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; MBL N31 CD player/DAC; Ayre Acoustics QA-9 A/D converter; NetGear Nighthawk router.
Power amplifiers: Parasound Halo JC 1+ monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Q Acoustics Concept 50.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest Vodka (Ethernet), AudioQuest Coffee (USB), DH Labs (1m, AES3). Interconnect: AudioQuest Wild Blue (balanced).…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone with an Earthworks microphone preamplifier to measure the Audiovector QR 7's farfield frequency response and dispersion. I used an Earthworks QTC-40 mike for the nearfield and in-room responses and Dayton Audio's DATS V2 system to measure the impedance magnitude and electrical phase angle.
Audiovector specifies the QR 7's anechoic sensitivity as 90.5dB/W/m. My estimate was slightly lower, at 88.7dB/2.83V/m, though this is still higher than average. The QR 7's impedance is specified as 6…
It's not every day that someone opens a new brick-and-mortar hi-fi store. A variety of factors make the prospects of such a venture uncertain at best. Hi-fi industry veteran Michael Klein, though, has the guts and seasoned-salesman charm to make a go of it.
I was curious to check out Stereo Stereo, Klein's new dealership in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (footnote 1). I wanted to find out how a brick-and-mortar shop like his can compete and coexist with other retailers, especially online retailers.
Stereo Stereo isn't Klein's first stereo rodeo; in fact, it's his third. He opened his…
When I was a young man, blind dates were always laced with anxiety. (Proms were even worse. Once, when I arrived in a rented tux and my father's prized dress gloves, my date's father ordered me to take out the trash.)
More than half a century later, blind dates—now with review equipment—remain fraught. Sure, expectations and the frisson of unknowns heighten the experience, but if it isn't a good match, I'm stuck for the duration of our time together. If a component sounds so mediocre that I can't be sure what's on a recording, the review and my joy are compromised. When music's emotion…
"You can use our amplifiers with horns and high-efficiency loudspeakers and not hear any noise. When we introduced our 300B amplifiers, people were surprised that they didn't need a mute because there was no noise. People can't believe that it's possible to get rid of the old limitations."
Moderately biased impressions
At 145.5lb and close to 28" high and 19" deep and costing $80,000/pair, Octave's Jubilee Mono SE is the largest, most expensive amplifier I've ever reviewed—$32,500/pair more than my reference D'Agostino Progression M550 monoblocks ($47,500/pair).
With eight…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Tubed pentode push-pull monoblock power amplifier. Tube complement: 8 KT120, 3 ECC82. Inputs: 1 balanced (XLR), 1 single-ended (RCA). Outputs: 2 pair binding posts. Output power: 400W (23dBW) average and 450W (23.5dBW) peak power into 4 ohms. Minimum load impedance: 2 ohms. Voltage gain: 28dB; input sensitivity:1.5V at full output power. Frequency response: 10Hz–80kHz, +0/–0.5dB. THD: <0.1% at 10W into 4 ohms. S/N ratio: >103dB. Power consumption: 420W minimum, 800W at full power.
Dimensions: 27.8" (707mm) H × 11"(280mm) W × 19" (484mm) D…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: dCS Rossini SACD/CD transport, Rossini DAC, and Rossini Clock; EMM Labs DV2 Integrated DAC; Synology 5-bay 1019+ NAS, Roon Nucleus+ music server, Uptone Audio EtherRegen with AfterDark Giesemann Emperor Double Crown Master Clock, Small Green Computer Sonore opticalModules (2) and Deluxe opticalModule, Linksys router and Arris modem, all powered by HDPlex 300 (3) and HDPlex 200 linear power supplies (3); Nordost QNET Ethernet Switch; Apple 2017 iPad Pro and 2017 MacBook Pro laptop with 2.8GHz Intel i7, SSD, 16GB RAM.
Preamplifier: Dan D'…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used my Audio Precision SYS2722 system to examine the Octave Jubilee Mono SE's measured performance. (For logistical reasons, the sample I measured was not one of those auditioned by JVS but was borrowed from a Boston dealer.) I followed the instructions in the manual to check the bias of the eight output tubes after running the amplifier for 30 minutes to allow the operating conditions to stabilize. The pots that allow the bias for each tube to be optimized have a somewhat coarse action. The best I could arrange was for the bias for the tubes to lie between "…
Since 2007, Audio Advice Live has been an annual, one-night event, drawing enthusiastic audiophiles to the Audio Advice showrooms in Raleigh's Glenwood Avenue, next to Virgin Cigars, or to their location in Charlotte. But this year, Audio Advice Live was different: It was a fully fledged audio show, held like most such events at a conference hotel: the Sheraton Raleigh Hotel, in that North Carolina city, with rooms sponsored and presented by a wide range of hi-fi (and home-theater) companies. The show's website listed 70 brands—58 home audio brands, the others video-related—followed by a…
I have a peephole in the door to my first-floor apartment. It looks down a straight hall to a glass wall framing the front door of my building. For 13 years, its job has been to let me see who is ringing my buzzer and who is making a racket in the hall.
Over time, however, the peephole's lens turned amber-yellow and frosted-foggy like those headlight protectors on cars. In recent years, it became so clouded that all I could make out were unidentifiable Sasquatch figures moving in a blurry space.
I was startled one day when I peered through the peephole and recognized my UPS…