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 THERE ARE AS MANY OPINIONS
AS THERE ARE EXPERTS

AS WE BY JIM AUSTIN

SEE IT THIS ISSUE : There are parallels

between photography and audio.

The Sound and the Image

t’s not surprising that many people, like me, love nice cameras and good worlds, these notions of truth, in a

I stereo gear. In my worse moments, I attribute this to mere consumerism:

We love expensive stuff and the thrill of buying something new, whether
for reproducing music or creating visual images. In my better moments,
it’s clear to me that there’s more than that to this common taste for audio and
photography, and more to the hobby of so-called perfectionist audio.
One commonality: we like well-
made machines. There’s beauty in
finely wrought devices, whatever their
intended use. We can’t claim artisanal
credit—we didn’t make them—but
there’s satisfaction in using them, pride
in owning then, and real pleasure in
collecting them.
Of the visual arts, photography is the
most objective, the most documentary.
Sure, even photographers who work in
a straightforward way—who press the
shutter button and capture whatever’s
in front of the lens—exercise control
over the images they reproduce. Tak-
ing a good photograph is a personal
act—a creative act. But usually the core
image is drawn from what’s around
us. Mostly, photographers create by
recording.
Cameras and audio systems have
that in common: Both are involved in
the (re)production of sensory experi-
ence. I surround the re in reproduction
with postmodern parentheses to
indicate that there is, in this copying of
experience, some creativity: in repro-
duction, there’s production. Cameras
and audio equipment enter at different
phases in that process—our audio
systems are more akin to printmaking
studios than to cameras—but if sound
engineers deserve more credit for what
emerges from our systems and into
our listening rooms than we do, we
audiophiles can at least claim some of
the credit for assembling systems that
sound the way we want them to.
But there are still deeper, more
meaningful connections between these
two pursuits of consumerism and art.
Both audio and photography are docu-
mentary—both are about recording
the real world in the pursuit of sensory
experience. Both are about technologi-
cally mediated art.
I once rejected photography as
something I wanted to pursue because
I thought success was too closely tied
to the quality of the gear. This may go
against conventional wisdom, but my
experience since has reinforced that
conviction. There’s a hardware analogy
in audio, of course: when recording,
buy the best microphones you can
afford.
I’ve since come around to enjoying
photography, not least because I can
now afford better lenses. I still don’t
play in the Leica/Hasselblad league,
but I can take out my full-frame Sony
mirrorless body and a 21mm Zeiss
lens—not as expressive as a Leica
system, perhaps, but surely more accu-
rate—and come home with photos of
quality that I and others can recognize.
A thousand other photographers may
take the same pictures, more or less,
but when I get a picture I want to print
on good paper and hang on my wall,
it’s no less satisfying for that.
Apart from music itself, which I’ve
loved for as long as I can remember,
the notion of technologically medi-
ated artistic experience is the main
thing that drew me to audio in the first
place. I’m fascinated that the choices
engineers make can so profoundly af-
fect our enjoyment of art—in this case,
music. It may be true, as Twain said,
that writing about art is like dissecting
a frog—both end up dead—but I still
want to know what technological and
scientific choices are most effective,
and how that science can be compre-
hended from an artistic perspective.
Despite what some people claim, sci-
ence and art differ from each other in
the most profound ways, and are based
on different notions of truth: timeless,
universal, and objective on the one
hand, and deeply human, personal (if
also broadly shared), and subjective
on the other. The merging of these
single pursuit—photography, audio—
is one of the more fascinating topics
this world offers.
There is, as I’ve already mentioned,
an important way that audio and
photography differ: a camera is akin to
a microphone, not an amplifier, and the
photographer to a sound engineer, and
perhaps even to the musician. We au-
diophiles are stuck at the other, less cre-
ative end of the artistic process. How,
then, should we think of ourselves, if
not as mere high-end consumers?
There is art in our choices, I think—
but I think we’re mainly collectors. In
his essay “Collectors,” in the book Why
People Photograph, photographer and
essayist Robert Adams writes: “Collec-
tors share with artists a narrow but in-
tense sensualism. The opportunity for
this in photography might at first seem
limited, but in fact an enjoyment of
photographs is stronger for the subtle
distinctions involved.” Sound familiar?
The two groups, artists and
collectors, also share a certain elite
(perhaps elitist) vision: No artist or
true collector “has ever held the
slightest suspicion that a majority of
people recognize the best art a majority
of the time,” Adams writes. “Artists
admire collectors who are doers, people
who, like themselves, are willing to
take risks in an effort to build new
syntheses.” The collector’s main risk,
presumably, is the money spent.
So, what are we buying with that
money? When we make the right
purchasing choices, what do we get
back from those risks we take? It’s a
form of self-expression, or even self-
construction. Adams quotes painter
Robert Henry: “In no work will you
find the final word, nor will you find a
receipt that will just fit you. The fun of
living”—and of making pictures, and of
building an audio system and enjoying
the music it makes—“is that we have to
make ourselves.” Q
Jim Austin (Stletters@stereophile.com)
is torn between listening to music and taking
photographs, both in as high a quality as he
can afford.

stereophile.com Q July 2018 3

 JULY 2018 Vol.41 No.7

p.79

p.69

p.99
p.91

p.101

p.105

p.59

EQUIPMENT REPORTS 101 HoloAudio Spring Kitsuné Tuned Edition

Level 3 D/A processor
49 Wilson Audio Alexia Series 2 loudspeaker by Art Dudley
by John Atkinson
105 LG V30 MQA-capable smartphone
59 Akitika GT-102 power amplifier by John Atkinson
by Herb Reichert
107 Lamm Industries L2.1 Reference
69 Bricasti Design M15 power amplifier preamplifier
by Jason Victor Serinus by Jason Victor Serinus
79 Anthem STR integrated amplifier
by Thomas J. Norton
91 BorderPatrol P21 EXD power amplifier
by Ken Micallef Stereophile (USPS #734-970 ISSN: 0585-2544) Vol.41 No.7, July 2018, Issue Number
462. Copyright © 2018 by AVTech Media Americas Inc. All rights reserved. Published
monthly by AVTech Media Americas Inc., 244 Madison Avenue (Suite 529), New York,
FOLLOW-UP NY 10016. Periodicals Postage paid at New York, NY and additional mailing offices.
Subscription rates for one year (12 issues) U.S., APO, FPO, and U.S. Possessions $19.94,
Canada $31.94, Foreign orders add $24 (including surface mail postage). Payment in
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ARCHIVE AT WWW.STEREOPHILE.COM do so by writing to the same address. Printed in the USA.

stereophile.com Q July 2018 5

 JULY 2018 Vol.41 No.7

p.39

p.122 p.19

p.115

3 As We See It 113 Record Reviews

There are parallels between photography and high-perfor- For July’s “Recording of the Month,” we’ve chosen guitar-
mance audio, writes Jim Austin. ist Steve Tibbetts’s Life Of. In Classical this month we re-
view Murray Perahia’s new recording of three Beethoven
10 Letters
G piano sonatas and Utopias, a hi-rez recording of works
Readers comment on LG’s high-rez YOUR SET ON
smartphone, MQA, the need for VISIT TH OAPBOX! by Xenakis and Feldman. In Rock/Pop there is a review
AT WWWE FORUMS of Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s Sex & Food. In Jazz, we
audio mentors, and the contrast .STEREO
PHILE.CO - review Code Girl from Brooklyn guitarist Mary Halvorson.
between smart devices but stupid M
people. 118 Manufacturers’ Comments
AkitikA, Bricasti, BorderPatrol, and Joseph Audio respond
13 Industry Update
to our reviews of their products.
High-end audio news, including the shows and dealer-
sponsored events taking place in June and July 2018, 122 My Back Pages
plus reports from April’s AXPONA and the UK’s “Blues is about feelings. It’s a natural action from the
Acoustica HiFi Show. heart and soul,” wrote Lucious Spiller. Jim Austin visits
Clarksdale, MS.
WANT TO KNOW MORE? GO TO THE
“NEWS” AT WWW.STEREOPHILE.COM
FOR UP-TO-THE-MINUTE INFO. INFORMATION
19 Analog Corner 120 Audio Mart
Michael Fremer auditions Bergmann Audio’s Galder 121 Manufacturers’
turntable & Odin tangential-tracking tonearm. Showcase
29 Listening 121 Dealers’ Showcase
Art Dudley cleans his AC power with the Shindo Mr. T and 117 Advertiser Index
tries out a replacement idler wheel for the Garrard 301
turntable.
p.113
39 Music in the Round
Kalman Rubinson reviews DigiBit’s Aria Piccolo + music
Follow Stereophile on Facebook:
server and upgrades the power supply for his miniDSP www.facebook.com/stereophilemag.
U-DAC8 D/A processor.

stereophile.com Q July 2018 7


EDITOR JOHN ATKINSON
DEPUTY EDITOR ART DUDLEY
SENIOR CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
MICHAEL FREMER, KALMAN RUBINSON
WEB PRODUCER JON IVERSON
FOUNDER J. GORDON HOLT
COVER PHOTO ERIC SWANSON
ART DIRECTOR JEREMY MOYLER
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS (AUDIO)
JIM AUSTIN, BRIAN DAMKROGER, ROBERT DEUTSCH,
LARRY GREENHILL, JON IVERSON, FRED KAPLAN,
DAVID LANDER, ERICK LICHTE, SASHA MATSON,
PAUL MESSENGER, KEN MICALLEF, THOMAS J. NORTON,
HERB REICHERT, JASON VICTOR SERINUS
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS (MUSIC)
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RICHARD LEHNERT, ROBERT LEVINE, FRED MILLS,
DAVID SOKOL, JOHN SWENSON
ADVERTISING
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July 2018 Q stereophile.com

LETTERS FEEDBACK TO THE EDITOR
The world is changing
Editor:
I saw Jason Victor Serinus’s review of the
LG V30 smartphone in May (p.105). I
think the phone is a remarkable achieve-
ment. Some credit must go to the China
market’s current interest in high-per-
formance audio in phones. I have been
told that the China market’s appetite
for premium audio has driven a lot of
unexpected decisions around premium
You can use the LG
phone to drive USB
audio devices.
audio. Even Qualcomm has developed
a high-end DAC for their Snapdragon
platform. Synaptics, a company that has
focused on touchpads for laptops, has
introduced new chips for USB audio and
headphones. It seems that market condi-
tions will bring the public into higher-
performance audio whether they want it
or not (except Apple . . . ).
You can also use the LG phone to
drive USB audio devices. I have found an
app that works well on the LG platform.1
I have used it with several premium
DACs. This all changes a lot of the base-
line for high-quality audio.
—Demian Martin
San Leandro, CA
demianm_1@yahoo.com
MQA shame?
Editor:
In August 2016, I sent you a letter about
MQA, the salient points in which are
only now (18 months later) finally being
mentioned in Stereophile. Really?! You
should be ashamed. —Rob Bertrando
robbertrando@gmail.com
MQA & DRM
Editor:
I’d like to thank Jim Austin for his
clear and fair synopsis of my point of
view about proprietary music-encoding
systems, be they MQA or any other
(“MQA, DRM, and Other Four-Letter
Words,” May 2018, p.49). For the record,
what worries me is not that Jim and oth-
ers are okay with buying MQA-encoded
music. Rather, I’m concerned that those
10
of us who want to buy our digital music
encoded in open formats, so that we can
play it with the hardware and software of
our choice, risk losing that option if we
do not speak up. —Chris Hermansen
E-mail address withheld
MQA & record labels
Editor:
I just read Jon Iverson’s editorial on
MQA (“MQA: Benefits & Costs,” April
2018, p.3), and I’ll admit that I’m a hard
and harsh critic of the major rags who
shill for hi-fi companies who make
changes just to reinvent the wheel. Jon
nailed it with MQA, as have many on the
Internet, but coming from someone like
him, it’s a big deal.
All I see are more reasons for the
recording industry to ruin itself again. I’ve
always viewed the major A-class labels,
owned by conglomerates, as arrogant
and worried less about quality than
about numbers. Yes, artists can no longer
straddle the line with the majors, like
Cobain or Lydon or Waters, and now are
forced to sell out—which isn’t a bad thing
if you’re over 30. But if MQA gives the
labels everything, it’s a loss to buyers.
—Mike Chaney
zedzdedr@gmail.com
The more I look at the pluses and minuses of
MQA, the more I believe that more benefits ac-
crue to the record labels (and to MQA) than to
audiophiles, listeners, and music lovers. Bottom
line: Bob Stuart has finally succeeded in coming
up with a plausible Dolby-type licensing model
for music, which I believe has been his real goal
all along. MQA’s “deblurring” sweetening was
tacked on for listeners to help the compression
license go down more easily. —Jon Iverson
MQAnomaly
Editor:
With all the discussion and controversy
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR should be sent as
faxes or e-mails only. Fax: (212) 915-4167.
E-mail: STletters@stereophile.com.
Please note: We are unable to answer
requests for information about specific
products or systems. If you have
problems with your subscription, call
(800) 666-3746, or e-mail Stereophile@
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Stereophile, P.O. Box 420235, Palm Coast,
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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.
surrounding MQA, this technology
sounds like something that rights holders
love, but where there is no meaning-
ful innovation to motivate the average
consumer to create demand. I gather that
it’s basically just another form of DRM in
the guise of a compressed music format
that’s not even needed.
Around the turn of the century, MP3
was a format that took the audio world
by storm because it solved what was a
basic problem at the time: digital music
distribution over slow networks and stor-
age on small media. Back then, band-
width was still in the dial-up realm for
many, and a 10MB iPod was a big deal.
Today, bandwidth and storage aren’t an
issue, even for hi-rez music files. So what,
exactly, is the problem MQA is solv-
ing? The younger generation is perfectly
content with their compressed stream-
ing audio over their Bluetooth speakers.
Is MQA Ltd. hoping there’s a market
for MQA among audiophiles, who will
begrudgingly buy the format if they can’t
get the same music in hi-rez DSD or
PCM?
I predict that MQA will go the way of
the DivX video-disc players that Circuit
City tried to push on the public—rights
holders loved the idea, but the public
wasn’t interested in disposable video discs.
I could be wrong, but I suspect that, in
the long run, like DivX discs or HDCD
before it, MQA will be a technological
footnote that consumers didn’t care about
and audiophiles loved to hate.
—Andrew Edmonds
Seattle, WA
hifiandrew@yahoo.com
Dear MQA . . .
Editor:
I want you . . .
I need you . . .
But there ain’t no way I’m ever gonna
love you.
Now don’t be sad . . .
’Cause two out of three ain’t bad.
—Greg Roberts
Volti Audio
Audio without numbers
Editor:
I was very impressed by Herb Reichert’s
article “Audio Without Numbers,” on
your sister site AudioStream,2 and was
July 2018 Q stereophile.com
particularly intrigued by his statement
“I believe everyone can perceive subtle
differences in audio sound character—but
only if they have been schooled some in
what to listen for.”
I am aware of J. Gordon Holt’s “Audio
Glossary,”3 but Mr. Reichert has a point:
Unless one is schooled in identifying the
glossary’s terms and definitions with the
experience, the art of critical listening is
probably based on the individual’s biased
experience, which may or may not hit the
mark in matching the terms, as defined in
the glossary, to real-world experience.
As Mr. Reichert points out, your staff’s
training in the art of critical listening is at
the same response level across all Stereo-
phile reviewers. This amazes me, since the
staff come from so many diverse back-
grounds. This certainly shows that you
have put together a real team, and have
done a great job over the years that I have
been a subscriber. The question I would
pose is: How can one pass this level of
understanding on to the general public,
or at least to Stereophile subscribers?
As for Mr. Reichert’s comment of be-
ing schooled in the critical art of listen-
ing, I would like to know if your pub-
lication has ever described or endorsed
a source for this type of training. I tend
to be wary of retailers or distributors,
since they are often biased. There could
be one or more that are not biased, but
I have not found any who would take
the time to train one in helping to make
the connection between certain critical
glossary terms and definitions and the
real-world experience.
I would think that this understand-
ing would certainly go a long way in
helping your subscribers appreciate your
magazine articles, and take the Stereophile
experience to the next level.
—Timothy Leistikow
leistikowt@hotmail.com
Thanks for giving us much to think about, Mr.
Leistikow. Take a look at Jon Iverson’s June
2002 “As We See It,” on the importance of
audio mentors.4—John Atkinson
Smart devices?
Editor:
Regarding Bill Leebens’s “Smart De-
vices, Stupid People” (“As We See It,”
May, p.3): I pride myself on being able
to build furniture, change my own oil,
repair a washing machine, etc. I can even
set up a tonearm and phono cartridge.
But I am very inept at multitasking.
This, I think, is the difference between
more mature audiophiles and those
younger people who are interested in
music and its playback. The oldsters like
stereophile.com Q July 2018
to choose what type of music they wish
to hear, search for the right album, take
it out and make it ready to play, then sit "extraordinarily
down unencumbered by the day’s wor-
ries and demands, and listen. Younger powerful...
music listeners hear the music while uncolored...
tending to everyday life, at either work
or play, cognizant of only bits and pieces natural"
of the music.
This may be why many prefer digital - John Atkinson, Stereophile .
with its bits and pieces, and why musical
dynamics are limited nowadays. After all,
if you’re listening to only bits and pieces,
you may not hear the low-level sounds
at all.
I realize I am generalizing here, but I
see a whole different approach to music
today compared to what I saw in my
younger, formative years (45+ years
ago). The music I listen to reminds me
of places, people, events, and many other
memories. Does the modern headphone/
earbud-wearing, multitasking listener
associate his or her music with anything
special? I hope so. —Guy White
gcryow@gmail.com
Stupid people?
Editor:
Bill Leebens’s “As We See It” in May
really struck a nerve, as I am retiring from
a career as a public-school math teacher
before I planned to. At 71, I just could not
go on anymore.
Where has smart The JosephAudio Pulsar
gone? The answer is, 15" High, 8 1/2" Wide.
Spectacularly Deep.
we killed it. Get the full story at
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I guess my question is: Where has
smart gone? Well, the answer is, we
killed it. "Devastatingly right"
Common Core is an abject failure by "The Pulsars are
any standard, IMHO, but more and more veritable light-sabers"
I think it was by design. It truly serves
- Steven Stone, The Abso!ute Sound . .
only the top 50% of the student popula-
tion, and leaves the rest to their own, "For those of you who have
often lazy devices. dreamed of owning relatively
All of the seventh-grade math students compact stand mount monitors
take the same Unit Assessments, the ones that really do convey the sense of
given to the Advanced Placement (AP) reproducing (near) full-range bass,
students, regardless of their academic abil- your loudspeaker
ity or placement. The special-education has arrived!"
and lower-performing students take the - Chris Martens, The Abso!ute Sound .
same test, but are given more time and
can have it read aloud to them if their
CONTINUED ON PAGE 111 JosephAudio
1 See www.extreamsd.com/index.php/products/
usb-audio-player-pro.
2 See www.audiostream.com/content/
audio-without-numbers.
EFFORTLESS MUSICALITY
3 See www.stereophile.com/reference/50/index.html. EXCLUSIVE TECHNOLOGY
4 See www.stereophile.com/asweseeit/588/ (800) 474- HIFI (4434)
index.html.
11
 INDUSTRY
UPDATE
US: CHICAGO
Jason Victor Serinus
By any means and measurement,
AXPONA 2018, held April 13–15,
was a smashing success. JD Events had
sold 8134 tickets—up 21% from 2017—
and welcomed 5718 unique visitors
to the largest consumer audio show
in the United States, with 165 active
exhibit rooms and an over-15,000
square-foot exhibit hall that hosted
booths from 96 companies, half of
which were part of the Ear Gear Expo.
The number of tickets sold to students
ages 15–25 increased by 27%. Despite
some pre-show trepidation about
the move to the Renaissance Hotel
and Convention Center in Chicago
suburb Schaumburg, the venue proved
near-ideal for an audio show. Not only
did the sprawling Convention Center
have enough space to host the largest
marketplace in memory, an impres-
sive headphone display, plus a large
number of oversized exhibits, but it
was also so big and spread out that the
space never felt over-crowded.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of all
was the sound on the seven floors filled
with “standard” size hotel rooms. Initial
trepidation that rooms would be too
narrow, with sonics further compro-
mised by unmovable granite counters
and credenzas along one of the long
walls, vanished when the rooms’ great-
er-than-average ceiling height helped
make them audio-friendly. In the
rooms I visited, I recall but one where
bass boomed out of control or sound
was uncomfortably bright. As hard as it
to believe, my sense is that the sound I
heard, often in rooms that lacked room
treatment, was an honest representa-
tion of what the
component chain
could deliver in a
non-custom envi-
ronment.
I think every-
one who visited
the hotel exhibits
enjoyed that floors
3 to 6 were laid out
PHOTO: JOHN ATKINSON
around a central,
open Atrium. The
sense of space and
light did a lot to
stereophile.com Q July 2018
AUDIO NEWS & VIEWS
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 September 2018 issue is June 20, 2018.
relieve the claustrophobia that often
manifests when people try to navigate
narrow, crowded hallways, only to
discover that they can’t find a seat in
the rooms they wish to visit.
Even though heat and air condi-
tioning were often going in the
rooms, their operation was uncom-
monly silent. Compared to the
din created by the heating/cooling
systems in the renovated Denver
Marriott Tech Center, which I expect
that the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest
will vacate after their contract expires
this year, the Renaissance Schaumburg
was a dream venue.
Electrical power wasn’t ideal, of
course. But most exhibitors who did
have power treatment—quite a few
did—probably left AXPONA smiling.
Without wishing to overdo this
smile thing, it is important to note the
effect of venue on attendees. With the
exception of folks in Denver, I have
never encountered a warmer, more
relaxed, and more respectful group
of show attendees. Only once in all
the rooms I visited did I encounter
any talking, and that was occasional
whispers. One company rep com-
mented that AXPONA attendees were
amongst the “most astute” she had ever
encountered, and were both extremely
interested and receptive.
For exhibitors, a major plus of AX-
PONA was that so many manufactur-
ers and distributors were in attendance.
Given the decline of “high-performance
audio” participation at CES, AXPONA
The 2018 AXPONA’s Expo Hall was crowded all
three days of the show.
SUBMISSIONS: Those promoting audio-related
CALENDAR OF
INDUSTRY EVENTS
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, July 29, 1–4pm: The
Los Angeles & Orange County Audio
Society will hold its monthly meeting
at Common Wave, in downtown Los
Angeles. State-of-the-art systems
will be presented, including the
latest components from DeVore
Fidelity, E.A.R., Kimber Kable,
Marten, NAD, Nagra, Shunyata
Research, and Totem Acoustic.
Analog sources from Dr. Feickert
Analogue, Koetsu, Kuzma, Rega
Research, and Soundsmith will
also be showcased. Manufacturers’
representatives will be available to
answer questions and discuss the
latest technologies. Special-event
pricing will be available on selected
products. Eastwind Import will be on
hand to offer especially selected LPs
and CDs for sale. A raffle is planned,
and a delicious lunch will be provided
by Spread Mediterranean Kitchen.
Music lovers, visitors, and members
alike are invited. Street and nearby
paid parking are available. For more
information, visit www.laocas.com,
call LAOCAS president Bob Levi at
(714) 281-5850, or contact Common
Wave at (213) 277-HIFI (4434) or
info@commonwave.net.
colorado
] Friday–Sunday, October 5–7: The
Rocky Mountain Audio Fest takes place
at the Denver Marriott Tech Center,
CONTINUED ON PAGE 15
13
INDUSTRY UPDATE
has now become the prime US show
where US-based manufacturers, deal-
ers, and distributors can wheel and
deal. Because the Renaissance Schaum-
burg has plenty of room for expansion,
and 70% of this year’s demo rooms are
already rebooked, expect an even big-
ger AXPONA in 2019.
Yes, Munich High End is consider-
ably larger, with attendance commen-
surate with its size, and also attracts
more industry people from Europe
and Asia. (Other overseas shows,
including those in Hong Kong and Po-
land, are also larger than AXPONA.)
Munch High End also attracts a more
diverse crowd, with far more women.
But not only is the Munich show un-
able to expand further in its current
venue, but it is also forced to relegate
a large number of exhibits to booths
in sprawling open-air halls, where
noise makes honest sonic evaluation
near impossible. Munich exhibitors
fortunate enough to snare rooms often
face acoustic nightmares, with sloped
ceilings and glass rear walls presenting
major sonic challenges.
You can read our full coverage of the
2018 AXPONA, including videos with
binaural sound and a video of John
Atkinson’s keynote speech at www.ste-
reophile.com/category/axpona-2018.
UK: CHESTER
Paul Messenger
Geoff Coleman owns and runs Acous-
tica, a hi-fi shop in the lovely, relatively
affluent medieval city of Chester, a
little to the south of Liverpool and
Manchester, in the Northwest of
England. I first met him at the 2018
Sound & Vision: The Bristol Show
(see my report in June, pp.13–16), and
he persuaded me to travel all the way
up to the opposite corner of England
from my Kent base to attend the 2018
Acoustica HiFi Show (April 14–15),
which Coleman has held each April
since 2013.
Emphasizing the classic virtues of
demonstration, service, and installation,
and located in one of the better-off
areas of England, Acoustica opened for
business in 1995. Coleman already had
a relationship with Naim Audio as a
customer, and built his business largely
by demonstrating the “ladder of im-
provements” that Naim makes available
via power-supply upgrades. Coleman
is unhappy that specialist hi-fi shops
continue to close, and feels strongly
that “the more dealers, the better.”
Before each annual show, Acoustica
publishes the Acoustica Newsletter, an
A5-size (digest-sized) newsletter/
guide, and mails it or inserts several
thousand copies around the local
area—something Coleman regards as a
crucial marketing tool. While the 2018
edition stresses the importance of
streaming as the future of hi-fi, demon-
strating streaming under hotel
conditions is difficult, especially if
several people are trying to access the
hotel’s WiFi at the same time. I gather
a couple of brave brands managed to
do this successfully at Acoustica HiFi
2018, but most avoided streaming by
using closed-loop servers via NAS
drives, etc.
Mention of streaming inevitably
leads to Naim Audio’s new ND555,
which will probably represent the state
of the streaming art when at last it
goes into production. But in Chester
as in Bristol, it was seen but not heard;
Naim seems to be saving its launch for
May and High End, in Munich.
The list of exhibitors might have
been tiny compared to Sound &
Vision’s, but included several inter-
esting and relatively new electronics

