Tabla de contenidos para August 2019 en Stereophile

Stereophile|August 2019

AS WE SEE IT

By the time you read this, Munich’s High End 2019 will be a distant memory.1 Yet as I write this, having just returned from Munich, the experience is fresh in my mind. It’s the most compelling audio topic I can think of, crying out for commentary. Munich! is to audiophiles—to this one at least—what New York’s 5th Avenue is to Black Friday shoppers. It’s the audiophile version of flying through a canyon with a wing suit on. It’s a giant rush, audio cocaine. In early May, over four days, 21,180 people visited 551 high-end exhibitors from 42 countries. According to the organizers, visitors were up 6.5% over the previous year. Exhibitors were up 3.8%. More than 500 members of the audio press attended. (Imagine 500 audio writers all in one…

4 min.

Stereophile|August 2019

CALENDAR OF INDUSTRY EVENTS

ATTENTION ALL AUDIO SOCIETIES: We have a page on the Stereophile website devoted to you: stereophile.com/audiophile-societies. If you’d like to have your audio-society information posted on the site, e-mail Chris Vogel at info@xlinkaudio.com. Please note that it is inappropriate for a retailer to promote a new product line in “Calendar” unless it is associated with a seminar or similar event. CALIFORNIA Thursday, July 18, 4–7pm: You are cordially invited to be our guest for an intimate listening event featuring Dan D’Agostino’s Relentless Monoblock Amplifier, at Audio Video Integration (647 Francisco Blvd. E., San Rafael, CA 94901). The Relentless will be paired with Wilson Alexx speakers and Nordost Odin Supreme Reference speaker cables. We will have the top representatives from D’Agostino in attendance to provide a demonstration of one of the…

4 min.

Stereophile|August 2019

LISTENING

Products come and go. Some impress more than others, and in our little world, the ones that impress the most wind up in Class A of our semiannual Recommended Components feature. After a product makes it to that list, if Stereophile’s reviewers go more than a few years without hearing it again—in a home system or a dealer’s showroom or even at an audio show—that product falls off the list, usually quietly. Thus, if a reviewer is maximally knocked out by a piece of playback gear, yet the fates allow neither a purchase nor an extended loan, he or she or someone else on staff must endeavor to borrow it again so it can stay recommended. So it was with the Tzar DST1 moving-coil phono cartridge ($10,000)—a Russian-made successor to…

18 min.

Stereophile|August 2019

Magnepan LRS

A visitor to stereophile.com named billmilosz commented: “Compared to these, everything else sounded like it was coming out of a cereal box.”1 When I read that, I laughed out loud. That reader was responding to my AXPONA report about Magnepan’s new $650/pair Little Ribbon Speaker (LRS)—which I presume he also heard at the show. Naturally, as a prattler who has long served at the altar of hyperbole, I was jealous of billmilosz’s simile. So I’ll try now to verify his observation—while fashioning a more thorough and maybe even philosophical description of Magnepan’s newest entry-level speaker. Description Magnepan’s more expensive speakers are available at 70 brick-and-mortar stores, but like the similarly sized MMGi that proceeded it, the LRS is sold factory-direct and through dealers, with a 60-day satisfaction guarantee. If you…

12 min.

Stereophile|August 2019

ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT

Analog Sources Dr. Feickert Analogue Blackbird turntable with Jelco KT-850L tonearm, AMG Giro G9 turntable & 9W Turbo tonearm; AMG Teatro, EMT TSD 75 SFL, Etsuro Urushi Cobalt Blue, Zu/DL-103 MK. II, Hana SL & ML, Koetsu Rosewood Signature Platinum, My Sonic Lab Ultra Eminent Ex cartridges. Digital Sources Mac minicomputer running Audirvana Plus 3.2; JVC X-Z1010 CD player (transport only); Chord Qutest, Schiit Yggdrasil Analogue 2, Mytek Manhattan II, HoloAudio Spring “Kitsuné Tuned Edition” Level 3 DACs. Preamplification Auditorium 23, Bob’s Devices CineMag 1131, Dynavector SUP-200, EMIA Phono step-up transformers; Lounge Audio LCR Mk.III, Musical Surroundings Phonomena II+ & LCPS power supply, Tavish Design Adagio RIAA phono preamplifiers; PrimaLuna EVO 400, Rogue Audio RP-7 line preamplifiers. Power Amplifiers First Watt SIT-3 & J2, EleKit TU-8600R, PrimaLuna Prologue Premium, Rogue…

1 min.

