Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2015 i Stereophile

THIS ISSUE: Why do so many music lovers dislike the audiophile state of mind? Are you on Facebook? Twitter? Instagram? Reddit? Social media has done much to bring together people of every interest imaginable to share their fascinations, desires, and, occasionally, delusions. From fans of frogs (FrogStomp) and proponents of clean public toilets (Benjyo Soujer) to a group that challenged an Iranian cleric’s statement that women’s flimsy attire causes earthquakes (Boobquake), social media is a global town square in which anyone with a keyboard and an attitude has an equal voice. Like all self-respecting Facebookers, audiophiles also have their groups, including Audiophile Network, High End & Vinyl Lovers United, Audiophiles North America, and Hi Fi Audio, with memberships ranging from 3000 to 10,000. On these virtual forums audiophiles exchange opinions,…

ATTENTION ALL AUDIO SOCIETIES: We have a page on the Stereophile website dedicated solely to you: www.stereophile.com/audiophilesocieties. If you’d like to have your audio-society information posted on the site, e-mail Chris Vogel at info@vcable.us and request an info-pack. Please note that it is inappropriate for a retailer to promote a new product line in “Calendar” unless this is associated with a seminar or similar event. CALIFORNIA ■ Friday–Sunday, August 14–16: The California Audio Show takes place at the Westin San Francisco Airport, 1 Old Bayshore Highway, Millbrae 94030. For more information, visit http://caaudioshow.com. ■ Sunday, August 23, 2–5pm: The Los Angeles & Orange County Audio Society will hold its monthly meeting at The Audio Salon, in Santa Monica (at Bergamot Station, 3035 Kashiwa Street, Gallery F1). Our host, Maier Shadi,…

Danish manufacturer GamuT Audio’s patchy history in the US includes a succession of distributors that failed to establish the brand here. But in 2014 GamuT tapped Michael Vamos to spearhead their own US-based distribution company, which is now energetically promoting the company’s products. That change coincided with my auditioning, at the 2014 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, of GamuT’s two-and-a-half-way RS5 tower loudspeaker ($31,900/pair). I was sufficiently impressed that I asked to review it—but then, at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show, I experienced the RS7.1 This was the GamuT speaker I wanted to spend some time with, and at the end of March, GamuT’s R&D manager, Benno Meldgaard, joined Michael Vamos in setting up a pair of RS7s in my listening room. The Revised Superior 7 Costing $39,900/pair, the RS7 is…

For some time now I’ve wanted to upgrade my weekend system in Connecticut, and have been surveying three-way floorstanding speakers priced below about $2500/pair. I’ve focused on the stereo performance of each pair with music because, despite my interest in surround sound, the great majority of recordings are available only in two-channel stereo. Not wanting to look like a Bowers & Wilkins fanboy—my main system has long included their 800-series speakers—I put off auditioning B&W’s 683 S2. But my goal was to get the best bang for my buck and with the 683 S2 costing $1650/pair, it would foolish to be influenced by such extraneous considerations. Besides, the 683 S2’s three-way design and physical proportions were precisely what I was looking for. I was amazed that the 683 S2’s specs…

Digital Sources Oppo BDP-103 universal Blu-ray player, Mac mini server running Windows 7 via Bootcamp, JRiver Music Center. Preamplifiers Emotiva XMC-1, Marantz AV8801. Power Amplifier Bryston 9BSST2. Loudspeakers Bowers & Wilkins 804 Diamond, Monitor Audio Silver 8, Paradigm Reference Studio/60 v.3, Sonus Faber Venere 2.5. Cables HDMI: AudioQuest Vodka. Interconnect: Kubala-Sosna Anticipation (RCA) & Fascination (XLR). Speaker: Kubala-Sosna Anticipation & Fascination. AC: Kubala-Sosna Emotion. Accessories Brick Wall Series Mode 8R15AUD surge suppressor.…

Analog Sources Garrard 301 turntable; EMT 997 tonearm; EMT OFD 15 & TSD 15 pickup heads; Denon DL-103, Miyajima Premium BE Mono II cartridges. Digital Sources Halide Designs DAC HD USB D/A converter; Apple iMac G5 computer running Audirvana Plus 1.5.12 playback software; Sony SCD-777 SACD/CD player. Preamplification Hommage T2 step-up transformer, Shindo Masseto preamplifier. Power Amplifiers Shindo Corton-Charlemagne monoblocks, Shindo Haut-Brion. Loudspeakers Altec Valencia, DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/96. Cables USB: Wireworld Revelation 2.0. Interconnect: Audio Note AN-Vx, Nordost Blue Heaven, Shindo Silver. Speaker: Auditorium 23, Nordost Blue Heaven. Accessories Box Furniture Company D3S rack (source & amplification components), Audiodesksysteme Gläss Vinyl Cleaner.…

