Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2016 i Stereophile

THIS ISSUE: High-end audio is thriving in Japan in the shape of headphones and personal listening. THERE ARE AS MANY OPINIONS AS THERE ARE EXPERTS How many advertisements for hi-fi or head-fi hardware do you see on your morning commute? Two? Three? If you live in Los Angeles, Sydney, or Paris, most likely it’ll be zero. Not so in Tokyo, where commuters, tourists, and shoppers moving through the Shinjuku or Shibuya subway stations will find it almost impossible to ignore Sony’s latest advertising campaign, which colorfully announces a new range of affordable portable audio players (né Walkmans). Inside, banners suspended from the cars’ ceilings promote Panasonic’s latest headphones and shoebox-sized stereo system. Many of the bigger Japanese manufacturers treat audio gear as a mainstream concern. Further evidence of Japan’s wider…

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@XLinkAudio.com. 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 Sunday, January 31, 2–5pm: The Los Angeles & Orange County Audio Society will hold its monthly meeting at The Source Audio/Video Design Group, in Torrance (3035 Kashiwa Street). Our hosts, Steven and Jason Lord, will demonstrate top-of-the-line equipment in spaces custom-designed to maximize your musical and visual enjoyment. Listen to Boulder, Dan D’Agostino, Denon, Linn, Marantz, MBL, McIntosh, Pearl Evolution, Simaudio Moon, Sonus Faber, Totem Acoustic, Wadia, and…

Iused DRA Labs’ MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Morel Octave 6 Bookshelf’s frequency response in the farfield; for the nearfield frequency response, I used an Earthworks QTC-40, which has a 1⁄4" capsule and thus doesn’t present a significant obstacle to the sound. My estimate of the Octave 6’s voltage sensitivity was 85.1dB/2.83V/m. Though this is what I would have expected from a small two-way speaker having a 6" mid/woofer, it’s significantly lower than the specified 88dB/2.83V/m. The speaker’s nominal impedance is 4 ohms; its impedance magnitude (fig.1, solid trace) indicates that the Octave 6 actually remains above 8 ohms for almost the entire upper midrange and treble, dropping below 6 ohms only in the lower midrange. Although the minimum impedance is 4.2 ohms at…

Imeasured the Chord Mojo with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see www.ap.com and the January 2008 “As We See It,” http://tinyurl.com/4ffpve4). The Mojo’s battery was fully charged at the start of the measurements. The data sources were USB from my 2012 MacBook Pro running on battery power, using Pure Music 2.0 to play the files, and S/PDIF on TosLink from the SYS2722. Macintosh’s USB Prober utility reported the Mojo’s product string as “Mojo” from “Chord Electronics Ltd,” and confirmed that its USB port operated in the optimal isochronous asynchronous mode. Apple’s AudioMIDI utility confirmed that the Mojo operated at all sample rates from 44.1 through 768kHz with 32-bit integer data. The TosLink input operated reliably up to a sample rate of 96kHz; above that rate, whether the Mojo locked to…

ACOUSTIC SIGNATURE WOW XXL TURNTABLE: Acoustic Signature’s turntable line currently comprises 12 models, ranging from the entry-level WOW ($1995 with Rega Research RB-202 tonearm) to the Invictus ($104,995 without arm). The WOW XL ($2235 without arm), which Herb Reichert reviewed—see “Gramophone Dreams” elsewhere in this issue—is one up from the WOW, and the WOW XXL ($3195 without arm) is one up from that. The WOW XXL differs from the XL in having a heavier platter (16.3 vs 14.1 lbs) and including AS’s patented Silencer technology: eight brass cylinders inserted in the platter. (See Art Dudley’s description of this in his review of the Triple X in September 2015.) Acoustic Signature’s test data show that the Silencers considerably reduce resonances in the platter.10 Eagle-eyed readers may notice in my photo of…