Stereophile|August 2019

ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT

Analog Sources Garrard 301 and Thorens TD 124 turntables; EMT 997, Sorane ZA-12 tonearms; Ortofon SPU Century and EMT TSD 15 pickup heads; EMT TSD 15 N SPH cartridge. Digital Sources Apple MacBook Air laptop computer running Roon v.1.5, Hegel Music Systems Mohican CD player, Mytek Liberty D/A processor. Preamplification Auditorium 23 Hommage T1 & T2, Audio-Creative Mediator 40, and EMIA Phono step-up transformers, Shindo Laboratory Monbrison (2017) preamplifier. Power Amplifiers Shindo Laboratory Haut-Brion and Montille CV 391. Loudspeakers Altec Flamenco, DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/93. Cables Digital: AudioQuest Carbon (USB). Interconnect: Audio Note AN-Vx, Luna Red, Shindo Laboratory. Speaker: Auditorium 23, Luna Red. AC: manufacturers’ stock. Accessories Box Furniture Company D3S rack (source & amplification components), Audiodesksysteme Gläss Vinyl Cleaner Pro.…

1 min.

Stereophile|August 2019

MEASUREMENTS

Before measuring the Aesthetix Mimas with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 “As We See It”1), I installed its two Electro-Harmonix 6922 tubes and left the amplifier’s internal jumpers as set by the factory. Before I test an amplifier, I precondition it with both channels driving a 1kHz tone at one-third power into 8 ohms for an hour. The Mimas turned itself off after 30 minutes, however, its front panel displaying the message “Temp HIGH RITE.” The amplifier’s top panel was hot, at 126.6°F (52.6°C), the temperature of the side panels was 110.4°F (43.6°C), and that of the internal heatsinks was 163.5°F (73.1°C). The Mimas doesn’t have quite enough heatsink capacity for sustained high-power use. After letting the Mimas cool down, I continued the testing. Looking at…

5 min.

Stereophile|August 2019

SPECIFICATIONS

Description Stand-mounted, three-way, DSP-controlled, powered loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (25mm) aluminum-magnesium–alloy dome tweeter with 8" (200mm) acoustic waveguide, 8" (200mm) aluminum-cone midrange, two 8" (200mm) aluminum-cone woofers with cast frames. Crossover frequencies: 100Hz, 1250Hz (fourth-order, Linkwitz-Riley, linear phase). Power amplifiers (all class-D): 250W (HF), 250W (MF), 500W (LF). Audio inputs: analog (XLR), AES3 (XLR), Ethernet (RJ45). Audio output: subwoofer (XLR). Control I/O: Ethernet (RJ45). Maximum linear SPL: 106dB continuous from 35Hz up. Dimensions 19" (485mm) by 10.5" (270mm) by 15" (380mm) (H by W by D). Weight: 57 lb (26kg). Finishes White/Natural, Black/Natural, Black/Brown, Black/Black, White/White, White/Black and Black/White. Serial numbers of units reviewed 8c-515, 8c-516. Price $12,500/pair. Approximate number of dealers: 50. Warranty: 1 year, 3 years with product registration. Manufacturer Dutch & Dutch, Claes de Vrieselaan 164, 3021 JZ…

1 min.

