Tabla de contenidos para May 2020 en Stereophile

The High End 2020 show, scheduled to take place in Munich in mid-May, was canceled due to concerns about the coronavirus. The California Audio Show, which usually takes place in late July, is also off, although the reason for its cancelation isn’t clear. And as we’ve just learned earlier today, AXPONA, the biggest audio show in the Western Hemisphere, has been postponed from its original dates (around the time this issue hits mailboxes and newsstands) to the second weekend of August. The reason, of course, is concern about the spread of COVID-19. The AXPONA organizers have the peace of mind that comes from being in good company. Events are being canceled all over the world: scientific meetings, home shows—even SXSW, the giant music, tech, film, and culture festival that takes…

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, email Chris Vogel at vgl@cfl.rr.com. (Please note the new email address.) 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. ARIZONA ❚ Wednesday, April 29, 6:30–8:30pm: The Arizona Audio/Video Club will host a DIY Meeting/Information Session at the Burton Barr Central Library’s 4th Floor Lecture Room, 1221 N. Central Ave. We will be setting up lots of DIY projects and modifications, which will be played through various speakers, both homebrew and name brands. Please RSVP to the event so we can plan accordingly. For…

Analog sources Continuum Audio Labs Caliburn turntable with Castellon stand; SAT CF1-09 and Kuzma 4Point tonearms; Lyra Atlas Lambda SL, Ortofon MC Century, MC Anna Diamond, A95, A90, and MC A (mono), Grado Epoch3, Miyajima Labs Infinity (mono), Grado Epoch (mono). Digital sources dCS Vivaldi One SACD player/DAC, Lynx Hilo A/D-D/A converter, Roon Nucleus server; Pure Vinyl and Vinyl Studio software.
 Preamplification darTZeel NHB-18S, Ypsilon MC-10L, MC-16L step-up transformers and VPS-100 phono stage, CH Precision P1 phono stage with X1 PSU. 
 Power amplifiers darTZeel NHB 468 monoblocks. Loudspeakers Wilson Audio Specialties Alexx. Cables Interconnect: TARA Labs Zero Evolution, Zero and Air Evolution, Analysis Plus Silver Apex, Stealth Sakra & Indra, Luminous Audio Technology Silver Reference. Speaker: AudioQuest Dragon, TARA Labs Omega EvolutionSP. AC: AudioQuest Dragon, Dynamic Design Neutron SW16…

Analog sources Kuzma Stabi R turntable & Kuzma 4Point 11” tonearm; Hana ML MC phono cartridge. Preamplification Tavish Audio Design phono preamplifier. Integrated amplifiers Schiit Audio Ragnarok, Cary Audio SLI-80HS. Loudspeakers Quad S2. Cables Interconnect: Shindo Laboratory, Triode Wire Labs Spirit II. Speaker: Auditorium 23. AC: Triode Wire Labs Obsession NCF power cord, manufacturers’ own. Accessories IsoTek EVO3 Aquarius line conditioner, Salamander five-tier rack; IKEA Aptitlig bamboo chopping boards (under preamp, power amps); Mapleshade maple platform (15" × 12" × 2", under turntable), mahogany blocks (2" × 2" × 0.5"); 3"-thick studio-treatment foam damping (ceiling, walls). Listening room 12' L × 10' W × 12' H, system set up along long wall; suspended wood floor, 6"-thick walls (plaster over 2×4), wood-beamed ceiling.…

Digital sources dCS Rossini SACD/CD transport & Rossini DAC & Rossini Clock & Network Bridge; EMM Labs DV2 DAC; Roon Nucleus + with linear power supply; Linksys routers (2), Small Green Computer Systemoptique optical isolation bundle, TP-Link gigabit Ethernet media converters plus multimode duplex fiber optic cable (2); Small Green Computer linear power supply & Small Green Computer/HDPlex four-component 200W linear power supply (2); external hard drives, SSD USB sticks, iPad Pro. Power amplifiers Dan D’Agostino Master Systems Progression monoblocks. Loudspeakers Wilson Audio Specialties Alexia 2. Cables Digital: Nordost Odin 1 & Odin 2 & Valhalla 2 (USB) & Frey 2 (USB adapter), Wireworld Platinum Starlight Cat8 (Ethernet). Interconnect: Nordost Odin 2. Speaker: Nordost Odin 2. AC: Nordost Odin 2 & Valhalla, AudioQuest Dragon HC, Kimber Palladian. Accessories Grand Prix…

