Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2019 i Stereophile

CANADA: TORONTO Paul Messenger My house, like many older houses in Britain, has suspended wooden floors, and for many years I’ve coupled my loudspeakers to the floor with spikes, to eliminate floorborne vibrations that can color and distort a speaker’s sound. But I’ve also found that a degree of spring-decoupling is entirely beneficial. I’ve been using Max Townshend’s Seismic Corners or Podiums for some years, but recently I encountered a Canadian company, IsoAcoustics, whose products work along similar lines. Based in Markham, Ontario, near Toronto, IsoAcoustics was founded in 2012, after principal David Morrison had spent nearly 20 years designing and installing studios for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Although many IsoAcoustics products are designed to be used in professional audio, some, like those discussed below, are intended for domestic hi-fi.…

The world’s a place of horrors Because each man thinks he’s right—LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III As a teen, I loved spending time in musical-instrument shops. Now, with exceptions, the experience is reliably depressing. Last Saturday was exemplary: I walked into my local supermarket of sound to buy a set of guitar strings, and was at once assaulted by the racket of two gunslingers trying to outshoot each other. Combatant No.1, a fiftysomething male with an elaborate dye job, had hold of a new Martin dreadnought acoustic guitar, on which he aggressively demonstrated his repertoire of Stephen Stills licks. Combatant No.2, a younger and more reserved-looking male, also armed with a new Martin, alternated between playing along with No.1 and trying to drown him out, the latter no easy task. It was…

The ND5 XS 2 is distinguished by its use of Naim’s new streaming platform. The late Julian Vereker, the sharp-minded former racing driver who founded Naim Audio and designed its first products, did so because he wanted audio amplification of a quality he felt no one else was making at the time, reasoning that if he wanted such a thing, so might others. Thus came about Naim’s first domestic-audio product, the distinctive NAP200 solid-state amp (1973). Throughout the 1980s, I closely followed Naim’s work, buying a few of their products, lusting after others, and seeing in many of them the same originality of engineering that had characterized the NAP200. At the time of its introduction, there was nothing else on the market remotely like the Naim Nait integrated amplifier (1983)—and…

The Pre Box’s case is not much bigger than a tin of sardines. I first met Pro-Ject Audio Systems’ founder and president, Heinz Lichtenegger, in 2016, at the US launch of the Austrian company’s The Classic turntable. His passion for all things hi-fi was so intense I thought his head might explode. Gleeful in his mission to bring high-end audio to the people at less than typical high-end prices, Lichtenegger and ProJect can fairly claim bragging rights for their entry-level Debut Carbon (DC) ($460 and up), one of the world’s bestselling turntables. On Pro-Ject’s mammoth website, Lichtenegger bares his soul. “Our aim is to get as many people as possible into the wonderful hobby that is HiFi audio and to deliver a real stereo experience for the lowest cost possible,”…

I was surprised to learn that the preamplifier circuit is fully balanced; Sugden sent me a diagram to prove it. Like most serious pursuers of the audio hobby, I’ve known about J E Sugden & Co. Ltd. for years. For many of those years, though, it was easy to forget about them, and I mostly did—until, quite recently, Sugden gear began popping up at audio shows, including the 2016 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest. In his report on that show, Herb Reichert described the midrange of Sugden’s A21SE Signature, a pure class-A integrated amplifier, driving DeVore Fidelity speakers, as “shroom-like” and contrasted the sound with what he called class-D’s “fake cocaine.”1 That got my attention. Sugden again showed up at RMAF 2017, this time with different DeVore speakers driven by Sugden…

Our conservative two-channel audio world doesn’t easily accept change. Not that many years ago, even remote control was considered a sign of electronic moral decay certain to degrade sound quality. Today, home theater–like operating systems, with their fluorescent-screen hells and microprocessor-controlled functionality are commonplace, even in the highest of fi. Consumers accustomed to the convenience of audio/video processors now demand it on every price tier of two-channel hi-fi, though purists who think sound quality is commensurate with inconvenience can have that if they want it. Audia Flight, founded in 1996 in Civitavecchia, Italy, on the Mediterranean, not far north of Rome, makes a wide range of high-performance electronics with convenient operating systems, at a variety of price points. The FLS series is their newest, priced below their cost-no-object Strumento line…