brands, such as Auralic, Hegel, and
Innuos. Nonetheless, the room I
thought sounded best featured one of
the oldest brands around. ATC had
brought along a pair of their SCM-100
powered loudspeakers, which sounded
quite delicious, even when reproduc-
ing solo-piano music.
However, many of the other rooms
were also making very good sounds,
often with small, stand-mounted
speakers. Dynaudio was using their
surprisingly muscular Special Forty
model to celebrate the fact that they’ve
been in business 40 years. While it’s
something of a relief that new owners
Samsung are leaving Harman Inter-
national alone, Harman seems to
be using its its takeover of Arcam to
persuade retailers to carry some of the
other brands, Revel and Mark Levin-
son, in its large portfolio. That said, I
heard some lovely sounds from a pair
of Revel’s very small Performa M216
speakers driven by some serious Mark
Levinson electronics—so lovely that
when the amplification was switched
to much-less-costly Arcam electronics,
at one-twelfth the price, the difference
in sound was very obvious. And with
the new Titan 505—the fourth model
and the first stand-mount version of
their isobaric-bass model, the Titan—
Kudos Audio is is selling so many
units that founder Derek Gilligan is
looking for more factory space to cope
with the 100% increase in demand for
their speakers.
The cable manufacturer The Chord
Company (not to be confused with
Chord Electronics) was promoting its
latest wares. PTFE might be a good
insulator, but its properties tend to
vary, especially at room temperature,
so Chord is using their own propri-
etary variant of PTFE, Taylon, in their
latest cables, the ChordMusic. One
step above their Sarum T models,
the ChordMusics are undoubtedly
rather costly. The Taylon insulation,
[Continued from page 13]
4900 S. Syracuse Street, Denver 80237.
More info at www.audiofest.net/faqs.
new york
] Friday–Sunday, November 9–11: The
New York Audio Show will be held at
the Park Lane Hotel (W. 59th Street,
between Fifth and Sixth Avenues,
opposite Central Park, Manhattan).
INDUSTRY UPDATE
developed for the US military, is still
more stable than regular PTFE, and
as a result its sound quality tends to be
consistently superior.
Despite free admission, Acoustica
HiFi 2018 wasn’t particularly busy—a
dramatic contrast with Sound & Vision
and High End. This gave enthusiasts
plenty of opportunity to chat at length
with members of the trade. Although
few company directors bothered to
attend, the pleasant, unhurried atmo-
sphere of this small regional show in
its exceedingly attractive venue—the
Doubletree by Hilton, a spa hotel with
a very helpful staff—meant that all
those required to attend the event had
been looking forward to it, and were
rebooking for 2019.
Details at www.chestergroup.org/
newyorkaudioshow/2017.
washington, dc/maryland
] Friday–Sunday, November 2–4: The
Capital Audiofest will be back at the
Hilton Hotel at Twinbrook Metro (1750
Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852).
For more information, visit www.
capitalaudiofest.com.
INDUSTRY UPDATE
UK: SOUTH EAST
LONDON
Paul Messenger
Although its history goes back to
1968, Cambridge Audio didn’t ac-
tually operate out of Cambridge,
England, until recently. A number
of largely moribund brand names,
including Cambridge, were
purchased in 1994 by the Audio
Partnership (part of the Richer
Sounds retail group) to produce
some very affordable electronics
and loudspeakers. Design and
development work were mostly
done in South East London, while
large-scale manufacture was car-
ried out in China.
After some 20 years of compet-
ing very successfully at the low-cost
end of the audio market (albeit mostly
outside the UK, in view of its retailer
ownership), Cambridge Audio has
decided that the future probably lies
upmarket; the results are its three new
Edge components. The new series
celebrates the 50th anniversary of
Cambridge’s original P40 integrated
amplifier, said to be the first amplifier
ever to use a toroidal power transform- Edges are planned. All three Edge mod-
er, and is named for Professor Gordon
16
Cambridge Audio’s new Edge NQ preamplifier-streamer and
Edge W power amplifier.
Edge, the Cambridge-based polymath
responsible for much of the early work
on that radical amplifier, and one of
the company’s founders.
Such is the marketing story. The
three new models are the Edge W
power amplifier (100Wpc into 8 ohms,
£2500/$3000), the Edge NQ preampli-
fier-streamer (£3500/$4000), and the
Edge A integrated amplifier (100Wpc
into 8 ohms, £4500/$5000); other
els are distinguished by cast metal cases,
with front, side, and rear panels
having neatly radiused edges.
Key features of Cambridge’s
continuing “simple is best” ap-
proach include the elimination
of capacitors in the signal path
via DC-coupled circuitry. The
Edge W power amp has just 14
components in its signal path—the
development process involved
extensive listening tests to pick
the very best. The toroidal trans-
former was an important element
in creating the original P40; the
Edges have twin toroids mounted
in “bucking” mode, to cancel
unwanted magnetic fields.
The Edge NQ has a plethora
of digital inputs and outputs alongside
its analog ins/outs. Its streamer section,
based on the established Stream Magic
platform, now accommodates the Tidal
streaming service, alongside Spotify
Connect, Chromecast, Internet radio,
etc. File formats handled include PCM
up to 32-bit/384kHz and DSD256.
Cambridge Audio has now estab-
lished its own US distribution, at 600
West Jackson Blvd., Suite 100, Chi-
cago, IL60661. Tel: (2312) 757-6255.
Web: www.cambridgeaudio.com. Q
July 2018 Q stereophile.com
Beneath its timeless aesthetic and familiar curves, the new Aida
has been completely overhauled. Years of tireless research and
refinement have yielded a pristine electroacoustic engineering
project featuring all-new drivers, crossovers and internal structuring.
A dramatic improvement upon the speaker once called
“as close to perfection as I have ever experienced.”
 INSIDER VIEWS ON EVERYTHING VINYL

ANALOG BY MICHAEL FREMER

CORNER
Bergmann Audio’s
THIS ISSUE :
Galder turntable & Odin
tangential-tracking tonearm.

Deliberately Danish
ergmann Audio launched its first turntable—the Sindre, which featured the Galder costs $26,800; another

B an integrated tonearm—in 2008. The Sindre’s acrylic platter and tangen-

tial-tracking tonearm both floated on air bearings; it had an outboard mo-
tor controller, a separate air pump for the air bearings, and cost $21,000.
Founder, designer, and mechanical engineer Johnnie Bergmann Rasmussen
makes everything in-house in the small town of Hobro (pop. 11,000) in northern
$8900 gets you the Odin tonearm,
whose air bearing uses the Galder’s air
supply, for a total of $35,700. (The Odin
is available separately, with its own air
supply, for $12,900.)
Denmark, on the Jutland Peninsula, at the head of the country’s longest fjord, the
Mariager. He says that his first hi-fi system, which he bought in the 1980s as a Bergmann Galder turntable: Description
teenager, included a Micro-Seiki turntable fitted with a Rega Research tonearm I requested a Bergmann Galder with
and Ortofon cartridge; an NAD preamplifier and power amplifier; and DALI vacuum holddown and Odin tonearm.
8 speakers. Even then, he felt that air bearings were the way to go, despite the Johnnie Rasmussen visited to set it all
problems experienced by many owners. After earning his degree in mechanical up, though the task was mostly simple
engineering, Rasmussen set about designing and building air-bearing turntables thanks to the Galder’s elegant design
that would be user friendly, mechanically stable, perform well, and sound good. and excellent instructions, with illustra-
tions. The only tricky part was setting
I’ve been looking at Bergmann well over $125,000. (PIC continues to the Odin’s vertical tracking angle
turntables at audio shows ever since build air-bearing machine tools used to (VTA) and stylus rake angle (SRA)but
the launch of the Sindre 10 years make nuclear weapons—secondary to even that wasn’t particularly difficult.
ago. (It’s named for Sindri, a dwarf in turntables in importance, perhaps, but Late in the review period I had to
Norse mythology who created a gold still significant.) remove the Galder from the Harmonic
ring for the chief god, Odin, who is as- However, when I saw Bergmann’s Resolution Systems base I’d placed
sociated with wisdom, healing, super- new air-bearing, belt-drive turntable, it on, to better access the back of my
expensive cables, and other mostly the Galder, at the 2016 High End show darTZeel NHB-18S preamplifier. That
positive attributes. He was married to in Munich, I decided that it deserved a required disassembling the turntable,
the goddess Frigg—hence, I believe, thorough review.1 Rasmussen has taken and I’m glad I did. Taking the Galder
the common expression “None of his design to new heights of physical apart and putting it all back together
your friggin’ business.”) beauty in a distinctly Mark Levinson/ again allowed me to better appreciate
I wasn’t interested in reviewing the Madrigal way, and now uses a 26-lb its elegance and ingenuity.
Sindre, for several reasons. First, I don’t platter of machined aluminum. The The Galder measures 18.9" wide by
like acrylic platters, especially on costly Galder is available without tonearm, 7.5" high by 14.4" deep and weighs 84
turntables. Second, you couldn’t buy but you can have up to four arms si- lb. Its top deck is in two unequal halves
a Sindre without its integrated arm, multaneously set up on it—though for of die-cast, powder-coated aluminum.
which I felt was a serious limitation, convenience’s sake I’d stop at three, so The leftward, larger half contains the
especially as, based on my experience, you’re not constantly banging into them platter bearing and tonearm mounts,
I’m also no big fan of air-bearing, while playing records. With air-bearing 1 Watch Johnnie Rasmussen conduct a tour of the
tangential-tracking tonearms—and platter and vacuum record hold-down, Galder at http://tinyurl.com/y763yzma.
especially of the Sindre’s “orifice
compensated” arm, in which a sleeve
slides along on a cushion of air pushed
through tiny holes in the top surface
of a rail. In other words, it’s not a
captured bearing, which is pressurized
equally throughout its range of move-
ment, and is the only kind of bearing
that can maintain precise geometry in
all desired axes. I was sort of indoctri-
nated in this area by Rockport Tech-
nologies’ Andy Payor and the late Tim
Sheridan, of Professional Instruments
Company (www.airbearings.com),
who worked with Payor in the design
and manufacture of Rockport’s System
III Sirius, an air-bearing arm and plat-
ter that in today’s dollars would cost

stereophile.com Q July 2018 19

 ANALOG CORNER
and the rightward, smaller half the
motor and electronic speed controller.
The two halves look entirely separate
but are actually joined by a single, thin
internal base, also of die-cast alumi-
num. The larger half is bolted to this
base, while the smaller half rests on it,
its underside secured with a circular
cutout that fits into a hole machined
in the base, and by its overhanging
outer and front edges, both of which
firmly secure it while hiding the main
plinth. The internal base itself rests on
three big, height-adjustable, circular
aluminum feet. The overall result is a
turntable with clean, attractive lines.
The air-bearing platter, topped by
a 3mm-thick acrylic mat, rotates on a
steel spindle with a bearing of low-fric-
tion polymer. It’s driven by a tachom-
eter-controlled motor with a precision
feedback-control system topped with a
crowned pulley of polyoxymethylene
(POM) or similar plastic. The motor is
a DC type. Recessed buttons atop the
deck’s smaller, motor half select 331⁄3
or 45rpm; two smaller buttons can be
used to increase or decrease the pitch.
The Galder’s specified accuracy of
speed is ±0.003%.
The outboard air supply is a black
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electrically connects to the back of the
turntable via a multi-pin umbilical, and
pneumatically via two hoses, one for
the vacuum holddown, the other for
the platter and tonearm air bearings.
Bergmann Odin tangential-tracking
tonearm
Tracking a record tangentially, the way
its original lacquer was cut, seems a no-
brainer—until you try making it work.
The lacquer-cutting system is a sledge-
hammer; in comparison, the playback
system is more like a delicate feather.
Over the decades, many approaches
to tangential tracking have been tried,
including a variety of air-bearing
systems (from Dennesen, Airtan-
gent, Eminent Technology, Kuzma,
Maplenoll, Rockport, Versa Dynamics,
Walker), a tiny-wheeled trolley riding
on quartz rods (Souther, Clearaudio),
and a pantograph-like linkage (Gar-
rard). In the 1970s and ’80s, Goldmund
made one that relied on an LED to
detect and correct deviations from
tangency. In other words, the tone-
arm would have to first lose tangency,
then be corrected via the LED and
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servo-motors, which surely must have
slightly overshot the intended displace-
ment. Sometimes, the Goldmund arm
would lift mid-record. Yet, at the time,
this was considered the state of the
art—and there’s no denying the good
sound it produced. And let’s not forget
the more recent pivoted tangential
trackers from, among others, Klaudio,
Reed, Schröder, and Thales.
When the bearing is stationary
and the long rail moves (Eminent
Technology, Maplenoll, Walker), you
have a large horizontal mass sliding
tangentially, and a far smaller mass
moving vertically. This produces dif-
ferent horizontal and vertical resonant
frequencies, not to mention a displace-
ment of mass that plays havoc with
spring-suspended turntables.
I remember reading about the origi-
nal Eminent Technology ET-1 arm in
the mid-’80s.2 To my mind, it promised
friction-free simplicity of tangential
tracking—the perfect solution!—and I
immediately bought one. I mounted it
on a spring-suspended Oracle Delphi
II turntable and quickly learned how
the ET-1’s large horizontal mass could
de-level the ’table and thus the arm—
the worst condition for a frictionless
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tangential tracker of high horizontal
mass. The ET-2 arm was a big improve-
ment—it decoupled the counterweight
mass, and provided more convenient
adjustment of VTA and SRA—but it
used a noisy aquarium pump, a five-
gallon plastic water bottle stuffed with
filter floss to smooth the air flow, etc.
After a few years of all that . . . Lord,
give me a pivoted tonearm!
Later, thanks to Tim Sheridan and
Andy Payor, I learned about annular-
gap turbulence in captured air bearings:
the air under pressure in the zone of
operation must quickly return to ambi-
ent air pressure at the point where the
air exits the bearing, which produces a
pretty violent high-frequency oscilla-
tion similar to what happens when you
inflate a balloon and then let go of it.
Even Rockport’s ultra-costly groove
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compensated air-bearing arm, which
eliminated annular-gap turbulence,
and effectively dealt with differential
horizontal and vertical masses—and,
thus, different resonant frequencies—
had its own problems, particular one of
wimpy bass.
So I approached this review of the
Bergmann Odin with some skepticism.
I’m skeptical of tangential trackers gen-
erally, and consider the amount of dis-
tortion created by a pivoted tonearm’s
linear tracking error (LTE) negligible
compared to the cumulative distortions
of tangential-tracking arms.
The Odin has a longish armtube of
aluminum and carbon fiber, fitted with
a decoupled counterweight; the arm’s
effective mass is 14gm. The wiring is
high-quality, super-thin, compliant
copper Litz, terminated with gold-
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ANALOG CORNER
plated copper clips at the cartridge end
and, at the other, a five-pin DIN jack.
VTA and SRA are adjustable,
though not on the fly, which anyway I
think is unnecessary as long as you set
it, using a digital microscope, to about
92°—“about” because of the measured
range of cutting-stylus angles cited in
Jon M. Risch and Bruce R. Meier’s
“More than One Vertical Tracking
Angle,” the classic article originally
published in the March 1981 issue of
Audio.3 In the 1980s, Risch and Meier
measured cutting-stylus SRAs at mas-
tering studios all over America. They
learned not only that they varied from
91° to 94°, but that the angle had to be
greater than 90°, so that the vacuum
could suck away the flammable thread
of lacquer left behind by the cutting
stylus. So, yes, the perfect solution for
every record isn’t 92° or 93°, as some
suggest, to compensate for playback-
stylus deflection but for sure, setting
the tonearm parallel to the record
surface, as is still recommended by too
many makers of tonearms, guaran-
2 See www.stereophile.com/content/eminent-
technology-two-tonearm.
3 See www.analogplanet.com/images/512MFVTA_
article.pdf.
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 ANALOG CORNER
tees nothing. Nor is the
solution setting it by ear,
if your starting point is
nowhere near 92°.
Setting overhang—or,
better, evenhang, because
the stylus’s line of travel
should bisect the spindle
(if it could get that far)—
is relatively easy on the
Odin. Setting the SRA
requires loosening two
bolts, so that you can raise
or lower the rail along
which the arm travels.
A level rail is essential;
Bergmann supplies a spir-
it level that’s machined to
perch on the rail.
While the manual says that the
Odin’s azimuth is adjustable, it wasn’t
possible with my review sample.
Hopefully, it’s coming soon.
The Odin’s rail is fixed at both ends.
Along its top surface is a row of 18
pinholes, from which low-pressure air
constantly flows. The bearing employs
a sleeve that slides along the rail on a
thin film of air. Only the area of the
sleeve directly above the rail is pressur-
ized. Too much pressure would raise
the sleeve too high, until its bottom
scraped along the bottom of the rail.
Too little pressure and sleeve couldn’t
rise high enough to produce a friction-
free ride. At any given point in its
travel, the 3"-long sleeve covers only
9 of the rail’s 18 holes, to ensure that,
between tube and rail, there is always a
cushion of air of just the right thickness
for virtually frictionless movement.
Speed and Resonant Frequency
The Galder turntable’s speed adjustabil-
ity meant that it was easy for me to get
it to run at the correct speed. More im-
portant, its consistency of rotation speed
was outstanding, more or less matching
the excellent performance of a prepro-
duction unit of Technics’ SL-1000R
Direct Drive ’table, though the Feickert
Analogue Platter Speed graphics (figs.1
& 2) don’t look as “pretty.”
I used Hi-Fi News & Record Review’s
Test Record (LP, Hi-Fi News HFN
001). The lateral resonant frequency
of the Odin tonearm with Lyra Atlas
SL cartridge was about 10Hz, the
vertical resonant frequency about 9Hz.
All good, and the numbers speak for
themselves: Johnnie Rasmussen has
done his tonearm homework.
The Galder is among the best
isolated turntables I’ve ever banged on.
22
When I tapped or even rapped on the
plinth or the base it rests on, nothing
made it through the speakers. That’s
unusual, especially for a suspensionless
turntable, and must be at least partly
due to the decoupling effects of the
air-bearing arm and platter.
Use
The Bergmann Galder is one of the
easiest, most convenient air-bearing,
vacuum-holddown turntables I’ve ever
used. At the beginning of a listen-
ing session, you push the appropriate
speed button once to start the flow
of air. Press it again to start the platter
spinning. It’s designed to get up to
speed slowly, to lengthen the life of the
drive belt. Once it’s up to speed, you
can leave it spinning the entire time.
Don’t worry about scratching a record
by placing it on the spinning platter—
the “lips” of the vacuum holddown
cushion the drop. That done, place the
puck over the spindle, and the record is
sucked down against the mat. Remove
the puck, and it’s easy to lift the record
off of the platter.
The Galder and Odin have been in
constant use here since Johnnie Berg-
mann installed them in mid-January.
They performed flawlessly the entire
time. Not once did the Odin stick—
something that can destroy a cartridge’s
cantilever—nor did anything require
adjusting or tweaking. The air pump
was silent. There was no bad news.
Sound
I tried a range of cartridges in the
Odin after using them in the Swed-
ish Analog Technologies tonearm
with the Continuum Audio Labs
Caliburn turntable, and I made a few
24-bit/96kHz recordings that later
Fig.1 (far left) Bergmann
Audio Galder, speed stability
data.
Fig.2 (left)Bergmann Audio
Galder, speed stability (raw
frequency yellow; low-pass
filtered frequency green).
confirmed my real-time
observations.
The Odin-Galder’s
bass control and exten-
sion were both very
good, and better than
I’d expected, based on
my previous experiences
with air-bearing arms. I
heard nothing wimpy or
less than fully extended
from a series of LPs, including The
Unknowable, by saxophonist Dave Lieb-
man and percussionists Tatsuya Naka-
tani and Adam Rudolph (2 45rpm LPs,
RareNoise RNR 089), a new album
with mystical Zen overtones filled with
drums, gongs, and a dizzying variety
of unusual percussion instruments.
“Benediction (Opening)” has some
ridiculously deep rumblings—especially
if you accidentally play it at 331⁄3 rpm,
as I did at first—there’s no indication of
the correct speed!
There’s nothing at all polite about
this trio’s dynamic performance, and
macrodynamics and general slam
were equally generous. Aural images
were stable and well-focused, and the
soundstage seemed actually somewhat
wider than through my reference
SAT-Caliburn record player—especially
when I compared files of the last five
minutes or so of a reissue of pianist Earl
Wild performing Gershwin’s Rhapsody
in Blue with Arthur Fiedler and the
Boston Pops (LP, RCA Living Stereo/
Analogue Productions LSC-2367).
However, the picture’s bigger size
was partly due to somewhat more
diffuse and larger images. The far
more expensive SAT-Caliburn combo
produced greater precision and focus of
images, as well as more sharply drawn
transients, but I’m sure that when I play
these files at audio shows, more listen-
ers will prefer the Bergmann’s more
generous and, seemingly, more spacious
picture. That said, I doubt anyone will
be able to correctly identify which was
the tangential tracker and which the 9"
pivoted tonearm. (I did this experiment
once before, with a Thales pivoted
tangential tracker and Continuum’s 9"
Cobra arm; some guessed correctly, but
no one knew for certain.
July 2018 Q stereophile.com

Among the other records I used was
pianist Robert Silverman’s positively
mesmerizing Chopin’s Last Waltz, re-
corded in DSD256 by Ray Kimber (LP,
IsoMike 5606). Performance and sound
are exquisite. Via the far more expensive
rig, Silverman’s attacks were somewhat
more precise, the piano’s sustain better
connected to the instrument and more
easily delineated from the generous
room sound. This put the image of the
piano in greater relief and focus.
Through the Bergmann rig, the
piano sounded slightly softer and
somewhat less focused, its soundboard
blending in somewhat with the room
reverb. Don’t get me wrong—without
something far more expensive to com-
pare it to, the Bergmann’s overall per-
formance provided me with months of
pleasure with every musical genre.
It had been years since I’d played
the UK version of The Clash (LP, CBS
82000), and my memories of its sound
were pretty meek compared to what
I heard through the Bergmann and
Continuum. Yes, the drums, particular-
ly the cymbals, were nicely recorded,
but I hadn’t realized how deep the
stage was, or how well focused in three
dimensions were the voices, often
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stereophile.com Q July 2018
arranged in clusters. My reference rig
delivered greater delineation of those
clusters, but the Bergmanns’ reproduc-
tion of them was equally entertaining
and engagingly slammin’.
Abruptly switching gears, I played
the Electric Recording Company’s reis-
sue of Bruckner’s Symphony 8 on two
separate LPs, with Carl Schuricht con-
ducting the Vienna Philharmonic (2
LPs, EMI ASD 602 and 603/ERC 033
and 034), originally issued in 1964. I
don’t know what ERC charged for this
edition, which was limited to 99 copies
and immediately sold out. It probably
was costly, but it must have been a
bargain compared to what originals are
still selling for. (Last February, a copy
went for more than $5000.) Probably
some of these records’ high value can
be accounted for by this recording’s
sensationally natural instrumental
textures and harmonics, and its overall
transparency and spaciousness.
The music itself is curious; to me, it
sounds like musical tapas—a collection
of short, sonically tasty appetizers com-
pletely unconnected to each other. But
it makes for a great demo record, and
it showed off all of the Odin-Galder’s
qualities of ear-pleasing texture, tonality,
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and harmonic richness. There’s plenty
here to like, and nothing to dislike.
Conclusion
In terms of quality of sound and,
especially, engineering and build,
Bergmann Audio’s Odin tonearm
and Galder turntable perform way
above their total price of $35,700.
They sound and perform as well as
their appearance suggests. Q
Michael Fremer (fremer@analogplan-
et.com) is the editor of AnalogPlanet.com,
a Stereophile website devoted to all things
analogical.
CONTACTS
Bergmann Audio
Sjaellandsvej 27A
9500 Hobro
Denmark
Web: www.bergmannaudio.com
North American distributor:
Alma Music and Audio
7847 Convoy Ct. Suite 101
San Diego, CA 92111
Tel: (858) 281-0332
Web: www.almaaudio.com
25
 IN SEARCH OF THE EXCEPTIONAL

LISTENING BY ART DUDLEY

Cleaning AC power
THIS ISSUE :
and a new idler wheel for the
Garrard 301 turntable.