I measured the Vinnie Rossi LIO using my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see www.ap.com, and the January 2008 “As We See It” at www.stereophile.com/content/measurements-mapsprecision). With its modular topology, offering optional phono and digitalinput stages, the choice between a switched-resistor volume control and an autotransformer volume control, an optional tubed line stage, a headphone amplifier, and a MOSFET power ampli-fier, the LIO is actually eight products in one and presents a complex target for measurements. I tested most of the configurations fully, with spot checks elsewhere. To minimize strain on the ampli-fier’s output stage, I measured the performance of the phono and D/A modules at the fixed-level outputs with the power-amplifier outputs disabled. The moving-magnet input offered a gain of 34.9dB, the two moving-coil inputs (with their input impedance set to…

It’s difficult to decide how to characterize the measured performance of products, such as AudioQuest’s JitterBug, that don’t operate directly on the analog signal. Yes, there exist USB bus analyzers— available from such companies as Tektronix—that Wavelength’s Gordon Rankin, one of the JitterBug’s designers (along with Garth Powell), uses. These can examine various issues affecting data transmission: data-packet errors, jitter, noise, etc. However, they cost tidy sums—too much for me to be able to justify to my paymasters that Stereophile buy one for use in a single review. So, on the well-established but far from proven principle of “if something can be heard, it must be capable of being measured,” I used my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see www.ap.com and the January 2008 “As We See It,” www.stereophile.com/content/measurements-maps-precision) to look…

The world’s leading figure in orchestral jazz has not released a jazz recording in eight years. In her liner notes, Maria Schneider says, “This album was funded by my ArtistShare fan base. Making a recording like this is becoming increasingly difficult and would now be impossible without the generous support of my many participants.” Today, big jazz bands rarely tour. Some are stable entities, but on a part-time basis. Most, like Schneider’s, come together for projects, then go their separate ways. Yet against all odds, large-ensemble jazz survives because no other format offers its range of expression and its power. Schneider worked with Gil Evans toward the end of his life, as copyist and collaborator. She is his direct artistic descendant. Like Evans, she uses orchestral colors and dynamics to…

ANDREW BISHOP De Profundis Andrew Bishop, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, soprano & tenor saxophones; Tim Flood, bass; Gerald Cleaver, percussion Envoi env1501 (CD). 2015. Andrew Bishop, prod.; Jason Corey, eng. DDD? TT: 57:16 Michigan-based multi-reedist Andrew Bishop is best known for his work in bands led by Gerald Cleaver. This helps to explain the elevated rapport of Bishop, Cleaver, and bassist Tim Flood in the marvelous trio session De Profundis (From the Depths). The command and inventiveness Bishop displays on five different axes are remarkable. Inspired in part by Renaissance composer Josquin des Préz, the album begins with Bishop’s bass clarinet alone, roughhewn yet sumptuously melodic. The sound is crisp: you can hear keys fluttering under his fingers. Flood and Cleaver join as the music exultantly skirts a tempo, ending…

The Lost World “Once he saw an angle, he looked at it from every angle and kept improving it, making it better, taking a bigger piece. That’s really the story. He’d take an idea and just keep growing it.” —FRED GOODMAN Wives can be unforgiving mistresses. And husbands, particularly those devoted to stacks of LPs, racks of glowing metal boxes—or that surefire hit, floorstanding speakers—all know that, at times, we are not our wives’ favorite person. Yet in most cases the storm passes and warm feelings return. Asked about the character of her husband, the late Allen Klein (1931–2009), onetime manager of the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, Betty Klein said, “When Allen wants something, he sucks the blood out of you.” And yet in writing his latest book, Allen…

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. Alan Blumlein Editor: Re: Paul Messenger’s report in the July issue’s “Industry Update” (p.17), your subscribers may enjoy reading The Inventor of Stereo: The Life and Works of Alan Dower Blumlein, by Robert Charles Alexander (Oxford: Focal Press, 1999). It is a fascinating account of the life and untimely death of one of the absolute geniuses of the 20th century. His accomplishments were truly amazing. —Charles Crawford Louisville, KY ccrawfocl@aol.com Harvey Fletcher Editor: I was very interested to read Paul Messenger’s report (July, p.17) on the posthumous…

