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…
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Jim Austin (left) succeeded John Atkinson (right) as Stereophile's editor in April 2019 and has preserved the magazine's Great Wall between editorial and advertising.
In an information vacuum, people tend to make stuff up, especially on the internet. We try to remain above the fray, but sometimes it makes sense to step in and fill the information vacuum with facts. In that spirit, here are some of the most important principles that Stereophile religiously follows.
Stereophile maintains strict separation between its editorial side and its advertising side. Companies cannot buy a…
Lucinda Williams: World's Gone Wrong
Highway 20 Records/Thirty Tigers H20015LP (LP). 2026. Ray Kennedy, Tom Overby, prods.; Kennedy, John Rooney, engs.
Performance ****½
Sonics ****½
Highway 20 Records/Thirty Tigers H20015LP (LP). 2026. Ray Kennedy, Tom Overby, prods.; Kennedy, John Rooney, engs.
Performance ****½
Sonics ****½
There are times when songwriters, particularly those who have been at it for a while, need a jolt, a shock to the system that gets their creative juices flowing again. An obvious example is Bruce Springsteen, who was inspired by 9/11 to write his last best group of songs, which became The Rising. Such troubled times call for protest, but writing songs that carry a message and don't sound preachy—…
When I was about 12 years old, my mother and I watched a movie on TV in which a ship closed in on a swimmer. The scene cut from the churning screw propeller to the vantage point of the hapless victim, inches above the waterline. The camera lingered there as the hull came closer, menacing, darkening the sky.
Did the man survive? I don't remember. I do remember my mother looking at me and asking, a glint of amusement in her eye, "Why did you do that?"
"Do what?" "With your arms." I looked at her, not understanding. "You held your arms over your head," she said. "Warding off the boat…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way sealed-box passive loudspeaker. Drivers: 1.1" (28mm) diamond-coated beryllium-dome tweeter, 5" (127mm) Gen 8 Nano-Tec cone midrange driver, two 7" (178mm) Gen 8 Nano-Tec cone woofers. Crossover: three-way Elliptical Symmetry Crossover (ESXO), 24dB/octave Linkwitz-Riley. Crossover frequencies: 325Hz and 2350Hz. Frequency range: 26Hz–50kHz. Sensitivity: 86.5dB/2.83V/1m. Impedance: 4 ohms. Recommended amplifier power: 50–300Wpc.
Dimensions: 43.5" (1100mm) H × 15.5" (400mm) W × 13.6" (350mm) D with outriggers installed. Weight: 132lb (60kg…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: 15" MacBook Air M2 Max running Roon 2.0. Roon ROCK (Lenovo ThinkCentre), iPhone 16 Pro Max, Eversolo DMP-10, Grimm Audio MU1, Aurender A20. Sony S9000ES SACD player.
Preamplifiers: Benchmark HPA4 line stage.
Power amplifiers: Krell FPB 200c (recapped), McIntosh MC462.
Integrated amplifiers: Audia Flight FLS10, T+A Symphonia.
Loudspeakers: Focal Utopia Scala EVO, Estelon X Diamond MkII.
Cables: Speaker: AudioQuest Thunderbird Zero. Interconnects: AudioQuest Thunderbird, Black Beauty, and Red River (RCA, XLR); Digital:…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
For logistical reasons, I measured a different sample of the Magico S2 from those auditioned by RvB. Mine had the serial number 25106. I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone with an Earthworks microphone preamplifier to measure the Magico S2's farfield frequency behavior and dispersion with the 132lb loudspeaker raised off the floor on a dolly. I took a full set of farfield measurements with the microphone at my usual 50" distance on the tweeter axis, then repeated the measurements with the microphone 1m away to check that aggressively…
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…