Digital sources Oppo BDP-103 and UDB-205 universal players, Mac mini Server running JRiver Music Center v26 and Roon, Mytek Brooklyn D/A processor, QNAP TS-831x NAS. Preamplifiers Marantz AV8805, Mytek Brooklyn D/A processor. Power amplifiers Bryston 9BST, Benchmark AHB2. Loudspeakers (for comparison) Monitor Audio Silver 8. Cables Kubala-Sosna Anticipation RCA and Fascination XLR interconnects, AudioQuest Coffee USB, AudioQuest Vodka HDMI, Kubala-Sosna Anticipation/Fascination speaker, Kubala-Sosna Emotion AC. Accessories Furman Elite 15 DM i Power line conditioner and surge protector, Emotiva CMX-2 Precision AC Line Restoration & Common Mode Filter System. Room 16' L × 15' W × 8' H, furnished with 96" L × 48" H × 12" D bass trap at junction of floor and front wall, GIK Soffit Bass Traps in rear corners, 2 wall-mounted 4" thick, 24" L ×…

Analog sources Dr. Feickert Analogue Blackbird turntable with Jelco TK-850L tonearm and Koetsu Rosewood Signature Platinum moving-coil cartridge. Digital sources Apple Mac mini computer running Audirvana+, Chord Qutest DAC; Integra DPS 7.2 CD player (as transport). Preamplification EMIA Phono step-up transformer, Musical Surroundings Phonomena II+ phono preamplifier; Rogue Audio RP-7 line-level preamp. Power amplifiers Bel Canto REF600M, Mytek Hifi Brooklyn, Pass Labs XA25, Rogue Stereo 100, Line Magnetic LM-518 IA (used as a basic amp). Loudspeakers Magnepan .7, Harbeth Monitor 30.2, Zu Audio Soul Supreme. Cables Digital: AudioQuest Diamond, Cardas Clear HS USB, Kimber Kable D60 Data Flex Studio (coax). Inter-connect: Triode Wire Labs Spirit, Black Cat Coppertone. Speaker: Cardas. AC: AudioQuest Tornado, manufacturers’ own. Accessories AudioQuest Niagara 1000 power conditioner; Harmonic Resolution Systems M3X-1719-AMG GR LF isolation platform; Sound…

When I was growing up, calling Dad to dinner required a trip down carpeted stairs to the basement, an audiophile man cave in a time before the term had been invented. I’d open the door from the kitchen, and a great wall of sound would emerge—and nearly blow me back before I descended the stairs. Next, I’d gauge how best to make contact, which depended upon his degree of musical immersion. I hated to jolt him out of the experience. Most times he’d be relaxed, eyes closed, head gently nodding or fingers or a foot tapping to the beat. Or he might be reading LP liner notes. Once in a while, he’d be fully under the musical spell, and I’d have no choice but to tap him on the shoulder…

TAKE HEED! Unless marked otherwise, all letters to the magazine and its writers are assumed to be for possible publication. Please include your name and physical address. We reserve the right to edit for length and content. Huh? I’ve been reading Stereophile for a long time, and I think I’m fairly well read. But from gears and pulleys, to editors and teachers, bearing grease and naive readers, just what the hell was Art Dudley’s “Simple Machines” article about? —Cliff KingstonScottsdale, AZ Post-punk postulations Dear Phil Brett: It is certainly difficult to criticize your choices (When Britain Went Postal, Vol.43, No.3), particularly since you included The Cure’s Seventeen Seconds, which has been one of my five favorite rock albums for 40 years. (If only Steven Wilson would work his magic on…

VAC’s Statement 452 iQ Musicbloc amplifier ($75,000 for a single amp; $150,000/pair mono, as reviewed) is tall, young, and lovely, but unlike the girl from Ipanema, it isn’t tan. Nor, at 280lb in its flight case, is it likely to “go walkin’.” Getting the pair moved into my listening room required considerable effort—fortunately not mine. Sized similarly to many modestly sized floorstanding loudspeakers, a pair of 452s makes for a striking physical presentation. They were first introduced to the public at the Capital Audiofest, November 2019—though at AXPONA earlier last year, VAC demoed, in a large room, the Statement 450 iQ integrated amplifier, which shares the 452’s stellar industrial design and, no doubt, much of its circuitry. In my much smaller room, the look is even more dramatic and appealing.…