Clean Power
n the rural home in Cherry Valley, NY that my family and I inhabited from of one or more AC-powered devices

I 2003 to 2017, we had dirty water but clean electricity. Evidence of the latter
was seen in the results of tests performed by a technician from the local util-
ity, National Grid—I told him I intended to do commercial sound recording
on site, which was close enough to the truth that I considered my sin venal rather
than mortal—and heard in the sound of my playback system, which rejected as su-
from a generator or public utility, typi-
cally in an effort to protect the former
from possible ground faults in the lat-
ter—or, where such dangers exist, from
DC. And though it’s a matter of debate
perfluous or worse all of the AC-conditioning products I tried there. As for that, among engineers, it’s reasonable to
keep in mind that the purification of power, unlike the education of human be- expect an isolation transformer to offer
ings, can be taken only so far before additional benefits cease to accrue—not that a degree of protection from some types
that has stifled the commercial efforts of those power conditioner manufacturers of power surges caused by lightning,
who promised perfect products yesterday and even perfecter ones today. which is predominantly DC.
But with the addi-
Now I live in New York’s capital, tion of electrostatic
Albany, a city of 100,000 surrounded screening, and by can-
by suburbs and comparably sized cities nily optimizing the
that, taken together, bring the region’s density and mass of the
population to 1.17 million. Here the transformer’s magnetic
water comes from a reservoir, and is core to favor certain
pre-oxidized, disinfected, and filtered frequency ranges—all
before it gets to my house. For the other things being
first time in 15 years, shirts and socks equal, high frequencies
and towels that were white when will exert on a large
purchased remain so after multiple core less magnetizing
washings. I don’t ever want to go back current than lower
to well water. frequencies—an isola-
But my power here is not so clean— tion transformer can be
something that became apparent when configured more or less
I noticed that my system sounds better exclusively as a blocker
at some times of day than at others. of AC noise. Fans of
(Obviously, if my system merely David Cronenberg’s re-
sounded better at some times of year make of The Fly will see
than at others, the distinctions would a parallel to protagonist
be astrological in origin.) So I set about Seth Brundle’s efforts,
pre-oxidizing, disinfecting, and filtering Shindo’s sole early in the film, to filter out impurities
my household AC. by means of teleportation.
power-conditioning Shindo Laboratory’s Mr. T is an
Isolationism product is an isolation isolation transformer of the noise-
I began with the Shindo Laboratory reducing sort, as opposed to the sort
Mr. T ($2200)—a logical enough
transformer. designed solely for safety; indeed,
choice, given that my preamplifier and unlike transformers built primarily
amplifier are also from Shindo. Like volts in will result in the same number for galvanic isolation, the ground tab
Naim Audio’s Armageddon turntable out. Of course that never quite on the Mr. T’s AC inlet is wired to
power supply before it, Shindo’s sole happens, owing to various insertion the ground tabs of its six AC outlets.
power-conditioning product is an losses; in particular, transformer (Then again, that’s irrelevant in light of
isolation transformer, a category of windings can always be counted on to the fact that the power cords supplied
product common in industrial settings try to vibrate, thus turning at least a with all Shindo products, including the
and product-testing facilities. The small portion of the electrical input Mr. T, have plugs with just two prongs:
simplest and arguably most common into heat and/or mechanical noise. one for live, one for neutral, nothing
sort of isolation transformer is one in AC is sent from the primary to the for ground.)
which incoming AC current is applied secondary coil by means of electro- Inside the Mr. T is a massive
to a primary coil, with a secondary coil magnetic induction—the operating Haruna Denki transformer. Its width
attached to one or more AC outlets; principle of any sort of transformer. and height barely fit inside Shindo’s
the turns ratio between the two coils is The object for such a transformer steel enclosure, which measures 6.25"
1 to 1, thus ensuring that x number of would be complete electrical isolation wide by 6" high. The box’s 9" depth

stereophile.com Q July 2018 29

 LISTENING
leaves just enough room for the front
panel’s power switch and LED power
indicator; the rear panel’s chunky
Meikosha AC outlets, plus nondescript
IEC socket and fuse holder; and the
necessary hookup wiring. The case is
beautifully finished, inside and out,
in Shindo’s trademark shade of green,
and it’s solidly built—its removable top,
damped with a rubber-like pad, is held
in place with 10 machine screws, the
holes for which line up perfectly with
those on the main enclosure.
T for Tidy
The Mr. T arrived from Shindo’s
Tokyo workshop just days before I
left for this year’s Montreal Audio
Fest—it would be days before I could
try it in my system. That was just as
well: At the show, I spoke with Luna
Cables’ Danny Labrecque, who also
sells Shindo products through his retail
operation, Phonographe. Labrecque
described being especially impressed
by the Mr. T’s positive effects on the
sounds of turntables, so I decided to
start my listening tests by using the
Shindo supply on just my Garrard 301
turntable (it has an AC motor) and, for
the time being, leaving the rest of my
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system plugged into my AVOptions
power strip.
The audible results of doing so were
pronounced, and all in the Mr. T’s
favor. The first record I tried was the
Jacques Loussier Trio’s Play Bach Vol.4
(mono LP, London LL 3365): I gave it
a quick listen without the Shindo sup-
ply, and noted that Pierre Michelot’s
double-bass lines were richly colored
but appropriately taut, and the music
had a fine sense of swing. Already, I
was impressed.
But when I put the Mr. T between
my household AC and my Garrard
301, tempos seemed quicker—although
pitches were unchanged—and lines of
notes had more momentum; for lack
of a better word, the music became
more sprightly. Drummer Christian
Garros’s brushed snare now had more
snap, and Michelot’s bass sounded
deeper, and even more taut. More to
the point: With my Garrard plugged
into the Mr. T, the music was dis-
tinctly more engaging. I was now very
impressed.
As long as my EMT OFD 15 mono
pickup head was in the system, I tried
my very clean copy of the Rolling
Stones’ eponymous UK debut (mono
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it was easy to do, I began once again
by plugging the Garrard directly into
my power strip. Again, the music
sounded great—especially the young
group’s take on Slim Harpo’s “I’m a
King Bee,” propelled by Brian Jones’s
steady acoustic rhythm guitar and Bill
Wyman’s deft bass line. The sound
was clear and a little crisp, and the
music was lots of fun.
Yet with the Mr. T back in play, it
was Jones’s and Wyman’s instruments
that benefited most: the guitar was
even steadier and more propulsive, and
the electric bass was fuller and, as my
listening notes say, pound-ier. And in
the Stones’ no-less-fine performance
of Rufus Thomas’s wonderfully smutty
“Walking the Dog”—something I
didn’t quite appreciate at age 10, when
I first bought the US version of this
album—the whistling near the end of
each chorus was, I swear, clearer and
stronger.
Anxious to prolong my mono-
maniacal buzz, I reached for an early
LP version of soprano Bidú Sayão’s
1945 recording of Villa-Lobos’s Ba-
chianas Brasileiras 5, with the composer
conducting an ensemble of eight cellos
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and one double bass (LP, Co-
lumbia Masterworks ML 5231).
With the Mr. T, her voice was
more human and compelling
than without. Again, tem-
pos seemed steadier, and the
plucked notes of the cellos had
greater apparent force. It was
here that the word Wow made
the first of many appearances in
my notes.
My Shindo Monbrison
preamplifier and Shindo
Haut-Brion power amp were
beginning to feel left out, so I
powered down the system and
plugged them into two of the
Mr. T’s five remaining AC
outlets. I gave the amp the
outlet closest to the Mr. T’s AC
input socket, with the preamp in the
next socket down and the turntable in
the one after that. I don’t know if that
served any practical purpose, but it cost
nothing to do so, and required only a
few seconds more than to do it
haphazardly. With the system switched
back on and fully warmed up, I
returned to that Stones LP. Although it
wasn’t as big a gain as when I went
from having no Mr. T at all to using it
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When I reinserted the
Mr. T and listened again,
the grain was gone.
just with the turntable, there was no
question that my system’s musicality
had taken another step forward:
Wyman’s bass lines were even
stronger, and in “Route 66,” the words
were more intelligible, the handclaps
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stronger and less “mushy”
sounding.
With the mono pickup still
in place, I played the Electric
Recording Company’s reissue
of the Tommy Flanagan Trio’s
Overseas (LP, Prestige/ERC
7134). Every instrument—
drums, bass, and, of course, Fla-
nagan’s piano—sounded clearer
and, again, less mushy, and
seemed more musically strong
and purposeful. For example,
right after the second middle
eight in “Chelsea Bridge,” bass-
ist Wilbur Little plays a little
descending figure that leads
back to the verse. It’s a nothing-
fancy turnaround—except that,
with the Mr. T supplying the
whole system, I could bet-
ter hear the determination, the
temporal leaning forward, in
his playing. And in a galliard
composed for lute by John
Dowland, from guitarist Julian Bream’s
The Golden Age of English Lute Music
(mono LP, RCA Victor Soria Series
LD-2560), the Shindo Mr. T allowed
the melodies to unfold with a greater
sense of ease, yet with no less rhythmic
NO-INTEREST FINANCING *

precision or momentum.
No less important: In those first
days with the Mr. T, the sound of my
system was consistently fine—until the
day I removed it to have it photo-
graphed. While the Mr. T was missing
from my system, Jason Victor Serinus
reviewed Régine Crespin’s 1963
recording of Ravel’s orchestral song
cycle Shéhérazade, with Ernest Anser-
met conducting the Swiss Romande
IDLE HANDS
It was just 19 months ago,
in the December 2016
Stereophile, that I wrote in
this space about refurbishing
the motor of my Garrard
301 turntable, which was
manufactured in 1957.2
Among the individual chores
I performed were the servic-
ing of the upper and lower
motor-axle bearings, which
I replaced with brand-new
bronze bearings from an Italian firm
called AudioSilente. I also replaced the
felt washers that surround those bear-
ings: these are soaked in oil just prior
to assembling the motor, to keep the
bearings supplied with lubricant.
Not long after, AudioSilente’s
Simone Lucchetti told me that his
firm was developing other aftermarket
parts for classic vintage turntables, and
promised to stay in touch—a promise
he kept a couple of weeks ago, when
he e-mailed to announce AudioSi-
lente’s replacement idler wheel for
the Garrard 301 ($100 plus shipping).
Reportedly the result of a yearlong
development effort that included a
long study of the correct density of
rubber required for the application, the
AudioSilente idler is a wheel, 60mm in
diameter and precision-machined from
aluminum alloy, to which is bonded
a rubber ring of square cross section—
this in contrast to the original Garrard
idler, whose smaller metal hub is more
or less encased within a larger rubber
wheel. A slender steel rod is press-
fitted through the center of the idler to
form the upper and lower axles, with
rounded tips and polished surfaces.
Those axles are intended to fit upper
and lower bronze bushings in the 301’s
two-part idler carrier; the bushings are
replaceable, the upper more easily than
the lower—although realigning them,
if and when such a thing is necessary, is
nearly impossible in the field.
The contact area of the AudioSi-
stereophile.com Q July 2018
Orchestra (LP, Decca SXL-6081)1 —
which is, incidentally, the rare Decca
LP whose US edition (LP, London
OS 25821) sounds slightly better—
prompting me to plug everything in
my system back into my power strip,
so I could hear that record right away.
It sounded amazing—huge and color-
ful, with enough clear, open space
around the instruments that I could all
but hear the movements of the string
lente idler is 4.6mm thick—precisely
the same as in the original idler. But
the diameters of the AudioSilente and
Garrard axles may also differ slightly;
according to Lucchetti, at some point
during the period of the 301’s produc-
tion Garrard increased the axle diam-
eter by 0.09mm. To accommodate
that change, as well as the reasonable
assumption that the bores of the origi-
nal bushings would have widened with
wear over time, AudioSilente splits
the difference and makes their axles
0.045mm larger than the originals—
and includes with every new idler a
new pair of bushings, sized to fit their
wheel. Their advice to buyers: Fit the
new idler first to the original lower
bushing, noting whether the idler spins
freely but without wobble; if all is well,
then fit the original bushing over the
upper axle—and if that bushing is too
tight or shows excessive slop, replace
only that one with the new AudioSi-
lente bushing (a tool is included to ease
that procedure). Only in extreme cir-
cumstances should the original lower
bushing be replaced.
That said, when I set about replacing
my original Garrard idler with the
review sample of the AudioSilente
idler, the wheel’s lower axle seemed
to perfectly fit my turntable’s lower
bushing—and when I lowered in place
the 301’s upper bushing, I was relieved
to see that it, too, fit well. The new
idler spun with ease—the original had
spun just a shade more freely—with no
LISTENING
players’ bowing arms—but there was
some grain in the sound of Crespin’s
voice, especially in the louder bits.
When I reinserted the Mr. T and
listened again, the grain was gone,
and so was my resistance to change:
I decided to buy my review sample.
No more muddy water for me or my
playback system.
1 See www.stereophile.com/content/
régine-crespin-sings-berlioz-and-ravel-live.
For some crazy
reason, the
recording’s
excessive
artificial
reverb was less
distracting.
wobble or play. I measured the axles of
my original idler and the AudioSilente
replacement and found them almost
identical: 2.43mm for the old, 2.44mm
for the new. With the platter removed,
the motor switched on, and the origi-
nal idler engaged against the motor
pulley, I could hear a gentle whirring
sound, probably originating from the
axle bushings; with the AudioSilente, I
heard a sound that was similar in char-
acter but somewhat less audible.
More telling than my wheel-listen-
ing comparisons were my music-lis-
tening comparisons. I used both idlers
to play Jascha Horenstein and the
2 See www.stereophile.com/content/
istening-168-ortofon-spu-1s-phono-cartridge.
CONTACTS
Shindo Laboratory
20-9, Hongo 2 Chome
Bunkyo-ku
Tokyo 113-0033
Japan
Web: www.shindo-laboratory.co.jp
US distributor: Tone Imports
Web: www.toneimports.com
AudioSilente
via Felice Grossi Gondi 29
00162 Rome
Italy
Tel: (39) 3289610968, 0686323102
Fax: (39) 0686323102
Web: www.audiosilente.com
33
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 LISTENING

quiet susurrating of the double basses

as they oscillate between A and B was
clearer, with better-defined stops and
starts; and chords played on the concert
harp sounded more like a harp and less
like a piano. And in “I Wonder Where
You Are Tonight,” from Bill Monroe’s
Blue Grass Time (LP, Decca DL 74896),
Monroe’s voice was more spatially
present when the platter was driven by
the AudioSilente idler—and, for some
crazy reason, the recording’s excessive
artificial reverb was less distracting.
Those differences were slight, as
borne out by the measurements I
made using Dr. Feickert Analogue’s

Realigning the bushings

London Symphony Orchestra’s record-
ing of Mahler’s Symphony 3 (2 LPs,
Nonesuch HB-73023), chosen in part
for the silences and near-silences in
its first movement, which I imagined
would expose any egregious drive-
system noise. As it turned out, neither
wheel bested the other in that regard,
but with the AudioSilente idler, the
is nearly impossible in
the field.
PlatterSpeed app for the iPhone 6:
Overall, the results were better with
the AudioSilente idler (left), which
yielded a relative speed deviation
of ±0.02% on a low-pass–filtered
signal, as opposed to measurements
of –0.04%/+0.05% for the stock idler
(right). (In truth, neither did badly, es-
pecially considering that this turntable
was made in the last year before stereo
LPs hit the market.)
All in all, as either an upgrade or a
replacement for a worn or damaged
original, the distinctly affordable Au-
dioSilente idler wheel is an excellent
value, and highly recommended. Q
Art Dudley (stletters@stereophile.com)
plays his vintage LPs on vintage record players.

stereophile.com Q July 2018 35

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“ A remarkable amount of transparency, life and
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All the components in the T Ref: including larger, more
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- Stereophile Jan. 2018
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 A ROUNDED MAN CANNOT BE EXPECTED
TO FIT INTO A SQUARE HOLE

MUSIC IN BY KALMAN RUBINSON

Auditions of DigiBit’s

THE ROUND
THIS ISSUE :
Aria Piccolo + music server and
multichannel classical recordings.

Multichannel music servers,

DACs, and Music
overs of high-resolution multichannel sound still don’t have it easy. devices. To the right are an IEC power

L While the two-channel market is replete with snazzy, efficient music

servers in stylish boxes, the only multichannel equivalents are Merging
Technologies’ Merging+Player PL8,1 and a handful of stereo devices that
are rumored to do multichannel, though no such claims are made in print. To
be candid, the latter will play multichannel tracks via USB, Ethernet, or HDMI
inlet, the main power switch, and a
connector for a possible future dedi-
cated linear power supply.
The Piccolo + is operated via Digi-
Bit’s iAria app, which I downloaded to
outputs to suitable DACs (but that’s another story), but because they’re aimed at my iPad from the Apple Store. (There’s
the two-channel market, they tend to skimp on the CPU horsepower and RAM a version for Android devices.) After
needed to handle higher-resolution multichannel files. Even the Merging+Player I’d connected the Piccolo + to my
Multichannel-8 ($13,500), with its Intel i3 CPU running Roon, couldn’t entirely LAN and powered it up, the app found
keep up with everything in my library.
Among the many multichannel
wannabes was DigiBit’s elegant Aria
music server, which I reviewed in
March 2015.2 At the time, I noted that
DigiBit’s website made “no mention
of the playback of multichannel files,”
though their representatives told me
that all Arias could play multichannel
files. Sure they could.
The datasheet for the Aria Piccolo +
boldly announces “Multichannel
Support via HDMI and USB outputs.”
This piqued my interest, not only for
the overt declaration of multichannel
support but also for the mention of
HDMI. Given the fact that, currently,
there are only three multichannel
USB DACs on the consumer market,
we should welcome support for
HDMI so that we can play multichan-
nel audio through an AVR or Aria, and though it lacks its predeces- it, then presented me with a well-de-
preamplifier-processor. sor’s beautifully sculpted, and no doubt signed GUI, with which all setup and
The Piccolo + runs a Celeron CPU expensive to machine heatsinking, its playback functions can be controlled.
and 4GB RAM and comes in three looks are equally elegant. There are The iAria supports automatic tagging
configurations, depending on the no visible heatsinks—the Piccolo + and display of album-cover art via
internal storage capacity: 1TB SSD, clearly relies on radiating heat from its web access to Discogs, FreeDB, GD3,
$2999; 2TB SSD, $3299; or 3TB sealed and smoothly machined case. MusicBrainz, and SonataDB (classical).
HDD, $3499. It includes a standalone Throughout my testing and listening, Albums and tracks are accessible by
USB DVD drive for ripping CDs, with it never got more than barely warm to almost any category, and there is full
automatic ripping and tagging features. the touch. playlist support. In addition, the GUI
I opted for the 3TB version, as uncom- The black front panel is empty but permits user editing of tags and cover
pressed multichannel files are about six for the illuminated On/Off button. A art, as well as library backup.
times the size of equivalent two-chan- lot more goes on around back. At left The setup options offer a degree of
nel files. On the other hand, none of are pairs of RCA and XLR analog out- user control suitable for a music server.
the three configurations is constrained put jacks that are fed from the internal But, consistent with DigiBit’s intention
by the internal storage—the Aria can stereo DACs, and above them is the of making everything as foolproof as
access and play files from a NAS or a single HDMI connector. In the middle possible, there’s no real access to the
directly attached USB drive. of the panel are AES/EBU (XLR), S/
1 See the March 2018 “Music in the Round”:
At 17" wide by 2.4" high by 9.8" PDIF (RCA), and USB output jacks, www.stereophile.com/content/music-round-
wide and 13.25 lb, the Piccolo + is along with a LAN (RJ45) jack and 90-mergingplayer-pl8.
somewhat smaller than the original a USB in/out port for local storage 2 See www.stereophile.com/content/music-round-71.

stereophile.com Q July 2018 39

 MUSIC IN THE ROUND
Aria’s operating system. For instance, I
could send files from the Piccolo + via
the stereo analog outputs of the built-
in DAC to all the audio players on my
network, or via USB 2.0 if no special
driver was required. (The Piccolo +
is compatible with Apple AirPlay and
DLNA.) But to use my exaSound e38
DAC, I had to e-mail DigiBit, who
then magically downloaded and in-
stalled the driver in the Aria overnight.
Now, I prefer a more hands-on ap-
proach, but I have to admit that, with
DigiBit’s way of doing things, there’s
no way the user can screw things up.
After testing the Aria’s communica-
tion and playback via the exaSound
e38 with the provided sample files, I
directed the Piccolo + to access my
NAS, then told it to add to its library
all of the more than 20TB worth of
music files stored there. This was not
accomplished instantaneously. While
the Piccolo + was busy doing all that, I
played some of the files. All two-chan-
nel formats played well, as did
multichannel 24-bit/96kHz PCM and
DSD64 files, but to my great disap-
pointment, all higher resolutions
played only with frequent interrup-
tions. “Here we go again,” I muttered.
But the Piccolo turned out to be much
better than that. First, I canceled the
comprehensive library process and
instead downloaded only about 2TB
of music to the Aria’s HDD. Listening
to those, I found that the Piccolo +
played everything, including DXD and
DSD256 in multichannel, without a
burble or hesitation or interruption.
The sound from the e38 and the rest
of my Manhattan system was as clean,
smooth, and satisfying as ever. From
this, I concluded that the frequent
interruptions I’d heard earlier were the
result of playing hi-rez multichannel
files while the Piccolo + was busy
transferring my entire library over the
network.
I then asked the Piccolo + to add
another 2TB of files to its library, but
without downloading them to the
Piccolo’s internal HD. Only after that
process was completed did I try to play
any of them over my LAN, and again,
it was everything I’d hoped for. The
logical conclusion: The Piccolo + could
play every music format I had on hand,
either from internal or network stor-
age. That it couldn’t play the highest-
density files while simultaneously adding
files to its library over a network was
no big deal. As my mother said, “First,
finish your homework; then you can go
out and play.”
What about HDMI? I toted the
Aria Piccolo + up to our place in
Connecticut, intending to plug it
into one of the HDMI inputs on
my Marantz AV8802a preamplifier-
processor, but there was another
wrinkle: HDMI output is not enabled
on the Piccolo + by default, but
requires an e-mail request to DigiBit
to activate it via the Internet.
Playing files on the Piccolo + and
sending them via HDMI to the Ma-
rantz was completely successful, with
two small limitations and one conve-
nient advantage. The first limitation is
a common one: HDMI output from
the Aria’s Intel motherboard doesn’t
support DSD, but converts DSD to
hi-rez PCM on the fly. The second
limitation is the Marantz’s inability
to accept any input resolution higher
than 24/192. If your pre-pro can
handle more, the Piccolo + will do it,
as I proved by using it in my Manhat-
tan system. The advantage: You can
apply to the feed from the Piccolo +
all of your AVR’s audio-processing
facilities, including room EQ, bass
 MUSIC IN THE ROUND