THIS ISSUE: KR renovates his primary listening room, starting with the audio components. It has been a disrupted spring. Late last year, my wife and I committed ourselves to a long-needed renovation of our main living space: an apartment in Manhattan. Articles, books, and TV shows have illuminated the trials and triumphs of home renovation, but as far as I know, none has included a redo of the listening room of an obsessive audiophile, let alone one who is also an audio writer facing copy deadlines. I’m more than a little lazy, and I had long-delayed much-needed system upgrades because of all the dreaded effort and disruption. But slowly I began to realize that this was an opportunity to make some long-planned changes in my system without losing the use…

Description Three-way, four-driver, floorstanding loudspeaker with vented enclosure. Drive-units: 1.5" (29mm) ring-radiator tweeter; 7" (178mm) oilimpregnated, sliced-paper cone midrange unit; two 7" (178mm) wood-fiber cone woofers with wooden dustcaps. Crossover frequencies: 250Hz, 2.5kHz. Frequency response: 28Hz–60kHz, ±3dB; 23Hz–60kHz, +3/–6dB. Sensitivity: 88dB/2.83V/m. Nominal impedance: 4 ohms. Minimum impedance: 2.7 ohms at 120Hz. Recommended amplifier power: 150–700W into 4 ohms. Dimensions 50.4" (1280mm) H by 8.9" (226mm) W by 25.3" (642mm) D, all with plinth. Weight: 149.6 lbs (68kg). Finishes Onyx (black), Ivory (white-oiled Ash), Maroon (dark brown with hints of red), Ruby (deep red). Serial numbers of units reviewed 41L, 41R. Price $39,900/pair. Approximate number of dealers: undisclosed. Manufacturer GamuT Audio, 6818 Årre, Denmark. Tel: (45) 70-20-22-68. US distributor: GamuT USA. Tel: (888) 252-2499. Web: www.gamutaudio.com.…

Description Three-way, vented-box loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (25mm) aluminum-dome tweeter, 6" (150mm) woven-Kevlarcone FST midrange, two 6.5" (165mm) aluminumcone woofers. Crossover frequencies: 400Hz, 4kHz. Frequency response: 52Hz– 22kHz, ±3dB on reference axis, –6dB at 30Hz and 50kHz. Dispersion: within 2dB of on-axis response over 60° arc (horizontal) and 10° arc (vertical). Sensitivity: 89dB/2.83V/m. Harmonic distortion (second and third harmonics, 90dB, 1m): <1.0%, 95Hz–22kHz; <0.5%, 120Hz–20kHz. Impedance: 8 ohms nominal, 3 ohms minimum. Recommended amplification: 25–200W into 8 ohms on unclipped program. Maximum recommended cable impedance: 0.1 ohm. Dimensions 38.4" (985mm) H by 7.4" (190mm) W by 14.2" (364mm) D. Weight: 59.8 lbs (27.2kg). Finish Black Ash vinyl. Serial numbers of units reviewed 1401-0012067, 1406-0013400. Price $1650/pair. Approximate number of dealers: >200. Manufacturer B&W Loudspeakers, Dale Road, Worthing, West Sussex BN11 2BH,…

Analog Sources Acoustic Signature Wow XL turntable + TA-1000 tonearm, Thorens TD-124 turntable with Abis SA 1.2 tonearm; Ortofon 2M Black & CG 25 DI II, Shure SC35C, Soundsmith Carmen, Zu Audio DL-103 phono cartridges. Digital Source Onkyo Integra DPS 7.2 universal player; Puresound A-8000 CD player; Halide Design DAC HD and Line Magnetics LM-502CA D/A processors. Preamplification Intact Audio step-up transformer; April Sound GB-1, LFD LE, Schiit Audio Mani phono stages; April Sound BB1, Simaudio Moon Neo 350P preamplifiers. Power Amplifier Simaudio Moon Neo 330A. Integrated Amplifiers Hegel Music Systems H160, Line Magnetic LM-518ia. Headphone Amplifier Schiit Audio Asgard. Headphones Audeze LCD-2, Audio-Technica ATH-M50x, Bowers & Wilkins P5, Sony MDR-7520. Loudspeakers DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/93, Falcon Acoustics LS3/5a, KEF LS50, Magnepan .7, Morel Octave 6, Technics SB C700. Cables…

