Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2022 i Stereophile

There’s a school of thought that maintains that among all hi-fi components, the D/A converter is easiest to perfect or come close to perfecting. Just make sure that every sample is converted accurately, that there’s little rolloff in the audioband, that aliased images are suppressed almost completely, and that background noise is extremely low, and you have a top-quality D/A processor. Use of a high-quality DAC chip is assumed. The transport part of the player is even easier to nail, this thinking goes, because all it needs to do is extract the data accurately, something any box-store CD player can do. Jitter? No need to worry about that, or anything happening in the time domain, as long as the data are transferred to a decent DAC via an asynchronous isochronous…

I measured the darTZeel NHB-108 model two with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system—see the January 2008 As We See It.1 I performed the measurements using the balanced (XLR) and single-ended (RCA) inputs and left the internal jumpers as they had been set. To avoid triggering the amplifier’s protection circuitry, I turned it off before changing the inputs during the measurements. (The amplifier took a relatively long time to stop passing signal when turned off, which implies that the power supply has a lot of capacitance.) Before starting the testing, I followed the CEA’s recommendation by preconditioning the amplifier for 30 minutes at one-eighth the maximum power into 8 ohms. At the end of that time, the sidemounted heatsinks were hot, at 113.3°F (45.2°C). After an additional 10 minutes at one-third…

Gold Note’s $11,999 PH-1000 is by a considerable margin the most sophisticated, most configurable phono preamplifier that any audio manufacturer has ever produced, at least that I know of. Remarkably, considering all that flexibility and sophistication, using and adjusting the PH-1000 is straightforward. Despite all that the PH-1000 can do, and all that you can do with it, you’ll never get lost in nested-menu dysfunctionality, thanks to what Gold Note calls “SKC” (Single Knob Control)—but before getting into control, let’s explore the PH-1000’s features and configurability. The basics: The PH-1000 has two standard single-ended (RCA) inputs and one standard balanced (XLR) input; it came equipped with two line inputs, but I didn’t use them. Loading can be set independently for each input, 12 options for the RCA inputs and eight…

I tested the T+A Caruso R with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system,1 repeating some of the measurements with the magazine’s APx500. I controlled the Caruso R with the front-panel touchscreen and with the Caruso Navigator app on my iPad mini. Because the Caruso R uses a class-D output stage, I inserted an Audio Precision AUX-0025 passive lowpass filter between the test load and the analyzers. This filter reduces (but does not completely eliminate) RF noise that could drive their input circuitry into slew-rate limiting. I used it for all the loudspeaker output tests other than frequency response. Without the auxiliary filter and with the amplifier loaded with 8 ohms, there was 720mV of ultrasonic noise present at the speaker outputs. I looked first at the Caruso R’s behavior as a…

Thompson, piano; Philip Norris, bass; TJ Reddick, drums; 3 others. Red Records RR-123330-2 (CD, available as download). 2021. Marco Pennisi, Enzo Capua, prods.; David Stoller, eng. PERFORMANCE SONICS Isaiah J. Thompson is a new pianist of exceptional promise. He is 24 and has already acquired two degrees from Juilliard and released two impressive records. He is not your typical wunderkind. He has qualities that most young badasses acquire later in life if at all, like concision, control, taste, and humility. The first track here is “Take the ‘A’ Train.” It has been done to death, but Thompson’s version is totally personal. His arrangement keeps interrupting and withholding Ellington’s most famous song. Whenever he turns it loose, his single-note runs, as they fly by, suggest the theme only in fragments and…

Cyrille, drums; Parker, bass; Rava, trumpet. TUM Records (CD). 2022. Petri Haussila, prod.; Ludovic Lanen, eng. PERFORMANCE SONICS The “Cecil” in this album’s title is the late avant-garde pianist-composer Cecil Taylor, though at first hearing the music doesn’t sound much like Taylor’s: It’s less disruptive, more melodic. But listen closely, and his influence comes into focus. All three musicians played in Taylor’s bands—Cyrille and Parker for years—and the spirit rubbed off. The immersive zest of their interplay stems from Taylor’s style and philosophy of music, even if the results are different. Four of the album’s 10 tracks are collective improvisations, and what’s remarkable about them—and rare—is the apparent ease with which the three artists carve their own paths even as each path weaves in and out of the others, all…