management, or whatever else it has

onboard.
Given the closed structure of the
Piccolo +’s GUI and its not-ready-
for-gaming CPU, there’s no easy way
to implement bass management or
equalization. For the same reason,
massive library operations should not
be performed while listening. Normal
operations, such as adding a few
albums, are not problems.
I’m happy to say that DigiBit’s Aria
Piccolo + is a well-integrated music
server that’s delightfully capable and
easy to use. With suitable attached put of my Mac mini–based server and Multichannel-8 ($11,500). Recently, I
devices it will play uncompressed the direct multichannel analog path- was approached by a reader who was
(AIFF, WAV) and lossless (ALAC, way through my Marantz AV8802a thinking of buying a U-DAC8; he
FLAC) formats up to 32/384 PCM, pre-pro. In that application I’ve found wanted to know if a better power
as well as DXD (32/352.8), DSD64, it gives a small but real improvement supply and/or USB source would raise
DSD128, and DSD256 files in glori- over running the server’s HDMI out- its performance to a level approaching
ous multichannel. It was a pleasure to put directly into the Marantz. I briefly that of its, um, competitors. He was
use, and will suit the needs of almost popped it into my Manhattan system, right to ask—I’d discovered that the
any aficionado of music and multi- but wasn’t surprised that it didn’t chal- U-DAC8 did benefit from a better
channel- sound. lenge the then-resident exaSound e28 power supply: iFi Audio’s iPower
DAC; still, the U-DAC8 was pleasant 5V wall wart.4 I decided to install
POWERING THE MINI DSP U-DAC8 and listenable. the U-DAC8 in my New York City
When I reviewed miniDSP’s U-DAC8 The U-DAC8 remains the least system and support it as best I could.
multichannel USB DAC in September expensive multichannel DAC on the CONTINUED ON PAGE 44
2015, I found it well worth its price of market; the only others are the 3 See www.stereophile.com/content/music-round-74.
$299.3 I used it mostly in my Connecti- exaSound e38 ($3849) and the 4 I reviewed the iFi Audio iPower in the March 2016
cut system, connected to the USB out- Merging Technologies NADAC issue: www.stereophile.com/content/music-round-77.
 MUSIC IN THE ROUND
RECORDINGS IN THE ROUND
SCHUBERT
PIANO TRIO 2, NOTTURNO FOR
PIANO & STRINGS
Trio Alba
Audiomax 9032013 (SACD/CD).
I discovered the second movement of
Schubert’s Piano Trio 2 in E-flat, D.929,
in 1975, when it was used as a stately
and insistent motif throughout the film
Barry Lyndon. Director Stanley Kubrick
said that the piece had “just the right
restrained balance between the tragic
and the romantic without getting into
the headier stuff of later Romanticism.”
Deeply affected by it, I ran from the
theater and purchased a recording,
though I no longer remember whose.
The Trio has received dozens of
recordings, and among the many I’ve
collected are the classic reading by the
Beaux Arts Trio (Philips) and lovely
multichannel versions by the Storioni
Trio (Pentatone) and Irnberger, Gerin-
gas, and Korstick (Gramola). This one
is different.
As Kubrick implied, it’s necessary
that the performers maintain the bal-
ance between the tragic and romantic,
and such an approach can achieve good
results. However, there are different
ways to depict each of those qualities
that, while preserving a balance, can
shift the emotional center. Most per-
formances lean toward severity in the
former and gallantry in the latter, as did
violinist Ralph Holmes, cellist Moray
Welsh, and pianist Anthony Goldstone
on the film’s soundtrack. What’s so
refreshing about the Trio Alba’s perfor-
mance is the infusion of sadness into
the tragic and warmth into the roman-
tic. This may imply a narrower range of
tempi and dynamics, but it’s internally
consistent and satisfying.
Trio Alba takes no liberties with the
score, yet their performance seems
almost improvisatory. Their master-
ful pacing of the second movement,
Andante con moto, left me breathless at
the end. The first and third movements
are played more playfully than usual,
and in the long (some say overlong)
fourth movement, all the elements
of the preceding three movements
are pulled together in such a way
that its nearly 20 minutes seems the
perfect length. Trio Alba also infuses
the Notturno for Piano and Strings in
42
E-flat, D.897, with new life, replacing
the usual extremes, from brio to the
almost static, with more consistent
tones of sadness and acceptance.
The sound, too, is unusual. The
three instruments are recorded fairly
close, but without X-ray-vision separa-
tion of the instruments. Yes, I can
discern each player, but I hear them
as an ensemble. The sounds of the
strings are detailed, and sound like gut
(I don’t know if they really were), the
piano has some ping, and the lower
notes of all three are tonally rich, with
good weight. This is the rare classi-
cal SACD recorded in 5.1 channels,
with authentic bass content in the LFE
channel. When my subwoofers weren’t
activated, there was a very subtle loss
of warmth.
HINDEMITH
ORCHESTRAL MUSIC
Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Carl Ma-
ria von Weber, Nobilissima Visione, Concert Mu-
sic for Strings and Brass (“Boston Symphony”)
Marek Janowski, Cologne West German Radio
Symphony Orchestra
Pentatone PTC 5186672 (SACD/CD).
Whew. The first movement of the
Symphonic Metamorphosis is marked
Allegro, and conductor Marek
Janowski hits the ground running.
In fact, the first time I cued it up, I
turned it off after about 10 seconds.
Later, when I knew I had the time to
hear the whole piece, I discovered
that, yes, this reading is fast, but it
works brilliantly. After the shock
of the quick start, I got swept up in
the Allegro’s sheer momentum. The
brass, especially, are virtuosic, and the
Pentatone engineers have given them
prominence in the balance. The pas-
sages for chinoiserie percussion in the
second movement, a Scherzo based on
Weber’s incidental music for Gozzi’s
play Turandot, are fabulous. The third
movement, Andantino, is more tranquil
but somewhat unsettled, and the final
movement, Marsch, is breathtaking.
The entire work is taken at refreshing
tempos, and the orchestra is up to the
task—the effect is exhilarating. Would
Hindemith have approved? I do.
Nobilissima Visione, a suite drawn
from Hindemith’s score for a ballet
about St. Francis of Assisi, is quieter
and more reflective. Janowski and
the orchestra treat it appropriately,
with as much grace as Hindemith can
muster and without undue haste. I can
say the same about the Concert Music
for Strings and Brass, written for the
Boston Symphony in 1930. I find this
music less inspired and inspiring than
the other works here, but it gives the
Cologne strings and brass opportuni-
ties to make some beautiful sounds—
as, I guess, the BSO did, too.
Pentatone says that the sound on
this SACD was derived from a PCM
recording. Strangely for this label, sur-
round and high-resolution downloads
are not offered, only two-channel
16-bit/44.1kHz. Click on the choices
for Premium- and Master-quality
downloads at their website and you’re
told, “Sorry, this file type is not avail-
able for download due to the recording
quality.” Heck, they sell the SACD, and
it’s more than okay. Yes, the sound-
stage is a bit shallow, there’s some
highlighting of the brass and percus-
sion and a bit of an edge on the brass,
but, damn—the Metamorphosis is a
killer performance, and the sound is
good enough to make it a knockout.
—Kalman Rubinson
July 2018 Q stereophile.com
 MUSIC IN THE ROUND
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 41
I plugged the miniDSP U-DAC8
into one of the 5V outputs of the
HDPLEX 400W ATX Linear Power
Supply ($795)5 that powers my Baetis
Prodigy-X server. The miniDSP got its
input via an AudioQuest Coffee USB
link ($350/2m) inserted in one of the
USB ports of an SoTM tX-USBhubIN
USB repeater board ($350), which has
its own clock ($700) and is powered by
the regulated 9V output of the
HDPLEX supply. As each of these
components costs more than the price
of the U-DAC8, it would seem silly to
consider were there not such a huge
price gap between the U-DAC8 and
the other DACs.
The result was a kind of success.
Indeed, the clarity and balance of the
U-DAC8’s sound was improved. The
bass, in particular, had more weight
and impact. This $299 DAC became
a much better $2100 DAC weighing
over 30 lb! I’d set out to gild the lily
and I had, but I learned other lessons.
First, the U-DAC8 on steroids was
still no competition for the exaSound
e38. Second, current and prospective
owners of the U-DAC8 would likely
benefit from experimenting with simi-
lar but more modest tweaking. Third,
there must be a better option.
In past columns, I’ve reported on
stacking three two-channel DACs for
surround sound, but this depended on
specific hardware and/or software re-
lated to certain DACs made by Mytek
HiFi. What if there were a more ge-
neric approach that would work with
almost any DAC that suits your ears
and budget? I have discovered such a
product, and I’m working on that now.
OPPO RETIRES
As I was finishing up this column,
Oppo Digital announced that it was
ceasing production of its disc play-
ers (although they will continue to
offer repairs, service, and support). So
startling was the announcement that
Oppo delayed its press release until
April 2, lest anyone think it a prank.
Their products have always been in-
novative, well made, well priced, and
highly regarded, and their service has
always been above reproach.
Why has this happened? I’m not
privy to the deliberations of Oppo
Digital’s corporate parents, the Chinese
company BBK Electronics, which
continues to play a major role in the
international cell-phone and compo-
nent markets; I can tell you only what
44
I see from my narrow perspective.
Oppo Digital came on the audio
scene in 2004 with low-priced disc
players that supported features of great
appeal to audiophiles. These have
included the disc formats CD, HDCD,
DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, SACD,
AVCHD, and, most recently, BD, BD
3D, and BD UltraHD. While other
manufacturers gradually omitted from
their players analog outputs for multi-
channel and even two-channel audio,
Oppo’s players always offered them, in
addition to digital coax, digital optical,
and HDMI outputs. They were among
the first to add file playback via USB
and network inputs, and were the first
to add HDMI inputs to their players.
Oppo played the audiophile horsepow-
er races by boldly advertising which
Several companies
modified Oppo players
to serve as the basis for
their own models.
DACs they used, and by offering
regular and audiophile versions of their
players, beginning with the BDP-83SE,
and continuing with the parallel xx3
and xx5 models until the end.
I never saw any evidence of a loss of
demand for Oppo’s players. Some say
that they were too expensive com-
pared to the ever-cheaper offerings
in the BD/DVD-player mass market,
but that ignores the fact that their
distinctive audio features made them
more desirable to many of us. Others
believed that they were too cheap to
be as good as the players marketed
by specialist-audio companies, even
though those must sell for more
because of their limited production
quantities—and several such com-
panies modified Oppo players, or
purchased Oppo OEM components,
to serve as the basis for their own
models. In a few notorious cases, they
simply wrapped an Oppo player in a
fancy outer case and passed it off as
their own. Others argued that the bur-
geoning of aftermarket modifications
for Oppo players was proof of their
mediocrity, rather than as proof of
the basic quality of their fundamental
design and the players’ great popular-
ity among demanding audiophiles.
Even as I write this, retail stores across
the country are selling out of Oppo’s
UDP-203 and UDP-205 universal BD
players, and Oppo is taking names as
it mulls a final production run of the
UDP-205 4K Ultra HD Audiophile
Universal Disc Player.
Most recently, Oppo expanded into
making headphones, DAC–headphone
amplifiers, a music streamer, and a
wireless speaker, while strangely delet-
ing all the web apps from their last
great players, the UDP-203 and UDP-
205. All of this suggests that Oppo had
already been looking ahead to a future
in which fewer and fewer buyers
would be playing physical discs.
I have owned many Oppo players
over the years, and each one was more
capable than and at least as good as
its predecessor. But these days I rarely
play audio discs. I use my UDP-205 as
a multichannel DAC, or to watch films
on DVD or BD. I use the streaming
apps in the BDP-103 or BDP-105, but
more often I use those players to rip
SACDs for my file server.
Oppo’s players increased in price over
the years, suggesting that the company’s
profit margins were being squeezed as
they tried to maintain their distinctive
position in the market. Perhaps they’ve
concluded that it was time to graciously
bow a farewell, and accept our gratitude
for all they’ve accomplished.
Thank you, Oppo. Q
Kalman Rubinson (Stletters@stereo-
phile.com) enjoys being immersed in his
music in his Manhattan and Connecticut
homes.
5 See www.hdplex.com/hdplex-fanless-400w-atx-
linear-power-supply-with-modular-atx-output.html.
CONTACTS
DigiBit
Madrid, Spain
Tel: (34) 915334250
Web: www.ariamusicserver.com
North American distributor:
Goerner Audio
91, 18th Avenue
Deux-Montagnes, Quebec J7R 4A6
Canada
Tel: (514) 833-1977
Web: www.goerneraudio.com
HDPLEX Ltd.
3972 Barranca Parkway, Suite J337
Irvine, CA 92606
Web: www.hdplex.com
Oppo Digital, Inc.
162 Constitution Drive
Menlo Park, CA 94025
Tel: (650) 961-1118
Web: www.oppodigital.com
July 2018 Q stereophile.com
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 EQ U IPMENT R EPORT

JOHN ATKINSON

Wilson Audio Specialties

Alexia Series 2
LOUDSPEAKER
ne of the benefits of being a reviewer is that, of

O the large number of products that pass through

my listening room, occasionally there are those
that I really would like to see take up more
permanent residence. One of these was Wilson Audio
Specialties’ Alexia loudspeaker, which I reviewed in De-
cember 2013.1 “Its clarity, its uncolored, full-range balance,
its flexibility in setup and optimization, and most of all its
sheer musicality, are, if not unrivaled, rare,” I wrote, and
concluded: “If I were to retire tomorrow, the Wilson Alexia
would be the speaker I would buy to provide the musical
accompaniment to that retirement.” Nothing I subsequently
heard disabused me of that dream, though a couple of other
speakers, in particular Vivid Audio’s Giya G3 and KEF’s
Blade Two,2 joined the Alexia on my bucket list.
Then, in spring 2017, Wilson announced a Series 2 Alexia.
On the surface, the new speaker looks identical to the old,
with its 8" and 10" paper-cone woofers loaded with a 3"-di-
ameter port on the large cabinet’s rear, and a 7" midrange
driver and 1" silk-dome tweeter, each in its own adjustable
module atop the woofer enclosure. (See my December 2013
review for a detailed description of the original Alexia.) ally a reviewer’s perk—when anyone buys a pair of Wilson
However, the price has risen from $48,500/pair in 2013 to Audio speakers, the retailer will install them and do the sort
$57,900/pair for the Series 2, and there are many improve- of fine-tuning McGrath performed in my room.
ments. The original Alexia was designed by David Wilson
working with Vern Credille, Wilson’s lead acoustic and The Series 2
electrical engineer, and mechanical engineer Blake Schmutz; I asked Peter McGrath precisely what changes had been
the Series 2 is the result of much development by Dave’s son made in the Alexia to create the Series 2.
Daryl, who is now the Utah company’s CEO. In particular, “The two bass drivers remain the same, but the port
some of the technology developed for Wilson’s limited- has been moved to the center of the enclosure so that both
edition magnum opus, the WAMM Master Chronosonic,3 speakers launch the back wave in exactly the same way,” he
has found its way into the Alexia Series 2. Because of all this,
I felt that a full review would be more appropriate than a 1 See www.stereophile.com/content/wilson-audio-specialties-alexia-loudspeaker.
2 See www.stereophile.com/content/vivid-audio-giya-g3-loudspeaker and
Follow-Up. www.stereophile.com/content/kef-blade-two-loudspeaker.
Last February, Wilson’s Peter McGrath visited to set up 3 See www.stereophile.com/content/wilson-audios-ultimate-loudspeaker-wamm-
the Alexia 2s in my listening room. Such service is not re- master-chronosonic.

SPECIFICATIONS
Description Three-way,
four-driver, reflex-loaded,
floorstanding loudspeaker.
Drive-units: 1" (25mm) silk-
dome tweeter, 7" (178mm)
cellulose-fiber/paper pulp-
cone midrange, 8" (203mm)
paper-cone woofer, 10"
(254mm) paper-cone woof-
er. Crossover frequencies:
not given. Frequency re-
sponse: 19Hz–32kHz, ±3dB,
room-averaged response.
Sensitivity: 89dB/W/m.
Impedance: 4 ohms nomi-
nal, 2.54 ohms minimum at
85Hz. Minimum amplifier
power: 20Wpc.
Dimensions 53" (1347mm)
H by 15.25" (387.4mm) W
by 22.875" (580mm) D.
Weight: 260 lb (117.9kg).
Finish Multiple automo-
tive paint colors; custom
options.
Serial numbers of units
reviewed 1457 (left),
1458 (right).
Price $57,900/pair. Approxi-
mate number of dealers: 39.
Manufacturer Wilson Audio
Specialties, 2233 Moun-
tain Vista Lane, Provo, UT
84606. Tel: (801) 377-2233.
Fax: (801) 377-2282.
Web: www.wilsonaudio.com.

stereophile.com Q July 2018 49

WILSON AUDIO SPECIALTIES ALEXIA SERIES 2

explained. “Although the bass enclosure’s footprint is only
about 1" different, the increase in the internal volume is
significant, at around 11%. Also, while the front baffle of the
‘Series 1’ was vertical, it’s now angled back about 3–4°, and
that gives better time alignment between the upper woofer
and the midrange driver. The internal bracing of the low-
frequency enclosure is also improved.
“The midrange driver is the same in both speakers, but
the midrange enclosure has a full 26% increase in inter-
nal volume, because of the way we reworked the venting
system. The tweeter is now the same Convergent Synergy
Mk.5 tweeter we used for the backload of the WAMM
Master Chronosonic. The crossover points are very similar,
but there have been some modifications, the result of which
is that the low impedance dip is nowhere near as severe in
the Series 2 as it was in the ‘Series 1.’ The efficiency of the
two remains within a dB.
“There are a number of other things. Access to the resis-
tors is totally different: you can just pull a plate off and make
changes without having to get out the tools. The Aspheri-
cal Group Delay time-domain adjustment of the tweeter
now has a far greater level of resolution—you can move the
tweeter in 1⁄32" increments, twice the number of adjustments
as before.
“The spikes and diodes are more substantial than they had
been on the first Alexia. And then, on the top plate of the
woofer enclosure, the block where all the resonant compo-
nents of the upper modules couple via the spikes is made
out of a material called ‘W Material.’ This is a [mineral-
impregnated resin] that we developed for the WAMM. . . .
[I]t is far more absorptive of resonant behavior. However, we
can’t paint it, which is why it is not colored the way the rest
of the speaker is.”
Setup
Peter McGrath followed much the same setup procedure
described in my review of the original Alexia.4 Having
adjusted the position and tilt of the tweeter and midrange
modules for the height of my ears in my listening chair
and their distance from the speakers—the exact settings are
detailed in the manual’s “Propagation Delay Correction”
table—he rolled each speaker back and forth and from side
to side on its wheels until he was confident they were close
to their optimal positions. Then, using “So Do I,” from
singer-songwriter Christy Moore’s This Is the Day (CD, Sony
5032552), and listening to each speaker in turn, he moved
4 The Web reprint of this review of the Alexia Series 2 will include an audio file
embedded with Peter McGrath describing his setup procedure.

MEASUREMENTS
used DRA Labs’ MLSSA system mum impedance of 1.96 ohms at 86Hz little livelier, with two high-Q modes

I and a calibrated DPA 4006 mi-

crophone to measure the Wilson
Alexia 2’s frequency response
in the farfield, and an Earthworks
QTC-40 for the nearfield and spatially
averaged room responses. Because of
the speaker’s weight, I was unable to
raise it off the ground for the measure-
ments, which reduced the resolution
of the frequency-response graphs in
the midrange. And as with the original
Alexia, there was the problem of which
axis to place the microphone on for
the farfield measurements. I wanted
to measure it at my standard 50"
microphone distance, which is optimal
for midrange resolution in the resultant
graphs, even with the speaker sitting
on the floor. So I drew a line from the
tweeter to the position and 36" height
of my ears, 128" away—the original
and a combination of 3.6 ohms and
–43° phase angle at 54Hz, the Alexia
2 is still a current-hungry design. Its
impedance drops to 2.6 ohms at 84Hz
(fig.1), and there is a demanding com-
bination of 5.1 ohms and –44° electrical
phase angle at 57Hz, both frequencies
in regions where music can have high
energy levels.
The traces in fig.1 are free from the
small wrinkles that would imply the
presence of cabinet-wall resonances,
and the enclosures were acoustically
quiet. I found modes on the woofer
enclosure walls just below 400 and
600Hz, but these were low in level.
The midrange subenclosure was a
Stereophile Wilson Alexia 2 Impedance (ohms) &
Phase (deg) vs Frequency (Hz)
on the sidewalls and rear panel, at 590
and 870Hz. These were relatively low
in level, however, and high enough in
frequency that, given their high Q, they
shouldn’t be fully excited with music
(as opposed to test tones). Peculiarly,
the small module housing the tweeter
was the liveliest; fortunately, this mod-
ule is small enough that it won’t couple
this behavior to the air very efficiently.
The green trace in fig.2 shows the
output of the midrange unit, measured
in the nearfield. It appears to cross over
to the sum of the woofer outputs (blue
trace; these have almost identical re-
sponses) at around 200Hz. The sharp-
ly defined null at 23Hz in the woofers’
Amplitude in dB

Alexias had been closer, 106"—then

moved the mike up along that line until
it was 50" from the tweeter. Other than
those used to assess the Alexia’s verti-
cal dispersion, all the farfield measure-
ments were taken at that point.
My estimate of the Alexia 2’s
voltage sensitivity was a very high
91.2dB(B)/2.83V/m, which is higher
than specified. This speaker will play
loudly with just a few volts. However,
while it is not quite as difficult a load as
the original Alexia, which had a mini-
Fig.1 Wilson Alexia 2, electrical impedance (solid)
and phase (dashed) (2 ohms/vertical div.).
Frequency in Hz
Fig.2 Wilson Alexia 2, anechoic response on listen-
ing axis at 50", averaged across 30° horizontal
window and corrected for microphone response,
with nearfield responses of: midrange unit (green),
woofers (blue), port (red), respectively plotted
below 350Hz, 1kHz, 300Hz, and complex sum of
nearfield responses plotted below 300Hz (black).

50 July 2018 Q stereophile.com

stereophile.com Q July 2018 51
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 WILSON AUDIO SPECIALTIES ALEXIA SERIES 2

the enclosures in 1⁄2" steps in both planes, and adjusted theirsounded smooth and evenly balanced, though with some
toe-in until the sound of each Alexia 2 was to his satisfac- exaggeration of the very lowest frequencies. With the earlier
tion. It was time for some critical listening. Alexias I’d found that if I moved my head slightly above or
below the axis where the sound was best, I became aware
Listening of a narrow band of brightness. This didn’t happen with the
With the Alexia 2s driven by Lamm Industries M1.2 Refer- Series 2s, and it wasn’t until I stood up that the pink noise
ence monoblocks, the 1⁄3 -octave bass-war- began to sound colored, acquir-
ble tones on Editor’s Choice (CD, Stereophile ing a hollow quality. The central
STPH016-2) sounded powerful down
The midrange driver image of the noise signal wasn’t
to the 25Hz band, with the 63, 50, and is the same in both quite as narrow as I hear with
40Hz warbles a little higher in level than speakers, but the top-ranked minimonitors like the
the bands above them, the 32 and 25Hz BBC LS3/5a or KEF LS50, but
warbles exaggerated by the lowest mode in midrange enclosure it was stable, neither wobbling
my room, and the 20Hz warble only faintly has a full 26% increase nor splashing to the sides at any
audible. The half-step–spaced tonebursts frequency.
on Editor’s Choice spoke cleanly and evenly
in internal volume. I’d begun my auditioning of
throughout the bass and midrange regions. the original Alexias with David
When I listened to the woofer enclosure of an Alexia 2 with Wilson’s own recording of Beethoven’s Violin Sonata 10 in
a stethoscope, all surfaces were relatively inert. The mid- G, Op.96, performed by violinist David Abel and pianist
range enclosure, too, was well damped, though on the side- Julie Steinberg (24-bit/192kHz needle drop from LP, Wil-
walls and rear panel I found some low-level modes between son Audio W-8315). I wrote that, through the Alexias, “the
600 and 900Hz, these an octave higher than the modes I’d balance of the instruments was intimate yet unforced. They
found on the Alexia “1”—which suggests improved bracing. were reproduced with faithful tone colors—I heard no color-
The dual-mono pink-noise track from Editor’s Choice ations—and the imaging was such that the musicians seemed

measurements, continued

nearfield response suggests that this
is the tuning frequency of the large
rear-facing port. The port’s output (red
trace) peaks broadly between 10 and
60Hz, and its upper-frequency rolloff is
free from any resonance spikes.
Higher in frequency in fig.2, the
black trace below 300Hz shows the
complex sum of the nearfield drive-
unit outputs, taking into account both
amplitude and phase. The broad peak
in the midbass will be mostly due to
the nearfield measurement technique,
which assumes that the drive-units
are mounted in a baffle that extends to
infinity in both planes. Above 300Hz,
the response, averaged across a 30°
horizontal window centered on the
listening axis, is very similar to that of
the original Alexia,1 with small peaks
throughout the upper midrange and
treble balanced by small dips. However,
while the new speaker, like the old, has
a small suckout between 4 and 5kHz—
which, I conjectured in my December
2013 review, was due to destructive
interference between the tweeter’s
direct output and the reflections from
the midrange enclosure—the Alexia
2 has about 2dB more energy above
6kHz than the older speaker. The two
speakers’ farfield responses matched
very closely, any difference being 0.5dB
or less throughout the treble.
The plot of the Alexia 2’s lateral dis-
persion (fig.3) reveals that the tweeter
becomes very directional above 12kHz,
which might well make the speaker
sound a bit lacking in top-octave air
in large or overdamped rooms. The
apparent off-axis peak between 4 and
5kHz in this graph is due to the on-axis
suckout visible in fig.2 filling in to the
speaker’s sides. Overall, as with the
original speaker, the Alexia 2’s off-axis
behavior is well controlled and even.
In the vertical plane (fig.4), a suck-
out develops at the upper crossover
frequency more than 10° above the
listening axis, but the speaker’s balance
doesn’t change by much over a ±5°
window centered on the listening axis.
Fig.5 compares the spatially aver-
aged response in my room of the new
Alexias (red trace) with that of the
originals fitted with the revised tweeter
resistors (blue). (The traces were
generated by averaging 20 1⁄6 -octave–
smoothed spectra, taken for the left
and right speakers individually using
SMUGSoftware’s FuzzMeasure 3.0
program and a 96kHz sample rate, in
1 See fig.4 at www.stereophile.com/content/
wilson-audio-specialties-alexia-loudspeaker-
measurements.
Amplitude in dB

Fig.3 Wilson Alexia 2, lateral response family at
50”, normalized to response on listening axis, from
back to front: differences in response 90–5° off
axis, reference response, differences in response
5–90° off axis.
Fig.4 Wilson Alexia 2, vertical response family at
50”, normalized to response on listening axis, from
back to front: differences in response 15–5° above
axis, reference response, differences in response
5–10° below axis.
Frequency in Hz
Fig.5 Wilson Alexia 2, spatially averaged, 1⁄6-oc-
tave response in JA’s listening room
(red); and of Wilson Alexia (blue).

stereophile.com Q July 2018 53

 WILSON AUDIO SPECIALTIES ALEXIA SERIES 2

to be in my room.” My reaction to this recording through ter; the rich-toned Steinway on my own recording, with
the Alexia 2s was the same. less-well-defined stereo imaging than the Wilson; Delmoni’s
As the sonata drew to a close, Roon suggested another dry-sounding, rather careful performance, but with better-
David Wilson recording of David Abel and Julie Steinberg, defined stereo than the Kavafian; the superbly stable stereo
this time playing Brahms’s Sonata 1 in G, Op.78 (24/176.4 imaging of the Tetzlaff, though with a more distant perspec-
AIFF file, Wilson W-8722). This passionately lyrical sonata tive than the Delmoni. Images weren’t bloated. Everything
has been a favorite of mine for decades, and the versions that had been captured on each recording was reproduced at
in my library range from Anne-Sophie Mutter’s 1982 the appropriate scale.
recording with Alexis Weissenberg (CD, EMI The weight given the piano in
CDC 7 49299 2) to my most recent purchase, I very much enjoyed the Tetzlaff and Kavafian record-
Christian Tetzlaff and Lars Vogt’s superbly ings led me to play our February
idiomatic performance (DSD128 files, Ondine the three months 2018 “Recording of the Month,”
ODE1284-2D/HDtracks), with stops along the Alexia 2s spent Chopin’s Last Waltz, performed by
the way at Arturo Delmoni’s recording, with pianist Robert Silverman (IsoMike
pianist Yuri Funahashi (ALAC ripped from
in my home. 5606). Robert Baird’s review had
CD, John Marks JMR 2), and my own unre- been of the LP; I purchased the
leased recording from the 1996 Santa Fe Chamber Music DSD128 files from NativeDSD.com. Solo piano is always
Festival, with Ani Kavafian accompanied by Max Levinson difficult for speakers to reproduce correctly, because piano
(16/44.1, 192kbps MP3). notes have high levels of energy in the region where speak-
Not only did the Wilson speakers not editorialize on ers tend to have resonances of various kinds, and because
the tonal colors on these very different recordings, they the nature of the music often doesn’t mask those resonances
clearly revealed the different recorded perspectives: the once they’ve been excited. Nevertheless, Chopin’s Bal-
mellow-toned Wilson; the rather scratchy-sounding Mut- lade 4 in f, performed by Silverman on what sounds like

measurements, continued

a vertical rectangular grid 36" wide by
18" high and centered on the positions
of my ears.) The two speakers again
look to be very similar, but you can
see that the older Alexias had more
presence-region energy and a reduced
top-octave output. The new speakers
had a little less midbass energy, but
excited the lowest-frequency mode in
my room a bit more.
The full-range, floorstanding speaker
I most recently reviewed was Golden-
Ear Technology’s Triton Reference, in
January 2018.2 The Triton’s in-room
response, measured in the identical
manner, is shown in fig.6 (blue trace).
Above 300Hz, where the spatial
averaging has minimized the influence
of low-frequency room resonances,
it is very close to that of the Alexia 2
(red trace), though with slightly more
Amplitude in dB
energy, both in the high treble between
8 and 16kHz, and in the midrange. Both
speakers excite the lowest-frequency
room mode to the same degree, but the
GoldenEar also has a peak at the tun-
ing frequency of its passive radiators.
The Wilson has a greater output in the
upper bass.
Turning to the time domain, the
Alexia 2’s step response on its listening
axis is shown in fig.7; it reveals that
the tweeter is connected in positive
acoustic polarity, the midrange driver
in negative polarity, and both woofers
in positive polarity (confirmed by their
nearfield step responses, not shown).
The slight discontinuity at 4ms sug-
gests that the woofers’ output would
be better integrated with that of the
midrange slightly below the axis on
which I took the measurement. How-
ever, this would disturb the excellent
integration of the midrange unit’s and
tweeter’s outputs.
The cumulative spectral-decay plot
on this axis (fig.8) was very similar
to that of the original Alexia. While
looking not as clean as I expected
from what I heard, it doesn’t have the
significant resonances at 3 and 6.4kHz
that Keith Howard found in his mea-
surements of the Alexia 2 published
in the March 2018 issue of our sister
magazine Hi-Fi News.
Like its predecessor’s, the Alexia 2’s
measured performance reveals some
idiosyncrasies; but overall, there is
nothing to contradict the very positive
results of my auditioning. —John Atkinson
2 See www.stereophile.com/content/goldenear-
technology-triton-reference-loudspeaker.

