The Gearhead

Vienna Acoustics Waltz Grand Bookshelf Speakers It’s really amazing to me every time I do something that lowers the noise floor of my system and lets more of the music through. I describe it precisely that way after years of experience with this. I’ve moved on from wondering what the heck it takes to get “the magic” going and realized that once the basics like frequency response and time domain are handled with room treatment and speaker placement, the job becomes about eliminating noise at all costs. Choice in gear, choice in speakers, choice in cables, routing of cables, and, oh my goodness — conditioning or regenerating the power — all of these things serve to lower noise and remove distortions in a system. It’s in those distortions that the realism-robbing noise goblins wreak their havoc. You may not notice the noise reduction tweaks on lesser recordings, but excellent productions show off that magic immediately. With a great recording played on a great system, you

Thiel CS2 2 and CS 1.5 Floorstanding Speakers If you looked at the website for Thiel Audio late last year with any kind of knowledge of what Thiel used to be, you might have shaken your head and cried. Before shuttering completely, the amazing company that Jim and Tom Thiel put together was reduced to making a single Bluetooth speaker. Why, Universe, why?? The thought of a Bluetooth speaker by Thiel kind of tweaks me off right now, because I’m sitting in between a gorgeous pair of Thiel CS 2 2 speakers and remarking on just how much they remind me of current state-of-the-art offerings. These came out in the early 90s, and judging from period reviews (pun intended — note the space between 2 and 2. Bose threatened a lawsuit to reclaim the dot, amazingly) of the 2 2s, they sounded as good to audiophile ears then as they do now. And earlier this morning, a flawless set of CS1.5s (they were permitted to keep the period here — thanks Bose) blew me away with the same kind of mo

Voxativ AC-4X 8" Full Range Drivers The "Bigger Is Better" (BIB) horn I still remember the day I found the Single Driver Website, which was compiled by James Melhuish a while ago, and of which a remnant still exists on Geocities, here . I was like a pig discovering shit. Something about the science really spoke to me — the lack of crossover and the simplification of design variables combined with geometrically-cool-looking boxes had me transfixed like the Millennium Falcon in a tractor beam. Among the things I learned in my voyage through many styles of DIY full range speaker design is that Zoebel networks shouldn’t be feared — great passive ingredients really do deliver great results — and that raw driver quality plays a huge role in the eventual sound. In all things audio, the less you have to fix, or the less you ask any circuit to try to fix, the better. The less any piece of gear has to “work,” the better. Often when components — especially drive

Meridian Prime Headphone Amplifier and Prime Power Supply There is something so intimate about a good musical experience with headphones. When things are right — the headphones aren’t so weighty that they intrude on your thoughts about the music, and the sound is balanced to achieve the same — the listener is easily transported to an internal state of being, and the music grows large in the listener’s consciousness. This kind of personal experience seems to be exactly what Meridian had in mind when designing their lovely Prime headphone amplifier and matching external power supply. After spending a little time with these two pieces, I think Meridian achieved that goal, and along the way managed to ratchet that experience up a notch. It’s been a while since I’ve had as wonderful and engrossing of an experience with a headphone amp like I’m having with this one. Why? Well the last emotional headphones experience was the venerable Stax electrostatic ‘phones with an incredible

Conrad Johnson ET7 Tube Hybrid Preamplfier How does a manufacturing company stay in the Hifi business for more than 10 or 20 years? In the true high end of audio, every brand I’ve seen that lasts longer than 10 has a reputation for excellent-sounding products. Having worked for a manufacturer in its fourth decade of existence, I know that good business practices and forward thinking also play a big role. But reach back to any of the old designs from the long-timers like PS Audio, McIntosh, Krell or Audio Research and fire it up. I dare you not to grin when you hear it. The reason I bring this up is because I’m listening - gap-jawed - to a new Conrad Johnson ET7 tube hybrid preamplifier, and I’m gushing about it just about a month removed from my gushing about a 34-year-old PV5 preamplifier design from the same company. Check out that post by clicking here . Take a look at the inside of this beauty and you see lots of space, huge PCB traces and massive T

Mark Levinson No. 585 Stereo Integrated Amplifier Sometimes things just… click. I witnessed that this morning with this Mark Levinson No. 585 “do-everything” style of integrated amplifier as I hauled its massive chassis up onto the test bench. Mark Levinson and perhaps the rest of the Harman Group certainly know how to package a fine product to elicit feelings of pride in the owner. Fit and finish are superb, but it’s the little details like a remote with the right heft, embroidered gloves and a special screwdriver for the remote that have me impressed with the packaging. But of course you should know that with me, the buck stops with the sound. Firing up the 2018 master jazz production called Hudson, everything is perfect, and everything is right. I’m greeted with instant space and depth in this recording featuring some of the jazz world’s best musicians. If you haven’t jumped on the Hudson train yet, it’s a rag-tag crew of no-names like John Scofield, Jack DeJ

Cardas Golden Reference and Cross Interconnects It’s weird to want to start a blog post by talking enthusiastically about the sound of metal, but then again, this is to be a blog post about cables. But when I say metal, I don’t refer to the actual conductor materials in the cable, though they play a big role. I’m talking instead about the sound of cymbals, the influence of interconnects on the sound, and how that’s one of my go-to testing and evaluating tools. I’m in the camp that believes subtle audio differences are experienced at least partly subconsciously, and quick A/B comparisons don’t let your brain settle into the sound of any option. For my sound quality evaluations, I like to sink into a track for a while in one mode, let the thoughts about the sound quality flow, and then not worry so much about hastening the switch between modes or components. I make the switch, re-queue the track, and then settle in again, with focus on what new thoughts are created in my bra