Works by Marsh, Shaw, Golijov, and Mendelssohn. BIS-2549 (auditioned in 24/192). 2021. Matthew Bennet, prod.; Dave Rowell, eng. PERFORMANCE SONICS Here’s a superbly executed oddity that somehow manages to enthrall: Atmospherically recorded arrangements for string orchestra of works written between 1847 (Mendelssohn’s final String Quartet No.6 in F minor, Op.80) and 2019 (Joanna Marsh’s In Winter’s House). That a string program that includes two pieces initially composed for choral voices works so superbly is due to the care and expressivity of United Strings of Europe (USE), a UK-based ensemble of young artists dedicated to creating musical experiences that “promote cross-cultural understanding, … celebrate diversity and bridge cultural divides.” As uplifting as USE’s goals may sound, the suffering and isolation that have arisen from cultural divisions in the age of COVID-19…

Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Gil Rose, cond. American Modern Opera Company BMOP/Sound 1084 (Mixed formats). 2021. Gil Rose, Adam Abeshouse, prods.; Joel Gordon, Abeshouse, engs. Adam Abeshouse, prod. and eng. PERFORMANCE SONICS The time has come for composer Matthew Aucoin. In short order, his opera Eurydice hit the stages of the Los Angeles Opera and the Metropolitan Opera. His American Modern Opera Company (AMOC), cofounded with director/choreographer Zack Winokur, was appointed Music Director for the 2022 Ojai Music Festival. His book, The Impossible Art: Adventures in Opera, is making the rounds. Now, the phenomenal Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP), shepherded by Gil Rose, has released Orphic Moments, which features definitive world premiere recordings of mostly earlier works—for the 31-year-old Aucoin, “earlier” means 2014–16—that, in Aucoin’s words, are “experiments, eruptions, love…

THIS ISSUE: Representatives of Stax, CH Precision, Mayfly, and EAR respond to our reviews of their products Stax SR-X9000 It took a while to get the next Stax Omega headphones out to the world. This was deliberate, and needed. Stax follows its own rules, governed by tradition and strict protocols. Constant revisitation of old methodologies allows us space to formulate new ones. In the end, our entire team, in Japan and elsewhere, truly believe that we have arrived at the best version of what the promise of Stax is: to deliver an audio experience that is sublime and fulfilling both auditorily and emotionally. The SR-X9000 does that, and we are incredibly proud of this achievement. Stax Japan CH Precision D1.5 We would like to thank Jim Austin and John Atkinson…

THIS ISSUE: Mikey auditions a phono preamplifier from a small, previously unknown company. One privilege of being a Stereophile columnist is the opportunity to cover products from smaller, less well-known manufacturers, including those that don’t have wide enough distribution to qualify for a full review. One such company is Victorville, California–based Paradox.1 I’d never heard of them until I received an email from Terence Robinson, the company’s owner. The email included a description of a phono preamplifier that so intrigued me that I asked for a review sample. The Paradox Phono 70 ($2500) and Phono 70 Signature ($3000) are identical except that the latter uses higher-quality parts. Both are designed exclusively for low-output moving coil cartridges and both offer 70dB of gain—not more or less. The company says the Phono…

I tested the CH Precision D1.5 SACD/CD player/transport with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system.1 As the D1.5 doesn’t have digital inputs, I assessed its performance, using its own power supply and internal clock, with a Sony test SACD and a CD-R with 16-bit test signals. I used the Pierre Verany Digital Test CD, which has gaps of various lengths in the data spiral, to check the D1.5’s error correction. The Compact Disc Standard requires only that a player cope with gaps of up to 0.2mm in length, but the D1.5 played the tracks with gaps up to 2mm without audible glitches, which is excellent performance. However, the player wouldn’t read the disc when a single gap was 3mm long or there was a succession of two gaps, each 2.4mm long.…

If you’ve ever read Homer’s Iliad, you probably remember the Catalog of Ships at the beginning. It’s an exhaustive record of the contingents the Achean army deployed against Troy, naming the commanders, their hometowns, the number of ships in each contingent, and more. Not to put too fine a point on it,1 it’s a snoozefest. It makes you dread what’s next. But of course, if you come to this point only to abandon the Iliad in frustration, you’ll miss the fabulous war epic that follows, chockablock with action, drama, and romance. For me, the MayFly MF-201A speakers were a bit like that: a great poem or novel that initially fails to grab you—okay, me—or, if you prefer, a slow-burning movie that doesn’t become engrossing until the second act. Baked Dragons…

