Stereophile September 2014

THIS ISSUE: The reference for high fidelity is the sound of live music. But that begs the question... I’ve always considered the high end to be industrial art. People who favor a certain brand are saying, in a way, “I like that designer’s interpretation. I like his or her art.”—David Wilson Last March, I had a rare experience akin to hearing the same recording through two different systems. I heard Andris Nelsons conduct the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in the same program—Haydn’s Symphony 90, and Brahms’s Variations on a Theme by Haydn, followed by his Symphony 3—in two very different venues: UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall and, 50 miles north, Sonoma State University’s Weill Hall. What distinguishes the Musikverein from other halls, said David Wilson, is its brilliance of sound. To say…

TAKE HEED! Unless marked otherwise, all letters to the magazine and its writers are assumed to be for possible publication. In the spirit of vigorous debate implied by the First Amendment, and unless we are requested not to, we publish correspondents’ e-mail addresses. Hearing tests Editor: In the June 2014 issue, John Atkinson reviewed an electrostatic supertweeter (p.109). In the review, he mentioned that he regularly tests his hearing. I think that is great! I’m a little younger than he, and my hearing is good, but not as good as his is. This is something I’ve wondered about, since I can tell that most of the reviewers are mature, and for most of us, there is some hearing loss as we age. I hope that the other reviewers are also…

SUBMISSIONS: Those promoting audio-related seminars, shows, and meetings should e-mail the when, where, and who to JAtkinson@ enthusiastnetwork.com at least eight weeks before the month of the event. The deadline for the November 2014 issue is August 20, 2014. SCOTLAND: COATBRIDGE Paul Messenger Tannoy was purchased in 2002 by the Danish TC Group, and the 12 years since then indicate that the venerable British company's heritage and traditions are in good hands. Tannoy was founded in 1926—its famous Dual Concentric drive-unit, with a horn-loaded tweeter mounted at the rear of the woofer's voice-coil former, first appeared in the late 1940s—and has never followed industry fashion (nor, for that matter, have other brands taken a lead from Tannoy). That the brand continues to occupy a unique niche is a testament to…

Analog Sources Garrard 301 turntable; EMT 997 tonearm; EMT OFD 25 & TSD 15 70th Anniversary pickup heads. Digital Sources Halide Designs DAC HD USB D/A converter; Apple iMac G5 computer running Decibel v.1.2.11, Audirvana Plus v.1.5.12 playback software; Sony SCD-777ES SACD/CD player. Preamplifcation Hommage T2 step-up transformer, Sutherland Engineering Insight phono preamplifer, Shindo Masseto preamplifer. Power Amplifers Shindo Corton-Charlemagne & Cortese (both monoblocks), Fi 421a. Loudspeakers Altec Valencia, DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/96. Cables USB: WireWorld Revision 2.0. Interconnect (single-ended): Audio Note AN-Vx, Shindo Silver. Speaker; Auditorium 23. Accessories Box Furniture Company D3S rack (source, amplification components); Keith Monks record-cleaning machine.—Art Dudley…

Digital Sources Apple MacBook Pro computer (2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, 320GB hard drive) running OS 10.6.7, Audirvana Plus, iTunes 11.1.5, Sonic Studio Amarra Computer Music Player 2.5, Songbird 1.9.3, XLD; Western Digital 2TB NAS device; Oppo BDP-103 universal BD player; Meridian Digital Media System (Control 15, QNAP TS-669 Pro NAS); Apple iPad Air, Mini Apple iPod Touch (1G), Apple iPhone 4S. Digital Processors AudioQuest DragonFly USB DAC, Benchmark DAC1 USB & DAC2 HGC, MSB Analog DAC. Preamplifier Marantz AV7005 in Pure Direct mode. Power Amplifier Classe CAM 350 (monoblocks). Loudspeakers MartinLogan Prodigy & Descent subwoofers (2). Cables USB: AudioQuest Victoria (for DragonFly) & Diamond, Cardas Clear. Interconnect: Cardas Neutral Reference (S/PDIF), various Kimber Kable (line level), XLO HT Pro (line level & S/PDIF). Speaker: Kimber Kable BiFocal…

Digital Sources Marantz UD7006, Oppo BDP-105D universal players. Preamplification Jeff Rowland Design Group Consummate line preamplifier, Integra DTC-9.8 preamplifier-processor. Power Amplifier Parasound Halo A 51. Loudspeakers KEF R900, Monitor Audio Silver 10, Paradigm Monitor 11, Revel Performa3 F208; Hsu Research VTF-15H subwoofer. Cables Digital: Kimber AGDL coaxial (sources to pre-pro), AudioQuest Carbon HDMI (to pre-pro for SACD), TARA Labs Rectangular Solid Core (sources to preamp), Cardas Hexlink (preamps to power amp). Speaker: Monster M1.5. Accessories Monster HTS5000 Reference Power Center (preamps, players).…