Located outside Glasgow, in a geographical area that’s also home to Linn Products and Tannoy Ltd.—and also near the storied whisky distilleries of Aberfeldy and Blair Atholl—Fyne Audio got off to a fast start. A mere three years after the company’s 2017 founding, Fyne already has distribution deals in 50 countries and offers 24 products in seven series. How did they do it? There’s a clue on the company’s homepage, which claims “more than 200 years of experience” among Fyne employees: The founders are a core group of former senior managers from Tannoy Ltd.—including former Tannoy operations director Gabriel O’Donohue, product development director Stuart Wilkinson, and Dr. Paul Mills, who spent 27 years as Tannoy’s director of research and engineering and now serves as Fyne’s technical director. Those 24 products…

Back in the Dark Ages, loudspeaker design was commonly based on semi-enlightened experimentation, with new enclosure configurations appearing almost monthly in professional and consumer journals. One of those, published in Wireless World in October of 1965, was A.R. Bailey’s transmission line, a long, selectively resistive, folded-and-some-times-tapered tube that loaded the back of the (woofer) driver for low-bass reinforcement. The term “transmission line” was misleading; a transmission line in a loudspeaker is designed to absorb all but the very lowest frequencies of the driver’s rear-going output, while the thing it was named for—the electrical transmission line—is designed to preserve as much of a signal as possible. Oh, well. Shortly after the first commercial transmission line products emerged, from Radford Electronics in the UK, IMF Electronics adopted the concept and launched a…

I was well over 50 when I first heard an original copy of Charlie Parker’s “Ko-Ko.” It was a happy accident. I received a call from the family of a well-to-do neighbor who had recently passed away, asking if I’d be interested in having his record collection. Three minutes later, I was parked near the servants’ entrance of their centuries-old brick mansion—how quickly we forget our proletariat resentment when there’s vinyl to be had—loading a few cartons of LPs and 78s into my car: The collection was small but high in quality, reflective of very good taste that cut across multiple genres. And there, in one of those cartons, was a copy of the 10" LP New Sounds in Modern Music, Volume 2 (Savoy MG 9001). Except it wasn’t: When…

Van den Hul The Grail SE+ We are pleased to read that the reviewer enjoyed reviewing and listening to our very best phono amplifier, the Grail SE. The Grail SE was designed over many years of listening and experiments. Therefore, we would like to invite the reviewer to review one of our cartridges in combination with the Grail SE, as we believe that the combination of these two pieces synergistically adds extra value to each other. Besides the quality, the aesthetics of the Grail SE is an important part of the equation. We are considering a redesign of the Grail SE case work in 2020. We are very pleased to work with VPI Industries and AudioShield as our new partners functioning as the North American distributors of van den Hul…

US: CHICAGO Jason Victor Serinus AXPONA, the largest audio expo in the Western Hemisphere, has been postponed from April 17–19 to August 7–9. In a statement released to exhibitors on March 9, shortly before 4pm EDT, Joel Davis, founder and CEO of AXPONA sponsor JDEvents, wrote that the move was precipitated “out of concern for the health and safety of all participants due to the growing coronavirus situation. This decision was made following an outpouring of feedback from the AXPONA community over the last 72 hours … We rescheduled out of an abundance of caution during this unpredictable time … We will contact all exhibitors and attendees directly later this week as we work through the details of the move.” “Our decision was based on input from hundreds of customers,…

A few years ago, Fender released a limited-edition Jim Campilongo Signature Telecaster. (Other Signature Teles have been created for and signed by Jeff Beck, David Gilmour, Andy Summers—and Jimmy Page, who also favored a ‘59 model. That alone gives an idea of the esteem in which he’s held in the guitar world.) And not long ago, Newburgh, NY-based luthier Chihoe Hahn worked with Campilongo to create yet another Tele-based signature model, the Hahn Guitars Model C. Campilongo’s session-work toolkit? “I just bring my Telecaster, maybe my 1958 Gibson ES-225T, and my Fender silverface Princeton amp with a Celestion 10” speaker. Or the Fender Vibro Champ: The small Fender amps have a great vibrato sound.”…