In late summer of 1964, the tenor saxophonist, who by then had kicked a drug habit and experienced what he called “a spiritual awakening,” stopped touring and returned to his new home in Dix Hills, in suburban Long Island. Retreating to a bedroom over the garage, he wrote, over several days, a short, 33-minute suite in four parts that celebrated his rebirth: A Love Supreme. As Ashley Kahn’s liner notes explain, when it was completed, Coltrane told his second wife, Alice, “This is the first time I have everything ready.” His most coherent artistic statement, one grounded in his love for God, and embodying an affirmation of the power of love over dissension and division, A Love Supreme opens with “Acknowledgement,” this very focused composition continues through “Resolution,” “Pursuance,” and…

“I don’t take the philosophy that I’m there to redo any original pressing. I think that’s too limiting because original pressings are flawed whether people want to admit that or not.We’re going after what’s on the master and what’s good about the master.” —SHANE BUETTNER THERE’S ONLY TWO KINDS OF MUSIC: THE BLUES AND ZIPPETY DOO-DAH. —TOWNES VAN ZANDT “With all due respect, what the hell is the matter with you?” Over the years, I’ve felt obligated to ask this question of several friends who somehow concluded that their life’s work involved founding a record label. “That is the best question isn’t it?” Shane Buettner said with a big laugh. “Why do I want to hurt myself this badly and spend a lot of money doing it?” “Actually, yes—that’s exactly…

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. Changes Editor: Global warming, children disobedient to parents, writers leaving Stereophile (“Letters” and “Industry Update,” November 2015)—what is the world coming to? Will this madness ever end? (It was John Marks’s April 2010 column on the Gurrelieder—see www.stereophile.com/thefifthelement/the_fifth_element_59/index.html—that first attracted me to Stereophile.) —Andrei Sharko andreisharko@xtra.co.nz Standards Editor: Thank you, Stereophile, for continuing to do what you do. In particular, thank you for putting the reader first. It has not escaped my attention that one can publish a larger, glossier magazine— chock-full of ads—by never ranking equipment…

What’s your favorite record? It’s a simple enough question, but one that dedicated music consumers never tire of asking each other. And so, every year, we ask the distinguished writing staff of this magazine to choose a pair of favorites and tell us a little of what seems so compelling about them. Oddly enough, most writers never choose the same record twice—though one did choose the soundtrack album for Casper three years running! Music in any recorded format is fair game, the only restriction being that it must still be available, if only in the deep, dark recesses of the Internet. Of course, favorites come and go in minds and hearts—speaking of dark recesses—but these are Stereophile’s takes on the essential music of the moment. Enjoy! NOTE: If a recording…

Ibegan to perform a full suite of measurements on the PS Audio BHK Signature 300 (serial no. NPWA-A1-5G0062), using my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see www.ap.com and the January 2008 “As We See It,” www.stereophile.com/content/measurements-maps-precision). First, however, I preconditioned the amplifier by running it at one-third the specified power, 100W, into 8 ohms for 60 minutes. At the end of that time, its top panel was warm and its heatsinks were hot, at 122.1°F (50.1°C). The percentage of THD+noise at this power level was 0.0145% with the amplifier cold, 0.0164% with it fully warmed up. The BHK 300’s voltage gain at 1kHz into 8 ohms was a little higher than usual, at 30.5dB with both balanced and unbalanced input signals. Both inputs preserved absolute polarity (ie, were non-inverting), and the…

THIS ISSUE: Updates & further thoughts on products from Dynaudio, Acoustic Signature, Soundsmith, & Bryston. A SECOND IMPRESSION DYNAUDIO EXCITE X14 LOUDSPEAKER I never met the late Robert J. Reina, but, sadly, I can see his face as I type these words. I can see his byline on the pages of the countless BJR reviews I’ve read. Right now, in my tiny Brooklyn crib, I’m listening to the giant, slow, fugal opening of Philip Glass’s score for the 1982 film Koyaanisqatsi (UK LP, Island ISTA 4). I’m hearing and feeling the same “dramatic passages in the lower bass” and guttural voices I imagine Bob experienced while writing his review of Dynaudio’s Excite X14 loudspeaker1 ($1299/pair) for the October 2014 issue.2 Bob described the sound of Koyaanisqatsi through the X14 as…