Stereophile|August 2019

TENACIOUS SOUND

Our staff has over 150 years of experience guiding music lovers on their unique audio journeys. Let us help you find your audio oasis. www.tenacioussound.com Syracuse NY (315) 928-6273 Louisville KY (502) 317-6310 Augusta GA (706) 940-4380 Audience, Audioquest, Coda, EgglestonWorks, Isoacoustics, Isotek, Klipsch, MoFi Electronics, Naim, Opera, Paradigm, Primare, Quad, Rega, Soundsmith, TAD, Unison Research, Vicoustic, Wharfedale, & more! HOUSE & STEREO Jacksonville FL (904) 642-6677 Part of the Tenacious Sound family. Other locations coming soon! www.houseofstereo.com Audience, Ayre, Bel Canto, Egglestonworks, Focal Monitor Audio, Isotek, JVC, KEF, Magnepan, Parasound, Primare, Quad, Rega, REL, Soundsmith, TAD, Van Den Hul, VPI, Wharfedale, Wireworld, Wolf, Yamaha, & more! WE ARE EXPANDING! Interested in joining our team? Send resumes and information to info@tenacioussound.com…

1 min.

Stereophile|August 2019

MEASUREMENTS

I measured the Sony DMP-Z1 with my Audio Precision SYS-2722 system (see the January 2008 “As We See It”1) using test-tone files copied to the Sony’s internal storage. The DMP-Z1’s battery was fully charged before I began testing, and I measured the player’s performance at its single-ended headphone jack in Direct Source mode, which bypasses the DSP functions. Apple’s USB Prober utility identified the DMP-Z1 as “PLAYER” from “Sony” with serial number “1045A0A1000727” and confirmed that its USB port operated in the optimal isochronous asynchronous mode. Apple’s AudioMIDI utility revealed that, via USB, the DMP-Z1 accepted 16-, 24-, and 32-bit integer data sampled at all rates up to 384kHz. The Sony’s maximum output level at 1kHz was 2.02V in normal mode, 4.0V in High Gain mode. The output impedance was…

5 min.

Stereophile|August 2019

MEASUREMENTS

I used DRA Labs’ MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Forte III’s frequency response in the farfield and an Earthworks QTC-40 mike for the nearfield responses. The Klipsch’s specified sensitivity is an extraordinary 99dB/2.83V/m; my estimate was lower, at 95.2dB(B)/2.83V/m, but this is still 8dB higher than the average sensitivity of the speakers I have measured over the past 30 years. This speaker will play loudly with a mere handful of watts. Klipsch specifies the Forte III’s nominal impedance as “8 ohms compatible.” I found that the speaker’s impedance magnitude (fig.1, solid trace) dropped below 6 ohms only in the upper bass and in the valley between the twin low-frequency peaks that define the reflex woofer loading. The minimum value is 3.65 ohms at 125Hz.…

5 min.

Stereophile|August 2019

MANUFACTURERS’ COMMENTS

Tzar DST It’s my pleasure to let you experience the amazing sounds that this incomparable recreation of the “unobtanium” Neumann DST62 cartridge can elicit. The Tzar never ceases to produce the most sublime, dynamic, and vivid reproduction of your stereo LPs. Now offered in a beautiful, exotic stone box, each one of these limited-edition beauties is engraved with a serial number. My sample has been performing perfectly for me in my system for the last two years. Every time I drop the needle, I am transported into the performance on that recording, just as Art so succinctly stated. Thank you, Art, and Stereophile, for keeping the analog light burning brightly and offering your readers insightful reviews of not only the well-known brands but also small passionate designers that many readers…

6 min.

Stereophile|August 2019

LETTERS

Help wanted: tonearm reviewer Dear Editor; As always, I enjoyed reading Mr. Dudley’s column, this time on the Wand tonearm (which sounds like something I’d like to have). But I felt compelled to write as I read of Art’s struggles with the Wand lying on its back, rolling about helplessly. I have to ask, where was the Plasticine? The Silly Putty? The Blu Tack? Surely, all that was needed to have the tonearm hold still was a few gobs of stuff. Of course, no one likes an armchair quarterback, but still! —Chris Hermansen, Vancouver, BC, Canada Dizzying digital Dear Editor, I am beginning to see the wisdom in going full vinyl in the next phase of my life as a lover of music. I’ve had it up to here with…

7 min.

