Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2020 i Stereophile

Itested the Gryphon Essence with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 “As We See It”1). I preconditioned the amplifier by operating it with class-AB output-stage bias at one-third the specified power into 8 ohms for an hour. At the end of that time, the top panel’s temperature was 88.3°F (31.3°C) and that of the side-mounted heatsinks 90.4°F (32.4°C). Repeating the preconditioning with class-A bias after letting the amplifier cool down resulted in a slightly higher heatsink temperature, 92.1°F (33.4°C). The Essence monoblock easily has sufficient heatsink capacity for its output power. The Gryphon’s voltage gain into 8 ohms measured 30.7dB with both output-stage bias conditions, and the amplifier preserved absolute polarity (ie, was noninverting), the XLR input jack being wired with its pin 2 positive. The input…

My, how we’ve grown! The experience that convinced me of the inevitability of streaming was in 2010 with the tiny, tidy Logitech Squeezebox Touch1 that, despite being discontinued and disowned by its manufacturer, still has a cultlike following. Since then, we have seen an explosion of devices for file playback from local or nonlocal storage and web streams. They have varied widely in size and price and wildly in their range of capabilities, from do-it-all feature sets with all system audio functions (save speakers) in one box, like the NAD M33,2 to daisychained, specialized components that accomplish the same things (server → streamer → network appliance → DAC → preamp → etc.). You can add to that the burgeoning array of potential add-ons to filter and/or convert the links between…

For multichannel music fans, there is a fork in the road. You can take the well-traveled route based on readily available AVRs and preamp-processors intended for home theater. Or you can take the purist’s route and face the challenge of finding a suitable and affordable multichannel DAC. Now that the $299, PCM-only miniDSP U-DAC8 has been withdrawn from the market, the least expensive multichannel DAC is the Merging Anubis at around $2000. That entry fee is a significant barrier for many. For a couple of years, I have been following Prague-based Okto Research.. At first, Pavel Krasensky, the founder and hardware developer, offered audio design ideas and DIY modules that I found tantalizing. For example, there was a dandy-looking ESS 9038Pro Sabre–based output module and some appealing power supply modules—but…

I measured the E.A.T. E-Glo I’s behavior with my Audio Precision SYS2722 (see the January 2008 “As We See It”1) with the amplifier in all four of its operating modes: with the output stage in triode and Ultralinear modes and from the 4 ohm and 8 ohm output-transformer taps. The amplifier preserved absolute polarity (ie, was noninverting) in all four modes. The amplifier’s maximum voltage gain at 1kHz into 8 ohms depended on the mode and output tap. The highest gain was in Ultralinear mode from the 8 ohm tap, at 30.8dB. In triode mode from this tap, the gain was 30.0dB. The gains from the 4 ohm tap were 2dB lower in each mode. The E-Glo I’s input impedance was a high 37k ohms at 20Hz and 1kHz, dropping…

At first look, our November 2020 review of the standmount loudspeaker ($5000/pair) from Alta Audio1 appeared to be a thorough vindication of the Stereophile method of reviewing, combining measurements with a subjective listening journal. John Atkinson’s measurements were generally fine, but he uncovered “strong discontinuities in the impedance traces at 174Hz and 291Hz [that] imply the presence of resonances.” They could only be internal airspace resonances, since he found the Alyssa’s cabinet to be admirably inert. Nearfield measurements of the port and woofer showed response peaks close to those same frequencies. The sonic and musical effects of such resonances would at worst be modest, but they could be audible; in fact, John predicted that they would be. “I would expect this behavior to color the sound of male vocals,” John…

It’s déjà vu all over again in New York City. 1988: The bankrupt Fear City NYC of the 1970s had given way to the go-go ’80s, with many missing the fruits of the Wall Street boom. AIDS ravaged the city, unabated, and a rash of violence and crime fueled by the crack-cocaine epidemic made for a grim underbelly of urban blight and neglect. 2020: A global pandemic runs rampant, killing thousands of New Yorkers, accompanied by an economic collapse (except on Wall Street) and social unrest. The crime rate spikes. People are fleeing the city, and there’s a strong sense of sliding backward into chaos. In 1988, the late, great Lou Reed surveyed the scene, retreated to his New Jersey country house, and turned out a masterpiece of an album,…

So, what’s “this thing of ours”? I’m only half-kidding. High-end audio is deadly serious for many passionate audiophiles. Some measurement types defend their turf without thought—without mercy—and often deride subjectivists, like me, who believe if you like what you hear, then that’s what counts, enjoy. Objectivists say if you can’t measure it, then it doesn’t exist. Well, goes the retort, you don’t know what to measure, your instruments aren’t refined enough, and on and on. The struggle continues to this day for some reason, and boy-howdy is it ferocious, especially regarding cables. People, please, you want to grow our industry? This isn’t productive. It drives music lovers away from a potential joy of a lifetime. Which, given the circumstances, is a crying shame, as now you can buy so much…

