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Chord Electronics' new Mojo 2 portable DAC/headphone amplifier packs plenty of mojo into a small but substantial package. To my mind—and ears—it was one of this CanJam's highlights.

The tracks I listened to through the Meze Audio Empyrean planar-magnetic headphones (which are spec'd at 31.6 ohm impedance and 100dB/mW sensitivity at 1kHz) with the Mojo 2 sounded right—realistic—on both good and less-good recordings. The music had a seamless quality. Details were present in full but were not overhyped. Tonal balance was neutral. Music felt natural.

On "Thinking of a…

By 1968 I'd saved up for a V-15 Type II, and installed it in a Dual 1009SK record player. Wow! But, committed to the principle of using a low vertical tracking force (VTF) to minimize damage to my record grooves, I set the tonearm for the V-15 II's minimum recommended VTF of 0.75gm—and, as the Shure's…

With the exception of the high-output CAR-20H, all Kuzma cartridges share very similar specifications, though their…

American song of our time
While the American art song tradition is easily traceable back to the 19th century, the 20th century…

With this music feature, we're trying some new things. First, we've created a playlist on Qobuz that lists most of the individual tracks mentioned in this review; it can be accessed here. The feature refers to many whole albums, however; rather than load up the playlist with individual tracks, making it unwieldy, we've instead included URLs to the albums, on Qobuz or Tidal. If you're a Roon user, you can import the list into Roon by favoriting it in Qobuz. To access a complete album, see the link.

If you're expecting hi-fi sound, a word of warning:…

Like all electrostatics, the Z-600 requires an external source of power (consumption: 2 watts), and the built-in power supply requires a 115V AC supply. The polarizing supply is designed for continuous duty, and the…

Every loudspeaker design must embody various compromises with absolute perfection, and while we have long felt that Janszen's Z-600 system was the most musically natural reproducer available for under about $500, we have also recognized the fact that some things about it could be improved. Its treble dispersion is not as wide nor as uniform as it could be, its low end (although better defined than that of most other low-efficiency systems) does not go quite as deep as, say, an Acoustic Research AR-3, and its low-frequency…

Although we have long preferred the Janszen Z-600 to any other speaker system in or about its price range, is nonetheless an outstanding example of the old saw that nothing is perfect and loudspeakers are less perfect than most. For while has excellent overall balance, unsurpassed high-end range and transient response, superb detail, a deep, rich low end and a remarkanle degree of musical naturalness, it also has rather poor stereo imaging, a slight tendency toward a rising high end in most listening environments (because of…

Z-600: Floorstanding, two-way system with two electrostatic tweeters and dynamic 11" woofer section. Frequency range: 30Hz–>30kHz. Crossover frequency: Nominal 1500Hz; 1000–2000Hz overlap region. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms. Power capacity: 100W program.
Dimensions: 26.625" H × 20" W × 13" D.
Price $208.95 (1966); no longer available (2022).

Z-900: Floorstanding, two-way system with dual 11" woofers and 4-element electrostatic tweeter. Frequency range: 20Hz–>30kHz. Impedance: 8 ohms. External power supply requirements (for electrostatic elements…