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 April 2016 issue is January 20, 2016. UK: WORTHING, WEST SUSSEX Paul Messenger In 1979, when Bowers & Wilkins launched their first 800-series loudspeaker, the 801, the idea of mounting the midrange and high-frequency drive-units in a separate “head” unit was so outrageous that B&W disguised it under a squared-off foam cover. Seven iterations of the 800s later, in late 2015, B&W released the D3 versions of the line, which demonstrate all sorts of improvements over their immediate predecessors, the 800 Diamonds, which were launched a decade ago. B&W claims that, of the 896 parts that comprised each Diamond…

TURNTABLE The stats are impressive: Quebec’s Oracle Audio Technologies, formerly Trans Audio,1 has been in business for 37 years, during which they’ve sold nearly 11,000 Oracle Delphi turntables. That’s not bad for a perfectionist turntable—and especially not bad for a perfectionist turntable whose first and most estimable competitor, the Linn Sondek LP12, was well established by the time of the Delphi’s debut, in 1979. And yet . . . one might also say that the LP12, having created the market for high-end turntables, plowed the road for the Delphi. True though that may be, there’s no mistaking the skill with which Oracle distinguished their premier product as no mere me-too turntable, but a distinct alternative. Where Linn decreed that a felt mat was the only way to support a record,…

My first girlfriend was a hopeless kleptomaniac. Once, just before sunrise, as I helped her bury a few hot items in the woods, she asked from which direction the sun would rise. Always the smart-aleck, I told her: “It rarely fails to rise in the east.” She frowned and stared quizzically into the darkness. After a long moment, she said, in a low, sad voice, “Really . . . ?” September 23, 2015: In his response to and defense of Elizabeth Newton’s wildly insightful essay “The Lossless Self,”1 Michael Lavorgna wrote, on Stereophile’s sibling website AudioStream.com: “My idea of hi-fi is to make the possibility of losing oneself in the music happen as often as I choose with the least amount of brain processing as possible.” He continued: “Here’s my…

Like all men, I learned at an early age to resist the allure of a pretty face. Okay—I learned that I should try to resist the allure of a pretty face. Okay, I confess: I have never been able to resist the allure of a pretty face. Which is why, when I first clapped eyes on the Mojo D/A headphone amplifier from English company Chord Electronics, at an event hosted by Manhattan retailer Stereo Exchange, I had to borrow a sample for review. Yes, at $599, the Mojo—the name is short for Mobile Joy—is a little more expensive than some similar products. But with its matte-black finish of anodized aluminum and its three illuminated, matte-surfaced glass balls, set in machined recesses on the top and controlling power and volume, it…

The Soundsmith Zephyr MIMC ($1499.95) is a new cartridge that uses much of the technology of the Soundsmith Sussurro ($4799.95), which Michael Fremer raved about in the March 2012 issue. Like all Soundsmith cartridges, the Zephyr MIMC uses what’s usually called a moving-iron design, but which Soundsmith designer Peter Ledermann prefers to call fixedcoil. Ledermann makes a persuasive argument about the superiority of fixedcoil over moving-coil cartridges, lower moving mass being the major factor.1 Like the Sussurro, the Zephyr MIMC uses Soundsmith’s Dynamic Energy Management System (DEMS), designed to neutralize unwanted vibrations. The Zephyr MIMC is a low-output (0.4mV) device intended to be used with highgain phono preamps, the type normally used with MC cartridges. (MIMC stands for Moving Iron for Moving Coil.) A unique aspect of Soundsmith cartridges compared…

THIS ISSUE: Roger Skoff, Robyatt, VPI, Oracle, and PS Audio respond to our reviews of their products and our comments on their activities. Roger Skoff & XLO Editor: I just today, November 10, 2015, read Jason Victor Serinus’s comments on the sixth annual California Audio Show,1 and was surprised to find, in his writings about the room shared by ACA’s [Angel City Audio] Seraphim speakers, Melody and Onix electronics, and XLO (the company that I did own at one time but sold more than a dozen years ago), that there were a number of points on which our opinions differed, and one, specifically about me, that was simply not true. Mr. Serinus didn’t bother to introduce himself to me when he came to that room, so whatever few words we…