Stereophile|August 2019

ANALOG CORNER

I went everywhere! Attending the two-day Making Vinyl Berlin B2B conference on May 2 and 3 was an obvious decision for me, even if Day 1’s “Physical Media World Conference” panel discussion was more about optical digital media than it was about analog vinyl. The two previous Making Vinyl Detroit conferences I’d participated in had been successful, well-attended events. This year, organizers Bryan Ekus and Larry Jaffee invited me to participate in a music journalist’s panel discussion on Day 1 and then to run two vinyl-related panels on Day 2. The venue was the famous Hansa Studios in the Meistersaal, where, in the shadow of the Berlin Wall, David Bowie recorded the albums “Heroes” and Low. This was a symposium not to be missed, especially for this big David Bowie…

16 min.

Stereophile|August 2019

GRAMOPHONE DREAMS

We were playing some old, cherished black discs when my partner, bb (the 6'-tall Aries artist), declared, “With records you hear touch, and you are not alone.” Long pause. “Just holding the cover brings back memories—that’s their humanity.” At the RockyMountan Audio Fest in 2017, I walked into the Believe High Fidelity room and, just inside the door, I stopped, closed my eyes, and examined the sound with my mind. What I heard was glowing and tactile—and it occupied the room in an attention-grabbing way. I asked Believe HiFi’s principal “believer,” Joshua Masongsong, “What’s going on here?” He started talking about the speakers and amplifiers, but I wasn’t listening: I knew it was something else. So I sat down in the sweet spot and closed my eyes again. On my…

14 min.

Stereophile|August 2019

SPECIFICATIONS

Description Two-way floorstanding quasi-ribbon panel loudspeaker. Frequency response: 50Hz-20kHz, ±3dB. Nominal impedance: 4 ohms (3 ohms minimum). Sensitivity: 86dB/500Hz/1m/2.83V. Dimensions 48" (including feet) by 14.5" by 1.2" (H by W by D). Shipping weight: 46lb. Finishes Natural oak, black oak, or cherry trim; off-white, gray, or black fabric. Serial numbers of units tested 011110-1/2 Price $650/pair Approximate number of dealers: 76. Also sold factory-direct. Warranty: 3 years to original owner. Manufacturer Magnepan Inc., 1645 Ninth Street, White Bear Lake, MN 55110. Tel: (612) 426-1645. Fax: (612) 426-0441. Web: magnepan.com.…

1 min.

Stereophile|August 2019

HiFiction Thales TTT-Slim II/Simplicity II

Money, that unreliable buyer of happiness, has at times proven effective at delivering good sound. It can buy other things, as well: Audiophiles can swap cash for products that function as objets d’art, as status symbols, or even as canny investments. But—do you think money can buy peace of mind for the audio enthusiast who frets over binding voice-coils, leaking capacitors, drifting resistor values, oxidizing connectors, aging or incorrectly biased tubes, and that most pernicious worry of all, distortion and premature record wear from incorrectly aligned phono cartridges? Sadly, most of those neuroses, some quite reasonable, remain unaddressed by cash almighty. Early attempts at solving that last one had promise but failed to deliver. That’s been especially true of straight-line tracking tonearms, which look good in theory but often wind…

15 min.

Stereophile|August 2019

Aesthetix Audio Mimas

I love listening to new audio products and discovering how they make me feel. I do my best to open my mind, ears, and pores, to trust the process and see where it leads me. Ultimately, for all the words and analogies I or any reviewer may conjure up, what we do isn’t very different from a dog sniffing out a new patch of grass or an insect sending out its antennae to determine what’s what. In all cases, the spirit and care with which we approach new territory helps inform our conclusions. So it was with eager anticipation that I approached the Mimas integrated amplifier, the latest product from Aesthetix Audio, a seven-person company based in southern California and founded in 1994 by designer Jim White. White claims that…

13 min.

