Indholdsfortegnelse for April 2018 i Stereophile

Enough has been said by now about the technical details of how Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) works to fill several books. But the technical details are only part of the story, and probably not the most interesting part—and they’re certainly not what provokes the extreme emotional responses of many to the format. So let’s jump into the business and practical aspects of MQA to which so many audiophiles are reacting. From the point of view of MQA Ltd., what might success look like? “Success” would be achieved when MQA is used to master most, if not all, new releases and back catalog of recorded music for streaming, downloading, or other uses. The higher the percentage of recordings mastered and released MQA encoded, the better. Nor must MQA be restricted to…

ATTENTION ALL AUDIO SOCIETIES: We have a page on the Stereophile website dedicated solely to you: www.stereophile.com/audiophile-societies. 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, March 18, 2–5pm: The Los Angeles & Orange County Audio Society will hold its monthly meeting at Upscale Audio (2058 Wright Avenue, La Verne). Focal, Nordost, and PrimaLuna will be featured at this event. Nordost will perform product demonstrations and cable comparisons while offering special-event–only pricing. Additionally, any attendee wishing to trade up a lower-model Nordost cable to a Heimdall 2, Frey 2, or Tyr 2…

To create a highly damped environment, the ACI 600’s case is machined from billet aluminum. When Michael McCormick, president of Bel Canto Design, suggested that I review their Black ACI 600 integrated amplifier, I accepted without hesitation. As wonderful as my reference system may sound, its dCS digital front end alone comprises four boxes and a web of cables complex enough to send many a spider spinning. Given the choice between connecting that front end to a pair of expensive, enormous monoblocks—with their similarly expensive AC cords and equipment racks/isolation platforms—or to a single, visually elegant, 45-lb box that costs $25,000, produces 300Wpc into 8 ohms, and requires only a single power cord and shelf, I think many an audiophile, even those with lots of money, might gravitate toward the…

Digital Sources dCS Paganini SACD/CD transport & Scarlatti clock & Vivaldi DAC & Network Bridge network player; Mytek HiFi Manhattan II DAC; Intel NUC7i7BNH computer with 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD running Roon; iPad Pro, external hard drives, USB sticks. Power Amplifiers Pass Laboratories XA200.8 monoblocks. Loudspeakers Wilson Audio Specialties Alexia. Cables Digital: AudioQuest Diamond (FireWire, Ethernet), Wireworld Platinum Starlight Cat8 (Ethernet), Nordost Odin 1 & Odin 2 & Valhalla 2 (USB). Interconnect, Speaker, AC: Nordost Odin 2. Accessories Grand Prix Monaco rack & amp stands, 1.5" Formula platforms; Nordost QB8, QK1, QV2, QX4 power accessories; Isotek EVO3 Sigmas & Audience aR2p-TSSOX power conditioners, GreenWave filter, AudioQuest NRG Edison outlets; Stein Music Signature Harmonizers, Blue Suns/Diamonds, Speaker Matches, Super Naturals, & Quantum Organizer; Synergistic Research Tranquility Base, PowerCell, Transporter, UEFs; Bybee…

Description D/A processor & headphone amplifier. Digital inputs: 1 coaxial S/PDIF (RCA), 1 TosLink, 1 USB Class 2 (Type B). Analog outputs: 1 pair balanced (XLR), 1 pair unbalanced (RCA), 1 headphone on 1⁄4” stereo jack. Digital formats supported: 16–32-bit/44.1–384kHz PCM; DSD128 (DoP); 352kHz, 384kHz & DSD128 are via a precision digital decimation filter. Frequency response (line): –0.05dB at 6Hz, –3dB at 1.5Hz; –0.05dB at 21.4kHz, –3dB at 22.0kHz (44.1kHz data); –0.05dB at 23.2kHz, –3dB at 23.9kHz (48kHz data): –0.05dB at 32.0kHz, –3dB at 47.8kHz (96kHz data); –0.05dB at 32.0kHz, –3dB at 76.0kHz (192kHz data & DSD64, DSD128): Channel separation: >120dB, 0Hz–20kHz. Maximum output level: 3.9V (14dBu) balanced, 1.95V (8dBu) unbalanced; 6.2V (18.0dBu) HiZ, 4.1V (14.45dBu), MedZ, 2.05V (8.45dBu) LoZ. Output impedance: 50 ohms, balanced, unbalanced; 4 ohms, headphone. THD+N:…

