2nd Edition
The 10th Rocky Mountain Audio Fest Complete Coverage
John Atkinson, Stephen Mejias and Jason Victor Serinus file the internet's most comprehensive coverage of proceedings from Denver Colorado.
VTL/Wilson/dCS--JA's Equal Best Sound at RMAF
Wired with Transparent cables, the extreme audio system in the large room at the Denver Tech Center Hyatt--dCS Vivaldi digital source, VTL TL7.5 III preamp, VTL Siegfried power amps, Wilson Alexandria XLF speakers driven full-range and twin Thor's Hammer subwoofers driven by Parasound Halo JC 1 amplifiers below 38Hz--worked its magic both on the disco-meets-EDM of Daft Punk's "Lose Yourself to Dance" and the delicate harmonic traceries of Dave Wilson's Debussy violin sonata recording transferred to DSD by Puget Sound's Bruce Brown.
Kimber/EMM Labs--JA's Equal Best Sound at RMAF
Ray Kimber always gets great sound at shows, but this year, although he was still using four Sony SS-A1 loudspeakers hooked up with Kimber Select cables and an EMM DAC to play his four-channel IsoMike DSD master files, there was something extra-magical happening in the room.
Benchmark Debuts High Dynamic-Range Amplifier
John Siau of Benchmark (right) and Laurie Fincham of THX (left) gave a provocative presentation on the final morning of the show, entitled "Why Most 24-bit Audio Systems Still Deliver 16-bit Performance." The thesis was that even with D/A processors capable of operating with a dynamic range >20 bits, there is still the resolution bottleneck imposed by the amplifier.
Wharfedale Diamond 10.7 loudspeaker
In a recent email, a reader, having read my review of the Monitor Audio Silver RX6 loudspeaker in the June 2012 issue, said that he'd like to see it compared with the similarly priced Wharfedale Diamond 10.7 ($1299/pair) and Epos Elan 10 ($1000/pair). That sounded interesting.
The Fifth Element #81
Long experience has convinced me that many audiophiles' stereo systems substantially underperform compared to what they could sound like. People haven't devoted enough attention to all aspects of the initial setup, and/or to maintenance and updating.
Burning Amp's Slow Burn
The 2013 Burning Amp, the DIYAudio forum's "annual experiment in temporary community dedicated to radical self-expression and self-reliance," got off to a slow start.
1st Edition
The 10th Rocky Mountain Audio Fest Starts Friday
Everyone's favorite audio show is about to get underway. The Rocky Mountain Audio Fest returns to the Denver Marriott Tech Center on October 11-13. We'll be there with complete coverage.
Wharfedale Diamond 10.7 loudspeaker
In a recent email, a reader, having read my review of the Monitor Audio Silver RX6 loudspeaker in the June 2012 issue, said that he'd like to see it compared with the similarly priced Wharfedale Diamond 10.7 ($1299/pair) and Epos Elan 10 ($1000/pair). That sounded interesting.
The Fifth Element #81
Long experience has convinced me that many audiophiles' stereo systems substantially underperform compared to what they could sound like. People haven't devoted enough attention to all aspects of the initial setup, and/or to maintenance and updating.
Burning Amp's Slow Burn
The 2013 Burning Amp, the DIYAudio forum's "annual experiment in temporary community dedicated to radical self-expression and self-reliance," got off to a slow start.
The Entry Level #34
Last month, I'd intended to compare the overachieving Pioneer SP-BS22-LR stand-mounted loudspeaker ($129.99/pair) with the Wharfedale Diamond 10.1 ($349/pair). In fact, I was deep into the process when it occurred to me that something was wrong with the Wharfedales.
SME 3009 Series III tonearm
From the JGH Archives: The third iteration of SME's 3009 is one of the most versatile tonearms around. For the same reason, it is also one of the most tedious to set-up because, since every parameter is adjustable, every parameter must be adjusted.
Audio Research Reference CD9 CD player/DAC
Now entering its fourth decade, the Compact Disc player seems to have reached a stage of maturity where the best models within a given price range will sound pretty much alike.
Aesthetix Saturn Romulus DAC/CD player
Tubes? In a CD player? Century-old technology embedded in a modern digital design? I realize that Aesthetix's Saturn Romulus is not the first disc player or D/A processor with tubes, nor will it be the last, but does combining these technologies even make sense?
Listening #130
Whether the subject is hi-fi equipment, films, restaurants, power tools, or condoms (see the April 2005 "Listening"), reviewing should be off-limits to the perennially unhappy.
Regarding the death of the home stereo system
In the last 15 minutes, about 25 people have sent me a link to this article, so now I'll share it with you. For better or worse, whether we're discussing velour suits or Compact Discs, any discussion regarding death is most likely premature. I call for a death to the discussion of death.
Marantz Reference NA-11S1 Network Audio Player/DAC
The older an audiophile becomes, the faster time flies. Has it really been 60 years since Saul Marantz founded the company that bears his name?
The Pursuit of Audio Excellence
Henry Rollins guest editorial: At the time of my August 2011 "As We See It," I was using a Wilson-McIntosh system. That system is still with me and still gets quite a bit of use.
Source Stereophile