Stereophile|August 2019

AESTHETIX AUDIO MIMAS

Digital Sources dCS Rossini SACD/CD transport & Rossini DAC & Rossini clock; EMM Labs DV2 DAC; Intel NUC-7i7BNH computer with 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD, running Roon; Linksys routers with 2 sets TP-Link gigabit Ethernet media converters & multimode duplex fiber-optic cables; Small Green Computer linear power supplies (3); external hard drives, USB sticks, Apple iPad Pro. Power Amplifiers Dan D’Agostino Master Audio Systems Progression monoblocks. Loudspeakers Wilson Audio Specialties Alexia 2. Cables Digital: AudioQuest Diamond (Ethernet), Nordost Odin 1 & Odin 2 & Valhalla 2 (USB), Wireworld Platinum Starlight Cat8. Interconnect: Nordost Odin 2. Speaker: Nordost Odin 2. AC: AudioQuest Firebird HC, Kimber Kable Palladian, Nordost Odin 2. Accessories Grand Prix Monaco rack & amp stands, 1.5”-thick Formula platform. Nordost QB8, QX4 (2), QK1, QV2 AC power accessories, QKore 1…

1 min.

Stereophile|August 2019

MEASUREMENTS

I used DRA Labs’ MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Dutch & Dutch 8c’s frequency response in the farfield and an Earthworks QTC40 mike for the nearfield responses. Before I took the measurements, I connected the speaker (serial no. 8c-515) to my network and and visited, lanspeaker.com, in order to defeat the settings Kal Rubinson had used during his auditioning. These were compensation for the distances to the room’s front and side walls; the levels of treble and bass; and the two parametric filters he’d used to compensate for his room’s low-frequency modes. I left the volume setting at –20dB, selected the “Analog Low Level (–10dBV)” input setting, and disconnected the speaker from my network. (The network connection is necessary only for setting the controls;…

5 min.

Stereophile|August 2019

Sony DMP-Z1

Apple may not have been the first to market with a portable digital audio player, but its original iPod defined the genre: a device small enough to fit into a shirt pocket. When companies like Acoustic Research, Astell&Kern, Fiio, HiFiMan, and Questyle introduced portable players that could play high-resolution files, they echoed the iPod’s form factor. The exception was the Toblerone-shaped PonoPlayer, but even that was small. The subject of this review is another exception: The DMP-Z1, from Sony’s Signature Series, is comparatively enormous—almost the size and weight of a regular preamplifier. At $8500, it’s also considerably more expensive than other players. A Walkman? The last high-resolution music player from Sony we reviewed was the HAP-Z1ES ($2000), which Kalman Rubinson wrote about favorably in May 2014;1 that player is intended…

13 min.

Stereophile|August 2019

Klipsch Forte III

I’m fortunate to have reviewed in recent years not one but three different pairs of horn-loaded loudspeakers. My jaw dropped when I reviewed what would prove the finest loudspeaker to ever grace my home, the Volti Audio Rival.1 Second came a pricey but pleasing pair from handlebar-mustache king Gordon Burwell, the Burwell & Sons Homage.2 Then, at the urging of occasional Stereophile contributor Steve Guttenberg, I took on the fat-boy Klipsch Heresy III.3 As the Beatles used to say, I was dead-chuffed. Horn-loaded speakers achieve what few conventional cone-only speakers can: reproduce the note-perfect timing, rhythmic energy, and bloodpulsing impact of the real event. With their high sensitivity ratings and low power requirements, horns deliver music faster, like a skier blasting off a jump at warp speed: There’s no drag,…

10 min.

Stereophile|August 2019

ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT

Analog Sources Kuzma Stabi S turntable & Stogi S tonearm; Kuzma Stabi R & Kuzma 4Point 11” tonearm; Thorens TD 124 turntable & Jelco TS-350S tonearm; Denon DL-103, Hana EL. Digital Sources Sony Vaio computer running Qobuz and Tidal; BorderPatrol DAC SE, Tascam CD-200iL CD player; Western Digital T2 Mirror Drives (2). Preamplification Auditorium 23 A23 moving-coil step-up transformer, Shindo Laboratory Allegro preamplifier. Power Amplifiers Mytek Brooklyn, Shindo Haut-Brion. Integrated Amplifiers Heed Audio Elixir, Parasound HINT 6, Schiit Ragnarok. Loudspeakers DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/93, Klipsch Heresy III, Elac B6. Cables Digital: Mytek (USB). Interconnect: AudioQuest Water, Shindo Laboratory, Triode Wire Labs Spirit II. Speaker: AudioQuest Castle Rock, Auditorium 23, Tellurium Q Black, Triode Wire Labs American. AC: manufacturers’ own. Accessories IsoTek EVO3 Aquarius line conditioner, Mapleshade Clearview Double Helix Mk.II…

1 min.