As increasingly appears to be the case with high-end phono preamplifiers, the Gold Note PH-1000 is a complicated product. It has single-ended and balanced inputs, and one of the latter is capable of accepting a line-level signal. It has balanced, single-ended, and headphone outputs, with the option of either taking the output from the phono stage (Stage) or a preamplifier stage with a volume control (Preamp). (The latter appears to be the default for the headphone output.) Each phono input can be set to MC or MM, with gain adjustable from –9dB to +9dB in 3dB steps relative to the default 0dB setting. There are multiple choices for input impedance and adjustable input capacitance for both MC and MM modes. I performed a complete set of measurements with my Audio…

THIS ISSUE: An iFi mystery; the Pro-Ject Phono Box RS2 phono preamplifier; Canton’s Reference 7K loudspeakers. iFi ZEN DAC Signature V2 and ZEN CAN Signature When she reviewed two iFi ZEN Signature combos for our January 2021 issue—the ZEN DAC Signature V2 with two versions of the ZEN CAN Signature headphone amplifier, which include a custom-EQ curve for particular headphones1—Julie Mullins was impressed by their performance. She wrote, “the ZEN Signature sets delivered highly resolved, clean, pristine, dynamic sound. The amplifiers are powerful. Backgrounds black as a new-moon night-time sky brought musical details to the foreground.” But there was an issue with the volume—the gain—that I wanted to check on, hence this follow-up review. One version of the set includes the ZEN CAN Signature 6XX, which includes a defeatable custom…

THIS ISSUE: For its first Tone Poet boxed set, Blue Note takes an adventurous tack. Round Trip: Ornette Coleman on Blue Note is the first boxed set on the label’s Tone Poet imprint, and it’s a bold move. Audiophiles are not known to be keen on avant-garde music, but Don Was, Blue Note’s president, and Joe Harley, the Tone Poet producer, are huge Ornette fans. They’ve lately been reissuing some other adventurous titles from the catalog—so good on them! Fellow fans should dive into this one, and the hesitant should give it a try, with some caveats. Ornette’s classic LPs are the six he made for Atlantic Records from 1959–61, especially The Shape of Jazz to Come, which Rhino and ORG have reissued in fine pressings. After taking a five-year…

Peterson, piano; Joe Pass, guitar; Dave Young, bass; Martin Drew, drums Mack Avenue MAC1151 (2 CDs, available as 3 LPs, download). 2021. Kelly Peterson, prod.; Heikki Hölttä, Pentti Männikkö, engs. PERFORMANCE SONICS Italy’s best pianist, Stefano Bollani, says he was given an Oscar Peterson album when he was a teenager. He thought it was by Oscar and Peterson. When he found out it was one piano player, he knew he had to practice more. Such stories of Peterson’s superhuman chops abound. But if you haven’t listened to your old Peterson albums in a while, this previously unreleased music will blow your mind all over again. His command of the keyboard was breathtaking and absolute. He embodied the entire history of jazz piano up to Cecil Taylor. A Time for Love…

Aylen Pritchin, violin; Maxim Emelyanychev, piano Aparte AP 237 (CD). 2021. Franck Jaffrès, prod. and eng. PERFORMANCE SONICS The first thing we hear on this superb recording is Brahms’s Scherzo from the collaborative F-A-E Sonata. It’s the composer in full-on Beethoven mode, carried along by molten volatility, its Trio briefly relaxing the tempo and mood. The players attack it with incisive rigor. Pritchin’s firm-bowed legato holds its focus in high fortes; Emelyanychev’s bass triplets almost suggest a cello. It’s thrilling. It was smart to begin thus, as the piece sets off the three sonatas effectively. As the tempo indications—Allegro molto moderato, Allegro amabile, Andante tranquillo—suggest, these scores are dominated by Brahms’s ruminative side. The subdued, searching opening of the G major Sonata particularly tells after the explosive final cadence of…