Data in Volts

Fig.8 Wilson Alexia 2, cumulative spectral-decay

Frequency in Hz Time in ms
plot on listening axis at 50" (0.15ms risetime).
Fig.6 Wilson Alexia 2, spatially averaged, Fig.7 Wilson Alexia 2, step response on listening
1⁄ -octave response in JA’s listening room (red); axis at 50" (5ms time window, 30kHz bandwidth).
6
and of GoldenEar Technology Triton Reference
(blue).

stereophile.com Q July 2018 55

WILSON AUDIO SPECIALTIES ALEXIA SERIES 2
a well-prepared Steinway grand, was reproduced without
coloration in the midrange, and with a suitable degree of
majesty in the low frequencies. Even so, the Alexia 2 still
suffered from a slight emphasis on some notes on my “tor-
ture” recording of solo piano: Andras Schiff playing a Haydn
keyboard sonata on Encores After Beethoven (16/44.1 AIFF,
ECM New Series 1950).
But what about larger-scale music? Although my
longtime reference speakers are relatively small two-way
stand-mounts, I don’t often play symphonic music through
them; although they faithfully reproduce the sounds of the
instruments, and excel at throwing a stable and tangible
stereo image, what they don’t get right is the music’s scale.
This disparity was thrown into sharp relief during a visit to
Michael Fremer, when I listened to a familiar orchestral re-
cording through his huge Wilson Alexandria XLF speakers.
When I got home, I played the same recording through my
KEF LS50s. As much as I love the little KEFs, it sounded as
if a toy orchestra were playing in the room.
A favorite performance of Beethoven’s Symphony 7,
bought after reading Larry Greenhill’s mention of it in a
review of a Tannoy subwoofer in February 2016, is by the
San Francisco Symphony Orchestra conducted by Michael
Tilson Thomas (24/96 ALAC files, SFS Media). The
minute I heard the big chords at the beginning of the first
movement through the Alexia 2s, I felt I could turn up the
volume—and then turn it up some more—without there
being any sense of strain. It was like sitting in Row C of the
concert hall, so alive was the sound of the orchestra through
these speakers. Though the image wasn’t as deep as I was
expecting, this was probably due more to the recording than
to the Wilsons—through them, my own recordings have as
much depth as I know I had captured, and that they contain.
“Daddy, what are you listening to? Why are you playing
Justin Bieber?”
It was my daughter Emily, drawn down to the listening
room by the bass notes shaking the house’s upper stories.
With the Wilsons’ ability to play loud without distress, I
was playing a track recommended by On a Higher Note’s
Philip O’Hanlon as loud as I wanted: The SPL at the listening
position, measured with Studio Six Digital’s SPL Meter
app set to Slow on my iPhone 6S, peaked at 102.5dB(C).
Because of the Alexia’s high sensitivity, the RMS levels at
the speaker terminals were around 10V, well within the
capability of my Lamm monoblocks.
“It’s actually Will.i.am’s “#thatpower,” I explained,
“though yes, it does feature Justin Bieber.”
“Don’t play it—you’re too old!”
I kept playing the track (16/44.1 FLAC MQA, Inter-
scope), turning up the volume a tad to make the point: As
hard as it might be for David and Daryl Wilson to appreci-
ate (but not, perhaps, Peter McGrath, whom I’ve witnessed
rocking out to James Blake’s James Blake), and as well as the
Alexia 2s reproduced classical chamber and orchestral music,
they were also made to play such limited-dynamic-range
recordings as “#thatpower,” with its vast levels of dropped
bass and punchy drum samples, without strain or fatigue.
They kept it clean while they kept it loud.
Conclusions
How did Wilson’s Alexia 2 compare with the original Alex-
ia? Five years is too long to be sure of one’s aural memory.
Heck, under some circumstances, five minutes is too long!
What I can say is that I very much enjoyed the three months
56
A S S O C I AT E D E Q U I P M E N T
Analog Source Linn Sondek LP12 turntable with Lingo
power supply, Linn Ekos tonearm, Linn Arkiv B cartridge.
Digital Sources NAD Masters Series M50.2, Roon
Nucleus+ digital players; Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP universal
player; Ayre Acoustics QX-5, PS Audio PerfectWave
DirectStream D/A converters; Ayre Acoustics QA-9 USB
A/D converter.
Preamplification Channel D Seta L phono preamplifier.
Power Amplifiers Bricasti Design M15, Lamm Industries
M1.2 Reference (monoblocks).
Integrated Amplifiers Luxman L-509x, NAD Masters
Series M32.
Cables Digital: AudioQuest Coffee (USB) & Vodka (Ether-
net), Canare (15’, AES/EBU), DH Labs (1m, AES/EBU),
Esperanto Audio (S/PDIF). Interconnect: AudioQuest Wild
Blue. Speaker: AudioQuest K2. AC: AudioQuest Dragon
Source & High Current, manufacturers’ own.
Accessories Target TT-5 equipment racks; Ayre Acoustics
Myrtle Blocks; ASC Tube Traps, RPG Abffusor panels; Shu-
nyata Research Dark Field cable elevators; Audio Power
Industries 116 Mk.II & PE-1, AudioQuest Niagara 5000
Low-Z Power/Noise-Dissipation System. AC power comes
from two dedicated 20A circuits, each just 6’ from breaker
box. —John Atkinson
Everything that had the Alexia 2s spent in
my home.
been captured on I can also say that
each recording was Wilson Audio speakers
reproduced at the can provoke polarized
responses. I was at
appropriate scale. a dinner a couple of
years back with several
other audio writers. “I don’t get it,” one of them said to me.
“How could you recommend the Wilson Alexia, when just
over a year later you favorably reviewed the Vivid Giya G3?
You’re an engineer—you must agree that the Vivid and the
Wilson are as different as it is possible for two speakers to
be. How can they both be rated Class A in Stereophile’s ‘Rec-
ommended Components’?”
Yes, I’m an engineer, but I don’t mistake the road for the
destination. Designers can and do take many roads, but their
ultimate destination is the same: to allow listeners to be
transported by their music to that place where worldly cares
cease to exist. And that the Alexia Series 2 did to perfec-
tion—without smoothing over the recordings’ imperfections,
without bowdlerizing the meanings of the music. I can’t
pretend that the life of a magazine editor is not stressful—I
knew it was going into it. But evening after evening, after
taking the subway home from the office, I cracked open
a beer—Dale’s Pale Ale, or New Belgium Fat Tire Amber
Ale, or Firestone-Walker Union Jack IPA, or Sierra Nevada
Torpedo Extra IPA, or even Raging Bitch Belgian-style IPA
from Flying Dog Brewery5 —settled back in my listening
chair, fired up my iPad, set the Roon app to its random-play
Radio function, and let the Wilson Alexia Series 2s take me
far, far away. That is what great speakers do. Q
5 Blame my English son-in-law, Joe, for introducing me to Raging Bitch. It is the
wonder of the craft-beer age that, here in Brooklyn, all of these great brews are
stocked by our local corner grocery store.
July 2018 Q stereophile.com
STERN HEISENBERG PLANCK WATT

PRE G2 MAX ART G3 SAM 20 SE

DNP AMP I V2 DNC SAM G2

PRE I G3 AMP EPS G2 EPC

AMPERE EXP PAM G2

HAILEY

SONJA XV SONJA 2.3

 EQ U IPMENT R EPORT

HERB REICHERT

AkitikA GT-102
POWER AMPLIFIER

n e-mail from an old audiophile pal:

A “Herb, my buddy owns a recording

studio, and he told me one of his $10k
reference amplifiers stopped working and Can a peasant-priced Oh, how I loved them. To this
the manufacturer said it would take months to be
repaired. So he went online and bought this 60W
power amp dance day, Dylan and the Doors have
never sounded better!
AkitikA solid-state amplifier to use while his big with a princess or After moving to New York
amp was being repaired. The trouble is, the kit cost dine with a king? City, I built a solid-state Hafler
only $314. (The studio guy bought his assembled DH-101 preamp and two (!!)
and tested for $488.) Now, he likes the AkitikA DH-200 amplifiers, which I
more than his broke-down reference amp.” used to drive stacked pairs of Large Advent loudspeakers.
My friend wondered if I wanted to review the AkitikA Yahweh, Bob Marley, and The Specials loved this potent
amp (the name is a palindrome, based on a kit). lively-up system as much as I did. Next, I started reading
“Hell yes!” I told him. “Kits are my roots!” Audio Amateur and Speaker Builder magazines, buying used
When I was in high school, my best friend was a radar test instruments, and modifying my Dynaco and Hafler
technician for the Navy. He taught me Ohm’s law, and how gear. By the late 1980s I’d advanced to building simple
to solder, dress wires, and use a multimeter. He practically tube amplifiers from scratch, using parts cannibalized from
forced me to build a Dynaco1 Dynakit Stereo 70 tube ampli- antique radios. (I worshiped at the Philco 16B Tombstone.)
fier, as well as the matching PAS-2 preamplifier and FM-3 Solder fumes, wire strippers, and building amps remain very
stereo tuner. I didn’t want to take tubes to college, so I also appealing to me. For me, kits were the start of a new life—
built Dynaco’s solid-state PAT-4 preamplifier and Stereo 120 1 The other division of AkitikA LLC is www.UpdateMyDynaco.com, whose name
amplifier, which I used to drive Dynaco’s A25 loudspeakers. explains all.—Ed.

SPECIFICATIONS
Description Class-AB stereo power
amplifier with LM3886 power-amplifi-
er integrated circuit, regulated power
supply with 10,000µF capacitance.
Inputs: 1 pair single-ended (RCA). Out-
puts: 2 five-way speaker binding posts.
Power output: 50Wpc into 8 ohms,
nearly 100Wpc into 4 ohms. Frequency
response: 5Hz–100kHz, –3dB. Input
impedance: 51k ohms. Sensitivity: 1V
RMS produces 20.59V RMS output.
Slew rate (typical): 14V/µs. Damping
factor at 1kHz ref. 8 ohms: >80. Signal/
noise: typically 136dB below 50W into
8 ohms, A-weighted.
Dimensions 15" (380mm) W by 4.5"
(115mm) H by 10" (255mm) D. Weight:
15.5 lb (7kg).
Finish Black.
Serial number of unit reviewed None.
Prices $314 kit, $488 fully assembled,
both plus $26 for shipping within the
lower 48. Approximate number of
dealers: factory direct only. Warranty:
Warranty: 1 year, parts.
Manufacturer AkitikA, LLC. Web:
www.akitika.com.

stereophile.com Q July 2018 59

 AKITIKA GT-102

one that led me to secret in a case made of

societies and darker relatively thin steel. Its
corners of the audio front panel sports only a
underground. logo and an illuminated,
When I asked John bright green plastic
Atkinson if I could rocker switch for power
review AkitikA’s GT-102 on/off. On the rear
power amplifier, he panel are only an IEC
said okay, but suggested power-cord inlet, two
that, because he would gold-plated RCA jacks,
be testing it on his lab and two pairs of generic
bench, I should request speaker binding posts.
the factory-assembled, The GT-102’s interior is
pre-tested version ($488). spartan, but studying its
Which I did. layout gives the
potential kit builder a
Description good idea of how much
Because the GT-102 is screwing and soldering
available as a kit I begin my description of it by quoting will be required to build it.
AkitikA’s “Satisfaction Guarantee” for this US-made amp: The first thing to note is the steel wall separating the
Q Buy the kit. audio circuitry from the toroidal mains transformer and
Q Build the kit. regulated power supply. Note the three deep-finned
Q Listen to and enjoy the kit. heatsinks: one behind the rear panel, for the power-supply
Q If within 30 days of receiving the kit you aren’t regulator, and two in a row along the inside of the left side
satisfied, return the kit. So long as your kit is correctly panel, one per channel, to cool the two LM3886 power
assembled, we’ll refund the price you paid, you just operational amplifiers.
pay return shipping. Now, before you get your knickers in a knot about an
“audiophile-grade” power amplifier based on a lowly op-
The GT-102 is a class-AB, 60Wpc stereo power amplifier amp—instead of this year’s fashionable MOSFET, JFET,

MEASUREMENTS
measured the AkitikA GT-102 us- this worst-case power level. simulated loudspeaker2 was ±0.1dB in

I ing my Audio Precision SYS2722

system (see the January 2008
“As We See It”1). Before I test an
amplifier, I precondition it with both
channels driving a 1kHz tone at one-
third power into 8 ohms for an hour.
However, I ended the preconditioning
of the AkitikA after 20 minutes, as
the left side of its top panel, above the
internal heatsinks, was hot, at 130.2°F
(54.6°C), and the bottom panel was
too hot to touch, at 169°F (76.6°C).
The AkitikA doesn’t have sufficient
heatsinking for sustained operation at
The voltage gain at 1kHz into 8 ohms
measured 26.15dB, an input of 140mV
resulting in an output power of 1W into
8 ohms. The GT-102 preserved absolute
polarity (ie, was non-inverting). Its
input impedance was usefully high,
measuring 49k ohms at 20Hz and 1kHz,
and dropping slightly, to 41k ohms,
at 20kHz. The output impedance,
including a 6', spaced-pair speaker
cable, was 0.2 ohm at 20Hz, 0.11 ohm
at 1kHz, and 0.13 ohm at 20kHz; as a
result, the modulation of the GT-102’s
frequency response with our standard
the midrange and treble, but closer to
+0.2dB in the bass (fig.1, gray trace).
The AkitikA’s frequency response was
down by 3dB at 100kHz; as a result, a
10kHz squarewave had short risetimes
(fig.2), and there was no overshoot or
ringing with a resistive load.
Channel separation was >90dB
below 1kHz, and still 70dB at the top
of the audioband. The unweighted,
1 See www.stereophile.com/content/
measurements-maps-precision.
2 See www.stereophile.com/content/
real-life-measurements-page-2.

d d
B B
r r
A A

Hz Hz

Fig.1 AkitikA GT-102, frequency response at 2.83V Fig.2 AkitikA GT-102, small-signal 10kHz square- Fig.3 AkitikA GT-102, spectrum of 1kHz sinewave,
into: simulated loudspeaker load (gray), 8 ohms wave into 8 ohms. DC–1kHz, at 1W into 8 ohms (left channel blue,
(left channel blue, right red), 4 ohms (left cyan, right red; linear frequency scale).
right magenta), 2 ohms (green) (1dB/vertical div.).

stereophile.com Q July 2018 61

!"#$%&$'()"*+&($!)',-,+&

YPSILON ELECTRONICS
!!!"#$%&'()*'*+,-()&+%"+(.
 AKITIKA GT-102

SIT, or bipolar device—you must understand that the
AkitikA’s LM3886 op-amp is notorious and fashionable.
The roots of the storied LM3886 can be traced back to 47
Laboratory’s 4706 Gaincard integrated amplifier, designed
by Junji Kimura, which I reviewed for Listener magazine;
Robert Deutsch reviewed it for Stereophile in December
2001.2 The Gaincard, introduced in 1999, had only nine
parts per channel, short signal paths, minimal power-supply
capacitance, and, with only one of 47 Lab’s Power Humpty
power supplies, cost $3300 (a second Power Humpty cost
an additional $1800).
The 4706 Gaincard’s high price, radical simplicity, and un-
orthodox power supply spawned concern among measure-
ments-oriented audiophiles, but word quickly spread about
how musically satisfying it could sound. After reviewing
it, I bought the Gaincard and used it every day for 10 years
with a pair of Rogers LS3/5a speakers. I’ve subsequently
compared my Gaincard to one of its clones and one DIY
version, and learned that all LM3886 op-amps are not cre-
ated equal.
In using power op-amps, implementation is key. PCB lay-
out, wiring routes, grounding strategies, heatsinking, power
transformers, and especially power-supply design, will affect
stability, transparency of sound, and the ability to drive speak-
ers. My listening for this article, and what I see inside this
amp, suggest that AkitikA’s owner and designer, Dan Joffe,
has done a smart job with this LM3886 implementation.
Kit builders should know that each of the GT-102’s three
circuit boards is fitted with a lot of little parts, most of them
resistors whose coded stripes identify their values. To build
a GT-102, each tiny bit will need to be found, positively
identified, properly positioned, and soldered to its board.
(I recommend soldering no parts until each PCB board is
stuffed full, in mechanically sound fashion.) That done, the
rest of the assembly consists of bolting and screwing the
boards, binding posts, power switch, ground lug, and power
transformer to the GT-102’s chassis. I suggest working
slowly and patiently while
breathing fresh air (it’s best
KEF’s LS50 got to solder in a place with
on well with the good ventilation), and
triple-checking each step.
AkitikA GT-102. The minimum tools
required for assembly are:
a 30W, pencil-type soldering iron; a small sponge; fine
(0.032"), 60/40 rosin-core solder; wire cutters and strippers;
#1 and #2 Phillips screwdrivers; needle-nose pliers; a set
of basic nut drivers; an inexpensive digital multimeter, to
cross-check resistor values against your reading of their color
codes; good lighting; and a magnifying glass.
AkitikA’s website says that assembly should take about
eight hours, and that 97% of all first-time kit builders com-
plete the GT-102 without a hitch. The remaining 3% get it
right in the end, with a little easy guidance from AkitikA.
I studied the assembly manual and found it exceptionally
clear and idiot-proof.3 It looks just like a Dynaco or Hafler
manual.
2 See www.stereophile.com/solidpoweramps/120147/index.html.
3 See www.akitika.com/documents/AssemblyManualGT102rev1p14.pdf.

measurements, continued

wideband signal/noise ratio, taken
with the inputs shorted to ground, was
a very high 84.7dB (average of both
channels) ref. 1W into 8 ohms. The S/N
ratio improved to an excellent 95.9dB
when the measurement bandwidth
was restricted to 22Hz–22kHz, and
to 99.4dB with an A-weighting filter
in circuit. This is a quiet amplifier.
Spectral analysis of the low-frequency
noise floor (fig.3) indicated that the
AC-supply–related harmonics were
at the odd-order harmonics of 60Hz,
which suggests that these are due to
magnetic interference from the toroidal
power transformer. They lay at or
below –110dB (0.0003%).
AkitikA specifies the GT-102 as
clipping at “a bit more than 60W
into 8 ohms at 1kHz.” (Texas Instru-
ments’ datasheet for the LM3886 chip
claims “68W of continuous average
power [into] a 4 ohm load.”) Defin-
ing clipping as when the THD+noise
in the output reaches 1%, I measured
a clipping power of 64W into 8 ohms
(18.1dBW, fig.4), with one channel or
both channels driven. However, when
I tried to measure the clipping power
into 4 ohms with both channels driven,
the GT-102 turned off its outputs at
61W (14.8dBW). With one channel
driven, the AkitikA clipped at close to
120W into 4 ohms (17.8dBW, fig.5).
This lack of power with both channels
driven might explain why HR preferred
the low-frequency reproduction of the
GT-102 when it was paired with the
high-impedance Falcon speakers.
I examined how the GT-102’s
percentage of THD+N varied with
frequency at 8.95V (equivalent to
10W into 8 ohms and 20W into 4
ohms). The THD+N was extremely
low in the bass and midrange into 8

% % %

W W Hz

Fig.4 AkitikA GT-102, distortion (%) vs 1kHz Fig.5 AkitikA GT-102, distortion (%) vs 1kHz Fig.6 AkitikA GT-102, THD+N (%) vs frequency at
continuous output power into 8 ohms. continuous output power into 4 ohms. 8.95V into: 8 ohms (left channel blue, right red), 4
ohms (left cyan, right magenta).

stereophile.com Q July 2018 63

 AKITIKA GT-102

Listening In using power op-amps,

I cooked the AkitikA GT-102 on my workbench for three
weeks, while writing the Follow-Up on Joseph Audio’s
Pulsar loudspeaker elsewhere in this issue. The system I
used with the Pulsars comprised Mytek HiFi’s Manhattan
II DAC, and Pass Laboratories’ HPA-1 preamplifier and
XA25 power amp. I thought this was the most balanced
and spatially descriptive system I’d assembled since I began
writing for Stereophile in 2014. Jeff Joseph, of Joseph Audio,
heard it and approved. So did John Atkinson. Stereophile’s
videographer Jana Dagdagan and I made a binaural video of
its sound so you can experience it, too.4
I played this setup every day and never once questioned
its verity, charm, or competence. It sounded so detailed and
lively that I had zero motivation to swap out the XA25 for
the GT-102. I mean, jeez Louise—should I even bother to
implementation is key.
drive a $7700 pair of speakers with a $488 amp? How could
a lowly kit possibly compare to the most dynamic-, true-,
transparent-sounding amp I’d ever used?
I wrote the above paragraph only minutes after making
the swap. Now, as I type this paragraph, I’m listening to
“The Transritualistic Object Reveals Itself,” from percus-
sionists David Philipson and Mark Nauseef’s Venus Square
Mars: Music for the Deep Night, with the late Hamza El-Din,
master of oud and tar (CD, M•A Recordings M028A). (This
is one of the compositions featured in the video mentioned
4 See https://tinyurl.com/yanwkwc2.

measurements, continued

ohms (fig.6, blue and red traces), with
the usual rise in the treble due to the
decrease in open-loop voltage gain
as the frequency increases. However,
into 4 ohms (fig.6, cyan and magenta
traces), while the THD+N percentage
in the treble was only slightly higher
than it had been into 8 ohms, it rose
catastrophically in the bass. This was
due to the waveform being interrupted
two times per cycle at the positive and
negative peaks; I suspect that this be-
havior is due to the LM3886 amplifier
chip’s protection circuit.
The THD+N waveform at 50Wpc
into 8 ohms (fig.7) indicates that, while
low in level, the distortion occurs at
the signal’s zero-crossing points. Even
though AkitikA’s website describes
the class-AB GT-102 as having “an
electronically regulated power supply”
that, “in some ways . . . offers an ad-
vantage similar to class A operation,”
fig.7 implies a lack of output-stage
bias current. Even so, the highest-
level harmonic present in the GT-102’s
output is the relatively benign second,
though higher-order products are also
present at lower levels (fig.8). Tested
with an equal mix of 19 and 20kHz
tones, the AkitikA produced relatively
low levels of intermodulation distortion
(fig.9), with the difference product at
1kHz lying at –94dB (0.002%), and
the higher-order products at or below
–90dB (0.003%).
As HR found, its measured perfor-
mance indicates that the AkitikA GT-
102 amplifier is happier driving higher
impedances, though this drawback
must be considered in the context of its
very affordable price.—John Atkinson

d d
B B
V r r
A A

sec Hz Hz

Fig.7 AkitikA GT-102, 1kHz waveform at 50W into Fig.8 AkitikA GT-102, spectrum of 50Hz sinewave, Fig.9 AkitikA GT-102, HF intermodulation spec-
8 ohms, 0.0033% THD+N (blue); distortion and DC–1kHz, at 50W into 8 ohms (left channel blue, trum, DC–30kHz, 19+20kHz at 50W peak into 8
noise waveform with fundamental notched out right red; linear frequency scale). ohms (left channel blue, right red; linear frequency
(red, not to scale). scale).