Description Two-way, bass-reflex, stand-mounted, ported loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (25mm) soft-dome tweeter, 7.9" (200mm) bass/midrange. Frequency response: 50Hz–20kHz, ±3dB. Sensitivity: 85dB/W/m. Nominal impedance: 6 ohms. Power handling: 150W. Recommended amplification: >25W. Dimensions 18.1" (460mm) H by 10.9" (277mm) W by 10.8" (275mm) D. Weight 25.6 lbs (11.6kg). Finish Silver Eucalyptus. Serial numbers of units reviewed 40THX 135R & 135L. Price $6495/pair. Approximate number of dealers: 30. Warranty: 3 years. Manufacturer Harbeth Audio Ltd., 3 Enterprise Park, Lindfield, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH16 2LH, England, UK. Tel: (44) (0)1444-484371. Fax: (44) (0)1444-848-685. Web: www.harbeth.co.uk. US distributor: Fidelis Music Systems, 460 Amherst Street, Nashua, NH 03063. Tel: (603) 880-4434. Fax: (603) 434-4433. Web: www.fidelisav.com.…

Reprise R2 559454 (1 LP/3 CDs/1 DVD). 1975/2018. Fleetwood Mac, prods.; Keith Olsen, prod., eng.; David Devoe, Dan Hersch, others, engs. ADD? TT: 3:27:04 I’ll never forget the first time I heard this album. I’d been a keen fan of Fleetwood Mac since its early days, and each release was greeted with great expectations. Like a lot of British blues bands of the late 1960s, in the mid-’70s the Mac seemed to struggle toward a difficult career coda; lineups didn’t last, and we even had to endure a completely different band touring under the Fleetwood Mac name. But from the first joyous moments of Fleetwood Mac, it was clear that this new version of the band was something special. I’d heard and liked the California power pop of Buckingham Nicks,…

There’s still hope for integrity Editor: John Atkinson’s “As We See It” in the February issue—“More on MQA,” www.stereophile.com/content/more-mqa—was the most full-throated political-sociological statement/cri de guerre we’ve ever seen from him. Well said, and an impassioned higher purpose is clearly evident to all. Currying favor with the corporate interests Atkinson has to dance with doesn’t at all appear to be his reflexive go-to fallback … Bravo! In this age of ever-more-frequent advertorials and related, someone of depth and stature has to show how it’s done. —John Penturnjpen@rogers.com More on MQA Editor: I really appreciated John Atkinson’s “As We See It” in the February 2018 issue. It is great to see Stereophile acknowledge the restrictive nature of MQA and the potential for that to cause harm. If I were a manufacturer…

COMPONENTS LISTED HERE HAVE been formally reviewed in Stereophile and have been found to be among the best available in each of four or five quality classes. Whether a component is listed in Class A or Class E, we highly recommend its purchase. Each listing—in alphabetical order within classes—is followed by a brief description of the product’s sonic characteristics and a code indicating the Stereophile Volume and Issue in which that product’s report appeared. Thus the May 2017 issue is indicated as “Vol.40 No.5.” Some products listed have not yet been reported on; these are marked (NR), for “Not Reviewed.” We recommend that you read any product’s entire review before seriously contemplating a purchase (products without reviews should therefore be treated with more caution)—many salient characteristics, peculiarities, and caveats appear in…

Description Solid-state, class-D integrated amplifier. Digital inputs: AES, S/PDIF, TosLink to 24/192; Ethernet to 24/192, DSD64, MQA; USB 2 to 24/384, DSD128, MQA. Analog inputs: line 1/2, MM/MC phono. Outputs: line/subwoofer, 4.5V RMS; headphones, 4.5V RMS maximum, 32 ohms minimum impedance. Two pairs WBT NextGen five-way speaker binding posts. Power output: 300W into 8 ohms (24.8dBW):, 600W into 4 ohms (24.8dBW). Peak output current: 27A. Minimum load: 2 ohms. Frequency response: 0.5Hz–50kHz, ±3dB, all loads. THD+N: 0.001%, 1W, 1kHz, 4 ohms (overall); 0.003%, 1kHz (line); <0.01%, 1kHz, A-weighted (phono). IMD (CCIF): <0.001%, 1W, 14/15kHz, 4 ohms. Output noise (RMS, A-weighted): 35µV, 10Hz–20kHz. Damping factor: >500. Output impedance at 100Hz: <16 milliohms. Dimensions 19" (483mm) W by 3.8" (97mm) H by 14" (356mm) D. Weight: 45.2 lbs (20.5kg) net, 51 lbs…

