Analog sources: Dr. Feickert Analogue Blackbird turntable with Jelco TK-850L tonearm and Koetsu Rosewood Signature Platinum moving-coil cartridge; AMG Giro G9 turntable with 9W tonearm and Etsuro Urushi Cobalt Blue moving-coil cartridge.
Digital sources: Apple iPhone 8, MacBook Air laptop, Mac mini computer running Audirvana Plus; HoloAudio Spring "Kitsuné Tuned Edition" Level 3 and Chord Qutest D/A processors; Integra DPS-7.2 (used as CD transport).
Preamplification: EMIA MC step-up transformer (with Koetsu), Excel Sound Corporation ET-U50 SUT (…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured the Quad Artera Solus using my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"). I precondition amplifiers by running them at one-third power into 8 ohms for an hour. (One-third power results in the maximum dissipation in the output devices.) The Quad survived this demanding test, though the side-mounted heatsinks were very hot, at 141.3°F (60.8°C). The front panel was cooler at 124°F (39.1°C).
Looking first at the Artera Solus's performance as a preamplifier and headphone amplifier, both sets of outputs preserved absolute…
Manufacturer's Comment
Editor: Regarding digital filters, Herb says in the review that offering listeners multiple filter options is "evidence that digital is designed by numbers, not by listening." Quad's director of acoustic design, Peter Comeau, and Jan Ertner, the principal engineer of the Artera Solus, spent a lot of time listening to filter characteristics and worked hard at getting the best out of the Sabre DAC. They included four filters because people's preference for filter type is often dependent on personal choice and accompanying equipment. And from a purely technical…
Monday, March 9, 2020 AXPONA, the largest audio expo in the Western hemisphere, has moved its dates at Chicago’s Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel and Convention Center to August 7–9. Originally scheduled for April 17-19, the show was on course to feature at least 200 active exhibits, countless headphone displays, a huge marketplace, live entertainment, and more.
In a statement released to exhibitors on March 9 shortly before 4pm, Joel Davis, founder and CEO of AXPONA sponsor JDEvents, wrote that the move was precipitated “out of concern for the health and safety of all participants due to the…
Install a new component in your system and there's usually a period of adjustment as you get used to the difference in sound—especially if the new product costs much less than your reference. Channel D's new Lino C 2.0 balanced phono preamplifier costs $2499, yet my ears instantly accepted its combination of drop-dead, noise-free backgrounds and lack of obvious colorations or sonic personality. I didn't hear it—I heard only my Ortofon A95 cartridge, with which I'm well familiar, as amplified by far more costly phono preamps.
Being a current-mode phono preamplifier—one in which a dead…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Battery-powered, solid-state, DC-coupled, current-mode, moving-coil phono preamplifier. Inputs: one pair balanced (XLR), one pair unbalanced (RCA). Outputs: I pair balanced (XLR). Gain: switchable, up to 85dB depending on cartridge source impedance. RIAA accuracy: < ±0.1dB, 20Hz–20kHz. RIAA channel matching: < ±0.1dB, 20Hz–20kHz. Channel separation: >80dB, 20Hz–20kHz. Disotrtion: <0.005%, 20Hz–20kHz. Input load resistance: <1 ohms. Output impedance: 44 ohms (balanced), 22 ohms (unbalanced). Power consumption: <2W idle. Supplied…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Continuum Audio Labs Caliburn & Castellon turntable & stand; TechDAS Air Force V turntable; SAT CF1-09, Kuzma 4Point and Graham Phantom B 44 tonearms; Ortofon A95, phono cartridge.
Preamplification: darTZeel NHB-18NS, Ypsilon MC-10L, MC-16L step-up transformers; Ypsilon VPS-100, CH Precision P1 with X1 PSU.
Power Amplifiers: A HREF="https://www.stereophile.com/content/ch-precision-m11-power-amplifier">CH Precision M1.1. darTZeel NHB-458.
Loudspeakers: Wilson Audio Specialties Alexx.
Cables: Interconnect: TARA…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
When he reviewed Channel D's Lino C 2.0 phono preamplifier in his June 2019 Analog Corner column, Michael Fremer wrote, "My ears instantly accepted its combination of drop-dead, noise-free backgrounds and lack of obvious colorations or sonic personality." He concluded, "After a few months of listening, my initial enthusiasm and appreciation for the Lino C 2.0 continues." I had been impressed when I performed the measurements to accompany MF's review of Channel D's earlier Seta L phono preamplifier in August 2010 (so much so, in fact, that I purchased the review…
In the January 2020 Stereophile, I described my transformation from John Fahey skeptic to John Fahey fan; suffice it to say, the late guitarist was far from the only musical artist whose work I came to enjoy only after a number of failed attempts. Another was the English band Yes, which I saw in concert in 1977, at New York's Madison Square Garden: I was so bored by the many lengthy instrumental solos, each one remarkable only for the sheer number of notes being squirted at me, that I literally nodded off. (In my defense, it was also very warm in there.)
Today, having been exposed to the…
The Big Bang
Few would have predicted that the Sex Pistols' first gig—in November 1975, at the Saint Martin's School of Art in central London—would be the start of an explosion of music. Not many even knew it was happening. That soon changed. Punk would create a space that other bands rushed to fill. Inspired by the DIY ethos and the rejection of the notion that pop music had to be a 30-minute conceptual track on the lives of elves, punk was just grab an instrument and form a band.
Few would have predicted that the Sex Pistols' first gig—in November 1975, at the Saint Martin's School of Art in central London—would be the start of an explosion of music. Not many even knew it was happening. That soon changed. Punk would create a space that other bands rushed to fill. Inspired by the DIY ethos and the rejection of the notion that pop music had to be a 30-minute conceptual track on the lives of elves, punk was just grab an instrument and form a band.
Some simply aped the style of the Pistols, but by 1978, many felt that had been done to death, and so…