stereophile.com Q July 2018 65

AKITIKA GT-102
above.) I can hear the Paiste Sound Creation gongs, Carl
Orff mallet instruments, 1964 Slingerland snare drum, and
the “well-oxidized” (as it says in the credits), 22" Zildjian
cymbal sounding weighty, deliriously spatial, and with tone
to die for. Philipson’s bamboo flutes with paper membranes
float airy, pensive, antique melodies over the deep, rolling
bass power of Chinese drums. It is a wow moment, and
I don’t know if you will or should believe me, but with
this recording, I’m not 100% sure I don’t prefer the gentler,
warmer, darker sound of AkitikA’s little black box over the
burnished, hypertransparent authority of the Pass XA25.
The most obvious difference between the XA25 and
GT-102 was that the Pass delivers a soundstage filled with
10am sunlight, while the AkitikA’s stage is lit by something
akin to a twilight in which the entire landscape sinks into a
penumbra, and instrumental forms acquire halos.
The GT-102’s sound was distinctly warm, but not fuzzy-
coloration warm. The Pass XA25 probably leans 5% on the
cool side of my conception of a neutral sound, while the
AkitikA snuggles in about 10% on the warm side. Com-
pared to the XA25, the GT-102 sounded less sharp but
more supple—and it didn’t have as much power, which gave
it less punch, clarity, and weight, along with significantly less
midrange presence and transparency.
With the Magnepan .7
My 47 Laboratory 4706 Gaincard was definitely current-
limited into loudspeakers of low impedance. I was curious
to hear if the AkitikA GT-102 could crank up the Magnepan
.7 (nominal impedance: 4 ohms) quasi-ribbon speakers
without sounding dull or mushy.
At first, listening to the combo of AkitikA GT-102
and Magnepan .7s was enjoyable. I kept noticing how
rich and bouncy it sounded as I played a complete set of
Beethoven’s sonatas and variations for cello and piano (2
SACD/CDs, Channel Classics CCS SA 22605). Rhythms
and momentums seemed 90% there. Pieter Wispelwey’s
cello had good swing, and Dejan Lazic’s piano deliv-
ered countless dynamic moments, from the subtle to the
überpunchy, but the Maggies sounded as if someone had
draped a thin blanket over them. The presence range was
tonally rich, but everything above 3kHz and below 100Hz
sounded dull and distant.
The entire Pulp Fiction soundtrack (CD, MCA MCAD-
11103) sounded mildly distorted. Leading edges of transients
were blunted, and forward momentum felt restrained.
But! Bruce Willis’s talking in “Zed’s Dead, Baby” sounded
extraordinarily textural and surprisingly lifelike. The more
closely I listen to amps driving speakers, the more I notice
that midranges with moderately elevated levels of harmonic
distortion tend to generate an acute sense of tonal realism
and intelligibility with spoken-word recordings. I wonder
why that is.
With the KEF LS50
It was obvious from the start that KEF’s LS50, also with
a nominal impedance of 4 ohms, got on well with the
AkitikA GT-102. This pleased me immensely, because their
combined cost is less than $2000.
The Dead Weather’s Horehound (love that title) is the
audiophile version of a canary in a coalmine (CD, Third
Man/Warner Bros. 2-519785). When Jack White’s guitar
distortion itself sounds distorted—muddy, thick, noncrystal-
line—you know your amp and speakers are struggling. The
66
A S S O C I AT E D E Q U I P M E N T
Analog Sources AMG Giro G9, Linn Sondek LP12 Valhalla
turntables; SME M2-9 tonearm; AMG Teatro, EMT TSD 75,
Koetsu Rosewood Standard cartridges.
Digital Sources Mac mini computer running Audirvana
3.2; Border Patrol, Mytek HiFi Manhattan II, Schiit Audio
Yggdrasil Analogue 2 DACs; Integra DPS-7.2 DVD player
used as CD transport.
Preamplification Auditorium 23, Bob’s Devices CineMag
1131, Dynavector SUP-200, My Sonic Lab Stage 1030 MC
step-up transformers; Lounge Audio LCR Mk.III RIAA,
Tavish Design Adagio phono preamplifiers; Linear Tube
Audio microZOTL2.0, Pass Laboratories HPA-1, Rogue
Audio RH-5 line-level preamplifiers.
Power Amplifiers Bel Canto Design REF600M monoblocks,
First Watt J2, Pass Laboratories XA25, PrimaLuna ProLogue
Premium.
Loudspeakers Falcon Acoustics LS3/5a, Harbeth P3ESR,
Joseph Audio Pulsar, Magnepan .7, Tekton Impact Monitor.
Cables Digital: AudioQuest Cinnamon (USB), Kimber
Kable D60 Data Flex Studio (coax). Interconnect: Audio-
Quest Big Sur & Cinnamon, Auditorium 23, Kimber Kable
Silver Streak, TriodeWire Labs Spirit, Wireworld Silver
Eclipse 7. Speaker: Auditorium 23, TriodeWire American.
Accessories Harmonic Resolution Systems M3X-1719-
AMG GR LF, PS Audio PerfectWave PowerBase isolation
platforms; Sound Anchor speaker stands; Dr. Feickert
Analogue Protractor; Acoustical-Systems SmarTractor
cartridge-alignment protractor; Musical Surroundings
Fozgometer azimuth-range meter.—Herb Reichert
GT-102 plowed its way neatly into and all the way through
every cut on Horehound with no trace of smear or mud.
Their cover of Dylan’s “New Pony” had full, raving boogie
factor and LSD-spiderweb detail. Lower-midrange sounds,
such as male voices, were a touch rounder at the edges than
through the Pass XA25 or Bel Canto Design REF600M
monoblocks, but very close in overall tonality to Nelson
Pass’s First Watt J2, my solid-state reference for natural,
balanced tone. Through the LS50s, the AkitikA delivered
Dead Weather in a manner I can describe only as forceful
and crystalline.
Soundstage dimensionality and fresh, open-air transpar-
ency are traits I’ve never associated with low-cost, solid-state
amplifiers other than the Pass Labs XA25 ($4000), which
excels at those traits. I love the sound of room tone and
lifelike spatiality so that, in the under-$5000 range, I usually
recommend simple, low-feedback, tubed amplifiers like
the PrimaLuna ProLogue Premium ($2199) or the Line
Magnetic LM-518 IA ($4400). For a budget solid-state amp,
the AkitikA GT-102 produced extraordinarily deep, wide
soundstages and enjoyably lucid transparency—very much
like the PrimaLuna’s. In fact, with the KEF LS50s, the Akiti-
kA sounded enough like my 35Wpc, EL34-tubed ProLogue
Premium that, in a casual, unsighted audition, I might mistake
one for the other, mainly because of their similar midrange
tonality, bas-relief instrumental textures, focused imaging,
and shadowy soundstages.
The AkitikA GT-102 and KEF LS50s displayed such an
assured gymnastic personality that I had no desire to change
loudspeakers. Nonetheless . . .
July 2018 Q stereophile.com

With the Falcon Acoustics LS3/5a
Just when I thought I’d found the perfect amp-speaker
partnership, I discovered an even better one: the AkitikA
GT-102 driving Falcon Acoustics’ revealing LS3/5a ($2995/
pair). I judge all audio components by how they play solo
piano. For piano, I need solid but not hard. I need deli-
cately insightful reproduction that allows acoustic forces
and rhythmic shifts to be marvelous to behold. I need to
hear the keystrokes, pedaling, wooden soundboards, and
microphones on stands. I want to be in the presence of a
big, expressive music machine. I want to sense the spirits
of pianist and composer. With the AkitikA driving the
Falcons and Samson François playing three CDs’ worth of
Debussy’s music for solo piano (Erato 638754 2), I got all
of that—especially the rhythm shifts and a feeling for the
composer’s intentions.
Playing a variety of solo-piano discs, I compared the
GT-102 with the less powerful but sevenfold-more-costly
PrimaLuna ProLogue Premium. The AkitikA seemed to
emphasize the extreme ends of the keyboard; the PrimaLuna
emphasized the presence region.
The AkitikA and PrimaLuna sounded a lot alike driving
the KEF LS50s; they sounded a lot different driving the 15-
ohm Falcon LS3/5a’s. The GT-102 made the Falcons sound
fatter, deeper, fuller; the PrimaLuna made them sound leaner,
brighter, more transparent—but also more taut and solid.
I suspect the main reason the ProLogue Premium and
GT-102 sounded so different was not an issue of tubes vs
op-amps, but the way their power supplies interacted with
the Falcons’ impedance, which is far higher than the norm.
The AkitikA’s No.1 strength with the Falcons was how
stereophile.com Q July 2018
AKITIKA GT-102
attractively it rendered the complex harmonic structures
of such instruments as saxophone, harmonica, violin,
and marimba. Nevertheless, the PrimaLuna’s EL34 tubes
took men’s and women’s voices several steps further in
clarity, luminosity, and presence, and the Falcons made
those differences very easy to hear. With the AkitikA, my
reference Falcons sounded superbly detailed and harmoni-
cally enhanced. And the bass was better than ever.
Conclusions
The AkitikA GT-102 answers several age-old audiophile
questions. First and foremost, can a peasant-priced power
amp dance with a princess or dine with a king? The GT-102
proved that it can. But when the AkitikA hobnobs with such
audio royalty as the Joseph Audio Pulsar, does its fantastic
ratio of price to performance suggest that expensive audio-
phile amplifiers are overpriced?
I think not. Oversize, low-impedance power transformers,
current-wrangling power supplies, nonresonant enclosures,
high-quality jacks and binding posts, and isolating footers all
cost extra to build and ship. Nor are dealers, marketing, and
advertising free. For $488, the AkitikA GT-102 delivers 60
extremely satisfying musical watts direct from the factory,
without those expensive extras—and it’s available as a kit for
even less.
Building kits is fun—it makes you a wiser, smarter, more
spiritual person—and DIY forums are the best of all audio
forums. When you plug in your finished project for the first
time and music starts playing, Voilà! Your hands will shake
and your chest will swell. Are you ready for that? Super-
highly recommended. Q
67
 EQ U IPMENT R EPORT

JASON VICTOR SERINUS

Bricasti Design M15

POWER AMPLIFIER
n the second morning

O of a recent audio
show, I walked into
the exhibit room of
Bricasti Design.
“How about some Mahler?”
asked cofounder and designer
Brian Zolner.
“Oh God. Not at 10am!”
Listening to Mahler had
become de rigueur for my visits
to the exhibits of this Massachu-
setts-based company. From the
very first time that Zolner had
played part of Iván Fischer and
the Budapest Festival Orchestra’s
recording of Mahler’s Symphony
2 (SACD/CD, Channel Clas-
sics 23506) through a system
that combined Bricasti’s M28
monoblock power amplifiers, The undertones soon change from Wilson Audio’s Alexias to Alexia 2s,
M1 DAC, and M12 Source we felt that the M15 would be a good match for my
Controller with Tidal Audio’s of voice and system. John Atkinson signaled the okay, and a review
Piano Diacera speakers, I’d been accompaniment sample was on its way to me.
impressed by the layered dark- were well
ness of the bass and midrange, History Lesson
and the system’s ability to flesh fleshed out. Bricasti Design was founded in 2004 by two former
out Mahler’s despair. But begin- employees of Lexicon, a division of the Harman
ning the day with Mahlerian doom? No one should have to Specialty Group: sales executive Brian Zolner and DSP
suffer and be resurrected before noon. software engineer Casey Dowdell. After Bricasti released
After listening to a modest dose of alternate fare—it the Model 7 reverberation unit in 2007, and it became
wasn’t as mindless as “the flowers that bloom in spring, what Zolner described to me as “a staple of the professional
tra-la, nor as hackneyed as “Hotel California”—I learned recording industry,” the partners decided to enter the
that Bricasti’s M15 fully balanced stereo power amplifier consumer market, in 2011, with the M1 DAC. In 2014
($18,000), introduced in 2016 and offering 125Wpc into came the M28 monoblock power amplifier,1 and in 2016 the
8 ohms and 250Wpc into 4 ohms, had not been reviewed M12 Source Controller and matching M15 stereo power
by Stereophile. After running through the components in
1 Michael Fremer reviewed the M28 monoblock in May 2015, with a followup
my reference system with Zolner and Damon Gramont, from John Atkinson in August 2015; see www.stereophile.com/content/bricasti-
Bricasti’s head of sales, and noting that my speakers would design-m28-monoblock-power-amplifier.

SPECIFICATIONS
Description Solid-state
stereo power amplifier.
Inputs: 1 unbalanced (RCA),
1 balanced (XLR). Outputs:
1 pair speaker binding posts.
Power output: 125Wpc into 8
ohms, 250Wpc into 4 ohms,
500Wpc into 2 ohms (all
dBW). Frequency response:
10Hz–150kHz, ±0.5dB. Gain:
27dB. Signal/noise: >85dB
at full rated power. Input
impedance: 100k ohms
unbalanced, 200k ohms bal-
anced. Output impedance:
N/S. Power consumption:
60W standby, 2W idle.
Dimensions 17" (430mm)
W by 10.5" (265mm) H by
18" (455mm) D. Weight:
90 lb (40.8kg) net, 110 lb
(49.9kg) shipping.
Serial number of unit
reviewed 1017.
Price $18,000. Approximate
number of dealers: 14.
Warranty: 5 years, limited.
Manufacturer Bricasti
Design, Ltd., 2 Shaker Road,
Building J100, Shirley, MA
01464. Tel: (978) 425-5199.
Web: www.bricasti.com.

stereophile.com Q July 2018 69

 BRICASTI DESIGN M15

amplifier. These later products were engineered at AeVee
Laboratories, in New Haven, Connecticut, by a small group
of former employees of Madrigal Labs and manufactured at
Bricasti’s facilities in Shirley, Massachusetts.
“We like to make things that are very musical and natu-
ral,” Zolner said. “I don’t like things that are hyped-up in the
top end. Everyone is mixing things with so much hype these
days. I can’t listen to that pop stuff that they’re compressing
and then pumping up, so we’re careful to not go over the
top end as well. We want to bring out what’s in the record-
ing while aiming for a relaxed sound that you can listen to
for hours.”
Description and Setup
Zolner, who calls himself “the mechanical guy,” designed the
M15’s case, which comprises sections of milled and CNC-
machined aluminum, assembled and given an anodized
finish by Bricasti. Inside are a lot of custom mechanical com-
ponents, and on the rear panel are proprietary, gold-plated
speaker-cable binding posts, also designed by Zolner, that of-
fer what he calls “exceptionally wide contact area,” and open
wide enough to accept two pairs of thick spade lugs. Inside,
rather than using solder, Bricasti creates a superior molecular
bond by high-pressure crimping the binding posts to double
runs of fine-stranded (8 gauge) copper wire.
“There’s nothing really esoteric or too crazy inside,”
Zolner continued. “There are 24 bipolar output devices per
channel, bolted directly to the heatsink on the side of unit.
The power supply has a very large capacitor bank—there are
large, US-made electrolytics in the main cap bank—as well
as lots of smaller, German-made, high-frequency WIMA
film caps throughout the unit.”
After consulting Bricasti’s website and the M15’s manual,
and chatting further with Zolner, I learned that the M15 is,
in his words, a “big, all-analog, high-current, fully balanced
class-A/B power amplifier. Its bandwidth is to the megahertz.
There’s no filtering on the output, which is the case with
analog amplifiers, so that the transients are not differently ren-
dered, and it has very, very, extremely low output impedance
and very low distortion. The thing is flat to 800kHz.”
The M15’s rear panel is in three horizontal sections. In
the top section are widely spaced single-ended (RCA) and
balanced (XLR) inputs. While shorting plugs (not provided)
are urged for the balanced inputs if single-ended intercon-
nects are used, I used only balanced cables between DAC
and amp. In the middle section, below the inputs, are those
two pairs of widely spaced speaker-cable binding posts.
A healthy distance below, in the bottom section, are, from
left to right, trigger in/out, an RS-422 port currently used
only for diagnostics, a detented trim control that can lower
input sensitivity in four steps of 6dB each, to better match
the output of a preamp or DAC, and a three-prong IEC
connector. I never felt the need to change the amp’s input
sensitivity. Nor, thanks to the rear panel’s intelligent design,
did I ever need to worry about interconnects or speaker
cables transmitting unwanted noise by coming in contact
with the power cord.
On the M15’s front panel are two vertically aligned but-
tons, Power and Standby, separated by a red LED power
on/status indicator. Pressing both buttons generates a click,
and triggers the LED to flash slowly as the amp enters Idle
stage, in which it consumes only 2W. Only after the M15
has sensed that the voltage is within an acceptable range can
it be fully powered up.
A quick press of Standby produces another click and faster
flashing of the LED, to indicate that you’ve entered the
pre-heating stage, in which 60W are consumed. A second
quick press of Standby triggers a third click, the LED turns
solid red, and the M15 unmutes its inputs to enable music
playback.
Eager to hear how the solid-state M15 would sound with
and without a tube preamp, I installed Lamm Industries’
two-box L2.1 preamplifier ($22,790). With the bottom shelf
of my five-shelf Grand Prix Monaco rack already filled with
power products from Nordost and Isotek, I placed the dCS
Paganini CD transport on the top shelf and the preamp’s
control module atop it. The remaining shelves held the
Lamm preamp’s power supply, the dCS Rossini DAC, and,
sitting on a Grand Prix Formula platform, the Scarlatti clock.
I’d planned to place the Bricasti on one of my two Grand

MEASUREMENTS
measured the Bricasti Design 20Hz and 1kHz, decreasing at 20kHz

I M15 using my Audio Precision

SYS2722 system (see the January
2008 “As We See It”1). Before
I test an amplifier, I precondition it
with both channels driving a 1kHz tone
at one-third power into 8 ohms for
an hour. At the end of that time, the
Bricasti’s top panel was warm, at 101°F
(38.3°C), and its heatsinks were hotter,
at 103.1°F (39.5°C). The M15 has suf-
to 34k ohms. The balanced input
impedance was 170k ohms at 20Hz
and 1kHz, decreasing to 99k ohms at
20kHz. Though these impedances are
somewhat lower than the specified
d
B
r
A
100k ohms unbalanced and 200k ohms
balanced, they are still usefully high.
The output impedance, including a
6’, spaced-pair speaker cable, was a
very low 0.08 ohm at low and middle Hz

ficient heatsinking for its power rating.
The voltage gain at 1kHz from the
speaker terminals into 8 ohms mea-
sured 26.9dB for both balanced and
unbalanced signals, and both sets of
inputs preserved absolute polarity (ie,
were non-inverting). The unbalanced
input impedance was 88k ohms at
frequencies, rising to 0.1 ohm at the
top of the audioband. As a result, the
modulation of the M15’s frequency
response with our standard simulated
loudspeaker2 was less than ±0.1dB
(fig.1, gray trace). The Bricasti’s
frequency response is down by 3dB at
180kHz; as a result, a 10kHz square-
Fig.1 Bricasti M15, frequency response at 2.83V into:
simulated loudspeaker load (gray), 8 ohms (left
channel blue, right red), 4 ohms (left cyan, right
magenta), 2 ohms (green) (0.5dB/vertical div.).
1 See www.stereophile.com/content/
measurements-maps-precision.
2 See www.stereophile.com/content/
real-life-measurements-page-2.

stereophile.com Q July 2018 71

 BRICASTI DESIGN M15

Prix Monaco amp stands, but when I looked at the M15’s
feet, I sensed in them a purposefulness meant to discourage
the use of ancillary isolation products. Finding no informa-
tion about them online or in the manual, I called Bricasti.
It turns out that Zolner designed these feet, which house
OEM Stillpoints decoupling modules and are intended to
be placed directly on a hard surface. “I didn’t want people to
try balancing them on Stillpoints and having them fall over,”
Zolner said.
Goodbye amp stand, hello floor.
Listening
Having wasted too many hours critically listening to alleg-
edly fully-broken-in gear that was clearly still unready for
prime time, I no longer take manufacturer assurances of
factory break-in at face value. I cued up a Nordost break-
in CD and ran both its break-in and demagnetizing tones
through the system continuously at a decent volume for a
good three–four days, and began each listening session with
an additional 30-minute round of break-in and demagne-
tization. The M15’s sound remained consistent throughout
the listening period; it’s fair to conclude that it was suffi-
ciently broken in.
Even that, however, did not result in a totally firm bass
foundation from Teodor Currentzis and MusicAeterna’s
gut-wrenching recording of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony 6,
Pathétique (24/96 WAV, Sony Classical 88985 40435-2).2
And while the strings sounded quite liquid, even translucent,
they lacked shine. The sound was darker, more tempered,
less alive and involving than I’d expected.
This pattern of less-than-ideal bass and a toned-down
top end continued through a wide range of recordings. In
the sublime aria “Se potessero i sospir’ miei,” from Handel’s
opera Imeneo, from Philippe Jaroussky and Artaserse’s The
Händel Album (24/96 WAV, Erato 33572994),3 timbres
were true, but the high extension was darkened. As much
as I appreciated the tanginess of theorbo and violins and the
subdued tinkle of harpsichord, and could hear slight changes
in the weight and color of countertenor Jaroussky’s voice
during one long-breathed phrase, nothing shone. Jaroussky
is an exquisite artist, but a key element of his brilliance was
dimmed due to the Bricasti’s darker range of colors.
The M15 accurately delivered the extraordinarily wide
soundstage and warm midrange captured by engineer John
Atkinson in his recording of the Portland State Chamber
Choir in performances of Ɯriks Ešenvalds’s Northern Lights,
from Into Unknown Worlds (24/88.2 FLAC and 24/44.1
MQA.FLAC, CD Baby). However, the M15 curiously
favored the voices of the men over the higher voices of the
women, to the detriment of director Ethan Sperry’s carefully
balanced choral sound, and the radiant shimmer of glocken-
spiel and glass harmonica that make the conclusion of this
work so mesmerizing lost some of its glisten. Through the
dCS Rossini, the MQA version of this track sounded more
transparent, as if a veil had been lifted, but the tonality was
still a bit gray, and the “sparkle” that the choir sings of, and
that Ešenvalds depicts in sound, had lost its, well, spark.
There were some positives to this sort of sound. “Electri-
fied II,” from Yello’s Toy (24/48 WAV, Polydor 4782160/
HDtracks), is a hot recording with electronic sizzle
deliberately added to voices. Not only was that annoying
component of this otherwise stellar recording toned down
to the point that I could raise the volume without pain, the
undertones of voice and accompaniment were also well
fleshed out. The music may not have been as electrifying as
usual, but the ability to play it louder than before made for
an exciting few minutes.
This classical guy made a determined effort to listen to a
diverse assortment of recordings. To these ears and heart, the
2 See my review at www.stereophile.com/content/devastating-tchaikovsky-sixth.
3 See my review at www.stereophile.com/content/philippe-jarousskys-exquisite-
handel.

measurements, continued

wave was reproduced with very short
risetimes (fig.2), and there was no
overshoot or ringing with a resistive
load.
The unweighted, wideband signal/
noise ratio, taken with the inputs
shorted to ground, was a very high
81.2dB in the left channel but slightly
lower in the right, at 77dB. (Both ratios
are ref. 1W into 8 ohms.) These ratios
improved to a respective 84 and 78dB
when the measurement bandwidth was
restricted to 22Hz–22kHz, and to 86
and 83.4dB with an A-weighting filter
in circuit. Spectral analysis of the
low-frequency noise floor (fig.3) indicated
that the AC supply–related harmonics
were at 60Hz and its odd-order
harmonics, suggesting that these are
due to magnetic interference from the
massive power transformer. They lay at
or below –98dB (0.0011%), however.
Bricasti specifies the M15 as output-
ting 125Wpc into 8 ohms (21dBW),
250Wpc into 4 ohms (21dBW), and
500Wpc into 2 ohms (21dBW). The
amplifier comfortably exceeded its

d
B
r %
A

Hz W

Fig.2 Bricasti M15, small-signal 10kHz squarewave Fig.3 Bricasti M15, spectrum of 1kHz sinewave, DC– Fig.4 Bricasti M15, distortion (%) vs 1kHz continu-
into 8 ohms. 1kHz, at 1W into 8 ohms (left channel blue, right ous output power into 8 ohms.
red; linear frequency scale).

stereophile.com Q July 2018 73

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emotional and visceral his two contributions to

impact of Sarah Vaughan this album, and more
and the Count Basie heightened dynamic
Orchestra’s incomparable shifts. It all led me to
rendition of Sondheim’s scribble that “This tube
“Send in the Clowns,” the preamp is giving me
title track of their 1981 more of what the M15
studio recording (Pablo/ solid-state amp can’t
JVC-XRCD VICJ- supply by itself. Colors
60246), felt diminished are more saturated, and
by the muzzled bite voice and piano sound
of percussion and, in more substantial.”
particular, the loss of the Removing the Lamm
otherwise heightened in- preamp from the signal
tensity of carefully calcu- path was as simple as
lated cymbal accents and shifting two balanced
horn blatts. In addition, interconnects from its
the midranges of voice outputs to the Ros-
and piano were over-emphasized, and the rasp that became sini’s—but whenever I did, I missed the Lamm’s captivating
part of the divine Ms. Sassy’s singing later in life was toned chocolatey richness and warmth. When I played Riccardo
down. The thrill this recording delivers—it once hushed to Chailly’s recording, with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, of
stunned silence a large group of audio-show attendees in Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring (24/96 FLAC, Decca 458142/
VAC’s exhibit room—was lessened. HDtracks)4 through the M15 alone, I may have heard
One advantage of reviewing recordings is that, rather excellent three-dimensionality and fairly good color, but I
than brief snippets, I regularly play entire albums through lamented the overall sound’s toned-down grayness and lack
equipment I’m reviewing. Listening to Debussy Songs 4 of light in the highs. With the Lamm relinked to the chain,
(24/96 FLAC, Hyperion CDA68075) through the dCS I heard more substantial, airy, and colorful sound, and once
Rossini DAC feeding the M15, I found the voice of soprano again could savor that chocolatey-rich tang.
Lucy Crowe beguilingly sweet, fresh, and clear, and ideal But nothing else I did delivered the bass impact and con-
for Debussy’s early songs. However, when I inserted the trol of my reference D’Agostino Master Systems Progression
Lamm L2.1 preamp between Rossini and M15, I heard monoblocks. Through the M15, the complex bass lines of
more air around her voice, and more undertones, which Berg’s atonal Three Pieces for Orchestra, in the recording by
rendered her interpretations more profound. There was also Michael Tilson Thomas leading the San Francisco Sym-
more weight and texture to pianist Malcolm Martineau’s phony, sounded muddy, verging on the swampy (24/192
distantly recorded accompaniment, greater substance and 4 See my review www.stereophile.com/content/world-premiere-stravinsky-
resonance to the voice of baritone Christopher Maltman on recording-rousing-rite.