Digital Sources Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP DVD-A/SACD/CD/MP3 player, Apple 2.7GHz i7 Mac mini running OS 10.10.3 & MacBook Pro running OS 10.7.5, both with iTunes 11, Pure Music 2.0, Audirvana Plus 1.5.10; AudioQuest DragonFly, Meridian Explorer, PS Audio PerfectWave DirectStream D/A processors. Preamplification Ayre Acoustics KX-R Twenty line preamplifier, Bel Canto Black ASC-1 digital preamplifier. Power Amplifiers Ayre Acoustics MX-R Twenty, Bel Canto Black MPS1, MBL Corona C15 (all monoblocks). Loudspeakers GamuT RS7. Headphones AudioQuest NightHawk, Sennheiser HD-650. Cables Digital: AudioQuest Coffee, Belkin Gold USB. Interconnect (balanced): Cardas Clear. Speaker: Cardas Clear (with Ayre, MBL), Kubala-Sosna Elation! (with Bel Canto). AC: Kubala-Sosna Elation!, manufacturers’ own. Accessories Target TT-5 equipment racks; Ayre Acoustics Myrtle Blocks; ASC Tube Traps, RPG Abffusor panels; Shunyata Research Dark Field cable elevators; Audio Power Industries 116 Mk.II…

JACQUET OF MANTUA Missa Surge Petre & Motets Missa Surge Petre, Ave Maria, O vos omne, In illo tempore . . . Non turbetur, O pulcherrima inter mulieres, Domine, non secundum peccata nostra Stephen Rice, The Brabant Ensemble Hyperion CDA68088 (CD). 2015. Anthony Pitts, prod.; Phil Rowlands, eng. DDD. TT: 76:39 Not exactly a household name, Jacquet of Mantua (1483–1559) worked at the Court Chapel of the Gonzaga family, in Mantua, a half century before Monteverdi, and has been confused with the exactly contemporaneous composer Jacquet of Berchem. And because he was born in Brittany and wrote Latin masses, he was called Jachet or Jacques or Iachetus. His beautifully melodic music is ravishing; more complex than the much-earlier Dufay, Jacquet’s style is an outgrowth of Josquin and a precursor of…

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 2015 issue is August 20, 2015. US: NEW YORK Stereophile Staff We are pleased to announce that, on June 15, Art Dudley joined Stereophile magazine in the full-time position of deputy editor. Art has extensive experience in the world of magazine publishing, beginning with Backpacker in the 1970s, followed by a stint at The Abso!ute Sound. Following some years reviewing audio gear for Hi Fi Heretic and Sounds Like . . . , in 1994 Art founded his own audio magazine, Listener, which gained an enviable reputation for telling it like it was. Listener was sold to Englander…

IT HAD BEEN YEARS SINCE STEREOPHILE’S LAST SAN FRANCISCO HI-FI SHOW, WHEN WE’D HIRED HIM as a solo act, and yet the conversation was once again instant vaudeville, with me as the straight man. “The last time we saw each other, I think I just shook your hand and handed you a check.” “What, you didn’t bring a check this time?” “So this is your 16th solo record?” “Is that all? Bach was doing a cantata a week. How many songs did Schubert write?” “But he didn’t do the words.” To say that Richard Thompson, who started out in Fairport Convention in 1967 at the age of 18, is an old hand at songwriting, guitar playing, and the art of conversation is to understate the case just slightly. In fact,…

I used DRA Labs’ MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the GamuT RS7’s frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 for the nearfield and spatially averaged room responses. Because the RS7 is large and heavy, I wasn’t able to lift it onto a stand for the measurements; the reflection of its output from the floor thus occurred earlier than is usually the case with my published loudspeaker measurements, reducing the resolution in the midrange. The RS7’s voltage sensitivity is specified as 88dB/2.83V/m; my estimate was less than that, at 85.5dB(B)/2.83V/m. The impedance is specified as 4 ohms, with a minimum magnitude of 2.7 ohms at 120Hz. Fig.1 shows my measurement of the GamuT’s impedance magnitude (solid trace) and electrical phase angle (dotted). The impedance…

I used DRA Labs’ MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Bowers & Wilkins 683 S2’s frequency response in the farfield; and an Earthworks QTC-40, with its small, 1⁄4"-diameter capsule, for the nearfield responses. The 683 S2 is specified as having a sensitivity of 89dB/W/m; my estimate of its voltage sensitivity was slightly lower, at 87.7dB(B)/2.83V/m. The impedance, specified as 8 ohms, drops below 4 ohms in the lower midrange and in the top audio octave (fig.1), with a minimum magnitude of 2.92 ohms at 124Hz, very close to B&W’s specified minimum of 3 ohms.   A small discontinuity in the impedance traces just above 200Hz implies the presence of some kind of cabinet resonance in that region. However, when I investigated the enclosure’s vibrational behavior…

