Acoustic Geometry Small Curve: $399.99 ★
Medium Curve: $449.99 ★
Deluxe Curve, Walnut Frame: $549.99 ★
Deluxe Curve, Red Oak, Stained Black Frame: $549.99 ★
Acoustic Geometry's Curve System comprises Diffusors, Absorbers, and Corner Traps, each 42" high and available in a number of fabric choices. Each model is built on a wooden frame with a wedge-shaped cleat for hanging the product from a matching piece attached to the wall. Diffusors include a Mass-Loaded-Vinyl (MLV) membrane and are intended to control low- and midbass frequencies; Absorbers…
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Room Acoustics Treatments
Computer Software
Channel D Pure Music software: $129 ★
Pure Music (Mac only) can play sampling rates of up to twice the 192kHz limit of Amarra and Decibel. Like those programs, Pure Music (Mac only) offers memory play, automatic sampling-rate changes, and full compatibility with native FLAC files and in its latest version, DSD files. Going from iTunes to Pure Music, the sonic improvement was modest but worthwhile, with cleaner trebles and improved pitch certainty. Compared with the less expensive Decibel, however, Pure Music lacked some openness and clarity, decided AD. Using Pure…
Interconnects
Audioquest Dragon, XLR: $11,900/1m pair
RCA: $9500/1m pair
Uses "Solid Perfect-Surface Silver (PSS)" conductors with a dielectric comprising fluoropolymer air tubes. MF compared the balanced Dragon with his TARA Labs' "The Evolution Zero" interconnect and concluded that it was considerably more open but not brighter, faster but not leaner. (Vol.45 No.9 WWW)
AudioQuest ThunderBird XLR: $3900/1m pair
RCA: $2900/1m pair
When he substituted the balanced Thunderbird for his previous interconnect, HR wrote that his system's sound changed so dramatically…
Loudspeaker Cables
Audioquest Dragon Zero: $27,500/8' pair
"Notably transparent, able to deliver dynamic slam and detail," wrote MF. (Vol.45 No.9 WWW)
Audio Art Cable SC-5 Classic: $240/10ft pair (gold spades; add $10/pr for silver spades), $250/10ft pair (gold bananas)
The SC-5 has silver-coated OFC conductors (14AWG), a foam polyethylene dielectric, a PVC jacket, and an internal packet of vibration-absorbing fibers. It can be terminated with gold-plated brass banana plugs or, for $10 less, DH Labs' gold-plated copper spade lugs. Compared to AudioQuest's Rocket 33, the…
Digital Data Interconnects
DH Labs Silver Sonic D-110 AES/EBU: $145/1m
(NR, but see EL's review of the Bel Canto DAC3.5VB in Vol.34 No.6 WWW)
Kimber Kable Orchid: $948/1m
Expensive, but the best AES/EBU link JA has used. J-10 loved the Orchid's midrange liquidity and detail, but preferred Illumination's S/PDIF cable overall. SD (almost) doesn't equivocate: "Probably the best out there for now. . . .A stunner!" RH and RD are also fans. New lower price usefully brings this cable in reach of more music lovers. (Vol.19 No.5)
Kubala-Sosna Expression: $900/m, $240/…
If I hear it, is it real?
If your ears see,
And your eyes hear,
Not a doubt you'll cherish—How naturally the rain drips
From the eyes!—Bujutsu Sosho
The more audio gear I review, the more fascinated I become by the fact that as I listen to recorded music, I can close my eyes and see musicians on the stage at Carnegie Hall, or djembe drummers in a desert by a tent, or a bass note penetrating the Milky Way. What a gift of consciousness. And what a great hobby it is that focuses my attentions in this manner.
Similarly, I'm amazed that in a silent room, I can close…
I knew Roy Hall was a clever fellow but not this clever. I never thought he could step out of his belt-drive/solid state comfort zone and make this kind of big, radiant, air-moving sound happen. Likewise, I never thought analog at this price could play anywhere near this true of tone and breathy, airy clear. By the time I got to Ives: Variations on "America" played on the Fisk organ of Harvard University, I was shaking my head in amazement, laughing, and thinking how I needed to buy more E. Power Biggs discs because I had forgotten how much I enjoyed the sound of large organs moving giant…
The text, from Gary Bruestle, a speaker-positioning wizard at Definitive Audio in Seattle, left my mouth watering: "Have you heard the Apex version of a Rossini or Vivaldi yet? It's stunningly good. Addictive, even. ... I usually have a hard time relaxing and listening to music in the showroom, but the Rossini Apex DAC had me in its thrall for a few hours yesterday."
Soon thereafter, I heard from Peter McGrath, Wilson Audio's director of sales, that he was blown away by the sound of his dCS Vivaldi Apex DAC—the flagship DAC from Data Conversion Systems (dCS) of Cambridge, England. Nor…
Since I ran out of power cables for additional components, I left the Rossini upsampling SACD/CD Transport ($26,5000) disconnected. Instead, I used a Roon Nucleus+ music server (powered by a Nordost QSource linear power supply) for file playback from a USB stick, Tidal, and Qobuz. Discs, files, and streams rely on the same Ring DAC and clocking technology for sound; I expected similar results.
For comparison, I chose the EMM Labs Reference DV2 Integrated DAC ($30,000), which I'd reviewed previously. When I compared the DV2 to a dCS Vivaldi DAC I then had on loan, I felt that their bass…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Upsampling Network D/A processor with volume control and remote control. Roon Ready and compatible with AirPlay, Spotify Connect, and UPnP. Streaming from Tidal, Qobuz, Deezer, and internet radio. File playback of PCM, DSD, and MQA from NAS, external drive, or USB stick via dCS Mosaic Control app or other playback software. Automatic upsampling to DXD, DSD64, or DSD128. Filters: 6forPCM,4forDSD,1for MQA. Digital inputs: Network (Ethernet RJ45) accepts up to PCM 24/384 and DSD128 in DFF or DSF format; USB-B 2.0 accepts up to 24/384 and DSD128 in DoP…