Description: Eight-channel power amplifier with analog and digital inputs, DACs, volume control, and remote control. Analog inputs: eight RCA, eight XLR (balanced, via DB25). USB Digital input supports stereo (PCM to 32/768, DSD Native to DSD256), eight channels (to 32/192), and six channels (DSD Native to DSD128). Analog outputs: eight RCA (trimmer adjustable from 0 to –6dB) and eight speaker level. 12V trigger in/out, USB-C service port, two USB-A accessory power ports. Two slots for optional I/O plug-in cards provide AES3 and audio-over-IP connectivity. Error…
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Sidebar 2: Specifications
Sidebar 3: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: Custom Intel/Win11 music server running JRiver Media Center v34, Roon 2 and DiracLive-ART, Merging Devices Hapi MkII and Okto DAC8 Pro DACs, QNAP TVS-873 NAS. Oppo Digital UDP-103 universal disc player.
Power amplifiers: Benchmark AHB2 (3).
Loudspeakers: KEF Blade 2 Meta with IsoAcoustics GAIA II feet (3). KEF LS60 (2); KEF KC92 (2) and SVS SB 2000 Pro subwoofers.
Cables: Digital: Mogami Gold AES TD DB25-XLR0 snake. Analog interconnects: Mogami Gold AES TD DB25-XLR snake, in-wall analog and digital wiring per AES72 via CAT6 and…
Turntables:
A+:
J.Sikora Reference: $48,000 w/o tonearm
This Polish company’s top-of-the-line turntable is a nonsuspended, high-mass design, weighing 253lb. The dynamically and statically balanced platter alone weighs 40lb! Drive is with four square belts spun by four Papst DC motors. MF found that the plinth was immune to knuckle raps and motor start-up noises and wrote that the Reference was very quiet. He decided that this J.Sikora ’table had been superbly tuned to extract deep, well-controlled bass free of overhang or excess. The measured speed accuracy was impressive, as…
Flashback: It was 2012—or maybe '13. I was in a small hotel room in midtown Manhattan. An array of five chunky black speakers teetering on tripod mounts almost filled the room. Every corner held a subwoofer, each with a tiny, unmarked box on top. On the coffee table sat an AVR, a disc player, and another, similar unmarked box connected to the AVR. No cables linked the coffee table stuff to the (powered) speakers and subs. But music was playing! In 5.1 at 24/96 with very low latency and absolute synchronization among the speakers.
Wow!, I thought. This WiSA thing is the future of home…
Roy Brooks: The Free Slave
Brooks, drums; four others
Time Traveler TT-M001 (LP; auditioned on promo CD).
1972/2025. Brooks, prod.; Zev Feldman, James Batsford, reissue prods.; Orville O'Brien, eng.
Performance ****
Sonics ***
Brooks, drums; four others
Time Traveler TT-M001 (LP; auditioned on promo CD).
1972/2025. Brooks, prod.; Zev Feldman, James Batsford, reissue prods.; Orville O'Brien, eng.
Performance ****
Sonics ***
In its day, the Muse label featured a roster of significant artists including Sonny Stitt, Cedar Walton, and Kenny Barron. Muse never acquired cult status like Blue Note and ECM. Why? For starters, it lacked their sound quality and collectable cover art.
But time changes everything. Fifty years on, Muse now looks like a repository of…
Richard Ashcroft: Lovin' You
BMG (auditioned as LP). 2025. Ashcroft, Chris Potter, Emre Ramazanoglu, prods.; Miles Showell, eng.
Performance ****
Sonics *****
BMG (auditioned as LP). 2025. Ashcroft, Chris Potter, Emre Ramazanoglu, prods.; Miles Showell, eng.
Performance ****
Sonics *****
Richard Ashcroft, the opening act for the new global Oasis reunion tour, remains forever linked to The Verve. That band's blend of Brit pop and neo-psychedelic haze gave Ashcroft a wide emotional canvas to explore. But when he struck out on his own in 2000 with Alone with Everybody, his music took on deeper resonance. That record was a critic and fan favorite, full of sonic things to explore.
In the years since,…
After I reviewed NAD's Masters Series M10 streaming integrated amplifier in January 2020 (footnote 1), I bought the review sample to use as my daily driver. Not only did I appreciate the fact that the M10 was no bigger than it needed to be—it measures just 8.5" W × 3.9" H × 10.25" D and weighs less than 10lb—it is Roon Ready and includes a free license to use Dirac Live LE Room Correction. (This can be upgraded to a paid Dirac Live Full Frequency version.) The amplifier is supplied with a USB microphone that can be used to measure the responses of the owner's loudspeakers at the listening…
For a lot of bands, the second album is intimidating. There are numerous examples of sophomore slumps, which sometimes lead to a band's quick end. Talking Heads didn't just avoid a sophomore slump; they scored their first top-40 hit and put their career on solid, sky-is-the-limit footing. Through their innate talent and curiosity, relentless hard work, and some good luck, their second effort—More Songs About Buildings and Food—was a smashing success.
Capitalizing on the modest buzz created by their debut, Talking Heads: 77—"Psycho Killer" got some FM airplay and notoriety—the band hit the…
Sidebar: Measuring
I used my Audio Precision SYS2722 system to examine the M10 V3's measured performance. Other than the maximum gain being 8dB higher than that of the original M10, at 37.5dB into 8 ohms, the analog line-input performance was very similar to that of the original M10. The source impedance was still impressively low. The maximum power was 150Wpc into 8 ohms (21.75dBW) and 290Wpc into 4 ohms (21.6dBW) compared with the M10 V1's maximum power of 155Wpc into 8 ohms (21.9dBW) and 295Wpc into 4 ohms (21.7dBW). These powers were obtained at 1% THD+noise; the specified continuous…
A conversation with Magico founder Alon Wolf can feel like stepping onto a moving walkway; it's best to find your balance early. Over the course of a spirited five-hour conversation at the company's impressive production facility in Hayward, California (footnote 1), Wolf questioned my choice of gear. Twice. "You should pick what you like of course," he said of a pair of speakers I'd been using as references. "But why?" I laughed, entertained by his cheek.
Hours later, as he piloted his Porsche across the San Mateo Bridge toward a sushi restaurant in downtown San Francisco, I mentioned a…