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AXPONA Canceled: Letter to the Community

April 30, 2020

Dear AXPONA Community;

It is with heartfelt disappointment but concern for the health and safety of all AXPONA participants that we announce today the official cancellation of AXPONA 2020 due to the impact of COVID-19. We thank everyone who had committed to making the 2020 event into what would have been the largest and most attended AXPONA in history. Although there remains over three months until our August dates, we do not feel 100% confident that we can provide a safe environment for all of our customers and press to network and do business in Schaumburg by that…

AXPONA Canceled: Letter to Ticket-Holders

Good Morning ,

It is with heartfelt disappointment that we must announce today the official cancellation of AXPONA 2020 that was to be held August 7-9. We make this decision out of concern for the health and safety of all AXPONA participants. We thank everyone who had committed to making the 2020 event the largest and most attended AXPONA in history. These are enormously challenging times for everyone and it is our hope that we all stay strong, caring, healthy and united. Our industry will come through this together and we will be in a better and safer world on the other side of this…

Revinylization #5: Craft Recordings & Charlie Parker's Savoy LPs

I was well over 50 when I first heard an original copy of Charlie Parker's "Ko-Ko." It was a happy accident. I received a call from the family of a well-to-do neighbor who had recently passed away, asking if I'd be interested in having his record collection. Three minutes later, I was parked near the servants' entrance of their centuries-old brick mansion—how quickly we forget our proletariat resentment when there's vinyl to be had—loading a few cartons of LPs and 78s into my car: The collection was small but high in quality, reflective of very good taste that cut across multiple genres. And…

Wolf Audio Systems Alpha 3 SX music server

I am a Sharpener. I can acknowledge being a Sharpener—someone who, as explained by Stereophile reviewer/psychology professor Robert Deutsch in our March 2009 issue, tends to look for and exaggerate differences—without feeling a need to enter a 12-step program or confess to a crime. That's because there's nothing wrong with being a Sharpener.

Being a Sharpener does affect how I've set up my reference system and how I approach components under review. What some may consider a needlessly complicated, overly expensive system, I've found essential for distinguishing subtle differences. To…

Wolf Audio Systems Alpha 3 SX music server Page 2

While I could have used virtually any good-sounding playback software with the Alpha 3 SX, Joe urged me to stick to the two music-server programs that he had thoroughly vetted: JRiver 24 and the latest version of Roon. He indicated that their sound was very close—depending upon their latest upgrades, sometimes Roon edged ahead by a few points, only to be surpassed by the next version of JRiver, which he ultimately preferred.

Not me. Beyond the sonic considerations—discussed below—JRiver doesn't thoroughly integrate Tidal and Qobuz, will neither decode nor render MQA (although it will…

Wolf Audio Systems Alpha 3 SX music server Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Description: Dedicated audio server running WolfOS. Contains an Intel i7 Processor with 32GB RAM, 1TB System SSD, and internal 2TB SSD, expandable to 12TB. Formats supported: WAV, AIFF, FLAC, ALAC, AAC, M4A, MP3, OGG, DSF, DFF, DXD, SACD ISO, Blu-ray, DVD-A, MQA. Resolution and sample rates supported: PCM up to 32-bit/1536Hz, DSD: DSD64–DSD1024, Native or DoP. Multichannel DSD up to DSD256. Ports: Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi, (2) USB 3.1 Gen 2 (Type A, Type C), (4) USB 3.0, TosLink, HDMI, DisplayPort, PS/2. OPTIONAL: (2) Ports Flux Capacitor USB Type B Clock:…

Wolf Audio Systems Alpha 3 SX music server Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Digital sources: dCS Rossini SACD/CD transport & Rossini DAC & Rossini Clock & Network Bridge; EMM Labs DV2 DAC; Roon Nucleus + with linear power supply; Linksys routers (2), Small Green Computer Systemoptique optical isolation bundle, TP-Link gigabit Ethernet media converters plus multimode duplex fiber optic cable (2); Small Green Computer linear power supply & Small Green Computer/HDPlex four-component 200W linear power supply (2); external hard drives, SSD USB sticks, iPad Pro. Power amplifiers: Dan D'Agostino Master Systems Progression…

Wolf Audio Systems Alpha 3 SX music server Measurements

Sidebar 3: Measurements

With music servers that have USB outputs, like the Roon Nucleus + that I reviewed in August 2018 and the Innuos Statement that Jason Victor Serinus reviewed in April 2020, it's difficult to decide what measurements could be meaningful. However, as I had done with the Innuos server, I could use two D/A processors with USB inputs—an original Mytek Brooklyn and an AudioQuest DragonFly Red—with which I could compare the effect of sourcing data from the Wolf server instead of my MacBook Pro laptop.

Before I ran the JRiver Media Center 25 app on the Wolf and…

Shure V15 V-MR phono cartridge

I was all set to give up on moving magnets until the new Shure VI5-VMR (MR stands for Micro-Ridge stylus) arrived. In a word, it's terrific. I was slightly disappointed with the original V15-V: I just didn't think it was a significant improvement over the Type IV. What I missed was fine detail—especially in the high frequencies and during heavily modulated passages. The original V was not quite up to the sound of certain moving coils. Which is not to say the original V was a bad buy: moving coils cost twice the price and you need a stepup. I could recommend the original V without hesitation…

Shure V15 V-MR phono cartridge Anthony H. Cordesman 1985

Anthony H. Cordesman wrote about the Shure V15 VMR January 1985 (Vol.7 No.8):

This cartridge ($275) seems to divide high-end reviewers more than any other, and largely along class lines. If you are a card-carrying highender, it is definitely declasse. If you bemoan the fact that high end audio now consumes more of the GNP than nuclear weapons, and are frightened of Carl Sagan's warning that cumulative emissions of upper-octave music can cause an "audio winter," then fans of expensive moving coils are effete snobs.

My own general impression—which is formed from a position of…