AUDIO PHYSIC STEP PLUS LOUDSPEAKER When Ken Micallef reviewed the Audio Physic Step Plus in our February issue,1 he found it relatively difficult to optimize the positions of this two-way stand-mounted speaker. However, once he’d done so, he noted that the Step Plus could produce “serious lower-register heft for such a small speaker,” and that the pair of them “disappeared” as the sources of the sound, leaving only the instruments in space before him. Ken summed up by saying that the Step Pluses “proved overachievers to the nth degree,” and concluded: “If you’re in the market for a soundstaging and imaging champ that produces clear upper-range frequencies and solid bass fundamentals with almost any amplifier, the Audio Physic Step Plus should be numero uno on your list.” However, when I…

In our February 2019 issue, when I reviewed a new integrated amplifier from Colorado-based Ayre Acoustics,11 I concluded that “the EX-8 Integrated Hub is a high-end contender at a competitive price.” In that review I promised a Follow-Up in which I would compare the EX-8 with Cambridge Audio’s Edge A integrated amplifier, which Ken Micallef had positively reviewed in our January 2019 issue.12 While I’d enjoyed my time with the EX-8, I’d found its balance rather on the light side, and that it projected voices somewhat forward on the soundstage. KM had commented that the Edge A had produced some of the best soundstaging he’d heard: “deep and wide, with excellent retrieval of micro-and macrodetail,” and had concluded that it brought to the party “speed and swiftness … clarity, spaciousness,…

STELLA DONNELLY Beware of the Dogs Secretly Canadian SC372 (LP/CD/WAV). 2019. Dean Tuza, prod.; Ewan Pearson, mix; Matt Colton, mastering. DDD? TT: 43:46 Stella Donnelly surprised and captivated with her EP Thrush Metal (2017) and its noteworthy single, “Boys Will Be Boys,” in which the 26-year-old Australian singer-songwriter uses a gentle finger-picked lullaby as backdrop for an unflinching examination of sexual abuse and patriarchal injustice. The single fits perfectly here, too, on Donnelly’s full-length debut, surrounded by similarly potent songs of heartbreak, loneliness, and unreconciled desire. So much of the album seems hyperrelevant, raised from the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements. Compositions are simple, arrangements sparse—rarely more than straightforward drums, clean guitars, and complementary keys, often only voice and guitar. The brisk, buoyant “Bistro” could almost be one of the Magnetic…

When Dave Wilson created the original WATT, it was not in response to perceived market demand, but to fulfill a specific application. He was a recording engineer who needed a small monitor he could take with him to recording venues—one that spoke the same musical language as his venerated reference loudspeaker, the WAMM. There was a certain freedom this approach afforded him. He was completely unencumbered by commercial concerns or market considerations of any kind. He was able to design the loudspeaker he wanted to own since he never intended it to be a commercial product. He was completely surprised when so many music lovers and audiophiles wanted to purchase them. Dave designed the first Sasha W/P in 2007. A replacement for the hugely successful WATT/Puppy, the Sasha was the…

I will never forget. In 1988 I had my first experience with Western Electric 300B tubes. It took place on a quiet, streetlights-and-snow night at my friend Ryoichi’s apartment on Riverside Drive, in Manhattan. I had never heard of Japanese amplifier designer Ken Shindo, of Shindo Laboratory. But that evening, Ryo’s audio system was all Shindo: a hammertone gray Shindo-restored, grease-bearing Garrard 301 turntable sitting on a glossy-wood Shindo plinth, with a Shindo-modified Ortofon tonearm and SPU cartridge, a Shindo moving-coil step-up transformer, and a Shindo preamplifier with a moving-magnet phono stage. All of this, plus a pair of incredibly beautiful, single-ended Shindo amplifiers equipped with new-old-stock (NOS) Western Electric 274A and 300B tubes. Red cloth-covered NOS Western Electric wires connected the Shindo amps to a pair of Altec 604-B…

I used DRA Labs’ MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Klipsch Reference Premiere RP-600M’s frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 mike for the nearfield responses. I left the grille off for the measurements, The Klipsch’s specified sensitivity is an extraordinarily high 96dB/2.83V/m. My estimate was much lower, at 89.6dB(B)/2.83V/m, though this is still higher than is typical for a small two-way speaker. Fig.1 shows that the RP-600M’s impedance magnitude (solid trace) remains above 10 ohms for the entire treble, which means that in this region at least, the Klipsch is very efficient, the speaker drawing significantly less current from the partnering amplifier than would a nominal 8 ohm design. The impedance is lower in the midrange and bass, with a minimum value…