measurements, continued

specified power even with both chan-
nels driven. With clipping defined as
when the THD+noise in the output
reaches 1%, I measured clipping pow-
ers of 290Wpc into 8 ohms (24.6dBW,
fig.4) and 550Wpc into 4 ohms
(24.4dBW, fig.5). However, I had some
difficulty measuring the maximum
output power, as the M15 went into
protection several times, the red LED
on its front panel flashing. And when
I tried to measure the clipping power
into 2 ohms, the amplifier turned off
at 362W (19.6dBW). I doubt that this
sensitivity will be a problem in real-
world systems, but I was surprised by
this behavior.
To be certain that I was measuring
actual distortion, I examined how the
M15’s percentage of THD+N varied
with frequency at a fairly high level,
20V (equivalent to 50W into 8 ohms,
100W into 4 ohms, and 200W into 2
ohms). Even so, the THD+N was ex-

% % V

W Hz sec

Fig.5 Bricasti M15, distortion (%) vs 1kHz continu- Fig.6 Bricasti M15, THD+N (%) vs frequency at Fig.7 Bricasti M15, 1kHz waveform at 50W into
ous output power into 4 ohms. 20V into: 8 ohms (left channel blue, right red), 4 8 ohms, 0.0012% THD+N (blue); distortion and
ohms (left cyan, right magenta), 2 ohms (gray). noise waveform with fundamental notched out
(red, not to scale).

stereophile.com Q July 2018 75

BRICASTI DESIGN M15

FLAC, SFS Media/Primephonic)5 —and they were boomy

in Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra’s record-
ing of Mahler’s Symphony 5 (SACD/CD, Channel Classics
34213). The Lamm certainly helped clarify things in the
bass, but it could do only so much.
This led me to ponder some comments made by John
Atkinson as he measured the Wilson Audio Alexia 2, also
reviewed in this issue. He wrote, by e-mail, that the Alexia
2 still presents “a difficult load for an amplifier to cope with,
with an impedance that drops to 2.6 ohms in the midbass
and with combinations of 3.5 to 4 ohms and fairly high
electrical phase angle in the lower midrange. But it is very
sensitive, which will to some extent ameliorate the effect of
the impedance. By sensitive, I mean that because the Alexia 2
will play loudly with just a few volts, the speaker’s demand
for the appropriate amount of current will be reduced
compared with a speaker having the same impedance but
requiring lots of volts.”
It’s difficult and more than a bit foolhardy for this less-
than-technical genius to attempt to apply JA’s carefully
considered observations about the Alexia 2 to its interaction
with an amplifier that, as I completed this review, he had not
yet measured. Whether or not his technical analysis will ex-
plain why an amp I had expected would excel in bass impact
and control failed to deliver those qualities, I don’t know.
Conclusions
Bricasti Design’s M15 stereo power amplifier lives up to
designer Brian Zolner’s goal of delivering “a relaxed sound
that you can listen to for hours.” There is nothing “hyped-up
in the top end,” and much to enjoy in its colorful if toned-
down sound. Whether or not it will float your boat will be
determined, in large part, by the load your speakers present
to an amplifier, and by the other components in your sys-
tem. If your combination of equipment, cabling, and room
A S S O C I AT E D E Q U I P M E N T
Digital Sources dCS Paganini SACD/CD transport &
Scarlatti clock & Rossini DAC; Intel NUC7i7BNH computer
with 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD, running Roon; Linksys router
with two TP-Link GB Ethernet media converters &
multimode duplex fiber-optic cable; iPad Pro, external
hard drives, USB sticks
Preamplifier Lamm Industries L2.1.
Power Amplifiers Dan D’Agostino Master Systems
Progression monoblocks.
Loudspeakers Wilson Audio Specialties Alexia 2.
Cables Digital: AudioQuest Diamond (Ethernet), Nordost
Odin 1 & Odin 2 & Valhalla 2 (USB), Wireworld Platinum
Starlight Cat8 (Ethernet). Interconnect, Speaker, AC:
Nordost Odin 2.
Accessories Grand Prix Monaco rack & amp stands, 1.5"
Formula platform; Nordost QX4, QK1 & QV2 AC power
accessories; Synergistic Research Transporter & PowerCell;
Isotek EVO3 Sigmas & Audience aR2p-TSSOX power
conditioners, GreenWave filter; AudioQuest NRG Edison
outlets; Nordost Sort Lifts (speaker cables); Marigo Clear
Transformation CD mat; Stein Music Signature Harmonizers,
Blue Suns/Diamonds, Quantum Organizer; Bybee Room
Neutralizers; Absolare Stabilians; Resolution Acoustics
room treatment; Stillpoints Aperture panels. Listening
Room: 20' L by 16' W by 9' H.—Jason Victor Serinus
produces a sound that tends toward the harsh, the bright,
and/or the overtly analytical, the Bricasti M15 could be just
what the doctor ordered. Q
5 See my review at www.stereophile.com/content/berg-composes-world-chaos.

measurements, continued

tremely low in the bass and midrange,
and while there was the usual rise in
the treble due to the decrease in open-
loop voltage gain as the frequency
increases, this was still not to a signifi-
cant amount (fig.6).
The THD+N waveform at this
level (figs. 7 and 8) indicates that
the distortion is predominantly
third-harmonic in nature, though at
high powers into 4 ohms the second
harmonic became the highest in level
in both channels (fig.9). Tested with an
equal mix of 19 and 20kHz tones, the
Bricasti produced relatively low levels
of intermodulation distortion, even
at high powers into low impedances
(fig.10), with the difference product at
1kHz lying at –100dB (0.001%), and
the higher-order products at or below
–84dB (0.01%).
Its measured performance indicates
that Bricasti Design’s M15 amplifier is
conservatively engineered, with low
noise and distortion, though it is clearly
less happy driving 2 ohms than it is
higher impedances. —John Atkinson

d d d
B B B
r r r
A A A

Hz Hz Hz

Fig.8 Bricasti M15, spectrum of 50Hz sinewave, Fig.9 Bricasti M15, spectrum of 50Hz sinewave, Fig.10 Bricasti M15, HF intermodulation spectrum,
DC–1kHz, at 50W into 8 ohms (left channel blue, DC–1kHz, at 100W into 4 ohms (left channel blue, DC–30kHz, 19+20kHz at 100W peak into 4 ohms
right red; linear frequency scale). right red; linear frequency scale). (left channel blue, right red; linear frequency
scale).

76 July 2018 Q stereophile.com

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say the piano is more realistic. I hear each piano key being struck
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 EQ U IPMENT R EPORT

THOMAS J. NORTON

Anthem Electronics STR

D/A INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER
top me if I’ve said this

S before (okay, I have):

There’s much to be said
for integrated ampli-
fiers. While separates have long
dominated high-end audio, an
increasing number of integrated
products not only bundle a
preamp and power amp, but
sometimes add digital inputs of
various flavors, phono stages,
bass and treble controls (long on
life support in audiophile gear),
and more.
It’s the “more” that interests
me—specifically, the access to
equalization that can compen- Some bass dips are This can be treated with equalization,
sate, at least to some degree, for though the usual objections to EQ can’t
the inevitable problems created
virtually infinite— be totally ignored. EQ’s effects are usually
by any listening room of domes- sonic black holes that optimal only at or near the main listening seat
tic size, particularly in the region EQ can’t correct. or sweet spot—and elsewhere in the room,
below 300–500Hz. The Marantz they might even make the sound worse than
AV8802A surround processor I it is without EQ, though that can also be true
use for much of my listening, including home-theater duties of a non-equalized system. The insertion of extra circuitry
for our sister publication Sound & Vision, includes the Audys- in the chain might also adversely affect the sound. Some
sey suite of EQ functions, although I don’t use it. bass dips are virtually infinite—sonic black holes that EQ
In a typical audio system, we can often do little about the can’t correct (though if narrow enough, they might well be
room’s effect on the bass range. The frequency below which inaudible). And the only practical way to perform the type
the room’s contributions dominate the sound, called the of equalization I’m talking about is digitally, which to many
Schroeder frequency, varies with the room. But unless your audiophiles remains anathema.
room is the size of a ballroom or concert hall, apart from Of course, well-equalized sound that’s restricted to a
your speakers’ low-end limit, much of the quality of what single sweet spot isn’t a problem for the lone audiophile
you hear below 200Hz will be a product of the space you’re who almost always sits in that spot. And objections to
listening in. greater circuit complexity would apply only if any audible

SPECIFICATIONS
Description Solid-state,
class-AB integrated amplifier
with Anthem Room Correc-
tion (ARC). Analog audio
inputs: 4 unbalanced (RCA),
1 balanced (XLR), 2 phono
(MC, MM). Digital audio
inputs: 2 S/PDIF (RCA), 2
S/PDIF (TosLink), 1 USB,
1 AES/EBU (XLR). Pream-
plifier outputs: variable,
fixed, subwoofer (all RCA).
Communication (updates
& control): USB, mini USB,
Ethernet RJ-45, RS-232, IR in,
12V trigger out. Digital input
sample rates: USB: PCM
32/384, DSD at 2.8MHz
& 5.6MHz. HDMI & S/
PDIF: PCM 24/192. Internal
digital processing: 32/192.
Power output (continuous,
20Hz–20kHz, <1% THD):
200Wpc into 8 ohms
(23dBW), 400Wpc into 4
ohms (23dBW), 550Wpc
into 2 ohms (21.5dBW).
Signal/noise (1kHz, IEC-A, 2V
RMS out): digital in, 44.1kHz,
112dB; analog in, DSP mode,
110dB; analog in, direct mode,
120dB. Phono input imped-
ance: 47k ohms MM, 100
ohms MC. Power consump-
tion: typical use, 250W; high
output, 500W; idle, 40W.
Dimensions 17" (432mm)
W by 6.75" (172mm) H by
17.5" (445mm). Weight: 40
lb (18kg).
Finishes Silver, Black.
Serial number of unit
reviewed AGL1215587.
Price $4499. Approximate
number of dealers: 1100.
Warranty: 5 years.
Manufacturer Anthem
Electronics, 205 Annagem
Boulevard, Mississauga,
Ontario L5T 2V1, Canada.
Tel: (905) 696-2868.
Web: www.anthemav.com.

stereophile.com Q July 2018 79

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 ANTHEM ELECTRONICS STR

degradation outweighs the benefits. The fact that such EQ
will require that any pure analog input signal be converted
to digital for processing is just another campaign in the war
of digital vs analog, which audiophiles began fighting in the
late 1970s and which shows no sign of tapering off.
The objections to the sonic degradations caused by added
circuitry and complexity are somewhat mitigated when
the EQ software is built into an integrated amp or preamp
whose designer has control, rather than being done by an
outboard device that might require external connections and
additional A/D and/or D/A conversions. Classé’s Sigma
2200i integrated amplifier, which I reviewed in April 2017,1
included a flexible range of parametric equalization, but its
proper use required a user or dealer/installer with measur-
ing tools and skills. The Anthem Room Correction (ARC)
included in the Anthem STR integrated amplifier reviewed
here is far easier to use, though getting it up and running
does require some basic computer skills.
Features
The Anthem STR ($4499) is available in all black or all silver.
At 40 lb, it’s moderately light and cool-running for a class-AB
amplifier specified to output 200Wpc into 8 ohms, 400Wpc
into 4 ohms, or 550Wpc (!) into 2 ohms across the entire
audioband at less than 1% total harmonic distortion (THD).
The STR’s power-amp stage is built around a single large,
toroidal transformer, with oversize filter capacitors and load-
monitoring circuitry for optimal performance. Its 2-ohm rat-
ing should allow the STR to work without breaking a sweat
with virtually any modern speaker, some of which have
impedances that can dip that low—or even lower—in at least
a narrow part of their frequency range.
Apart from ARC, the Anthem STR offers more than the
usual complement of features for an integrated. There are
five analog inputs (four sets unbalanced, one set balanced);
digital conversion and processing can be bypassed with each
of them. The six digital inputs include two TosLink optical,
two coaxial, and one AES/EBU, all of which support inputs
of up to 24-bit/192kHz. An asynchronous USB Type B
digital input accepts PCM up to 32/384, and DSD at 2.8
or 5.6MHz. All internal digital processing is performed in
PCM at 32/192, so all digital inputs are converted to that
resolution, including DSD and, if desired, the analog inputs.
There’s also a pair of unbalanced, fixed-level RCA
preamp outputs for connection to a headphone amp (the
STR has no headphone output, a curious omission in today’s
market), plus separate, variable-level, unbalanced preamp
outputs, in the unlikely event that you choose to later add
1 See www.stereophile.com/content/class%C3%A9-sigma-2200i-integrated-
amplifier.

MEASUREMENTS
measured the Anthem STR using filtering, and Anthem Room Correction The output impedance was a low

I my Audio Precision SYS2722 sys-

tem (see the January 2008 “As
We See It”1). Before I test an am-
plifier, I precondition it with both chan-
nels driving a 1kHz tone at one-third
power into 8 ohms for an hour. This
thermally stresses an amplifier with a
conventional class-AB output stage. At
the end of the hour, the top panel was a
warm 95.4°F (35.3°C), but the exposed
tops of the internal heatsinks were too
hot to touch, at 150.6°F (65.9°C). Even
so, the STR has sufficient heatsinking
for its rated power.
The analog inputs can be set either
to be digitized at 32-bit/192kHz, in or-
der to have the tone controls, crossover
(ARC) available or to Analog Direct
mode. With the Anthem’s volume
control set to “0.0,” the maximum
voltage gain at 1kHz into 8 ohms with
an unbalanced input measured 37.2dB
from the speaker terminals. Unusually,
the balanced inputs offered a decrease
in gain of 6dB rather than the usual
increase of 6dB. Increasing the volume
setting to “+7.0” increased the gain by
exactly 7dB. Both balanced and unbal-
anced line inputs preserved absolute
polarity (ie, were non-inverting), the
balanced XLRs being wired with pin 2
hot. Both the balanced and unbalanced
input impedances measured 20k ohms
at all audio frequencies.
0.07 ohm at 20Hz and 1kHz, rising
slightly to 0.16 ohm at 20kHz. Conse-
quently, the variation in the Anthem’s
frequency response with our standard
simulated loudspeaker2 was very small
(fig.1, gray trace). Other than into 2
ohms (green trace), there is a small
peak at the top of the audioband, which
correlates with a very slight, critically
damped overshoot in the STR’s repro-
duction of a 10kHz squarewave (fig.2).
These two graphs were taken with the
balanced inputs; the results were iden-
1 See www.stereophile.com/content/
measurements-maps-precision.
2 See www.stereophile.com/content/
real-life-measurements-page-2.

d d
B B
r r
A A

Hz Hz

Fig.1 Anthem STR, balanced analog input, frequen-
cy response at 2.83V into: simulated loudspeaker
load (gray), 8 ohms (left channel blue, right red),
4 ohms (left cyan, right magenta), 2 ohms (green)
(0.5dB/vertical div.).
Fig.2 Anthem STR, balanced analog input, small- Fig.3 Anthem STR, digitized unbalanced analog
signal, 10kHz squarewave into 8 ohms. input, frequency response at 2.83V into 8 ohms
with ARC as used by TJN (left channel blue, right
red; 2dB/vertical div.).

stereophile.com Q July 2018 81

 ANTHEM ELECTRONICS STR

an outboard amp. There are also dual subwoofer outputs (I
didn’t test them), configurable for mono or stereo. Should
you go the EQ route, ARC will also correct the response of
any subwoofer hooked up to your system, including separate
EQ for stereo subs.
The STR has two phono inputs, one each for moving-
magnet and moving-coil cartridges. My experience with the
current state of vinyl playback is limited, so any test by me
of these inputs’ sound would be more a comment on the
sounds of some ancient cartridges than on the STR itself. So
I didn’t listen to the phono inputs; John Atkinson assesses
their performance in his “Measurements” sidebar.
There’s an Ethernet port for configuring ARC (the STR
itself is not WiFi-capable); alternatively, a mini USB B port
can be used to set up ARC via a PC configured with the
downloadable ARC software. A USB Type A port is for
factory use only. An RS-232 input, a remote IR input, a 12V
trigger, a single pair of high-quality L/R speaker terminals,
and the ubiquitous IEC port for the detachable power cord
fill out the spacious rear panel, which isn’t nearly as crowded
as this description makes it sound.
The large display on the STR’s front panel shows the
volume setting in numerals large enough to be read from
across the room. When Info is selected, additional infor-
mation appears: the operating input, ARC status (on or
off), source resolution, and whether the output is in stereo
or mono. The illumination level of these readings can be
dimmed or turned off; in the latter case they still appear
briefly, when an adjustment is made, then disappear. I left
the window on all the time—I like to keep track of where I
am during a review—but Anthem has you covered if you’re
concerned about any effect a lit display might have on the
sound (I’m not, and heard none.)
A single large knob to the right of the display can be used
to adjust the volume in steps of 0.5dB, or to navigate the
setup menus. There are also buttons for Power, Mute, and
additional setup actions: Menu/Select, Previous, and Next.
I rarely used any of the front-panel controls, preferring
Anthem’s small, wireless, IR remote-control handset, which
can be used to perform the identical functions. But some
things, such as giving the inputs custom names, might be
easier to do via the front panel.
Setup: Basic
The STR can be adjusted in a number of ways, with or
without EQ. You can apply high- and low-pass filters for
the main speaker and subwoofer(s) outputs at any frequency
from 20 to 160Hz, and adjust the sub’s polarity and level,
and the listening position. The high- and low-pass filters can
be defeated if you want to drive the main speakers full-
range with a sub, then set the sub’s low-pass frequency with
its own, onboard low-pass filter (which most subs have).

measurements, continued

tical with the unbalanced inputs, and at
all settings of the volume control.
I reset the unbalanced input to
digitize the signal and looked at the
frequency response. I was at first
puzzled by the result (fig.3), but then
realized that Tom Norton had been
using ARC and that its correction was
active for this input, which was produc-
ing the boosts and cuts below 500Hz
in this graph. I disabled ARC, then
measured the effect of the STR’s Bass
and Treble controls set to their +10dB
and –10dB positions. The Bass control
offers a range of ±10dB below 20Hz,
the Treble control ±10dB above 20kHz.
Channel separation was excellent, at
120dB R–L and 100dB R–L below 2kHz,
and still 90dB in both directions at
20kHz. With the analog inputs shorted
to ground and the volume control set
to “0.0dB,” the wideband, unweighted
signal/noise ratio (ref. 2.83V into 8
ohms) measured 76.8dB. Restricting
the measurement bandwidth to 22kHz
increased the ratio to 83.7dB, and an
A-weighting filter increased it further,
to 86.4dB. (All ratios are the average of
the two channels.) The primary source
of noise was spectral components at
the 60Hz AC power-line frequency and
its odd-order harmonics (not shown),
these most likely due to magnetic
interference from the large, centrally
placed toroidal transformer.
The STR is specified as delivering
a maximum continuous output power
of 200Wpc into 8 ohms (23dBW),
400Wpc into 4 ohms (23dBW), or
550Wpc into 2 ohms (21.4dBW). At
our usual definition of clipping (ie,
when the percentage of THD+noise
in the amplifier’s output reaches
1%), with continuous drive the STR
delivered 225Wpc into 8 ohms (fig.4,
23.5dBW) and 375Wpc into 4 ohms
(fig.5, 22.7dBW). The slight shortfall
into 4 ohms is likely due to the fact that
I don’t hold the wall voltage constant
during my testing; it had dropped from
120.6VAC with the amplifier at idle to
118.6V with the amplifier clipping into
4 ohms.
The shapes of the traces in these

% % %

W W Hz

Fig.4 Anthem STR, analog input, distortion (%) vs Fig.5 Anthem STR, analog input, distortion (%) vs Fig.6 Anthem STR, analog input, THD+N (%) vs
1kHz continuous output power into 8 ohms. 1kHz continuous output power into 4 ohms. frequency at 20V into: 8 ohms (left channel blue,
right red), 4 ohms (left cyan, right magenta), 2
ohms (gray).

stereophile.com Q July 2018 83

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 ANTHEM ELECTRONICS STR

Other selectable features include balance, bass, and treble
controls, and a rumble filter.
You can choose to convert the analog inputs to digital at
32/192, or turn the conversion off and pass the analog signal
along to the amp section with no digital conversion. But this
will bypass ARC for the analog input selected, as well as all
features described above that are also dependent on digital
processing: bass and treble controls, rumble filter, and all
subwoofer filters and adjustments. The subwoofer outputs
will remain active, both of them carrying full-range mono;
you’ll then have to use the subwoofer’s own low-pass filter.
There are four different Profiles, into which you can load
different speaker setups; eg, with and without a subwoofer.
Since I didn’t use a sub, I used only a single Profile. But
the manual uses the words profile and configuration (or config)
synonymously, which can be confusing. And while it also
isn’t made entirely clear, the same input can be configured
in different ways with different names. For example, I set up
two separately named configurations for Coax 1, the input
I used 99% of the time: one with ARC on, the other with
ARC off. This made switching between them, for compari-
sons, far easier than drilling down into the menu to turn
ARC on and off.
There are also housekeeping controls: Display Bright-
ness, Mute Level, Maximum Volume, and volume level at
power-on.
Because I evaluated the STR full range, without a
subwoofer, and only with a digital input, my setup was far
simpler than the above discussion might imply. But with its
ability to set up different inputs separately, use more than
one setup for any input, pass along an analog input unaltered
or convert it to digital for processing, and more, the STR is
exceptionally flexible. I left most of the controls at their fac-
tory default settings, which meant that it took me about five
minutes to get the STR up and running. Setting up ARC
will take a little longer.
All listening was done with my Monitor Audio Silver 10
speakers, and without subwoofer(s). The Silver 10s were
positioned about 6' out from one of the short, bay-shaped
walls of my room, spaced about 9' apart and just slightly
more than that from the main listening seat, and toed in so
that their axes crossed just in front of the listener.
Setup: ARC
Anthem Room Correction comes with a calibrated USB
measurement microphone, a mike stand, and various cables.
There are two versions of the program, one for use with a
PC and not compatible with a Mac OS, the other for use on
a mobile device (iOS only). I used only the computer ver-
sion, with the mike and STR both connected directly to the
computer’s USB inputs.
After you’ve downloaded the ARC software from An-
them’s website and opened it, you enter the serial number
of the calibrated mike. While downloading and installing

measurements, continued

two graphs suggest that actual distor-
tion is very low and lies below the noise
floor at powers up to at least 100W. I
therefore measured how the THD+N
percentage changed with frequency
at 20V output, equivalent to 50W
into 8 ohms, 100W into 4 ohms, and
200W into 2 ohms (fig.6). Though the
left channel (blue and cyan traces) is
slightly more linear than the right (red,
magenta) and there is the usual rise
in the top octaves, the Anthem STR
offers very low distortion. The distor-
tion signature appears to be primarily
second-harmonic in nature, though the
third harmonic was dominant in the
left channel at high power into 4 ohms
(fig7, blue trace). Intermodulation
distortion at high powers was relatively
low, even at high powers into 4 ohms
(fig.8).
Both the MC and MM phono inputs
preserve absolute polarity, and offer
maximum gains of 72.2 and 91dB at
the speaker outputs. The MC input
impedance was the specified 100
ohms from 20Hz to 20kHz; the MM
impedance was 44k ohms at 20Hz and
1kHz, dropping to 37k ohms at 20kHz.
The RIAA equalization was superb
and well matched between channels
(fig.9). The MM input’s audioband S/N
ratio, ref. 1kHz at 5mV, was very good,
at 67.5dB, this improving to 78.4dB
when A-weighted. The MC input’s S/N
ratio was around 6dB lower, which is
still very good considering the higher
gain. Both phono inputs’ overload
margins were also excellent, at 26dB
across the audioband (MM) and 19dB
(MC), and both harmonic distortion
and intermodulation distortion were
extremely low.
Turning to the digital inputs, the
AES/EBU, coaxial, and optical TosLink
inputs all locked to datastreams with
all sample rates up to 192kHz. Apple’s
AudioMIDI app indicated that the
USB input accepted 24-bit integer
data with sample rates up to 384kHz.
Apple’s USB Prober utility identified
the Anthem amplifier as the “STR USB
Hi-Res Audio” from “XMOS,” and in-
dicated that its USB input operated in

d d d
B B B
r r r
A A A

Hz Hz Hz

Fig.7 Anthem STR, analog input, spectrum of 50Hz Fig.8 Anthem STR, analog input, HF intermodula- Fig.9 Anthem STR, phono input, response with
sinewave, DC–1kHz, at 100Wpc into 4 ohms (left tion spectrum, DC–30kHz, 19+20kHz at 100Wpc RIAA correction (0.5dB/vertical div.).
channel blue, right red; linear frequency scale). peak into 4 ohms (left channel blue, right red;
linear frequency scale).

