What Michael said about resolution mirrored my own experience but nagged at me. If resolution is a good thing, then how can there be too much of it? After…
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"Resolution can be a tricky thing when it comes to digital," my friend Michael Lavorgna recently told me. "Too much, and my focus shifts from music to sound; too little, and I become less engaged." Lavorgna, a visual artist and proprietor of the online audio-and-music publication Twittering Machines (footnote 1), is one of my favorite people to talk to about records, books, art, and hi-fi. We've been doing it for almost 20 years.
In my system, the Jadis DAC did two things remarkably, uncannily well. First, it created a vast, shimmering soundstage that extended across the rear wall of my loft and encouraged me to spend hours enjoying the magic of stereophonic recording. The scale of the sonic images was as big as the recording allowed. When listening to "Polk Salad Annie," from Walk a Mile in My Shoes: The Essential '70s Masters (RCA/Qobuz 16/44.1 stream), Elvis Presley's voice seemed to emanate not just from above my Altec Valencia speakers but from the intersection of the rear wall and ceiling, 15.5' above the floor…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: tubed, two-chassis. 24-bit, D/A converter. Tube complement: two ECC82 and two ECC88 in the analog section and one each EL84 and EF86 in the power supply. Inputs: one each AES3, S/PDIF electrical (RCA), S/PDIF optical (TosLink), USB. AES3, coaxial, and TosLink inputs convert data up to 24/192; USB accepts and converts data up to 24/384, plus DSD. Outputs: One pair unbalanced (RCA), one pair balanced (XLR). The JS1 MkV is fully balanced through the XLR outputs. S/N ratio: >100dB. Frequency range: 20Hz–20kHz. Output level: 2.5V RMS.
Dimensions:…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: Garrard 301 turntable in a Box Furniture Co. plinth; Thomas Schick 12" tonearm; Hana Umami Red, Ortofon SPU Classic G, and Zu/Denon DL-103 cartridges.
Digital sources: Sonnet Morpheus DAC; Sonore opticalRendu; Roon Nucleus+; Small Green Computer sonicTransporter i5 server running Roon Core.
Preamplification: Shindo Aurieges preamplifier; Parasound Halo JC 3+ phono preamplifier.
Power amplifiers: Shindo Montille; Line Magnetic LM-845IA; SET amplifier with triode-wired 307A output tubes, built by Oliver Sayes.
Loudspeakers:…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used my Audio Precision SYS2722 to examine the Jadis JS1 MkV's performance. To minimize the possibility of the analog circuitry picking up noise from the power supply, I placed the supply on the floor, as far away from the processor chassis as the two umbilical cables would allow. The heatsinks on the back of the supply became very hot during testing, their temperature stabilizing at 135.3°F (57.4°C).
The processor's AES3 and optical and coaxial S/PDIF inputs locked to data sampled up to 192kHz. Apple's AudioMIDI utility revealed that the USB inputs…
At noon on a cloudless, ridiculously bright 97° day, John Atkinson and I auditioned Audeze's new-but-not-yet-released CRBN electrostatic headphones. The audition took place at a sneak preview hosted by Audeze's principal, Sankar Thiagasamudram, in a sleeping room at New York's hipster-chic Ace Hotel on 29th Street and Broadway. Décor in this unusual sleeping room included a bathtub with feet, an antique wood ironing board, a vintage Gibson guitar, and a working stereo system with a Music Hall turntable and an assortment of vintage LPs.
On my way there, I was remembering some of my…
One of the best records I have for making this energy-in/energy-out comparison is Roscoe Holcomb/The High Lonesome Sound (Folkways LP FA 2368). On my preferred, simple LP-based sound systems, Roscoe's otherworldly voice and close-miked banjo come out sounding a lot like I imagine they did while the recording was being made. Western Electric engineers called this phenomenon "Mirrophonic": "A True Reproduction of the Original."
Speaking of Western Electric: I recently heard that High Lonesome disc on a 10'-tall, five-way horn-speaker system with a $350k record player. That…
The $50,000, 176lb Accustic Arts AMP V (pronounced Amp Five) is the heaviest, tallest, most powerful, most expensive stereo amplifier to enter my audio system. With rated power of 900Wpc into 8 ohms, 1360Wpc into 4 ohms, and 1500Wpc into 2 ohms, the AMP V, which stands proud at the top of the Accustic Arts amplifier line, surpasses my reference D'Agostino Progression M550's rated power into 4 ohms by 260Wpc (footnote 1).
What, if anything, might those extra 260Wpc—and those extra pounds of transformer and heat-dissipating metal—mean sonically in my moderately sized listening room? I was…
While I usually place equipment supports under components, I decided to skip them in this case to avoid damaging a hand as I struggled to lift a corner of the amp while not tipping over the amp stand. After connecting XLR and speaker cables, I ran two Nordost Odin 2 15-amp power cables from the AMP V to the same AudioQuest Niagara 7000 power conditioner I use with the D'Agostinos and began my journey.
Color and richness to the fore
On Igor Levit's On DSCH (24/96 MQA, Sony 714315), which I reviewed for our December issue, the AMP V's ability to convey the emotion behind the…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid state, dual-mono stereo power amplifier. Inputs: 1 balanced (XLR), 1 pair single-ended (RCA). Outputs: 2 pair WBT binding posts. Input impedance: balanced, 16k ohms; single-ended, 15k ohms. Minimum loudspeaker impedance: 2 ohms. Voltage gain: 30dB. Frequency response: 10Hz–50kHz (+0/–0.5dB) at 10W into 4 ohms. Rated power output at 1% THD+N: 900Wpc into 8 ohms (29.5dBW), 1360Wpc into 4 ohms (28.3dBW), 1500Wpc into 2 ohms (25.8dBW). Zero signal current setting: 300mA. Power supply capacitance: approx. 220,000µF. S/N ratio: 96dBA (ref. 6.325V).…