Stereophile|August 2019

MY BACK PAGES

GOOD AND BAD, I DEFINE THESE TERMS QUITE CLEAR. .. —BOB DYLAN Dear Audio Newbie: Welcome to the wonderful world of hi-fi! If you’re besotted with a desire for audio gear that can make your recorded music sound better than you’ve ever heard it, you’ve come to the right place. And at just the right time: Not only is there an unprecedented amount of sanely priced, excellent-sounding audio gear on the market; there’s this thing happening between us right here and now—the fact that you’re reading a letter I wrote especially for you. It’s a serendipitous concurrence, because when I think back to when I was a tenderfoot, I wish I’d had a mentor—or, better yet, The Me Of The Future—to prep me mentally for the big trip into Audioland.…

4 min.

Stereophile|August 2019

INDUSTRY UPDATE

CANADA: MISSISSAUGA US: VISTA, CA Jason Victor Serinus Earlier this year, at a time when a blue moon was imminent for North Americans, major transitions were underway at some well-known audio brands. On May 13, Canada’s Scott Bagby and his son, John Bagby, announced that they had purchased Paradigm Electronics, Anthem Electronics, and MartinLogan Loudspeakers from Minneapolis-based private equity firm ShoreView Industries. Scott Bagby, who was one of the founders of Paradigm back in 1982 and served as chairman of the board after ShoreView Industries acquired a controlling interest in the company in 2005, takes the reins once again—he will serve as CEO and chairman—and bids ShoreView adieu. In response to questions emailed to the Bagbys, who were traveling at the time of the announcement, John Bagby explained how the…

20 min.

Stereophile|August 2019

Triton One.R

Triton One.R $2999 each “Everything that earned Triton Reference Stereophile’s highest Class A Rating in a gorgeous, super sounding, more compact and even more affordable package!” “The powerful sense of atmosphere that the One.R speakers conveyed conjure up memories of my time with the Triton Reference.” –Al Griffin, Sound & Vision GoldenEar Technology is pleased to announce the introduction of the new Triton One.R. This extraordinary new reference quality loudspeaker is a smaller, less expensive follow up to the Triton Reference. The T Ref has been compared with speakers selling for over ten times its surprisingly affordable cost. It has had a remarkable response from both music and hi. enthusiasts as well as press and reviewers from around the world, who have bestowed upon it innumerable Speaker-of-the-Year and Product-of-the-Year awards.…

3 min.

Stereophile|August 2019

GIANT STEP ARTS

EARLY IN 2019, THREE JAZZ CDS APPEARED ON A NEW RECORD LABEL. THEY WERE JASON PALMER’S RHYME AND REASON, JOHNATHAN BLAKE’S TRION (BOTH DOUBLE CDS), AND ERIC ALEXANDER’S LEAP OF FAITH. THE LABEL WAS GIANT STEP ARTS. GIVEN THAT HUNDREDS OF JAZZ RECORDS—MANY OF THEM GOOD—ARE RELEASED EVERY MONTH, AND THAT NEW JAZZ LABELS POP UP ALL THE TIME, IS THE RELEASE OF THREE NEW ALBUMS REALLY NEWS? GIANT STEP ARTS IS NEWS. FOR STARTERS, IT IS RADICALLY MORE THAN A RECORD LABEL. THE STORY BEGINS WITH JIMMY KATZ. You may not know his name, but if you’re any kind of jazz fan, his photographs are part of the imagery in your mind’s eye when you think about the music. Katz has documented more than 550 recording sessions and shot…

12 min.

