Unfortunately, that strategy hasn't…
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Back when Steve Urkel (in the sitcom Family Matters, portrayed by Jaleel White) was showing everybody the best way to dress (and do property damage), my friend Ken Kessler, the high-level audio scribe at Hi-Fi News & Record Review, explained to me the secret of how to write a proper audio review: "Herb, the secret of writing an effective review is not to lose the reader in the middle." I took that to mean, put all the technological meat—and some tawdry stories—in the product description. Then sneak some spicy double entendre into the setup part.
The next day, I listened to "Buenas noches" performed by singer, composer, and harpist Arianna Savall and her group Hirundo Maris on Chants du Sud et du Nord (24/44.1 MQA ECM/Tidal). Once again, a familiar recording sounded unfamiliar. Even though it was coming through my reference dCS Bartók DAC, Arianna Savall's voice sounded strangely smaller and farther back in the soundstage than it had through Falcon Gold Badge and EJ Jordan Marlow speakers. (See Gramophone Dreams elsewhere in this issue.)
The more records I played, the more I saw that the S12s were creating these enormous…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Reflex-loaded, 2-way standmount speaker with one 4" (100mm) coated alloy-cone woofer, and one 1" (26mm) alloy dome tweeter enclosed in a two-layer cabinet made of RIMCast polyurethane. Frequency response: 45Hz–25kHz (–6dB). Crossover frequency: 3kHz. Sensitivity: 87dB/2.83V/m. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms (minimum, 5.3 ohms). Power handling: 150W RMS, 300W peak. Recommended amplifier power: 25W–125W.
Dimensions: 15.7" (400mm) H × 9.3" (237mm) W × 10" (254mm) D. Weight: 17.5lb (8kg).
Finish: Piano Black, Pearl White, and Oyster Grey Matte, plus…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: Linn Sondek LP12 Klimax turntable with Linn Ekos SE/2 tonearm, Linn Ekstatik moving coil cartridge, Linn Urika phono preamp, and Linn Radikal/2 power supply; Dr. Feickert Analogue Blackbird turntable with Schick 10.5" tonearm, Koetsu Rosewood Signature Platinum moving coil, Koetsu SUT, EAR Phono Classic MM/MC phono preamplifier.
Digital sources: Roon Nucleus+ music server, dCS Bartók DAC/streamer.
Integrated amplifiers: Pass Labs INT-25, Line Magnetic LM-518 IA.
Power amplifier: Parasound Halo A 21+.
Loudspeakers: Falcon…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system, an Earthworks microphone preamplifier, and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Vivid Audio Kaya S12's farfield behavior, and an Earthworks QTC-40 mike for its nearfield responses. I left the vestigial grilles that cover the two drive units in place for the measurements. I used Dayton Audio's DATS V2 system to measure the impedance magnitude and electrical phase angle.
Vivid specifies the Kaya S12's sensitivity as 87dB/2.83V/m. My B-weighted estimate was inconsequentially lower, at 86.3dB(B)/2.83V/m. The Kaya S12's…
No hi-fi is an island entire of itself; every component is a piece of the system, a part of the mains.—John Donne, from The Compleat Audiophile, 1623
Around the time I took over as Stereophile's editor, I bought a Peloton, the internet-enabled stationary exercise bike. It was a lifesaver during the pandemic, when gyms were closed; despite the poor audio quality and the awful music many of the instructors choose, it's good, diverting exercise.
I quickly learned I'd be wanting Bluetooth headphones, since dangling wires get in the way. The Peloton, though, can be finicky about…
Every product listed here has been reviewed in Stereophile. Everything on the list, regardless of rating, is genuinely recommendable.
Within each category, products are listed by class; within each class, they're in alphabetical order, followed by their price, a review synopsis, and a note indicating the issues in which the review, and any subsequent follow-up reports, appeared. "Vol.44 No.9" indicates our September 2021 issue, for example. "WWW" means the review is also posted online.
Stereophile's Recommended Components list is concerned mainly with products available in the US…
Sidebar: How To Use The Listings
The classes each cover a wide range of performance. Carefully read our descriptions here, the original reviews, and (heaven forbid) reviews in other magazines to put together a short list of components to choose from. Evaluate your room, your source material and front-end(s), your speakers, and your tastes. With luck, you may come up with a selection to audition at your favorite dealer(s). "Recommended Components" will not tell you what to buy any more than Consumer Reports would presume to tell you whom to marry!
The classes each cover a wide range of performance. Carefully read our descriptions here, the original reviews, and (heaven forbid) reviews in other magazines to put together a short list of components to choose from. Evaluate your room, your source material and front-end(s), your speakers, and your tastes. With luck, you may come up with a selection to audition at your favorite dealer(s). "Recommended Components" will not tell you what to buy any more than Consumer Reports would presume to tell you whom to marry!
Class A
Best attainable sound for…
Turntables
A+
OMA K3: $363,000 including power supply and Schröder SLM tonearm
MF described this idiosyncratically styled, massive, and very expensive turntable as looking "somewhat like the Guggenheim Museum topped by a heliport and a construction crane." Even so, he was impressed by its performance, with the 11.1" "aluminum girder" Schröder tonearm fitted with Ortofon Anna D, Lyra Etna Lambda SL, and Lyra Atlas Lambda SL phono cartridges. He described the K3's sound as "fast, clean, detailed, highly resolving, super-transparent, effortlessly dynamic, and capable of producing…
Tonearms A+
A
SAT CF1-09: €55,000
SAT CF1-12: €58,000
In 2018, after selling 70 of his original Swedish Analog Technologies Tonearms, designer Marc Gomez discontinued it and replaced it with two new tonearms. The more expensive, the CF1-09, is now the company's flagship. The CF1-09's tapered, hand-lapped, "naked"-carbon-fiber armtube has an effective length of 9" and incorporates a number of parts machined from solid stainless steel—including a new vertical bearing yoke that's far more massive than that of the original SAT arm and makes the CF1-09 too heavy for turntables…