headshell. Technics SL-1200G turntable; Dynavector Te Kaitora Rua cartridge; Hana Umami Red cartridge; Ortofon Cadenza Bronze cartridge; Ortofon SPU Classic G cartridge; Zu/Denon DL-103 cartridge.
Digital sources: Sonnet Morpheus DAC; Denafrips Iris digital-to-digital converter; Sonore opticalRendu; Small Green Computer sonicTransporter i5 server running Roon Core.
Preamplification: Shindo Aurieges preamplifier; Sutherland Little Loco phono…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured the Ideon Ayazi mk2 with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system. I performed the testing using the Ayazi's coaxial S/PDIF input, which accepted data sampled at all rates up to 192kHz, and its USB port. I repeated some of the tests feeding data to the 3R Master Time Black Star's USB port, the data then passed to the Ayazi's USB port. Apple's AudioMIDI utility revealed that the Ayazi's and Black Star's USB ports accepted 16- and 24-bit integer data sampled at all rates from 44.1kHz to 384kHz. Apple's USB Prober app identified both the Ideon products as "AYAZI…
Like many fans of music on vinyl, I've grown accustomed to waiting for preordered records. For several years, record-pressing plants have been oversubscribed; there just aren't enough presses to keep up with demand. When vinyl declined in the 1980s—replaced first by cassette tape and then by CD—old presses were abandoned, falling to rust and disrepair before the vinyl revival, leaving the industry with limited capacity. Then a February 2020 fire destroyed the Apollo/Transco factory, one of just two major suppliers of the lacquers used to make most new records. The impact of the lacquer…
The first high-end audio show in the Pacific Northwest (PNW), the Pacific Audio Fest, runs Friday–Sunday, July 28–30, in the Doubletree Hilton near SEATAC airport. Opening times are 10am–6pm Friday and Saturday, 10am–4pm Sunday.
With temperatures forecast into the 90s for the entire show, you can bet that more than a few attendees who are staying at the show will spend some time cooling off in the pool. Or perhaps the bar. But maybe not, given how much there is to hear, see, and enjoy.
While attendance levels during a COVID surge are TBD, what's clear that whoever makes…
Spied in the hallway the night before the show opened was Lou Hinkley, PAF co-organizer (with Gary Gill of the Capital Audio fest). Since Lou also owns/designs WA State-based Daedalus Audio's speakers and will be running that room, who knows what shape he'll be in by end of Day 3. But when I discovered him at 6:30pm, he let on that assisting/troubleshooting/and reassuring exhibitors on the day before was one of the most humbling experiences of his life.
Meanwhile, exhibitors were managing to keep their smiles amidst the heat. Spotted in pre-name tag, box-loading mode were Jim…
Given how crowded the loudspeaker manufacturing space has always been, I am always surprised when a new brand not only springs into being but does so with new speakers that sound and measure well. Take the UK's Q Acoustics, for example. The company didn't exist before 2006 and didn't have a presence in the US until 2018. However, two of its designs have already received very favorable coverage in Stereophile: the Concept 500 tower ($5999.99/pair), which Tom Norton reviewed in March 2019, and the Concept 300 standmount ($4499.99/pair, including stands), which I reviewed in January 2020.
Q…