Stereophile|August 2019

MEASUREMENTS

When a loudspeaker is measured, the underlying assumption is that the distance from the speaker to the microphone is significantly greater than the largest dimension of the speaker’s drive-unit array.1 With conventional moving-coil loudspeakers, this assumption is almost always correct: The microphone is in the speaker’s farfield, where any differences in the path lengths from all the drive-units are negligible. However, with a panel loudspeaker such as the Magnepan LRS, this becomes difficult to arrange. The LRS’s Magneplanar panel is 38" tall by 10" wide, which means that, at my usual microphone distance of 50", the farfield assumption is incorrect. The resulting proximity effect will tilt up the response at low frequencies2—as it will when the loudspeaker is listened to at the same distance. So with that caveat, I used…

5 min.

Stereophile|August 2019

SPECIFICATIONS

DESCRIPTION TTT-Slim II belt-drive solidplinth turntable with battery-powered DC motor. Speeds: 33.3 and 45rpm. Wow & flutter at 33.3rpm: +/-0.06% (IEC 386). Rumble: –60dB (unweighted). Dimensions 16.6" (423mm) by 12" (305mm) by 3.9" (100mm) (WxDxH). Weight: 26.4lb (12kg) Finish Anodized anthracite gray. Serial number of unit reviewed 266. Price $6750. DESCRIPTION Simplicity II Pivoting linear-tacking tonearm. Spindleto-pivot distance: 230mm. Effective length: 229mm. Effective mass: 19gm. Cartridge weight range: 7–23gm. Downforce: static. Antiskating: none. Tracking error: <0.006 degrees. Finishes Anodized gray, bronze, or black. Serial numbers of units reviewed 466 and 485. Price $9450. Approximate number of dealers 5. Warranty 5 years, parts and labor. Manufacturer HiFiction AG, Staffelistrasse 6, CH-8409 Winterthur, Switzerland. Tel: 41 52 202 43 12. Web: tonarm.ch. US distributor: Wynn Audio, Unit 31, 20 Wertheim Court, Richmond…

1 min.

Stereophile|August 2019

SPECIFICATIONS

Description Tubed and solid-state integrated amplifier. Power section: Balanced bridge, zero-feedback, fully discrete, FET input, bipolar output. Power output: 150Wpc into 8 ohms (21.76dBW), 280Wpc into 4 ohms (21.4dBW). Frequency response at full power: 4Hz–150kHz, –3dB. THD at full power: <1%, both channels driven. Preamp section: Fully differential, zero feedback, tubed. Tube complement: two 6922. Inputs: 5 line, single-ended (RCA), balanced (XLR). Preamp output: single-ended (RCA), balanced (XLR), headphone (1⁄4"). Volume control: differential switched resistor network with 88 steps of 1dB. Input impedance: 20k ohms (single-ended), 40k ohms (balanced). Home-theater bypass. Control: RS232 (DB9), IR extender, 5V trigger. Dimensions 17 7⁄8" (434mm) W by 5 1⁄2" (140mm) H by 1711⁄16" (449mm) D. Weight: 44lb (20kg) net, 51lb (23kg) shipping. Finishes Black, silver. Serial number of unit reviewed 7578. Price $7000.…

1 min.

Stereophile|August 2019

Dutch & Dutch 8c

At first glance, this active, DSP-controlled loudspeaker system, with dynamic drivers firing to front and rear, may seem an alien invader from the world of recording and mastering monitors made by such brands as Neumann and Genelec. I wouldn’t dispute that perception, but I offer another perspective: The engineering that has gone into the Dutch & Dutch 8c ($12,500/pair) is an all-out attempt to meet the goals that all designers of high-end speakers hope to attain: wide, smooth frequency response; sufficient and linear dynamic performance; crossover management; a cabinet free of audible resonances and edge diffraction; control of the dispersion of sound energy throughout the audioband. This last challenge is one that is of increasing interest to me, as illustrated by my reviews of Bang & Olufsen’s Beolab 901 and…

11 min.

