Okay, so maybe cable isn't in the same white-knuckled league as riding your first Schwinn. But I just had one of my longtime preconceived notions blasted apart like a clay pigeon, and all it took was five seconds of listening to realize…
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It's always a jolting, life-renewing Ka-BLAM when a new experience shatters your preconceptions of the order of things. From the moment you realize your dad isn't running right alongside you as you fly down the sidewalk on your first two-wheeler, to when you become a made man, these experiences forever alter how you view yourself and the world around you.
Sidebar: Specifications
Description: Unshielded, twisted-pair interconnect. Series inductance: 0.77µH. DC loop resistance: 0.053 ohm/m. Parallel capacitance: 55pF/m.
Price: $62/m pair ($14/additional meter pair plus $48/pair termination) (1993); $108/m pair (2020). Approximate number of dealers: 450.
Manufacturer: Kimber Kable, 2752 South 1900 West, Ogden, UT 84401. Tel: (801) 621-5530. Fax: (801) 627-6980. Web: www.kimber.com.
Salon 1 Audio made its first-ever appearance at a high-end audio show with a demo room featuring upper-tier amplification from VTL’s Series III: the TL-7.5 Reference linestage preamplifier ($30,000) and MB-185 Signature monoblock amps ($22,500/pair), and the TP-2.5i Performance phonostage ($5000) paired with a Sumiko Palo Santos MC cartridge ($4500) and a Pro-Ject Xtension 12 turntable ($4500) with a lovely high-gloss mahogany wood plinth.
Driven by that VTL tube power (with some EL34 sweetness from the MB-185 monoblocks), the Wilson Audio Sasha DAW speakers ($37,900)—here in the Desert…
The MC Audiotech Forty-10 ($35,000) is probably the most exotic speaker seen and heard at the Florida Audio Expo. In our conversation, MC Audiotech's Mark Conti revealed that the upper portion of the Forty-10, a two-way, is based on a patented Wide Band Line Source (WBLS) transducer; according to a white paper from the designer Paul Paddock, it could be called a “predictable flexible membrane” transducer and is related to "bending wave" technology. Though this represents a modern iteration, the device had its earliest conceptual origins back in the 1920s and 1930s; Paddock's original patent,…
This marks the end of our Florida Audio Expo 2020 coverage, but before I wrap things up, I'd like to mention a few more standout rooms with super systems.
Attending FLAX 2020 for the first time in this, its second year, I found myself pleasantly surprised by its more mixed demographic compared with most other US shows. In particular I noticed more millennials, more couples, and generally more women, including those who clearly just weren't there "in tow." The guys running one of the headphone demos there told me that an average of at least one or two women per hour were coming in…
Thursday, February 20, 7:00–10:00pm: Garth Leerer and Ken Bowers of Musical Surroundings, importers of AMG turntables and Hana phono cartridges, will be at Ultra Fidelis HiFi, 7125 W. North Avenue, Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, demonstrating the new AMG Viella Forte turntable. AMG'S Giro and Viella 12 'tables will also be on hand. Food and beverages from Charles E. Fromage and Stock House Brewing Company will fortify attendees for the task of listening to lots of great music. RSVP is required, by email (dominique.evans@ultrafi.com) or phone: (414) 221-0200.
Lately it seems that the more Rega charges for one of its turntables, the less you get—and from Rega's performance perspective that's a good thing.
While some turntable designs pile on the mass, hoping to tame resonances and better isolate the record from the outside world, Rega has long advocated ultralow-mass designs. What's up with that?
Rega defines a turntable as a "vibration measuring machine." Therefore, they contend—and this is putting it as simply as possible—the lower the mass, the less energy the system can store, only to be later released to confuse and muddy up the…
The P10 PSU outboard motor-drive unit uses the same electronics found in the older RP10. It features a DSP-modified low-tolerance squarewave-generating crystal. This most recent version, however, is housed in a new, attractive, more-rigid chassis said to yield improved drive performance. The individual motor/drive system's fine-tuning process smooths out any residual vibrational energy.
The new Rega RB3000 tonearm
Just because the RB3000 looks like the arms used on less costly Rega 'tables doesn't mean it's the same arm. For one thing, the three-point metal mounting base…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
RP10: Belt-drive turntable with skeletal plinth and separate power supply.
Dimensions: Turntable with dustcover fitted: 16.5" (420mm) W × 12.4" (315mm) D × 4.9" (125mm) H. Weight: 10.34lb (4.7kg). P10 power supply: 8.6" (218mm) W × 12.6" (320mm) D × 3.15" (80mm) W. Weight: 6.6lb (3kg).
RB3000: Pivoted tonearm. Pivot-to-spindle distance: 222mm. Effective length: 236.53mm. Offset angle: 21.56°.
Apheta 3: Moving-coil phono cartridge. Recommended tracking downforce: 1.9–2gm. Recommended load impedance: 100 ohms. Internal impedance: 10 ohms.…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: Continuum Audio Labs Caliburn, & Castellon turntable & stand; VPI HW-40 Air Force One Premium turntables; SAT CF1-09, Graham Elite, and VPI Fatboy tonearms; Lyra Atlas, Atlas SL, Atlas SL mono, Etna, and Etna SL, Ortofon MC Century, Anna Diamond, A95, Miyajima Labs Infinity (mono) and Destiny (stereo) Grado Epoch (mono).
Digital sources: dCS Vivaldi One SACD player DAC; Lynx Hilo A/D-D/A converter, Roon Nucleus; Pure Vinyl and Vinyl Studio software.
Preamplification: darTZeel NHB-18S, van den Hul Grail SE Plus.
Power…