I measured the Naim ND5 XS 2 with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 “As We See It”1). I used the Audio Precision’s optical and coaxial S/PDIF outputs as well as test-tone files sourced from Roon over my network, once I’d installed the Naim app on my iPad mini. (When I first connected the ND5 XS 2 to my router, the Naim checked with its manufacturer that its firmware was up to date; it was.) The ND5’s TosLink inputs accepted PCM datastreams with sample rates up to 96kHz, and its coaxial S/PDIF inputs accepted data sampled at up to 192kHz. Over the network, I could play files sampled at up to 384kHz, which is the highest sample rate for which I have test signals. The maximum output…

I measured Pro-Ject’s Pre Box S2 Digital with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 “As We See It,” http://tinyurl.com/4ffpve4). I used both the Audio Precision’s S/PDIF outputs and USB data sourced from my MacBook Pro running on battery power and playing WAV and AIFF test-tone files. Apple’s USB Prober utility identified the Pro-Ject as “Pre Box S2 Digital” from “Pro-Ject,” and confirmed that its USB port operated in the optimal isochronous asynchronous mode. Apple’s AudioMIDI utility revealed that, via USB, the Pre Box S2 Digital accepted 32-bit integer data sampled at all rates up to 768kHz; its TosLink and coaxial S/PDIF inputs accepted PCM data sampled at up to 192kHz. Pressing the Menu button revealed that the review sample was set to Distortion Compensate Disabled and the…

I measured the Sugden Masterclass LA-4’s performance with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 “As We See It”1). The maximum gain for the balanced inputs to the balanced outputs was 20.75dB, and a little higher from the unbalanced input to the unbalanced output: 21.4dB. The preamplifier preserved absolute polarity (ie, was non-inverting) with both balanced and unbalanced inputs and outputs. (Its XLR jacks are wired with pin 2 hot, the AES convention.) The LA-4’s unbalanced input impedance was lower than specified, at 12.5k ohms at 20Hz and 20kHz, dropping slightly and inconsequentially to 11.6k ohms at 20kHz. The balanced input impedance was 37.5k ohms from 20Hz to 20kHz. The unbalanced output impedance was extremely low, at about 0.6 ohm from 20Hz to 20kHz. (As this is much…

I measured the Audia Flight FLS1 using my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 “As We See It”1). All of its outputs—balanced, single-ended, and headphone—preserved absolute polarity (ie, were non-inverting). The FLS1’s volume control operates in 0.5dB steps, with the maximum level indicated as “+10.0dB” on the front-panel display. Setting the volume control to “0.0dB” reduced the gain by exactly 10dB, as expected. The FLS1’s maximum voltage gain into 100k ohms was 15.8dB for balanced input to balanced output, 9.7dB for unbalanced input to unbalanced output, and 10.1dB for unbalanced input to headphone output. The balanced input impedance measured a usefully high 96k ohms at 20Hz and 1kHz, dropping to a still-high 82k ohms at 20kHz; the unbalanced input impedance was half these values at 20Hz and 1kHz,…

John Atkinson reviewed Aurender’s N10 music server2 ($8000, 4TB; add $500 for 8TB capacity) in the April 2016 issue.3 When he offered me his review sample to use in my review, in the March 2019 issue, of EMM Labs’ DV2 DAC, I replied with an enthusiastic “Yes!” As I marveled about the beauty of the Aurender-EMM combo’s smooth, warm, nonfatiguing sound, John proposed I write this Follow-Up. Previously, the only Aurender product that had visited my reference system had been the A10 caching network music player/server ($5500), which I reviewed in January 2018.4 While I’d been impressed with the A10’s music-server section, I’d questioned the quality of its internal DAC, whose sound, to my ears, was distinctly undistinguished. The N10 presented an opportunity to evaluate what Aurender seems to do…

In 1967, the year the Byrds would fire him, David Crosby sits in a room—a small space, from the sound of it—with a cheap microphone and a recorder of dubious merit. He’s improvising some jazzy, open-tuned acoustic guitar strumming, adding nonlexical vocables on top. He then files away the resulting tape—clearly ahead of its time and of no use to his bandmates—for 50 years. Then it’s 1974, probably somewhere on that year’s infamous, cocaine-saturated, “doom” mega-tour with CSN&Y. Crosby sits alone in another room. This time he’s got a better mike and recorder, but he’s still just strumming his acoustic and scatting some nonsense vocalizing. Again, he files the tape away for another time. Then, in 2018, those creaky tapes are dusted off and transferred to a digital workstation, to…

