Innehållsförteckning för Issue 1 - 2021 från Audio Esoterica

The new Wilson Audio Alexx 5 is not an updated version of the original Alexx that was released to universal acclaim in 2016. Designer Darryl Wilson says he and his team decided to approach the Alexx V as it if were an all-new loudspeaker. “We took elements that clearly worked in the origi-nal design and began to apply the myriad of technologies generated by Wilson’s R&D since the advent of the Alexx for the WAMM Master Chronosonic, Chronosonic XVX, Sasha DAW, and SabrinaX,” he said This sees the new Alexx V using the same 177mm Alnico QuadraMag driver originally developed for the Chronosonic XV. Its crossover network uses the same AudioCapX-WA capacitors that are used in the WAMM Master Chronosonic, all of which are made in-house at Wilson Audio. Its…

Daniel D’ Agostino, the founder of D’ Agostino Master Audio Systems and the designer of the Progression Integrated amplifier, is one of the world’s foremost amplifier designers. He first found fame as the founder of Krell, where his amplifiers were lauded for their power, their performance and their sound quality. As for their looks, well, not so much, as Borat would say. When Daniel founded D ’ Agostino Master Audio Systems, he decided that he’d better begin to start paying as much attention to his amplifiers ’ external appearance as he did to their circuitry, their performance and their sound quality. His first design, the Momentum M400 mono power amp, was arguabl the first amplifier he’d ever designed that looked every bit as good as it sounded, which was proved…

Why Minneapolis-based John Stronczer, the founder and chief designer of Bel Canto, who once described himself to an inter-viewer as “American by birth and French by orientation” decided on an Italian name for his company was always a mystery to me until I read a review of one of his Evo amplifiers in which the reviewer (Steven Stone) wrote “Bel Canto’s original products were single-ended tube amplifiers. These large, hot, low-powered behemoths have very simple circuits that, although inefficient, produce wonderfully lush, beautiful sound. That’s why founder John Stronczer named his company Bel Canto, which is Italian for beautiful singing.” E1X DAC/CONTROL PREAMP Bel Canto’s e1X DAC/Control Preamp is a complex device, though you’d never know it by looking at its front panel, which has a single rotary control and…

The performance of the BCD-3 turned out to be so exceptionally good that Bryston decided it would use almost identical circuitry in a DAC as well, that DAC being the BDA-3. Both products use exactly the same DACs (AKM 4490s) in exactly the same configuration (two per channel, in differential mode), but it isn’t only the conversion process that is the reason for the exceptional sound quality. The analogue output sections of both the BCD-3 and the BDA-3 operate entirely in Class-A, and all the gain and buffering devices are discrete and all the components for are on their own PCB. The power supply is on another PCB all by itself and the digital circuitry is split over two PCBs. In fact, in a rather beautiful piece of electronics design…

Bergmann turntables oat in the air, liter-ally! Or, to be more precise, the rotating platters on Bergmann turntables float on a layer of air, in order to make sure that unwanted noise cannot affect the music on an LP. It isn’t only the platter that floats in the air either — so does the tonearm that supports the phono cartridge, so there’s no way for noise to enter your hi-fi system that way either. Play LPs on a Bergmann turntable and you hear only the music, nothing else. The Bergmann name is hallowed in hi-fi circles because every single part used in its turntables and tonearms is manufactured in designer Johnnie Bergmann’s own workshop in Denmark. His Galder turntable (pictured here in its Gold Edition, with a matching Gold Edition Odin…

Che sorpresa! There I was expecting delivery of a pair of small, bookshelf loud-speakers and the courier made me sign for two outrageously large cartons, both of which were so heavy that I had to get a trolley to move them off the stoop. How on earth could either of these cartons contain a pair of small bookshelf loudspeakers? Once inside, I opened the smaller of the two cartons first, which revealed the Sonus faber Electa Amator III loudspeakers I had been expecting. So what could possibly be in the larger box? Had the distributor also sent me a second, larger pair of loudspeakers to evaluate? A few moments with a box-cutter revealed that the larger carton contained a pair of stands — stands that I later discovered were designed…

The challenges of the last year have been enough to take the wind out of many sails, both personal and business. But when we spoke with Tony Stantzos, who co-owns the Audio Solutions hi-fistore in Mascot near Sydney Airport along with Nick Papas, he was as ebullient as ever. “For us, to be honest, look, we can’t really complain. We had a very reasonable year,” he tells Audio Esoterica. “We were pretty much open all the way through — never really told that we had to close, so we obviously followed all the protocols, had the warning signs up to sanitise your hands, and only allowed a few people in the shop in any given room at any time.” A reasonable if very different year, then, in which Audio Solutions…

Melbourne’s Tivoli Hi-Fi in Hawthorn East is a destination store for hi-fi, home theatre and installation projects, and is renowned not only for the quality of its advice but also for the quality and décor of its listening rooms. We asked Tivoli Hi-Fi’s James Tranchina to give us a quick tour around some of their key high-end brands and latest arrivals. First stop was Wilson Audio, which has just returned to Tivoli Hi-Fiwith its SabrinaX, Sasha DAW and Alexia Series 2 models. We asked James what makes Wilson Audio special. “Well they just sound absolutely gorgeous,” he says. “It’s a speaker we know well as a store, and while there’s no right or wrong when it comes to speaker choice, I just feel they’re the most natural and honest-sounding speaker…

The Musical Fidelity M3x Vinyl phono stage is a first for Musical Fidelity in more than one way. First, it’s the first phono stage in the company’s M3 Series, which Musical Fidelity promotes using the catch-phrase “Great-looking, superb-sounding hi-fi doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Our M3 range offers an elegance of design, quality of build and standard of finish you’d associate with products costing twice as much.” The M3xVinyl is also the first Musical Fidelity component to be built entirely in countries in the European Union. This is a significant switch that requires some explanation. When he started the company back in 1982 after leaving Michaelson & Austin, Anthony Michaelson built Musical Fidelity products exclusively in the United Kingdom. He later switched production of most of his products to…

The big brothers of the A-Line, the Spendor A7s are elegant in their simplicity. They are two-way speakers, each with a wide-surround 22mm tweeter and one of the company’s latest 18cm EP77 Polymer cones for mid/bass. They’re 93cm high, but relatively slim and compact for a floorstander, so will fit neatly into most homes. But don’t push them up against a wall: their rear-firing slot-shaped reflex ports not only reduce noise and distortion, they give better grip on bass. Four spikes screw into the metal discs on each plinth to provide better contact and aid the cabinet’s rigidity. And with Spendor having its own cabinet-making plant in the UK, it delivers a high quality build with crisp edges and impeccably smart wood-veneer finishes in oak, black oak, walnut (above) or…

A question I am often asked is: ‘Why would any-one buy a CD player these days?’ I usually just answer with a single word: ‘Simplicity’. I am now consciously trying to reduce the stresses of modern living by making my own life as simple as possible. When I want to play mu-sic, I rather like that I can just pop a CD in a drawer, press play and be listening to music immediately. Yes, I have ripped all my CDs. Yes, I have a music server connected to my system. Despite this, when I want to listen to music, it’s more likely that I’ll browse the CDs stored on my shelf, select one and play it than that I’ll pull out my phone, fire up an app, browse through the…