Analog source: Technics SL-1200MKV with KAB 3-speed mod, fluid damping and tonearm wiring; Hana SL MKII cartridge. Philips AF-887 with Shure M97xe cartridge.
Digital sources: dCS Bartók streaming DAC, Cambridge MXN10 streaming DAC, Oppo UDP-203 universal disc player.
Phono preamplifier: ProJect Phono Box RS2.
Line preamplifier: Benchmark LA-4.
Power amplifier: Benchmark AHB2.
Integrated amplifier: McIntosh MA6500.
Loudspeakers: Amphion One18, Bowers & Wilkins 808.
Accessories: Butcherblock Acoustics equipment rack, SME…
search
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: Moon 260D CD transport, iFi iDSD Diablo DAC.
Integrated amplifier: Grandinote Shinai.
Loudspeakers: Focal Aria K2 936, Dynaudio Contour 30i.
Cables: Interconnect: Kimber Kable 1016 (RCA). Speaker: Kimber Kable Monocle-XL (w/banana plugs). Digital: Kimber Kable D60 (RCA S/PDIF), AudioQuest Forest (USB). Power: Shunyata Research Black Mamba CX, LessLoss DFPC, DR Acoustics Red Fire Ultra.
Accessories: Shunyata Research Venom PS8 power conditioner; a component rack and a wood plinth stand (under turntable) whose brand names are…
Rega Research (footnote 1) sold more turntables in 2012 than in any of its previous 40-odd years of business, and is on target to do so again in 2013. How many turntables is that? I know but can't yet say.
Rega, along with most major makers of audiophile turntables, is participating in an ongoing project I've undertaken that I hope will reveal the true depth of the vinyl resurgence by counting the production of turntables, cartridges, and vinyl records industry-wide. So far, on the hardware side, only the purveyors of plastic turntables have balked. And while those sales numbers are high…
In ancient times, when I first ventured beyond playing files stored on a USB stick or NAS to streaming from Tidal and Qobuz, I ran a USB cable between a MacBook Pro and my DAC. For playback software, I alternated between Amarra, Audirvana, and—sometimes with a dCS DAC—dCS Mosaic. During a decade of upgrades from laptop and DACs with their own streamer software to dedicated server/streamers, some with proprietary music-management and playback software, one basic concern remained consistent: Was there a streamer (or streamer-software combo) out there that could improve musicality and the…
The surfboard
The Nazaré music server/streamer's chassis is simplicity itself. The striking front panel's 3D architecture includes a strongly accented indentation inspired by Nazaré Canyon's topography; it is illuminated by an LED when the unit is on. There are no front-panel controls. To turn the unit on and off, reach directly under the middle of the front panel and, upon encountering a smooth piece of vinyl, gently caress it. The panel is quite sensitive—a hard tap will not do—and seems to prefer certain touches and caresses over others. With patience, you'll find out exactly what…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: dCS Varèse five-piece music system, dCS Rossini CD/SACD transport; EMM Labs DV2 DAC, Meitner MA3 Integrated DAC; Innuos Statement Next-Gen Music Server and PhoenixNET network switch; Small Green Computer Sonore opticalModule Deluxe (2); Broadcom/Avago AFBR-5718PZ 1GB SX-SFP, Gen 5 fiberoptic modules (2); Nordost QSource linear power supply (2); Sonore Audiophile Linear Power Supply; Synology 5-bay 1019+ NAS with Ferrum Hypsos linear/switching hybrid power supply; ASUS AX6000 and RT-AX88U Pro mesh routers and Netgear Nighthawk modem; Apple…
YG Acoustics and Supreme Acoustic Systems set up a massive, no-holds-barred system at T.H.E. Show in Southern California. It was certainly one of the show's largest systems—as well as being among the priciest—and it delivered huge sound.
YG Acoustics's Duncan Taylor and Supreme Acoustic Systems's Hiram Toro were on hand to share details. Taylor talked about the room's challenges, including a wall with several large panes of glass. They seemed to have overcome that with heavy curtains and with careful loudspeaker placement.
I had heard the flagship, four-tower YG Acoustics XV…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Dedicated music server/streamer with up to 16TB storage via M.2 SSDs (up to 8TB internal, up to 8TB via expansion slot, all seen as a single volume). 20 internal processors (10 performance cores, 10 virtual cores). Memory: 32GB. Outputs: Two USB 3.2 Gen2 (for backup/optical drive), one PreciseUSB USB 2.0, one PreciseNET 1Gbps RJ45, and one HDMI (for service only). File formats: WAV, AIFF, FLAC, ALAC, AAC, MP3, DSF, DFF. PCM up to 32-bit/768kHz, DSD up to DSD256 via DoP or up to DSD512 via native DSD with compatible DACs. Music Library software:…
This past May, I stormed the halls of the international audio orgy High End Munich. My scorched-earth tour covered countless rooms, in pursuit of the holy grail of music playback. Among the finalists, a clear pattern emerged: With a few exceptions, my favorite rooms used horn-loaded speakers (footnote 1).
The exceptions—great rooms with speakers that aren't horn loaded—were by Avalon Acoustics, Auer Acoustics, and Matter. The Avalon Acoustics Saga Signature's "seamless linearity created a womblike embrace," I reported. Auer Acoustics' Versura V4 offered "an unblemished signal that…
This review started with a gentle handoff. My ol' pal Walter Swanbon of Fidelis Distribution stopped by Brooklyn to take away the $10,000 Limited Edition Falcon LS3/5a loudspeakers and drop off the $10,000 eos DAC by Ideon. As he was getting in his car, I yelled, "Walter! I'm warning you! If that thing's not plug'n'play, I'll put it right there on that curb."
The day after Walter visited, Jack Wu, the founder of Woo Audio, came by and picked up his beautiful $13,000 WA24 headphone amplifier. As soon as Jack left, at exactly 4:15pm, I set the Ideon eos DAC in the spot the WA24 had occupied…