25 years of Michael Fremer I remember reading Michael Fremer’s first column in Stereophile and nodding as he shared his experience of hearing a CD player for the first time. Digital playback has improved dramatically—it only took 35 years—but vinyl still sounds best. That fact is reconfirmed every time I buy an LP of music that I’ve owned for years only on CD. While all of us who love vinyl can take some credit for its continued viability, Mr. Fremer has long banged the drum for our favorite format and called out stupidity in media sources that criticize our passion without, apparently, actually listening to music. He’s prickly, opinionated, irascible, and, above all, passionate. I don’t always agree with him, but I trust him and his writing. Bless him, and…

Let’s begin by discussing what SAT’s XD1 Record Player System is not: It is not a Technics SP-10R in a sci-fi–inspired plinth—although the XD1’s engine does begin life as the SP-10R’s basic drive system, which is stripped down to a handful of essential components, reimagined, reengineered, and rebuilt to much higher mechanical standards. Marc Gomez, SAT’s designer, holds a master’s degree in mechanical engineering and materials science. Before dedicating himself to creating the SAT tonearm—by far the finest sounding and performing arm I’ve yet encountered (as unanimously corroborated by Stereophile readers who bought this very expensive product unheard as a result of my review)—he was involved in a variety of projects for, among others, the European Space Agency and various European automobile manufacturers. Even if it’s not broken, why not…

Oh goody!” thought self, to self: “Another Gryphon component to review.” As eloquent and revelatory as that statement may be, there’s an even more illuminating backstory. I had been aware of Denmark-based Gryphon Audio since the advent of the Gryphon Exorcist, a now-discontinued demagnetizer that cost far more than your average break-in CD, but I only began to encounter Gryphon electronics at audio shows a few years ago. While at first they seemed available for review only as a complete package, Jim Austin was able to arrange for me to review the Gryphon Ethos CD player–D/A processor ($39,000). I reported on that player in the January 2020 issue of Stereophile. To my surprise, I found the Ethos an “open, marvelously detailed, and fresh-sounding unit that makes listening an absolute joy.”…

Iused DRA Labs’ MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Bowers & Wilkins 705 Signature’s frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 mike for the nearfield and in-room responses. I measured the impedance with MLSSA, checking the results with Dayton Audio’s DATS V2 system. I used the formula in a 1994 JAES paper by Eric Benjamin to calculate with Microsoft Excel what UK writer Keith Howard has called the “equivalent peak dissipation resistance” (EPDR).1 Bowers & Wilkins specifies the 705 Signature’s sensitivity as 88dB/2.83V/m; my estimate was within experimental error of that figure, at 87.6dB(B)/2.83V/m. The 705 Signature’s impedance is specified as 8 ohms. The impedance magnitude (fig.1, solid trace) stays above 8 ohms in the midrange and mid-treble region, with minimum values of…

The story behind European Audio Team (E.A.T.) is that of one woman, company owner and CEO Jozefína Lichtenegger. While studying for her MBA at the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia, Lichtenegger (née Krahulkova) sold vacuum tubes for her brother-inlaw, Alesa Vaic, then owner of Czech Republic–based tube brand VAIC. After VAIC shuttered in 2003, Lichtenegger founded her own retail business and engaged 100-year-old tube manufacturer Tesla Vršovice to supply 300B and KT88 tubes made to her specifications. When the owner of Tesla retired, she bought the company. She christened her new endeavor E.A.T. (The original Tesla continues as TESLA ElectronTubes, s.r.o.) Lichtenegger brought over workers from Tesla, including the craftspeople who make E.A.T.’s 300B and KT88 tubes, entirely by hand. These highly skilled employees bring a lifetime of knowledge…

MBL NOBLE SERIES N31 CD PLAYER–D/A PROCESSOR In Stereophile’s February 2018 issue,1 I reviewed the MBL Noble Line N31, a baroque-styled CD player and D/A processor from German manufacturer MBL.2 The N31 is expensive, at $15,400, but, as I said in my review’s conclusion, digital audio engineering doesn’t get any better and neither does digital sound quality. However, I also wrote that the N31’s absence of a volume control might be a problem for those who’ve sold their preamplifiers, as will be the lack of a network port for those who’ve banished their noisy NAS drives from the listening room. (The N31 does have a USB port—two, actually—which I used with Roon running on a Mac mini.) I also wished that the MBL’s reconstruction filter—the N31 offers a choice of…