SUBMISSIONS: Those promoting audio-related seminars, shows, and meetings should email the when, where, and who to stletters@ stereophile.com at least eight weeks before the month of the event. The deadline for the June 2022 issue is March 20, 2022. US: MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN Jason Victor Serinus John C. Koss, the father of stereo headphones and founder and former chairman of Milwaukee-based Koss Corporation, died on December 21, 2021. He was 91. Koss created the company in 1953 to rent television sets to hospital patients. Five years later, he and his partner, Martin Lange Jr., created the SP/3 Stereophone, the world’s first stereo headphones. Koss later developed the Pro/4 Series, which became the official headphones of the Air Force One in-flight entertainment system. In 1968, Koss released the ESP/6, the world’s first…

THIS ISSUE: Herb listens to the new Stax flagship, the replacement for the legendary EAR 834P phono stage, and a new version of the Sky 20 step-up transformer from Bob’s Devices. A month ago, I ran into my Russian neighbor in the hall. As usual, he asked me what I was reviewing. (Vladimir likes to come over and listen, then find fault with everything I play.) When I told Vlad I had Stax’s new top-of-the-line earspeaker, the SR-X9000, he lit up and exclaimed, “I need to hear it,” adding that he has been a lifelong Stax fanatic and owns at least five different models, “dating way back.” He told me he’d recently sold his SR-009 to buy the newer SR-009S, but he still has his ragged, 25-year-old Stax Omega “prototype,”…

Like the proverbial pot of gold, darTZeel’s golden equipment beckons. That, at least, is how it felt in January 2010, when John Atkinson and I ended our coverage of T.H.E. Show Las Vegas in the room shared by darTZeel, Evolution Acoustics, and Playback Designs1. Listening to darTZeel’s discontinued NHB-458 monoblocks2 and NHB-18NS reference preamplifier (now updated), I was transfixed by the fullness of the system’s midrange and overall beauty of the sound. “It was as though the system was opening its heart and welcoming us in,” I wrote. “That’s how warm and nurturing the sound was.” The high point of the show came when I offered up the CD While You Are Alive by the male vocal ensemble Cantus, which John recorded. “The sound was little short of heavenly,” I…

I used DRA Labs’ MLSSA system, an Earthworks microphone preamplifier, and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the MayFly MF-201’s farfield behavior, and an Earthworks QTC-40 mike for its nearfield responses. I used an Outline computer-controlled turntable to examine the off-axis behavior, rotating the loudspeaker under test in 5° increments. Though MayFly specifies the MF-201’s sensitivity as 88dB/W/m, my estimate was significantly lower, at 83dB(B)/2.83V/m. While the MF-201’s impedance is specified as 8 ohms, the impedance magnitude (fig.1, solid trace) measured with Dayton Audio’s DATS V2 system remains above 10 ohms for almost all the audioband, which means that the 2.83V at which I estimate sensitivity will be slightly less than 1W. The minimum impedance is 6.8 ohms between 185Hz and 200Hz and 6.1 ohms at 8.6kHz and the…

I’ve been on a Kim Gordon kick lately. It began a few months ago with rediscovering some Sonic Youth albums and picking up Gordon’s solo record, No Home Record. I recently finished reading her memoir, Girl in a Band, about her life, art, and musical career. I tend to read books rather than listen to them, but this time I listened with the Audible app, and I found the experience compelling. Gordon’s delivery is direct, her voice even-keeled, almost deadpan. She’s giving us the straight dope. Subtle inflections are detectable: moments when she felt strong and proud; leftover cobwebs of postbreakup pain. Her humanity came through. This experience marked the first time I’d listened to spokenword media on a hi-fi system. That system was T+A’s Caruso R multisource receiver ($4100)…

Julie Mullins’s review of the Pro-Ject Phono Box RS2 in the August 2021 issue piqued my curiosity.2 The preamp, as described by Julie and measured by John Atkinson, seemed a good fit for my transfer-and-mastering studio. In my work, I oversee and consult on vinyl releases, and I often remaster mate rial originally released to the public on LP records; in such cases, I listen to the LPs in order to hear how the material was first presented. What’s more, it has been an ongoing project to transfer my favorite LPs to my digital library for more convenient listening in a wider range of settings and systems. Even though I am a digital-centric listener, I spin black discs frequently. When she had the Phono Box RS2, Julie took it to…

