In the capability and flexibility of its digital platform, the Inspiration CS 2.3 hunts with the big dogs. I asked John Woo of Bluebird Music, distributor for AVM in North America, to describe the capabilities of the AVM X-STREAM Engine, which is new for the CS 2.3 model; X-STREAM is a powerful digital processor/controller, powered by an ESS 9038Q2M chip. He told me that the CS 2.3 supports hi-rez streaming up to 24/192 and DSD 256 natively. It is Roon capable and supports Tidal Connect (but with no MQA support), Spotify Connect, Qobuz, and AirPlay 2. All are accessed with the AVM RC X…
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Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid state, class-D, stereo streaming integrated amplifier with DAC, CD transport, phono preamp, class-A headphone amplifier, remote. Analog inputs: 4 pair RCA (2 line, phono, phono loading). Digital inputs: HDMI ARC, USB-A, LAN, 2 Coax, WLAN, Bluetooth antennas. Analog outputs: 1 pair RCA variable, 1 pair RCA fixed. Loudspeaker outputs: stereo pair 3-way binding posts. 1/8" (3mm) unbalanced headphone. Input sensitivity: 275mV. Power output: 140Wpc (18.45dBW) at 1% THD+N into 4 ohms. Tone controls: Balance, Bass, Treble, Loudness. Standby power…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon-EVO turntable, Sumiko Rainier & Sumiko Olympia cartridge.
Digital sources: Cary Audio 308T CD player, Musical Fidelity M1CDT transport.
Integrated amplifiers: Peachtree Audio Nova integrated, McIntosh MA252 Tube Hybrid integrated.
Loudspeakers: Sonus Faber Toy, Harbeth C7 ES-3 XD, REL T2 subwoofer.
Headphones: AudioQuest Nighthawk, Sennheiser HD 560 S.
Cables: Interconnects: AudioQuest Cobra & Sky. Speaker: AudioQuest Rocket 88 & Robin Hood.
Accessories: Mapleshade equipment rack,…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured AVM's Inspiration CS 2.3 using my Audio Precision SYS2722 system,1controlling the amplifier with the AVM RC X app on my iPad mini. As the AVM is a class-D design, and class-D amplifiers emit relatively high levels of ultrasonic noise that would drive the analyzer's input into slew-rate limiting, all the measurements other than frequency response were taken with Audio Precision's auxiliary AUX-0025 passive low-pass filter. (The AUX-0025 mitigates noise above 80kHz and eliminates noise above 200kHz.) Without the filter, there was approximately 400mV of…
I had to pause for a moment when I saw the cover of the show guide. Could T.H.E. Show, aka The Home Entertainment Show, which opens today in the Hilton Orange County in Costa Mesa, really be North America's longest-running HiFi Audio Show?
Then it hit me. When I first started attending audio shows, there were only two big games in town: the late and lamented Stereophile Show, which moved around the country, and CES in Las Vegas. Nor was CES a monolith. For many of us, the parts of CES we loved the most and flocked to were not the exhibits in the jam-packed, noisy Las Vegas Convention…
Located by itself in the Orange County Hilton’s Dana Point room, half-obscured beyond a display of several luxury cars, Joseph Cali System Design's Gryphon Audio Design System put on a show all its own. That it sounded as good as it did in a hotel space formerly occupied by a hair salon—hair salons are hardly prized for their acoustics—was a near miracle. Everything from recording studio Gobos and ASC Tube Traps to Vicoustic Diffusers and black draping (covering floor-to-ceiling glass windows) was employed to deliver sound that, if at all bettered at T.H.E. Show, will have to be sensational…
Together, distributor Philip O'Hanlon of S. CA-based On a Higher Note (OAHN) and Neil Strickland of British Audio Guys, a dealership in Sherman Oaks that specializes in British brands, set up an extremely pleasing and musical system. While O'Hanlon cued up tracks, Strickland was available to explain to showgoers the ins and outs/whys and wherefores of Graham Audio loudspeakers, which he used extensively as a BBC engineer.
This was one of several rooms to partly rely on the excellence of tape, here played on a SonorouS ATR 10 Mk II tape deck ($32,000). When I entered, the gentlemen were…
Ozan Turan and Dave Weintraub of High End by Oz may pretty consistently rotate components between shows, but one element remains constant: sonic excellence. At T.H.E. Show 2023, it was time for Lansche 7.2 loudspeakers ($110,000/pair in Macassar Ebony finish), Thrax Heros MkII class-A hybrid monoblocks ($47,000/pair) and other Thrax components, United Home Audio's R2R Ultima5 tape deck with outboard power supply ($38,000), and Albedo Silver Metamorphosis Signature monocrystal cabling to shine.
The sound was quite warm and notably lively on the CD layer of a Challenge Classics hybrid SACD…
Synergistic Research had the opportunity to display its magic in the first of five rooms sponsored by Scott Walker Audio. There were at least six new Synergistic Research products in the room: the Network Router UEF ($2995), UEF Ethernet and USB Performance Enhancers ($295), Master Fuses ($595 each), Galileo Active Ground Block MkII ($7995), Master Tuning Modules for use, I believe, with cables ($425/each), and, on static display, Active Ground Block SX ($2995). Add in at least Synergistic Research power conditioning products, headed by the Synergistic Research Galileo PowerCell SX ($27,995…
Scott Walker Audio united with Soulution and Von Schweikert Audio to present the show premiere of the new active Von Schweikert VR-55 MkII SE loudspeaker in fabulous McLaren Volcano Orange finish ($85,000/pair). The latest successor to the original VR-55, which was designed by the late Albert Von Schweikert and released in 2014, this 3-wayspeaker with beryllium- and ceramic-diaphragm drivers contains significant crossover improvements and technology trickled down from Von Schweikert Audio's top Ultra model.
While the VR-55 MkII comes in a passive version ($65,000/pair), the VR-55 MkII…