Stereophile|August 2019

ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT

Digital Sources Oppo Digital UDP-105 universal BD player, Baetis Prodigy-X music server running JRiver Media Center 24, exaSound e38 D/A processor, miniDSP U-DIO8, QNAP TVS-873 NAS. Preamplifier Audio Research MP1. Power Amplifiers Benchmark AHB2, Classé Sigma Mono, Hegel Music Systems B53, Parasound Halo A 31. Loudspeakers {Bang & Olufsen Beolab 90, Kii Audio Three?}. Cables Digital: AudioQuest Coffee (USB). Interconnect: AudioQuest Earth/DBS balanced, Kubala-Sosna Anticipation (RCA). Speaker: AudioQuest Oak/DBS biwire. AC: Kubala-Sosna Emotion, SignalCable MagicPower 20A. Accessories AudioQuest Niagara 5000, Brick Wall 8RAUD power conditioners; HDPlex 400W ATX linear power supply, CyberPower 850PFCLCD AC filter (supplied with Baetis server). Listening Room 24' by 14' by 8' (L by W by H), with two MSR Acoustics Dimension4 SpringTraps in front corners, two Ready Acoustics Chameleon Super Sub Bass Traps at sides,…

1 min.

Stereophile|August 2019

SPECIFICATIONS

Description Bluetooth-equipped portable media player/digital processor/headphone amplifier with 3.1" (780mm) TFT color display, 256GB internal storage, two microSD slots, internal rechargeable lithium-ion battery, and vibration-isolating aluminum case. File formats supported: MP3, WMA, FLAC, WAV, AAC, Apple Lossless, AIFF, APE, DSD64/128/256, MQA. Supported Bluetooth codecs: SBC, LDA C, aptX, aptX HD. DSP functions: 10-band equalizer, tone control, DSEE HX (upsamples standard-definition data), DSD Remastering (transcoded PCM to DSD), Dynamic Normalizer, Vinyl Processor. Input: USB Type C (USB 2.0 compliant). Outputs: stereo 3.5mm headphone jack (single-ended), 0.17” Balanced-Standard jack (balanced). Frequency range: 20Hz–40kHz. Maximum output power: 570mWpc into 16 ohms (single-ended output, High Gain), 1.5Wpc (balanced output, High Gain). Battery life: 9–10 hours, depending on file formats played. Battery charging time: approx. 4 hours. Supplied accessories: USB Type-CTM cable (USB-A to USB-C),…

1 min.

Stereophile|August 2019

SPECIFICATIONS

Description Three-way, horn-loaded floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive-units: High frequency driver: K-100-TI 1" (25mm) titanium diaphragm compression driver on a K-79T horn. Midrange driver: K-70 1.75" (45mm) titanium diaphragm compression driver on a K-703-M horn. Low-frequency driver: K-281 12" (305mm) fiber-composite cone woofer. KD-15 15" (381mm) passive cone radiator. Crossover frequency: HF: 5.2kHz, MF: 650Hz. Frequency range: 38Hz–20kHz. Sensitivity: 99dB/2.83V/m. Impedance: 8 ohms nominal. Power handling: 100W/400W. Terminals: dual binding posts/biwire/biamp. Maximum spl: 116dB continuous. Dimensions 36" (914.4mm) by 16.5" (419.1mm) by 13" (330.2mm) (H by W by D). Weight 72lbs (32.7kg) Finishes American walnut, natural cherry, black ash, distressed oak Serial numbers of units reviewed 106423218220014, 106423218220013 Price $3998/pair. Approximate number of dealers: 65. Warranty: 5 years. Manufacturer Klipsch Audio Technologies, 3502 Woodview Trace, Suite 200, Indianapolis, IN 46268. Tel: (317)…

1 min.

Stereophile|August 2019

RECORD REVIEWS

Even though Henry Brant’s mind-boggling Ice Field for orchestra and organ won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2002—the year after its premiere—and years later was revisited by the San Francisco Symphony, for which it was commissioned, no recording format has succeeded at capturing its musical and spatial wonders. Until now. In a first for the San Francisco Symphony, the 2014 performance of Ice Field, recorded in 24/192 PCM in Davies Symphony Hall, has been issued as a bargain-priced (about $7) 24/48 WAV download-only binaural recording. Processed with Dolby Atmos, Ice Field is intended for anyone with two-channel playback gear and a pair of headphones. And what a listen it is. This work, which combines carefully orchestrated sections with passages that depend on spontaneous improvisation, stretches the limits with its…

19 min.