Audio Note M3 Phono Tube Preamplifier Uh oh.  I’ve fallen in love with two different tube preamplifiers today. Just that kind of Friday I guess! Of course, these preamps could make anyone swoon. First it was the Aesthetix Calypso, and now it’s Audio Note’s delicious M3 Phono, which despite its name is not just a phono pre (although it is one stinkin’ beast of a phono pre) — it’s a full on line preamplifier, and it’s captured my heart, swiftly and easily. This one is tube-based front to back, and uses interesting valves to craft its magical sound, like 6X5s, OB2s and 6072a tubes. Bobby Hutcherson’s album Wise One is a record I’m wise to place on the queue when I fire up such a refined piece of equipment as this.  Why? Because well-recorded vibraphone is a really good measuring stick for components’ abilities to accurately portray a soundstage, and to hold those image positions firmly as the vibes move up and down the musical register. Any of Gary Burton’s wonderfull

Aesthetix Calypso Stereo Tube Hybrid Preamplifier I’ll admit I didn’t let the normal random chance determine my little listening session with the Aesthetix Calypso preamplifier here. I happened to be walking by the photo area when I spotted the machine, and our photographer Jeff said I could borrow the little she demon for a minute to satiate my audio curiosity. It’s not that I haven’t heard the Calypso before — I have. I’ve seen a few sprinkled in high end demo systems at audio shows, and there used to be one hanging out in Music Room One over at PS Audio down the street. But I’d never gotten a chance to fiddle with one on my own, even briefly. Fiddle is the wrong word- I don’t want to press buttons and spin knobs, I wan to hear this amazing piece of circuitry. And amazing it is. See I knew about the special nature of this preamplifier because it served as a major inspiration for Bascom King when he designed his BHK Signature Preamplifier for PS Audio. Both preamplifier

Wilson Benesch A.C.T. C60 Limited Edition Grip is a term often associated with the bigger drivers of great speakers. Usually we’re talking about the low end, but something about the word “grip” implies a type of bass definition that is likely affected by a treble or midrange transient element. After all, music is not a set of test tones, but a wild soup of transients and concurrent complex sound sources. It’s so complex, we need to describe it with general “feel” words like grip and bounce, or with more common visual descriptors like dark and bright. Grip for me means excellent transients. It means I can listen to my favorite solo bass album and reap the musicality buried within the wash of deep dark tones. The Wilson Benesch A.C.T. C60 Limited Edition speakers we just got in and which I just tested are absolutely huge (another visual metaphor) in sound and the bass grip rivals or betters anything I have ever, ever heard. Going further, the midrange “grip” is uncanny. I g

Mark Levinson No. 585 Stereo Integrated Amplifier  Sometimes things just… click. I witnessed that this morning with this Mark Levinson No. 585 “do-everything” style of integrated amplifier as I hauled its massive chassis up onto the test bench. Mark Levinson and perhaps the rest of the Harman Group certainly know how to package a fine product to elicit feelings of pride in the owner. Fit and finish are superb, but it’s the little details like a remote with the right heft, embroidered gloves and a special screwdriver for the remote that have me impressed with the packaging. But of course you should know that with me, the buck stops with the sound. Firing up the 2018 master jazz production called Hudson, everything is perfect, and everything is right. I’m greeted with instant space and depth in this recording featuring some of the jazz world’s best musicians.If you haven’t jumped on the Hudson train yet, it’s a rag-tag crew of no-names like John Scofield, Jack DeJohnette,

D’Agostino Momentum S250 Stereo Power Amplifier Mr. Dan D’Agostino has cornered the “heirloom watch” market for amplifiers in this country, I’m pretty sure of it. At TMR, we see designs from all over the world and from different points in audio history. And let’s just say we’ve noticed that most of the amazing, gorgeous and mechanically impressive designs come from overseas. Just last week I was testing an immensely well-designed CD transport from a company called C.E.C. I couldn’t help but marvel at how many perfectly fit parts were in this thing, and how dense and well-built it was. That’s what you will expect to receive when you fork out $30K or so for a piece of audio engineering. Beyond that actually, it needs to be gorgeous. Nothing soothes the mind about spending in the big leagues like a set of looks that will brighten your eyes before your ears get their fill. I’m not really a watch guy, but standing this close to the D’Agostino Momentum S250’s intricate meters mak

Audible Illusions Modulus 3A Stereo Tube Preamplifier Low level listening is an acquired taste, but I think it’s an important exercise for the aspiring audiophile. If you’ve ever taken time to understand the Fletcher-Munson loudness curves, you know that our hearing frequency balance changes as the volume of sound increases or decreases. It’s the reason for the old “loudness” button on receivers — the idea is that at low volume you would press the button to lift the treble and bass frequencies slightly so that the music sounds the same as it does at high volume. Of course, none of us ever used it properly — in most cases it was an EQ boost. The feature was mostly housed in a receiver, so mid-fi sound could be brought a touch closer to the high end, just with a press of the sweet little loudness button. I’ve been thinking about this lately, because a speaker designer takes this knowledge to heart. There are some major decisions in the timeline of a speaker design that are ma