The ET3 uses Philips's…
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Costing just $899, Shanling's top-loading ET3 CD transport (footnote 1) appears to have been designed by people who recognize the multitude of big and small fails (or lost opportunities) of previous CD transports. In use, the ET3 felt like a distillation of what I've always wanted in a transport: strong, solid, compact, cool-looking, and feels good to use. Everyone knows I like pro-audio cool with no froufrou. This Shanling deck looked so damn smart and felt so good to touch that it kept my mind repeating, "Yep! That's how a CD transport should be built!"
During the reviewing period, I started to worry that the sound, as good as it was, was compromised by EMI. That's when I remembered the Grand Prix Formula Shelf (footnote 6) that sat unused under my couch. With assistance from Off Islanders Audio Society members Stan Delles and Paul Rickert, I installed the platform between the Stromtank and the Jubilee power supply, with the HRS Damping Plates and Wilson Audio Pedestal on top. We all sat amazed at the degree to which extra isolation enhanced the Jubilee's presentation. I stuck with this setup for the remainder of the review.
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Way back in the age when Stereophile's print magazine was the size of a theater playbill, common wisdom declared that the tube preamp was the ideal complement to solid state amplification. That axiom was rooted in two assumptions: (1) Tube equipment produces softer, warmer, more flowing and pleasing sound than solid state, and (2) transistor-based devices need some softening because their sound is often hard, brittle, and mechanical. The trope was the high-end audio equivalent of the yin/yang stereotype that depicts women as soft, gentle, pliable, and flowing and men hard, harsh, and…
Every product listed here has been reviewed in Stereophile. Everything on the list, regardless of rating, is genuinely recommendable. Occasionally we get complaints from manufacturers who object to being included in, say, Class B. That's their error: Inclusion in Class B is a significant honor.
Within each category, products are listed by class; within each class, they're in alphabetical order, followed by their price, a review synopsis, and a note indicating the issues in which the review, and any subsequent follow-up reports, appeared. "Vol.48 No.9" indicates our September 2025 issue,…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I performed a complete set of tests on a different sample of the Octave Jubilee from that auditioned by JVS; mine had the serial number 6119179. I used my Audio Precision SYS2722 system for the tests, repeating some of the measurements with the magazine's APx555 system.
I was initially confused by the presence of a pair of balanced inputs on the rear panel labeled "Phono," as I had understood that the Jubilee was a line preamplifier. However, a look at the manual revealed that the "Phono" input is a line-level input intended to be used with an external…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: dCS Varèse five-piece music system, dCS Rossini CD/SACD transport; EMM Labs DV2i DAC, Meitner MA3 Integrated DAC; Innuos Nazaré 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; 2023 Apple iPad Pro…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Zero feedback, hybrid (tube/solid state), two-channel preamplifier with external power supply and remote volume control. Optional discrete Stepped Attenuator (47 Position, 0.1dB channel matching) volume control and HT bypass. Tube complement (4×) ECC82 (12AU7). Balanced input with input transformer, Ground Lift. Inputs: 2 pairs balanced (XLR), 4 pairs unbalanced (RCA). Outputs: 2 pairs balanced (XLR), 2 pairs unbalanced (RCA), 1 pair unbalanced Monitor/Tape (RCA). Frequency response: 3Hz–100kHz, ±1.5dB. Input impedance: 2k ohms balanced (XLR), 100k…
German speaker and electronics manufacturer MBL Akustikgeräte has been acquired by MBL International GmbH, a new subsidiary of China’s Chow Tai Seng. MBL says the deal secures the company's long-term future and is a step toward resolving ongoing insolvency proceedings.
Chow Tai Seng, whose core business is fine jewelry designed, manufactured, and sold under its own brand, ranks among the world's top 100 luxury-goods companies, with about 4200 employees and more than 4700 stores across China, according to the announcement. The group also owns United Audio, a distributor of high-end audio…
Phono Accessories:
AcousTech The Big Record Brush: $36.95
With grounding wire: $52.99
This large-handled brush has soft bristles of both natural hairs and conductive synthetic fibers, and makes dusting LPs nearly foolproof. The 5.5"-wide bristle area easily spans the width of any LP's grooved area. Version with ground wire ($52.99) does "a pretty effective job of dissipating static electricity," Mikey said. (Vol.31 No.9)
Acoustic Signature Load S record weight: $899
The Load S is made from aluminum alloy, weighs 1.6lb (715gm), and uses five of Acoustic Signature's…