Analog Sources Linn Sondek LP12 turntable with Lingo power supply, Linn Ittok tonearm, Spectral MC cartridge; Day-Sequerra 25th Anniversary FM Reference, McIntosh Laboratory MR-78, Sony XDR-F2HD FM/AM tuners. Digital Sources Bryston BCD-1 CD player & BDP-3 media player with IAD soundboard & BDA-3 DAC; Oppo Digital BPD-103 universal player; Lenovo P50 computer running Windows 10 Pro (64-bit), Bryston Windows USB driver, JRiver Media Center 22, Roon Core. Preamplification Bryston BP-26, Mark Levinson ML-7 preamplifiers; Sutherland Engineering KC Vibe phono stage & Vibe head amplifier. Power Amplifiers Mark Levinson No.534 and No.334. Loudspeakers Revel Ultima Salon2. Cables Digital: Wireworld Starlight coaxial. Interconnect: Bryston balanced, Mark Levinson Silver, Pure Silver Cable balanced, Red Rose Silver One, Totem Acoustic Sinew single-ended. Speaker: Coincident Speaker Technology CST 1, Pure Silver Cable R50 biwire double…

“See her how she flies...” When I first heard that lyric, from Jim Webb’s “The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress,” sung by a hauntingly fragile woman’s voice and supported by a sparse yet lyrical piano accompaniment, at an audio show in 1983, I got chills. Who was this empathetic singer? Back in my cabaret-musician days, more than four decades ago, I backed so many singers with beautiful-sounding pipes but who didn’t seem to comprehend the meaning of the words—yet this unknown woman directly communicated the song’s emotion. I grabbed the LP jacket and learned that the singer was Radka Toneff, a Norwegian of Bulgarian ancestry, and that the piano was played by Steve Dobrogosz, an American who had relocated to Sweden. The LP had been released in 1982 on Odin,…

Miyajima Laboratory Madake Snakewood Editor: As always, Michael [Fremer] gets to the heart of the sound of Miyajima. Miyajima-san builds musical instruments that serve the music. He does not try to achieve the expected norms of moving-coil design, but he does deliver the faithful, natural reproduction of the music hidden in the grooves of your LP collection. I sell more cartridges to people sick of the überdetailed, overly analytical, and oh, so unemotional MCs that seem to bore true music lovers who have vast, eclectic record collections. Michael owns several Miyajimas, and I know he treasures their musicality. Thank you again, Stereophile, for allowing great reviewers to write their views on products from Miyajima Labs. Now, if they want to take advantage of the seven-day, full money-back trial, people can…

Author Rachel Joyce clearly knows her music. EVERYWHERE: BOOKSTORES Paul Messenger Regardless of who wrote it, a book titled The Music Shop will tempt any music lover. Evidence of this novel’s eclecticism is presented early: It begins with an epigraph by Nick Drake, and the first chapter is titled “The Man Who Only Liked Chopin,” followed by “Oh No Not My Baby.” Rachel Joyce has written, essentially, a romance set in 1988. Frank, who runs a music shop in a rundown part of town, has a special gift. He applies his deep knowledge of music as a kind of psychotherapy, helping, with considerable patience and expertise, a motley crew of neighbors as well as Ilse Brauchmann, a mysterious German woman. Frank is also battling a local development company, and record-label…

On at least one occasion that I can recall—in 1996, in the early days of Listener magazine—a US publicist for the Japanese manufacturing company Denon told me that they planned to discontinue their DL-103 moving-coil phono cartridge, an enduringly popular model that had been in production since 1962.1 At the time, neither the DL-103 nor any of their other cartridge models appeared on Denon’s US price lists, and neither English-language promotional materials nor even a basic spec sheet was available to American consumers or press. (All of this is charbroiled into my memory because the young woman in question was almost perversely unpleasant, a characteristic normally regarded as a disqualification for her line of work.) And near the end of this century’s first decade, an audio-industry veteran who didn’t work…

Description Hybrid monoblock power amplifier. Tube complement: one 6H30 Pi or 5687 (input), one 6CA4 or EZ81 (rectifier). Inputs: unbalanced (RCA), balanced (XLR). Output power at 1kHz: 370W into 8 ohms (25.7dBW, (first 100W in class-A), 650W into 4 ohms (25.1dBW), 1150W into 2 ohms (24.6dBW). Frequency response: 6Hz–80kHz, –3dB (input transformer peak: +2.5dB at 50kHz). Voltage gain: 26dB (x20). Input impedance: 47k ohms. Output impedance: 0.3 ohm. THD (1kHz into 8 ohms, 6H30 Pi tube): 0.7% at 100W, 1.2% at 300W. THD (1kHz into 8 ohms, 5687 tube): 1% at 300W. Signal/noise: N/S. Dimensions 16.75" (425mm) W by 11.8" (300mm) H by 25" (635mm) D. Weight: 209.4 lbs (95kg). Serial numbers of units reviewed 19, 20. Price $93,000/pair. Approximate number of dealers: 9. Manufacturer Ypsilon Electronics, Athanasioy Street 8,…