Only 12 albums a year get to be Recordings of the Month in Stereophile, and only a few are jazz. Typically, they are “big” records by major jazz artists. Christmas Vibes has the majorartist part covered. Warren Wolf is one of the two most important vibraphonists to enter jazz in the new millennium. (The other is Joel Ross.) Wolf’s album is not a masterwork, but it is a lovely, heartfelt offering that deserves its place in this magazine’s December issue. In this year of years, in this holiday season observed in a pandemic, it arrives like a life-affirming antidote to darkness. Here’s a challenge for you: Try to listen to “Sleigh Ride” and “Winter Wonderland” without smiling. You may find it impossible not to get up and dance. Wolf’s group,…

CANADA: PETERBOROUGH, ONTARIO Robert Deutsch I was shocked and greatly saddened by the news of the passing, at age 68, of Brian W. Russell, president and cofounder (along with his brother Chris) of Bryston Ltd. Established in 1973, Bryston’s first product was a power amplifier for the professional market. The company went on to produce just about every kind of audio equipment: preamps, multichannel amplifiers, digital sources, surround processors, speakers, subwoofers—even turntables. I interviewed the Russell brothers and James Tanner, vice president of sales, in 1996.1 A larger-than-life presence with a quick wit and extensive knowledge of audio, Brian was a stalwart representative of Bryston at audio shows. At one such show, the 2013 Montreal Salon Son & Image, Brian was given a Lifetime Achievement Award. In my show report,…

Ispent my childhood summers on the Reichert family farm near Turtle Lake, Wisconsin, where, inside the red 1880s barn, my uncle Harold played 78rpm records for his cows. He used a wind-up Victrola sitting on a shelf directly in front of the cows, just below a framed reproduction of an Alpine landscape painting. He said the music and the mountain scene relaxed the cows, causing them to give better milk. Harold played the same Gustav Mahler symphony every day. I remember how quickly each disc ended, how I had to run over and change it, and how cross he got when I played the discs in the wrong order. I remember how the room smelled like hay and wet cow pies, how half the sound from the Victrola was a…

It stands to reason that any audiophile system would benefit from improved AC power. The rooms in most older homes are equipped with a single duplex receptacle on each wall, maybe two per wall in homes employing more modern construction practices. Behind the wall you’re likely to find standard 14-gauge Romex, passing through via receptacles that typically sell for about a buck each. The electrical work meets local code, but audiophiles aren’t involved in setting local electrical codes. Another, newer problem is the proliferation of cheap electronic devices. Computers, computer components, and other electrical stuff is mostly powered by noisy switching power supplies; that noise can find its way back into electrical circuits. So can high-frequency hash coming from wireless routers. And ubiquitous power supplies, which charge their capacitors only…

When I first started writing for Stereophile, John Atkinson brought me a speaker to review. The shipping box was really beat, and it had some other reviewer’s name on the UPS label. After a few days of trying to get it to sound good, I speculated that John and at least one other reviewer already knew this speaker did not sound good. Flummoxed, I wrote JA a simple email (he likes simple emails), “Is this a test?” He replied, “Everything is a test.” On Tuesday, at 10am, John’s well-partraveled, faded-tan Land Cruiser was double-parked on Hart Street in front of my building. As he handed me the boxed BRX loudspeakers from American company GoldenEar,1 he said, “I reviewed and measured these.2 Now let’s see what you think of them.” That…

How to explain the power that trained operatic voices hold over many of us? For me, the pull began days after I was born, when acoustic 78s of tenor Enrico Caruso and coloratura sopranos Amelita Galli-Curci and Luisa Tetrazzini played in the background. There was something about the way the dramatic-to-the-core Caruso sang, as if his life depended on it, while the high-flying coloraturas skipped lightly through impossible strings of notes. It moved me like little else. The magic of classical vocal artistry revolves around the ability to seduce with sound while conveying a wide variety of human emotions through voice alone. Rare is the artist like Cecilia Bartoli who can sound joyful one minute, wracked with pain the next, and furious 20 bars later. Many singers can demonstrate multiple…

WAM Engineering WallySkater 2.1 Michael, thank you once again for continuing to put a spotlight not only on best practices for turntable optimization but also on the geometry and physics behind playback. Such consumer education raises the bar for analog manufacturers to create better products. The only thing we would add to your commentary is that the WallySkater is also useful for determining the quality of the vertical tonearm bearing (horizontal rotational axis of freedom) and sniffing out mechanical frictional problems with the bearing, tonearm wires, etc. When we do setups on other people’s rigs, either the WallySkater or our microscope finds problems with the equipment that the owner did not know about. We would put that number at around one in eight tonearms/cartridges we inspect! If more people used…