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Music can be a semi-religious experience, but this is ridiculous.

I'd come to the Netherlands to cover the Dutch Audio Event, a show that has grown to be one of continental Europe's largest hi-fi fests. On the way from the Amsterdam airport, I stopped over in Utrecht, where, for a future column, I visited Museum Speelklok, whose collection of mechanical musical instruments fills the medieval Buurkerk. Coincidentally, I stayed at Hotel Karel V, once home to the Teutonic Order, a Catholic brotherhood of knights and priests.

Then I arrived at the Dutch Audio Event in Veldhoven…

Each year, the story went, when young organists came [to Lübeck] ... to learn the secrets of Buxtehude's trade, Buxtehude promised each one that he would tell him enough to make him the greatest composer in the world, if he agreed to marry his youngest daughter Anna Margareta. ...

As a suitor was finally found for his daughter, a suitor who had no interest in music, Buxtehude was afraid that he would die and the secret would be lost to the world. Little did he know that a very young composer ... had heard about him and had decided to walk all the way to Lübeck to see if he could…

Features
Although some who know me well may laugh at this, I'm a pretty simple fella. I don't need to preset volume levels for different material, name inputs after pets past and present, or change LCD display colors to match my décor, mood, socks, or gloves. Without a printed manual, and unaware that I could find said manual online, I was content adjusting the basics.

As you would expect, the two big knobs that flank the front-panel LCD control input selection and volume. An on/off button resides on the bottom of the chassis, directly below the display. These basic…

Sidebar 3: Measurements

I measured the Audio Research Reference 20 (serial number 57165) with an Audio Precision APx555 analyzer. The REF20 has four sets of balanced and four sets of single-ended inputs. It has two main outputs plus a subwoofer output, each available on both balanced and single-ended jacks. After several hours of testing, the top panel's temperature, measured with an infrared thermometer, was a cool 85°F. All measurements presented here were taken after thermal equilibrium was reached.

The Reference 20's inputs are selected with relays. Absolute polarity was…

The North Shore Animal League won't send a dog or cat home with just anyone. First, they make sure you can provide a good home for the animal. Once you've decided to adopt, you must give them a list of references—employers, landlords, friends—and they call…

R.E.M.: Reckoning
I.R.S. Records SP70044/Interscope-Capitol Records Definitive Sound Series DSS 16 (LP; auditioned as a test pressing). 1984/2026. Don Dixon, Mitch Easter, prods.; Dixon, Easter, engs.; Bill Inglot, Chris Bellman, remastering.
Performance *****
Sonics *****

I remember buying this album (Jim Austin writes). I was home from college. Record stores had migrated to the mall, so that's where I was.

As I flipped through records, Gloria Titherington appeared. Gloria and I had been buddies in elementary school but had gone our separate ways; we'd hardly…

Digital sources: dCS Varse five-piece music system, dCS Rossini CD/SACD transport; Innuos Nazaré Music Server, NazaréNET, and NazaréFLOW; Small Green Computer Sonore opticalModule Deluxe; ATGBICS AFCT-5710PZ-C and Finisar FTLF1318P3BTL single-mode fiber optic modules; 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 2023 iPad Pro and 2025 MacBook Air.
Preamplifier:…

Description: Fully balanced, tubed line-stage preamplifier with LCD touchscreen, custom-tuned resistor stepped-ladder volume attenuation, and remote. Tube complement: Six 6H30 audio tubes, one 6H30 and one 6550 power supply tube. Inputs: Four pairs XLR (balanced), four pairs RCA (single-ended). Outputs: Two pairs XLR (balanced), one pair XLR Sub; two pairs RCA (single-ended), one pair RCA Sub (buffered to drive low-impedance subwoofer plate amps). Gain: 15dB balanced, 9dB single-ended. Sensitivity: 350mV single-ended and balanced. THD: 0.007% balanced, 0.03%…

This descent into coffee-gear nerdery began a decade or so ago when I bought a gooseneck kettle…