IT FELT AS THOUGH EVERYONE HAD STOPPED BREATHING, SO INTENT WAS THEIR FOCUS. I WAS IN AN EXHIBIT ROOM AT THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN AUDIO FEST 2018. I DOUBT THAT ANYONE PRESENT SPOKE GERMAN, BUT AFTER SOPRANO SANDRINE PIAU’S RECORDING, WITH PIANIST SUSAN MANOFF, OF CARL LOEWE’S “ACH NEIGE, DU SCHMERZENREICHE” (AH, INCLINE, YOU WHO ARE LADEN WITH SORROWS) BEGAN TO FILL THE SPACE, THE SILENCE WAS SO DEEP THAT YOU COULD ALMOST HEAR HEARTS BEAT. AS PIAU INTONED WORDS BY WOLFGANG VON GOETHE THAT SPOKE OF A LOSS SO PAINFUL THAT IT PIERCED THE HEART AND BORE INTO ONE’S BONES, EVERYONE PRESENT FELT THE EMPTINESS AND LOSS IN PIAU’S VOICE AND LIZST’S SETTING. As several people approached me afterward to ask about the recording—the album is Chimère1—I realized that through…

Bill Callahan and Bonnie Prince Billy—the latter is a stage name for Will Oldham—did not set out to make an album together. They were just trying fill the long pandemic months with music. In 2020, they started singing other people’s songs together, broadcasting them to fans via Zoom. They recorded the tracks, choosing a different guest musician to contribute to each song. Eventually they amassed recordings of enough covers, plus reimaginings of some original works, to create this album for Drag City, where they’re both signed artists. It’s an endlessly interesting and clever project, full of musical exploration. Some of the covers nearly outshine the original versions. Part of the album’s success surely stems from the yin/yang of the two driving personalities and musical approaches. Callahan’s previous releases show a…

Zorn, alto sax; Julian Lage, guitar; Jorge Roeder, bass; Kenny Wollesen, drums Tzadik (CD). 2021. Zorn, prod.; James Dellacatoma, eng. PERFORMANCE SONICS Almost 30 years ago, alto saxophonist John Zorn started writing his Masada songbook—hundreds of heads in the two “Jewish scales” (a major scale with the 2nd note flat or a minor scale with the 4th sharp)—and formed a quartet to play and improvise on them. Through 20 albums (10 studio, 10 live) and countless concerts, the Masada quartet was one of the zestiest jazz bands of the ’90s, launching stellar careers for its members (trumpeter Dave Douglas, bassist Greg Cohen, and drummer Joey Baron) and inspiring Zorn to form myriad other ensembles—featuring guitarists or singers or pianists, from solo to big band—to play these compositions. Just before the…

The Accidentals (16/44.1, Qobuz). 2021. Tucker Martine and John Congleton, prods.; Richard Dodd, eng. PERFORMANCE SONICS Violinist Savannah Buist and cellist Katie Larson started playing together in high school, bound by a conviction that classically trained musicians should not be barred from pop and rock music. When they met the imaginative drummer Michael Dause, the Accidentals were complete. Vessel, their fifth album, is a worthy step in the band’s development. The coproducers on this project are indie rock nobility: Tucker Martine and John Congleton. Their experienced guiding hands yield dividends in the sophisticated soundscape of the Accidentals’ 14 original songs. Buist is the lead singer, with Larson on vocal harmonies and Dause sometimes joining in. Both women play other instruments, most prominently guitar and mandolin, with as much skill as…

ORF Vienna Radio Symphony; John Jeter, cond. Naxos 8.559897 (CD). 2021. Erich Hofmann, prod.; Christian Gorz, eng. PERFORMANCE SONICS Discographic attempts to revive interest in Florence Price around the year 2000 didn’t get far. More recently, the composer has had her moment, with the Philadelphia Orchestra, no less, presenting her symphonies in live and virtual concert. Price’s music pays tribute to both her African ancestors and indigenous American traditions. In the compact, expressive First Symphony and the tone poem The Mississippi River, the themes emulate the contours of American folksong, like Mac-Dowell, and like Dvořák in his “American” period. Lusher passages in the Symphony recall Arthur Farwell and other American Romantics. The tone poem adds spirituals to the mix, including, notably, a fervent “Deep River.” Unexpectedly, Ethiopia’s Shadow, a 12-minute…