Description: Three-speed (33 1/3, 45, and 78rpm), direct-drive turntable with brushless, low-torque motor, solid MDF plinth, die-cast aluminum platter, rubber mat; Sorbothane vibration-damping feet, switchable auto-stop function, static-balanced, S-shaped aluminum tonearm with a detachable (SME-type) headshell, and Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge. Tonearm: effective length, 9" (230mm); usable cartridge weight range: 6–10gm (more with extra counterweight, included). Cartridge: output, 5.5mV; recommended vertical tracking force 1.6–2.0gm.
Dimensions: 17.8" (453mm) W…
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Sidebar 1: Specifications
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: Linn Audio Sondek LP12 turntable with SME M2-9 tonearm and Audio-Technica AT-VM95E cartridge; Dr. Feickert Analogue Blackbird turntable with Thomas Schick 10.5" tonearm, My Sonic Lab Ultra Eminent Ex moving coil cartridge. Koetsu Rosewood Signature Platinum MC cartridge with Koetsu SUT. Denon DL-103 with Auditorium 23 SUT. Zu Denon DL-103, Ortofon 2M Black, Grado Prestige 78E mono phono cartridges.
Preamplifier: HoloAudio Serene line preamplifier; Tavish Design Adagio, Kitsuné LCR-1 MK5 phono preamplifiers.
Power amplifiers:…
Founded in 1926 by Guy R. Fountain in London as the Tulsemere Manufacturing Company, Tannoy—a portmanteau (footnote 1) of "tantalum" and "alloy," after a tantalum-lead alloy used in rectifiers—took on its current commercial identity in 1928. Through the war years and beyond, the company specialized in public-address (PA) systems. Indeed, today, "tannoy" is a widely recognized generic term for a PA system in the UK; there's an entry for "tannoy" in the Oxford English Dictionary.
Tannoy was 20 years old when the company introduced, in 1947, its Dual Concentric drive unit, the basis of…
The Dual Concentric's tweeter uses an aluminum-magnesium– alloy dome driver with, as previously mentioned, Tannoy's Point Source Tulip Waveguide. The woofer part utilizes a 10", treated-paper-pulp cone with an HE twin-roll fabric surround and a 1 5/8" (42mm) edge-wound voice-coil. "The HE refers to the hard-edge, impregnated fabric surround on the bass driver, which stores less energy and gives it a faster and more articulate sound than its predecessors," Deal added.
"The high-frequency driver is a wide-dynamic-range compression unit," Deal wrote. "The Tulip Waveguide is a low-…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Bass-reflex, floorstanding biwireable loudspeaker with "Dual Concentric" driver including one 1" (25mm) aluminum-alloy-dome compression tweeter with Tulip Waveguide and neodymium-magnet motor and one 10" (254mm) woofer with treated-paper-pulp cone with HE twin-roll fabric surround, 1 5/8" (42mm) edge-wound voice-coil, and dual front-firing port slats. Crossover frequency: 1.8kHz. Frequency response: 39Hz–46kHz, –6dB. Sensitivity: 91dB/2.83V/m. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms (5 ohms minimum). Treble adjustment: ±3dB above 1.8kHz to 46kHz shelving.
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: Thorens TD 124 turntable with Jelco TS 350 S 9" Tonearm and Ortofon SPU Classic moving coil cartridge; Kuzma Stabi R and 4Point tonearm with Luxman LMC-5 MC cartridge.
Digital sources: HoloAudio May DAC augmented with Sonore opticalRendu, Roon Nucleus+, Small Green Computer power supply, TRENDnet switch, streaming Roon/Tidal/Qobuz via Apple iPad Mini.
Preamplification: JE Sugden Masterclass LA-4, Shindo Allegro; Luxman EQ-500, Tavish Audio Design Adagio, Sutherland Little Loco phono preamplifiers.
Power amplifiers: Pass Labs XA-…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system, a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone, and an Earthworks microphone preamplifier to measure the Tannoy Stirling Prestige Gold Reference's frequency response in the farfield. I used an Earthworks QTC40 mike for the nearfield responses and Dayton Audio's DATS V2 system to measure the impedance magnitude and electrical phase angle.
The Stirling's anechoic sensitivity is specified as a high 91dB/2.83V/m. My B-weighted estimate was even higher, at 93.8dB(B)/2.83V/m. Tannoy specifies the Stirling's impedance as 8 ohms, with a minimum…
As an aspiring teenage illustrator, I was fascinated by the work of outlaw cartoonist Robert Crumb. His beautifully drawn images offered escape from the redneck southern city where I grew up. I was especially enchanted by Crumb's caricatures of blues and jazz musicians, which were assembled in his "Heroes of the Blues" and "Early Jazz Greats" trading-card collections.
Crumb is an avid record collector. I envision him as a purist and completist who would've jumped at the original releases of short-lived label Candid Records, which was founded in New York City in 1960 with Nat Hentoff in…
"A switch? Why do I need a switch?" That was my response to Meredith Gabor, head of marketing and PR for cable and accessories manufacturer Nordost, after she dropped the news. She had just arranged with Jim Austin for me to write a shorter, "ancillary" review of the new Nordost QNet Network Switch ($3199.99) with its optional QSource linear power supply ($2749.99) and premium QSource DC umbilical interface cables ($339.99 for 1m). Why did I need an expensive QNet switch when my router was functioning reliably? Good question.
Checking Nordost's website, I discovered that the QNet is "a…
Sidebar 1: Ethernet Protocols
Dennis Bonotto's characterization of how network switches work surprised me. I was under the impression that network switches merely directed packets from one MAC address to another—so what's all this de-encapsulating and transforming back into bits? If you're not interested in the technical stuff, you can skip this.
As previously mentioned, a network switch is a "layer-2" device, which means that it works in the first two layers of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model. In Bonotto's preferred lingo, the two layers are called "MAC" and "PHY."…