Analog sources: Dr. Feickert Analogue Blackbird turntable with Schick 10.5" tonearm, Koetsu Rosewood Signature Platinum, My Sonic Lab Ultra Eminent Ex, Zu-Denon DL-103 moving coil cartridges; Music Hall Stealth turntable with Ortofon 2M Blue and 2M Black, Audio-Technica VM95E moving magnet cartridges.
Digital sources: Roon Nucleus+ music server; Denafrips Terminator Plus and HoloAudio Spring 3 D/A processors; dCS Bartók DAC/Streamer.
Preamplification: HoloAudio Serene line-level pre; EMIA, Koetsu, and Lundahl LL1931Ag step-up transformers,…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system, a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone, and an Earthworks microphone preamplifier to measure the Genelec G Three's frequency response in the farfield. I used an Earthworks QTC-40 mike for the nearfield responses.
Genelec specifies the G Three's input impedance as 10k ohms. As this is an active loudspeaker, I calculated the input impedance by using spot frequency tones generated by my Audio Precision SYS2722 and examining how the nearfield sound pressure level dropped when I increased the source impedance to 600 ohms from 20 ohms (…
Wilco: Cruel Country
dBpm (24/96 stream, Qobuz; also available as 2CD, 2LP). 2022. Jeff Tweedy, Tom Schick, prods.; Tom Schick, eng.
Performance ****½
Sonics ****½
dBpm (24/96 stream, Qobuz; also available as 2CD, 2LP). 2022. Jeff Tweedy, Tom Schick, prods.; Tom Schick, eng.
Performance ****½
Sonics ****½
The cover art for Wilco's finely hewn double album Cruel Country resembles a hand-stitched doily or the kind of patch you might have seen sewn onto the back pocket of a pair of vintage faded jeans circa 1978. It's appropriate: Wilco's music has long been a patchwork, piecing together the scope and potential of American music for the band's nearly 30 years.
Cruel Country, Wilco's latest, is anything but…
Characteristically, the email from Kal Rubinson got straight to the point: "I have a WiiM Mini that I have played with, but I am not the right one to review this as I am not sufficiently interested in or knowledgeable about wireless streaming. It ... can handle uncompressed PCM via its DACs." "I'll review it," I replied, intrigued by a $99 D/A processor that can stream hi-rez audio via Wi-Fi and that also has an analog input so it can act as a preamplifier. Functionally, the Mini resembles the Lumin P1 that I reviewed in the April 2022 issue but at a tiny fraction of the Lumin's price. I was…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Streaming D/A processor/preamplifier with Bluetooth 5.1 and 2.4GHz/5GHz dual-band Wi-Fi compatibility. Supported audio file formats: MP3, AAC, ALAC, FLAC, WAV, WMA, etc. Compatible streaming services: Spotify, Amazon Music, Deezer, TuneIn, Tidal Connect, Qobuz, iHeartRadio, Napster, SoundMachine, etc. Power input: USB Type C jack. Analog input: Line, 3.5mm stereo jack, maximum input 1V. Digital output: S/PDIF (TosLink), PCM 16/24 bits, 44.1–192kHz. Analog output: 3.5mm stereo jack, 16 bits, 48kHz, "CD quality." Maximum output level: 1V RMS or 2V RMS…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: Roon Nucleus+ file server, MBL N31, Mark Levinson No.30.6, and Mytek Brooklyn D/A processors, iPhone 11, iPad mini 2, Netgear Nighthawk router.
Power amplifiers: Parasound Halo JC 1+ monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Q Acoustics Concept 50.
Headphone amplifier: Mytek Brooklyn.
Headphones: Sennheiser HD 650 with Mini, Audeze LCD-X with Mytek.
Cables: TosLink: AudioQuest Vodka. Interconnect: AudioQuest Wild Blue. Speaker: AudioQuest Robin Hood. AC: AudioQuest Dragon Source & High Current, manufacturers' own.
Accessories…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured the first sample of the WiiM Mini with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system, repeating some tests with the second sample. Looking first at the WiiM's analog inputs and outputs, the input impedance was a usefully high 32k ohms at 20Hz and 1kHz, 13k ohms at 20kHz. The analog output preserved absolute polarity (ie, it was noninverting), and the source impedance was a low 33 ohms from 20Hz to 20kHz. The gain was 0.37dB with the fixed gain set to "1V." With the fixed gain set to "2V (Loud)," the gain was 5.8dB at the outputs; that is, an input of 1V resulted in…
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…