Description Two-speed, belt-driven turntable with pivoting tonearm. Motor: AC synchronous. Speeds: 331⁄3, 45rpm. Tonearm spindle-topivot distance: 295.6mm. Dimensions 20.6" (528mm) W by 7" (180mm) H by 16.3" (418mm) D . Weight: 101.2–121 lbs (46–55kg) depending on extras. Finishes Black, White, Black & White, Makassar & White, Makassar & Black Serial number of unit reviewed A14-11-031. Prices Triple X turntable, $5995; TA-1000 12" tonearm, $1995. AC-1 power-supply upgrade costs $250 when purchased with the Triple X, $350 when purchased separately. Approximate number of dealers: 12. Manufacturer AS-Distribution GmbH, Ulmer Strasse 123, D-73037 Göppingen, Germany. Tel: (49) (0)7161-3898135. Fax: (49) (0)7161-3898137. Web: www.acoustic-signature.com. US distributor: Fidelis AV, 460 Amherst Street (Route 101A), Nashua, NH 03063. Tel: (603) 880-4434. Fax: (603) 880-4433. Web: www.fidelisav.com.…

Description Modular integrated amplifier with remote control and optional individual modules for phono inputs, line inputs, digital inputs, volume control (switched resistor or autoformer), tubed line stage, headphone amplifier, and power amplifier. Inputs: 3 phono (MM, MC1, MC2, all RCA); 3 line (RCA); 3 digital (optical, BNC, USB). Outputs: headphone, balanced (XLR) or single-ended (1⁄4" TRS); fixed RCA, variable RCA (2), rhodium-plated speaker terminals (L&R). Tube complement (Tubestage): two E88CC dual triodes. Power output: 25Wpc into 8 ohms (14dbW), 45Wpc into 4 ohms (13.5dBW), 65Wpc into 2 ohms (12.1dBW).Headphone output: adjustable gain, 1W into 32 ohms, dedicated low impedance (1 ohm). Dimensions 17.5" (445mm) W by 4" (102mm) H by 12" (305mm) D. Weight: variable, depending on modules chosen. Price as tested: $7855 with Phonostage, Remote Cartridge Loading module, Line…

THIS ISSUE: Wilson Benesch’s Square One Series 2 stand-mounted speaker is run through its paces in JA’s test lab. Wilson Benesch Square One Series 2 loudspeaker John Marks enthused about this elegantly finished stand-mounted speaker from England1 in his column in the August 2015 issue of Stereophile, and included a quote from his September 2004 column: “The Square Ones have much of the same technology and the same build quality as Wilson Benesch’s more expensive models . . . and provide a smaller-scaled version of WB’s house sound: ‘extremely low distortion, seamless coherence, unfussy easefulness, rounded liquidity of tone, articulate dynamics, and seductively natural imaging and soundstaging.’” John concluded that “the Square One is a standout performer that I think absolutely deserves a very high Class B (Restricted LF) rating…

GIANT SAND Heartbreak Pass New West NW6319 (CD). 2015. Howe Gelb, prod.; Ali Chant, Asger Christensen, Dave Draves, Francesco Giampaoli, Takedo Gohara, Jason Lytle and others, engs. ADD? TT: 49:36 The book on this umpteenth album that Tucson’s Howe Gelb has released under the Giant Sand banner (he’s also made nearly a dozen solo records) is that it commemorates 30 years of music making. But rather than compile a greatest-hits collection, Gelb called on a host of old friends and current bandmembers to do his conjuring, resulting in a stylistic collage encompassing everything from desert rock, alt-country, and psychedelia to loungey jazz, winsome folk, and piano balladry. The strategy paid off. Heartbreak Pass is the most consistently enjoyable Giant Sand record in ages. No single tune here is qualitatively better…

THIS ISSUE: Ayre Acoustics, Musical Surroundings, and Vinnie Rossi comment on our reviews of their products. Ayre Acoustics MX-R Twenty Editor: Many sincere thanks to John Atkinson for his review of the Ayre MX-R Twenty amplifier [August 2015]. As we have all come to expect, JA has delivered another of his insightful reviews that generates much food for thought. Clearly, as I read through the section on “Music,” the amps delivered much pleasure to his listening sessions. I could stop right there, as that is, after all, the highest goal of all music systems. Yet there was one insight on which I would like to elaborate. In the review’s first paragraph, JA states, “because the amplifier’s role is so fundamental, it can at first be difficult to determine a given…