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To check my impressions, I referred to the ever-popular Test Record, from the UK's Hi-Fi News & Record Review. Using an exemplary cartridge—the medium-compliance Miyabi 47, which nominally tracks at 2gm—I found that a small increase in downforce and just the right twist in the lead-out wire could be combined to coax a satisfactory antiskating performance from the JMW-9 tonearm. The Naim Aro and Rega RB-300 are both better in this regard: They can, with careful adjustment and a little luck, handle the tortuous track 9 (the left and right channels combined in a spirited 300Hz test tone at…
One more observation: Some hi-fi reviewers, myself included, are anxious to tell you when a product makes a musical performance sound tighter, more together, whatever. That judgment may well be true a lot of the time, but neither should you want a product to homogenize your records in that sense—to make things sound more upbeat, or even more together, than they really are.
Well, don't sweat it, Harry Weisfeld: Your record player made music as interesting as it really is, but no more. The members of the Vienna State Opera Orchestra, under the otherwise beloved (by me at least) Hermann…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-speed, belt-driven turntable with AC synchronous motor, acrylic record platter, and Delrin reflex record clamp; aluminum-alloy unipivot tonearm, height-adjustable, with interchangeable armwands. Wow & flutter: <0.02%. Rumble: below -80dB. Speed accuracy: within 0.1%. Dustcover: none. Spindle-pivot distance: 222mm. Downforce calibration: none. Antiskating: none.
Dimensions: 19" W by ca 4.5" H by 14" D (without dustcover). Weight: 37 lbs.
Finish: Black semigloss enamel (turntable), textured aluminum (tonearm).Serial numbers of units…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: Linn Sondek LP12 turntable with Naim Armageddon power supply and Naim Aro tonearm; Rega Planar 3 turntable; Miyabi 47, Supex 900 Super, Lyra Helikon Mono, and Rega Exact phono cartridges.
Preamplifiers: Fi, Audio Note M3, Audio Note AN-S2 moving-coil step-up transformer.
Power amplifiers: Fi 2A3 Stereo, Audio Note Kit One.
Loudspeakers: Lowther PM2A drivers (15 ohm version) in modified Medallion horn enclosures, Linn Sizmik subwoofer.
Cables: Interconnect: Audio Note AN-Vx, Nordost Valhalla, Final Laboratory Audio, plus…
ARTURO DELMONI & NATHANIEL ROSEN: Music for a Glass Bead Game
J.S. Bach: Two-Part Inventions 1, 3, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13. Kodály: Duo for Violin & Cello. Giordani: Duetto II. Martinu: Duo for Violin & Cello. Handel: Passacaglia
Arturo Delmoni, violin; Nathaniel Rosen, cello
John Marks Records JMR 15 (CD). John Marks, prod.; Jerry Bruck, eng. DDD. TT: 62:34
J.S. Bach: Two-Part Inventions 1, 3, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13. Kodály: Duo for Violin & Cello. Giordani: Duetto II. Martinu: Duo for Violin & Cello. Handel: Passacaglia
Arturo Delmoni, violin; Nathaniel Rosen, cello
John Marks Records JMR 15 (CD). John Marks, prod.; Jerry Bruck, eng. DDD. TT: 62:34
This is a stupendous recording of violin and cello in a good-sized hall—possibly the most luscious recording of acoustic music I've heard in several years.
The disc's title refers to Herman Hesse's last novel…
The Manley Steelhead tube MM/MC phono preamplifier was first demonstrated at the 2001 Consumer Electronics Show. Nine months later, my long-promised review sample of Eveanna Manley's new baby was delivered. While Ms. Manley may have given birth to the audacious product, it was conceived by the company's chief hi-fi designer, Mitch Margolis.
The Steelhead is the most flexible, user-friendly phono section I've ever encountered. There are two moving-coil (MC) inputs on the rear panel, one with RCA jacks, the other a female DIN connector. There's a single set of RCAs for the moving-magnet (MM…
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…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I performed a full set of measurements on the Ideon eos using my Audio Precision SYS2722 system, then checked some of the test results with the magazine's higher-resolution APx555 analyzer. The coaxial S/PDIF inputs accepted data sampled at rates up to 192kHz, while Apple's AudioMIDI utility revealed that the USB port accepted 16-, 24-, and 32-bit integer data sampled at all rates from 44.1kHz to 768kHz. The USB Prober app identified the Processor as "Ideon USB Audio" from "IDEON AUDIO" and indicated that the USB port operated in the optimal isochronous…
You can call Boutique Audio Gallery's Jason Melman anytime you like—just don't call him "dealer."
"The two words I hate are 'dealer' and 'store'," he told me during an interview at an event he hosted at the—um, gallery he opened in March 2024. "It's just a relaxing place where people can come and listen to music." Melman's presence sets the tone: low-key, thoughtful, meticulous. Located in a rural setting about 45 minutes from Toronto, both the showroom and the landscape inspire relaxation.
A showroom that's pleasant to spend time in is hardly a new idea. Melman combines the space…