Jason Victor Serinus auditioned the Michi P5 in September 2022 (Vol.45 No.9):
When Rotel shipped the Michi S5 stereo amplifier to me for review (footnote 1), they sent along a sample of its companion stereo preamplifier, the P5 ($4299.99, serial number 255-9501002), so that I could experience a complete Michi pairing. After a brief listen to that Michi combo, I decided to pair the S5 with my familiar reference for that review, the two-piece D'Agostino Momentum HD preamplifier ($42,500) and write a separate follow-up to Ken Micallef's November 2020 review of the P5.
Whereas Ken's…
It was September 1962. In the UK, the Beatles were recording their first single, "Love Me Do," at London's Abbey Road Studios. And in the US, a young journalist, J. Gordon Holt, born in North Carolina but raised in Australia from 1935 to 1947, had become dissatisfied with the advertiser-friendly atmosphere at High Fidelity magazine, for which he had been the audio editor. Holt quit High Fidelity and, after a brief stint with phono cartridge manufacturer Weathers, published the first issue of what was then called The Stereophile. Cover-dated September 1962, its 20 pages contained one equipment…
Some time ago, an amplifier in for review caught fire when first powered up. I don't mean it smoked and sizzled and shut down—I mean that actual flames shot through the top grate. Fortunately, I was able to grab a kitchen fire extinguisher and douse the thing with foam. (Sorry, this was decades ago, and I don't remember the brand, but I think the company had a fire sale and was shut down.)
Another time, a representative of an amplifier manufacturer visited for an install. Once everything was connected and ready to be powered up, he assumed an unusually defensive stance. He turned his…
Gryphon's founder, Flemming E. Rasmussen, endowed the Apex Stereo with a bold industrial design featuring several striking elements: large, smooth (fanned) heatsinks; massive, brushed-aluminum faceplates; robust spiked feet; and, with unabashed frontal prominence, the same triangular touchscreen seen on the Gryphon Commander preamplifier.
The Apex Stereo amplifier will set you back $99,000 (as will each equally massive Apex Mono, the Stereo's monoblock twin—double that for a pair). While not exactly budget-friendly, the Apex Stereo's price is competitive in the rarefied top-end audio…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid state, stereo power amplifier. Input: 2 balanced (XLR). Output: 2 pair custom gold-plated binding posts. Input impedance, balanced (20Hz–20kHz): 20k ohms. Output impedance: 0.015 ohm. Voltage gain: 31dB. Bandwidth: 0.3Hz–330kHz, –3dB. Max. input level: 1.16V RMS. Output power: 210Wpc into 8 ohms (23.2dBW), 420Wpc into 4 ohms (23.2dBW), 800Wpc into 2 ohms (23.0dBW), 1490Wpc into 1 ohm (22.7dBW). Power supply capacity: 1,040,000µF. Power consumption, high bias: <0.5W at idle.
Dimensions: 23.3" (593mm) W × 14.6" (371mm) H × 34.8" (886mm) D…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: OMA K3, Acoustic Signature Montana NEO, and J. Sikora Reference turntables, Schröder K3, Acoustic Signature TA-7000, Acoustical Systems Axiom, and J. Sikora KV12 tonearms; Lyra Atlas Lambda SL and Etna Lambda SL, Ortofon Anna Diamond and Ortofon Verismo, X-quisite ST, and Luxman LMC-5 cartridges.
Digital sources: dCS Vivaldi One SACD player DAC; Lynx Hilo A/D-D/A converter; Mac mini (Roon), Audirvana Digital Audio Player; Vinyl Studio software.
Preamplification: darTZeel NHB-18S, Gryphon Commander, Ypsilon MC-10L, MC-16L, and MC-26L…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
Because the Gryphon Apex Stereo is big and heavy, I drove to Michael Fremer's place in deepest, darkest New Jersey with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system, digital and analog oscilloscopes, and test loads. I preconditioned the amplifier by operating it at 1/8 the specified power into 8 ohms for 20 minutes. At the end of that time, the temperature of the heatsinks was 113.6°F/45.4°C and that of the top panel 105.3°F/40.8°C. The bias was set at High for all testing.
The Gryphon Apex Stereo has only balanced inputs. The voltage gain at 1kHz was 30.85dB into 8…
Bowie: Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
Parlophone DBZS50 (LP). 2020/1972. David Bowie and Ken Scott, prods.; Ken Scott, John Webber, engs.
Performance *****
Sonics *****
Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars was one of the first albums I ever purchased. A week before, an uncle had given me his old red Dansette record player; I used collected pocket money to christen it. After just one play, the 10-year-old me was blown away. But it wasn't just elementary school kids who loved this album, causing it to break into the top 30 US and UK album charts. This was the…
It seems as if I have been waiting for these all my life. Not in any existential sense, but in a literal, practical way: The arrival of the Blade Two Meta is the culmination of a lifelong fascination with KEF. As a teenager, I was introduced to founder Raymond Cooke and his innovative "race-track" woofer, Mylar tweeter dome, and Bextrene cones in Bud Fried's IMF Newsletter. Shortly thereafter, I commenced decades of building loudspeakers, mostly with KEF drivers, and, beginning with the 104 in 1973, pining for their Reference speakers. They always seemed to strike the right balance of…
Sure, these are foxtrots, most of them suitable for dancing, but they are sophisticated and fascinating. Each disc covers a different geographical area: Austria and the Czech lands; Germany; Central and Eastern Europe; France and Belgium. The composers and arrangers include many great names from the first half of the 20th century—Krenek, Martinu, Hindemith, Gieseking, Weill, Shostakovich, Saint-Saëns, Satie, Milhaud, Ravel, Ibert—and many of the pieces are adaptations of music from opera, concert, stage, and film. I loved them so much that I made them the playlist for a recent birthday party…