Something’s definitely happening at the house of Yoshio Matsudaira. The legendary gentleman, whom I’ve never met or corresponded with, manufactures cartridges for his own brand, My Sonic Lab, as well as for others, including Air Tight. Over the past few weeks, more than a few readers have asked me to review or at least listen to the latest My Sonic Lab cartridge, the Platinum Signature. It’s been described to me as having a faster, more open, less burnished sound than previous My Sonic Lab models. Based on my time with Air Tight’s new PC-1 coda moving-coil cartridge ($8500), this may now be the sound of all cartridges made by Matsudaira. But that coda in its name gives me pause—will this be Air Tight’s final cartridge? I hope not! Air Tight…

“I have an organic approach toward music but I’ve always been interested in electronics,” says Jean-Michel Jarre, whose luxurious electronic pop conquered the world in 1976 with his hit album Oxygène. Even today, Oxygène’s bubbling tones and saturated textures provide a blissful sonic experience. “I love jazz because of its organic approach to sound, and I’ve been influenced by that. I always thought that jazz and electronic music have much more in common than we think.” After planting his electronic-music flag, Jarre has enjoyed a level of success shared by few, having sold 80 million albums in a recording career of nearly 50 years. Along the way he’s performed record-setting concerts, including some in unusual locations and venues, and received many honors, including the Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication,…

In the November 2018 issue of Stereophile, Jim Austin reviewed5 PS Audio’s DirectStream Power Plant P20 AC regenerator ($9999).6 PS Audio had sent me the less expensive Direct-Stream Power Plant 12 ($4999), hence this Follow-Up to Jim’s review. Why use an AC regenerator rather than plugging components straight into the wall? Consider these two ways of powering an audio system: 1) AC power is available at a precise standard voltage and frequency (in North America, these standards are 120V and 60Hz) that do not vary with time of day or load, with no distortion of the 60Hz waveform, a complete absence of electrical noise, and limited in terms of current flow only by circuit breakers and fuses. Audio equipment could then be designed and manufactured assuming the invariance of these…

EMŐKE BARÁTH Voglio Cantar Emőke Baráth, soprano; Il Pomo d’Oro, Francesco Corti Erato 585777 (CD, 24/88.2 download). 2019. Gesine Lübben, Giulio D’Alessio, prods.; Fabio Framba, eng.; Allan Ramsay, mastering. DDD. TT: 80:00 Ever since winning the Second International Singing Competition for Baroque Opera in Innsbruck and the Grand Prix of Verbier Festival Academy, both in 2011, when she turned 26, the career of Hungarian soprano Emőke Baráth has been on the ascent. After being deeply impressed by her vocal solidity and winning personality in a joint concert of Handel with countertenor Phillippe Jaroussky at Philharmonie de Paris last September, I immediately resolved to review the first recording of her artistry to come my way. For her solo debut on Erato, Baráth surrounds the fascinating music of Venetian composer Barbara Strozzi…

ERIC DOLPHY Musical Prophet: The Expanded 1963 New York Studio Sessions Eric Dolphy, alto saxophone; bass clarinet, flute; 14 others Resonance HCD-2035 (3 CDs). 1963, 1968, 1987/2018. Zev Feldman, James Newton, prods.; Bill Schwartau, eng. ADD. TT: 2:38:38 Eric Dolphy, who died at 36 in 1964, left behind a discography as small as that of any major jazz musician. The arrival of this set is big news. The material comes from two studio sessions in 1963. The tape sources are monaural masters. The sound is outstanding. Dolphy’s celestial yet human cry in three pitch ranges—flute, alto saxophone, bass clarinet—comes alive as never before on record. Although over half of this music has been previously released, it’s valuable to have it all in one place, especially because the alternate takes, new…

MISHA TSIGANOV Playing with the Wind Misha Tsiganov, piano; Alex Sipiagin, trumpet, flugelhorn; Seamus Blake, tenor saxophone; Matt Brewer, double bass; Dan Weiss, drums Criss Cross Jazz Criss 1401 CD (CD). 2018. Gerry Teekens, prod.; Michael Marciano, eng., mix, mastering. DDD. TT: 64:31 This album exemplifies the global dynamic within the US jazz scene. Pianist Misha Tsiganov and trumpeter Alex Sipiagin have street cred in New York but were born in Russia. Criss Cross Jazz, a Dutch label, has been a primary repository of American hard bop since 1981. Tsiganov has advanced beyond hard bop into eclectic, sophisticated, 21st-century conceptions of the jazz art form, but he retains much of hard bop’s fire and even some of its funk. He sounds a little like Horace Silver, had Silver attended the…