Description Two-channel solid-state power amplifier. Inputs: 2 single-ended (RCA), 2 balanced (XLR), 2 Constellation Direct (XLR). Outputs: 2 pairs speaker binding posts. Power output (1kHz at 1% THD+N): 200Wpc into 8 ohms (23dBW), 400Wpc into 4 ohms (23dBW). Voltage gain: 26dB (14dB, Constellation Direct). Frequency response: 10Hz–80kHz, +0/–0.5dB. THD+N: <0.05% (1kHz at up to 90% of rated power). Output noise: <70µV, 500kHz bandwidth, –116dB ref. 250W. Signal/noise: >–95dB, A-weighted. Input impedance: 20k ohms (Constellation Direct, balanced), 10k ohms (unbalanced). Input sensitivity: 2.25V for full output. Output impedance: 0.1 ohm. Damping factor: 80 (8 ohm load). Power consumption at idle: not specified. Dimensions (measured) 17" (432mm) W by 8.5" (216mm) H by 19" (483mm) D. Weight: 55 lbs (24.9kg). Serial number of unit reviewed 2100173701. Price $11,000. Approximate number of dealers:…

Harbeth’s Monitor 30.2 40th Anniversary Edition is an electrical and cosmetic refinement of their Monitor 30.1. Everything sounds like what it’s made of. I’m known for saying that, and to me, it’s obvious: box speakers with dome tweeters sound like box speakers with dome tweeters. I can hear their tweeters calling to me when I’m in the next room, making a phone call. I can hear their boxes hissing and groaning even after I turn off the stereo. Many a day, I think Edgar Villchur, inventor of the acoustic-suspension loudspeaker and the dome tweeter, ruined audio, and that audiophiles will never stop denying how artificially colored the sounds of domes and cones in boxes really are. One person I think might agree with this view is Alan Shaw, Managing Director—he…

Analog Sources AMG Giro G9 LP player, Linn Sondek LP12 Valhalla turntable with SME M-2 tonearm; Dynavector DV20X2, EMT TSD 75SFL, Koetsu Rosewood Standard, Miyajima Laboratory Saboten cartridges. Digital Sources Holo Audio Spring Kitsuné Tuned Edition, Mytek HiFi Manhattan II, Schiit Audio Yggdrasil DACs; Integra DPS-7.2 DVD player (used as CD transport). Preamplification Auditorium 23 (for EMT TSD 75), Bob’s Devices CineMag 1131, Dynavector SUP-200 step-up transformers; Lounge Audio LCR Mk.III RIAA, Parasound Halo JC 3+, Tavish Design Adagio phono preamplifiers; Pass Laboratories HPA-1, PrimaLuna ProLogue Premium line-level preamplifiers. Power Amplifiers Bel Canto Design e.One REF600M (monoblocks), Pass Laboratories XA25, PrimaLuna ProLogue Premium. Integrated Amplifier Line Magnetic LM518 IA (used as power amplifier). Loudspeakers Falcon Acoustics LS3/5a, KEF LS50, Stirling Broadcast LS3/5a. Cables Digital: Kimber Kable D60 Data Flex Studio…

RADKA TONEFF & STEVE DOBROGOSZ Fairytales: Original Master Edition (MQA) Odin LP03 (original LP, 1982); Odin CD9561 (24-bit/48kHz MQA-encoded FLAC file; Tidal Masters stream; hybrid MQA-CD; original sample rate 192kHz; 2018). Arild Andersen, prod. (1982, 2017); Andreas Risanger Meland, exec. prod. (2017); Tore Skille, Tom Sætre, original engs.; Svein Vatshaug, Rune Sund Nordmark, recorder restoration; Thomas Bårdsen, Geir Iversen, digital transfer of original tapes; Morten Lindberg, Peter Craven, Bob Stuart, digital restoration; Erik Gard Amundsen, technical advisor. DAA (original LP); DDD (MQA). Except: “My Funny Valentine,” ADA (LP), ADD (MQA). TT: 40:11 PERFORMANCE ★★★★★ SONICS ★★★★★…