stereophile.com Q July 2018 85

 ANTHEM ELECTRONICS STR

ARC is relatively straight- the calculation, the final,

forward, tech help was compensated curve is also
readily available by phone shown on the computer
from Anthem. screen. If you judge it to
ARC can be set up for a be satisfactory, you can
maximum upper EQ fre- then upload the correc-
quency of 20kHz or lower; tion curve to the STR.
above 5kHz, the mike Different results (eg, with
becomes more directional and without a subwoofer)
and therefore less accurate. can be loaded into each of
A bass EQ limit can also the STR’s four available
be set, to avoid pushing Profiles.
the speakers beyond their natural low-end limits. For the One major advantage claimed for doing the calculations
same reason, the slope of that bottom-end rolloff, up to in the computer instead of, as with Audyssey, inside the
fourth-order, can also be set, and room gain adjusted. The preamp or pre-pro itself, is that the computer’s greater pro-
latter can be set to adjust the response below about 200Hz; cessing power can do more complex calculations far more
a flat in-room response in the bass typically sounds too lean. quickly. The filters derived from these calculations operate
I changed it only slightly from the default. at 32/192, whereas the best that Audyssey does in current
The actual setup of ARC is well covered in the manual, Audyssey-equipped consumer products is, to my knowledge,
so I’ll just summarize here. Measurements are taken for up 24/48.
to 10 mike positions at and around the main listening seat, When Anthem regional rep Joey Perfito visited to help
with a recommended minimum of five. The computer set up the STR, he performed an EQ all the way up to the
screen then displays the result prior to EQ correction, along maximum of 5kHz. But after he’d left, I did all of my early
with the post-EQ target curve. After the computer runs listening without EQ, to evaluate the STR’s performance as

measurements, continued

the optimal isochronous asynchronous
mode. A 1kHz digital signal at 0dBFS
resulted in an output level of 15.47V
into 8 ohms with the volume control
set to “–20.0,” which suggests that the
STR’s gain with digital signals is a little
too high.
The Anthem’s impulse response
with 44.1kHz data indicates that the
reconstruction filter is a conventional
linear-phase type, with time-symmet-
rical ringing to either side of the single
sample at 0dBFS. With 44.1kHz-
sampled white noise (fig.10, red and
magenta traces) the STR’s response
rolled off sharply above 20kHz, reach-
ing full stop-band suppression at just
over half the sample rate (vertical
green line). An aliased image at 25kHz
of a full-scale tone at 19.1kHz (blue and
cyan traces) can’t therefore be seen.
The distortion harmonics of the 19.1kHz
tone all lie below –84dB (0.006%).
With data sampled at 44.1, 96, and
192kHz, the response followed the
same shape as the blue and red traces
in fig.4, with sharp rolloffs below each
Nyquist frequency.
When I increased the bit depth from
16 to 24 with a dithered 1kHz tone at
–90dBFS, the noise floor dropped by
13dB or so (fig.11), meaning that the
STR offers at least 18 bits’ worth of
resolution. With undithered data rep-
resenting a tone at exactly –90.31dBFS,
the three DC voltage levels described
by the data were well resolved and the
waveform was perfectly symmetrical
(not shown).
The STR’s rejection of word-clock
jitter with 16-bit AES/EBU data (fig.12)
was superb, with all of the odd-order
harmonics of the LSB-level, low-fre-
quency squarewave at the correct levels
(sloping green line). With 24-bit J-Test
data (not shown), no jitter-related
sidebands were present above –130dB
(0.00003%) via the AES/EBU, coaxial
S/PDIF, and USB inputs. Only via the
TosLink input did the Anthem STR
depart from perfection: a large number
of sidebands were present, spaced at
120Hz intervals (not shown).
Anthem’s STR is a well-engineered
amplifier offering high power and
respectable measured performance.
—John Atkinson

d d d
B B B
r r r
A A A

Hz Hz Hz

Fig.10 Anthem STR, digital input, wideband
spectrum of white noise at –4dBFS (left channel
red, right magenta) and 19.1kHz tone at 0dBFS (left
blue, right cyan), with data sampled at 44.1kHz
(20dB/vertical div.).
Fig.11 Anthem STR, digital input, spectrum with
noise and spuriae of dithered 1kHz tone at –90dBFS
with: 16-bit data (left channel cyan, right magenta),
24-bit data (left blue, right red) (20dB/vertical
div.).
Fig.12 Anthem STR, digital input, high-resolution
jitter spectrum of analog output signal, 11.025kHz
at –6dBFS, sampled at 44.1kHz with LSB toggled
at 229Hz: 16-bit AES/EBU data (left channel blue,
right red). Center frequency of trace, 11.025kHz;
frequency range, ±3.5kHz.

stereophile.com Q July 2018 87

 ANTHEM ELECTRONICS STR

a simple integrated amp. As mentioned liantly recorded—and so dynamic that, Singers’ collection of Gilbert & Sul-
earlier, all of my listening, pre- and in places, the very top-end information livan songs, Here’s a Howdy Do! (CD,
post-EQ, was done with digital source sounds as if it was subtly overload- RCA Victor 61885-2), had rewarding
material, using a direct, digital coaxial ing the mixing desk. Nevertheless, spatial depth as one or another of the
connection from my Marantz UD7007 audiophiles accustomed to six-figure singers was given prominence in the
universal Blu-ray player and, briefly, amps and speakers might find it hard arrangements. The sound was also a
via a USB link from my computer. I to credit the explosive sound I heard to bit warm, but this wasn’t particularly
didn’t test the analog inputs—I had on a system in which the combined price obvious, as this recording offers little in
hand no relatively new, reliable, pure of speakers and amps was $7000. The the way of extended bass.
analog sources with which I’m inti- result was punchy and likely true to That was definitely not the case with
mately familiar, and using my Blu-ray the source, with excellent detail and Eeg Fonnesbæk (CD, Stunt STUCD
player’s analog output would involve, an open midrange. At one point I laid 15082), one of my 2018 picks for
at minimum, one extra unnecessary aside my notepad and just listened— “Records to Die For.” This stunning
D/A conversion at the player’s output, which is, after all, what it’s all about. studio recording, featuring the voice of
and add its effects, if any, to the test. On Leo Kottke’s My Father’s Face Danish jazz singer Sinne Eeg and the
(CD, Private Music 2050-2-P), the double bass (and occasional electric
Listening: Without ARC Anthem portrayed well his gravelly, bass) of Thomas Fonnesbæk, sounded
One of my favorite things about audio textured voice, providing solid bass almost as good here as it did through a
shows is discovering recordings that depth, and top-end detail supported pair of Revel Ultima2 Salon2 speakers
I might want to own for enjoyment, by believable warmth. And the King’s CONTINUED ON PAGE 119
testing, or both. And despite the car-
cass that was the high-end audio por-
tion of the 2018 Consumer Electronics
ARC MEASUREMENTS
Show, I did hear at least one such
While ARC’s own computer-screen tests: precise mike positions can be
recording, in the Harman-Levinson-
results show the performance of the difficult to reproduce, possibly
Revel room: Marcus Miller’s M 2 (CD,
system before and after running the skewing the results.
3 Deuces/Telarc CD-83534). It’s not
room EQ, I also measured the results To save space, fig.1 shows only the
the style of music I’d normally choose
with an independent system: the Parts right channel, the worse of the two
(jazz fusion, featuring Miller’s work
Express OmniMic. While this system pre-EQ measurements. (The left
on bass guitar and other instruments)
isn’t as sophisticated as the gear John channel, post-EQ, did eliminate a
but I ordered it when I got home. My
Atkinson uses to measure loudspeak- similar dip at around 43Hz, meaning
enjoyment of it through the STR and
ers for Stereophile, it does use a that that dip was indeed correctible,
my system was enormously helped by
calibrated microphone, and can reveal and not one of the black-hole
its superbly clean recording quality,
what ARC is doing to the response. frequency dips.) Note the significant
with a smooth, silky, unexaggerated
While the actual equalized peaks and dips below 300Hz, which
top end and solid imaging.
responses were performed by ARC are not rare in room responses.
M 2 doesn’t feature a ton of depth,
using an average of eight or nine Surprisingly, they don’t sound as bad
but is solidly up front and highly dy-
microphone positions, the OmniMic as these response curves might
namic. The Anthem had no problem
plots shown here (all were 1⁄6-octave suggest—we do adapt to the quirks of
keeping up with it. I did hear a little
averaged) represent a single listening our own rooms. But ARC’s smoothing
excessive warmth and body in the
position. In my room, the differences of the response between 80 and
bass guitar and kick drum, particularly
between a single and multiple points 200Hz is clearly visible, as is the
when I cranked the volume to the lev-
were trivial, though multiple positions improvement in that 43Hz dip. The
els the music demands. But experience
did smooth out the dip in the overall response is still elevated from
tells me that this was a room effect,
equalized response at 43Hz. The use the bass to the upper bass compared
possibly aided by the Monitor Audio
of multiple mike positions also adds to the midrange and treble, but that’s
speakers, although, as usual, they were
uncertainty where the goal is to desirable in a room response taken at
positioned well forward of the wall be-
document multiple before-and-after the seating position. —Thomas J. Norton
hind them. But it wasn’t pervasive; on
some tracks the kick drum was tighter
and positioned farther back, suggest-
ing that at least some of the warmth I
heard might be in the mix as it varied
from cut to cut. Overall, however, the
Anthem STR never gave me reason to
complain.
Nils Lofgren’s Acoustic Live (CD, Vi-
sion Music VMCD1005) is something
of an audiophile chestnut, particularly
“Keith Don’t Go,” a track whose 6.5 Fig.1 Top curve: right
minutes have thrilled or tortured channel, before ARC
EQ. Bottom curve:
audiophile showgoers for years. This right channel, after
track, now 20 years old, has somewhat ARC EQ.
faded as a demo piece, but it’s still bril-

stereophile.com Q July 2018 89

 EQ U IPMENT R EPORT

KEN MICALLEF

BorderPatrol P21 EXD

POWER AMPLIFIER
ack at the beginning

B of 2017, Greg Rob-

erts, of Volti Audio,
devised a clever way
to bring his Rival floorstanders
up to my penthouse pad, for
what resulted in a rave review1
of those horn-loaded wunder-
speakers.
I live on the top floor of a
seven-story, elevatorless build-
ing on a busy street in Green-
wich Village. A vertical chal-
lenge? No problem! Roberts
is resourceful in many things,
from speaker design to his
former profession, the building
of custom homes. Affixing a
pair of unguent-saturated straps
to the screws on each side of a
Rival, we lifted and transported
the 106-lb speaker high in the
gritty Manhattan sky as if it
were child’s play. Neither of us
emitted a huff or a puff. Why design a 300B amplifier Months passed. Things got
Afterward, speaker installa- interesting. Steve Guttenberg
tion complete, we decamped in push-pull rather than raved about the BorderPatrol
to my favorite Italian restau- single-ended-triode (SET) mode? DAC on his popular CNET
rant, on Father Demo Square. blog, reporting that “the Bor-
Over spaghetti and meatballs, Roberts said, “Your Shindo derPatrol struck me as the ideal converter for audiophiles
amplifier sounds great, but you’ve got to get Gary Dews’s who complain about the sound of digital audio, and prefer
BorderPatrol amps in your system. I use them at every listening to LPs.” And, as if on cue, Stereophile’s own Herb
show.” When a designer as talented as Roberts—whose Rival Reichert—who knew I had a BorderPatrol P21 EXD stereo
is one of the top five speakers I’ve ever heard—recommends 1 See my review in the June 2017 issue: www.stereophile.com/content/
a component, I listen. volti-audio-rival-loudspeaker.

SPECIFICATIONS
Description Two-channel,
tubed, power amplifier with
external power supply. Tube
complement: amplifier,
two Sovtek 6C45PE, four
300B; power supply, two
6AU4-GTA, two EZ80.
Line-level inputs: 2 (RCA).
Outputs: 2 pairs each of 3
binding posts—ground, 8
ohm tap, 4 ohm tap. Output
power: 20Wpc into 8 ohms
(13dBW). Input sensitivity:
1.2V RMS to full output. In-
put impedance: 100k ohms.
Channel balance: 0.5dB.
Frequency response: 10Hz–
36kHz, –3dB. Minimum load
impedance: 3 ohms. Gain:
10dB. Power consumption:
300W.
Dimensions Amplifier:
17" (430mm) W by 13.5"
(340mm) H by 13.5"
(340mm) D. Weight: 37.5
lb (17kg). Power sup-
ply: 8.7" (220mm) W
by 6" (145mm) H by 14"
(345mm) D. Weight: 35.2 lb
(15.9kg).
Finishes Ash, Cherry, Ma-
hogany, Maple with metal
top and bottom panels.
Serial number of unit
reviewed Demo P21.
Price as reviewed $14,450
(P21 EXD, $13,150; four
300B tubes, $650/pair).
Approximate number of
dealers: 24. Warranty: 18
months, 3 months on tubes.
Manufacturer
BorderPatrol Audio
Electronics,
11864 Sidd Finch Street,
Waldorf, MD 20602.
Tel/Fax: (301) 705-7460.
Web: www.borderpatrol.net.

stereophile.com Q July 2018 91

BORDERPATROL P21 EXD

amplifier in-house—said, over Chinese chops in Chelsea,
“That’s an amplifier I should be reviewing!” If Herb’s all in,
well . . .
With Roberts acting as middleman, BorderPatrol owner
and British ex-pat Gary Dews hand-delivered one of his P21
EXD stereo power amplifiers to my building’s pink-and-
blue-tiled lobby. As his amp, its external power-supply unit
(PSU), and a box of tubes were easily toted, the usual slog
up six flights of stairs was painless. After a few hours of lis-
tening to LPs and CDs, I invited Dews to accompany me to
my habitual red-sauce joint. We ordered, and I quizzed him
about the design of the P21 EXD, a most unusual amplifier
whose 300B output tubes are configured in push-pull mode
offering 20Wpc.
Beyond Borders?
Gary Dews builds three levels of the P21, which is the two-
channel version of his P20 monoblock power amplifier: the
P21, with aluminum chassis and stock power supply ($9325,
300B tubes extra); the P21 EXD, with better internal com-
ponents, cryogenically treated copper chassis, and cryogeni-
cally treated interstage and output transformers, with stock
external PSU ($13,150, 300B tubes extra); and the P21 EXS,
which has the same specs as the EXD but comes with a
special twin-power-transformer EXS PSU, in heavy gauge
copper casework and full cryogenic treatment ($18,775,
300B tubes extra). My review sample of the P21 EXD had
two pairs of EML 300B tubes ($650/pair), bringing its total
cost to $14,450.
The P21 EXD is 17" wide by 13.5" high by 13.5" deep,
weighs
A S S35.2
O Clb,I AT
and E
is D
hardwired
E Q U Ipoint-to-point
P M E N T throughout.
Its internal shell comprises a copper chassis and base plate
surrounded by an outer wooden plinth. My review sample’s
plinth was finished in rustic mahogany (ash, cherry, and
maple are available). The P21 EXD’s features are plentiful
and good: fixed-bias output stage; multi-section, split-
bobbin output transformers; carbon-film resistors; and DC
filament supplies for the 300B tubes, rectified by Schottky
diodes. Among its other novel design distinctions, the P21
EXD uses interstage transformers to couple the driver tube
to the 300Bs, and does not employ global negative feedback.
BorderPatrol’s website describes the P20 and P21 as
“Single-ended all the way up to the inter-stage transformer”;
both amps “[take] advantage of this supposedly antiquated
technology to split the phase in a more accurate and time
consistent way than the much more common active phase
splitters. . . .”
“The P21 doesn’t use coupling capacitors between the
small 6C45pi input/driver tube and the 300B output
tubes,” Dews told me. “It’s transformer-coupled using an
interstage phase splitter/driver transformer to couple the
driver tube to the 300Bs. This is rare but has several advan-
tages. A transformer provides a very high-impedance load
to the driver tube, linearizing its operation and maximizing
its voltage output. It provides perfectly matched phase-split
output voltages to the 300B pairs.”
Why design a 300B amplifier in push-pull rather than
single-ended-triode (SET) mode?

MEASUREMENTS
measured the BorderPatrol P21 ohms, 15.9dB from the 4 ohm tap into measuring 87k ohms at 20Hz, 75k at

I EXD using my Audio Preci-

sion SYS2722 system (see the
January 2008 “As We See It”1).
I installed the numbered 300B tubes
in the correct sockets, as identified
in the manual, but I didn’t adjust the
bias for the two pairs of 300B output
tubes, feeling that I should measure
the amplifier in the condition it was
auditioned by Ken Micallef.
The P21 EXD’s voltage gain at 1kHz
into 8 ohms was lower than the norm,
at 17dB from the 8 ohm tap into 8
8 ohms, and 14.5dB from the 4 ohm
tap into 4 ohms. While performing this
test, I could hear a relatively loud 1kHz
tone coming from the amplifier. Investi-
gating with a stethoscope revealed that
this tone was loudest on the metal top
panel. In use, this noise will be masked
by the sound coming from the loud-
speakers, but it is unusual. Both sets
of output transformer taps preserved
absolute polarity (ie, were non-invert-
ing). The input impedance was lower
than specified but still usefully high,
1kHz, and 53k ohms at 20kHz.
The output impedance was high,
at 3.3 ohms at 20Hz and 1kHz from
the 8 ohm tap, and 1.9 ohms from the
4 ohm tap at those frequencies. At
20kHz, these impedances respectively
increased to 3.7 and 2.5 ohms. As a
result, the modulation of the Border-
Patrol’s frequency response with the
8 ohm tap driving our standard
simulated loudspeaker2 was a very
1 See www.stereophile.com/content/
measurements-maps-precision.

d
B
r
A

Hz

Fig.1 BorderPatrol P21 EXD, 8 ohm tap, frequency Fig.2 BorderPatrol P21 EXD, 8 ohm tap, small-signal Fig.3 BorderPatrol P21 EXD, 8 ohm tap, small-signal
response at 2.83V into: simulated loudspeaker 1kHz squarewave into 8 ohms. 10kHz squarewave into 8 ohms.
load (gray), 8 ohms (left channel blue, right red),
4 ohms (left cyan, right magenta), 2 ohms (green)
(1dB/vertical div.).

92 July 2018 Q stereophile.com

 BORDERPATROL P21 EXD

“A push-pull 300B design will stock PSU. At 35 lb, it’s beefy,

typically have 20Wpc, which and chock-full of technology.
allows it to work with a wider “The PSU contains three in-
range of loudspeakers,” Dews dependent tube-rectified, choke
said. “Push-pull amps typically input filter, high-voltage sup-
have tighter, punchier bass than plies to independently feed the
SETs, can drive much more 300Bs, the input/driver tubes,
difficult speaker loads, and play and the negative bias supply,”
a wider selection of music. A Dews wrote in an e-mail. “It
stiff power supply, like the ones also supplies filament voltages
used with BorderPatrol SETs, for the 300Bs and small signal
addresses the SET dynamic and tubes. A pair of 6AU4-GTA
bass issues significantly, but a high-voltage rectifier diodes are
similarly executed push-pull like used in the 300B supply, and
the P21 will still be superior in EZ80 full-wave rectifiers are
those areas.” used in the input/driver and
Note Dews’s description of negative-voltage bias supplies.
the typical sound of 300B SET amplifiers: “[They] are often The use of choke input filtering is a critical difference, and is
charming and beguiling but have low power, are limited dy- unique to BorderPatrol power amplifiers. . . . A choke-input-
namically, and have poor bass performance. They need to be filter design has far superior voltage regulation (stiffness) and
partnered with loudspeakers that have very high sensitivity, noise rejection.”
and a high and uniform impedance characteristic. Complex
music with heavy bass is best avoided. SETs predominantly Setup
generate even-order harmonic distortion, which gives them Though a vintage Thorens TD 124 Mk.I turntable has
the characteristic open, airy, romantic sound. It’s not accu- recently taken up residence in domum Micallef (thanks to Art
rate, but it can be nice. Push-pull amplifiers predominantly Dudley and Sound & Vision’s Michael Trei for setup assis-
generate odd[-order] harmonic distortion, which leads to a tance), I relied on my Kuzma Stabi turntable and Stogi tone-
sharper, less romantic sound, but one that is still engaging.” arm with Hana EL moving-coil cartridge for analog duties,
Built into a separate aluminum enclosure is the P21 EXD’s wired through my Auditorium 23 step-up transformer to

audible ±1.9dB (fig.1, gray trace). From
the 4 ohm tap, the response variations
were still ±1.4dB (not shown). The
BorderPatrol’s frequency response
rolled off rapidly above the audioband.
The reproduction of a 1kHz waveform
from both taps was still suitably square
(fig.2), though with a small amount of
overshoot on the leading edges.
Looking at a 10kHz squarewave (fig.3),
that overshoot is critically damped,
with no ringing evident.
Channel separation was good,
at 90dB in both directions at 1kHz.
However, the unweighted, wideband
signal/noise ratio, ref. 1W into 8 ohms
and taken from the 8 ohm outputs
and with the inputs shorted to ground,
was disappointing, at 60.6dB left
and 56.8dB right. These S/N ratios
improved to 76.7 and 73.1dB, respec-
tively, when an A-weighting filter
was switched into circuit. The ratios
from the 4 ohm tap were consistently
2dB greater, and spectral analysis of
the low-frequency noise floor (fig.4)
indicated that the primary source of
noise was AC-supply–related spikes
at 120 and 240Hz, though the 60Hz
and odd-order harmonics are much
lower in level. The frequencies of
these spikes, which are related to the
full-wave–rectified supply frequency,
suggest that they are due to subopti-
mal internal grounding. I experimented
with the grounding between the Audio
Precision and the P21, and repeated
some of the measurements with the
EXD power supply’s ground lifted with
the rear-panel switch. The published
results were taken with the lowest
noise I could achieve.
BorderPatrol specifies the P21 EXD
as delivering up to 20Wpc (13dBW),
presumably with the load matched
to the nominal output transformer
2 See www.stereophile.com/content/
real-life-measurements-page-2.

d
B
r % %

Hz W W

Fig.4 BorderPatrol P21 EXD, 8 ohm tap, spectrum Fig.5 BorderPatrol P21 EXD, 8 ohm tap, distortion Fig.6 BorderPatrol P21 EXD, 4 ohm tap, distortion
of 1kHz sinewave, DC–1kHz, at 1W into 8 ohms (left (%) vs 1kHz continuous output power into 8 ohms. (%) vs 1kHz continuous output power into 8 ohms.
channel blue, right red; linear frequency scale).

stereophile.com Q July 2018 93

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Tel: +1(518) 261 6464 Email:sales@luxmanamerica.com Tel: 045 470 6991 Fax: 045 470 6997 www.luxman-global.com
 BORDERPATROL P21 EXD

my Shindo Allegro dual-mono preamplifier. An LG Blu-ray
player and PS Audio NuWave DAC fed the Shindo digital
signals via Triode Wire Labs American interconnects. With
my Follow-Up on Klipsch’s Heresy III loudspeaker2 still
dripping digital ink, those horn-loaded squat-boys remained
in the system for the first part of my listening, followed by
DeVore Fidelity’s Orangutan O/93 floorstanders. Audito-
rium 23 and Triode Wire Labs American speaker cables
were used for both.
The P21 EXD has speaker-cable taps for 4 and 8 ohms;
I found the latter slightly more dynamic, and so did all of
my listening in 8 ohm mode.
The P21 EXD isn’t all that heavy at 37.54 lb, and slid
easily into the bottom shelf of my Salamander rack. The
umbilical that links the P21 and its PSU is rather short,
however. I ended up placing the PSU parallel to the P21,
under the stubby bench my CD player sits on, perched on
four Mapleshade Isoblocks. The PSU I plugged straight into
the wall, no filter. I pressed the on/off switch on its faceplate
and the games began.
Listening
As a for-hire Stereophile scribe, my job is to communicate
my impressions of the sound of the audio component I’m
assigned to review, warts and all. If I can’t describe an ampli-
fier’s sound in a clear, concise, convincing, and hopefully
somewhat entertaining manner, I’m not worth what Stereo-
phile pays me. I like to think that, most of the time, I get it
right—my 22 years of hi-fi reviewing put me in good stead:
in the black, not the red. But for all my juggling of sources
and speakers, spinning numerous LPs, and quizzing Gary
Dews until he was ready to bust, any characteristic sound
that the BorderPatrol P21 EXD may have had evaded my
ears, at least at first. Its standout trait seemed to be its unerring
transparency. But is any audio component truly transparent,
imposing on the music no personality of its own and thus
influencing the listener’s perception of that music not at
all? Balderdash, I say. Nonetheless, I heard what I heard—or
didn’t hear.
I played LPs familiar and, mostly, foreign, as well as files
streamed and ripped. Although I sometimes enjoy using
recordings new to me to evaluate gear, only by playing very
familiar recordings—ones practically ingrained in my DNA—
could I arrive at any definitive conclusions regarding the
BorderPatrol amplifier. But once I did, its character spoke
loud and clear.
Some amplifiers speak volumes about tonal saturation,
about the macro- and microsubtleties of an instrument’s
timbre and texture. Others image superbly, while still others
rejoice in dynamics, in rapid ascents and dizzying plummets.
Some sound like tube bluebloods, others speak a clean solid-
state language. Though it took a while, the BorderPatrol
P21 EXD eventually revealed an undeniable sonic signature.
My slowness in grasping its unique sound is testament to
Gary Dews’s genius in creating an exceptionally musical and
understated amplifier.
2 See my Follow-Up in June 2018.

measurements, continued

tap. With clipping defined as when
the THD+noise in the output reaches
1%, I measured a clipping power of
19.5Wpc into 8 ohms from the 8 ohm
tap (12.9dBW, fig.5) and into 4 ohms
from the 4 ohm tap (9.9dBW, fig.6),
with both channels driven. With the 8
ohm tap driving 4 ohms (not shown),
the BorderPatrol clipped at 7.1Wpc
(5.5dBW). It did better when the load
impedance was higher than the tap
value, the 4 ohm tap clipping at 15Wpc
into 8 ohms (11.8dBW, fig.7).
I examined how the P21’s percent-
age of THD+N varied with frequency
at a relatively low level (2.83V,
equivalent to 1W into 8 ohms and
2W into 4 ohms). Even so, and from
the lower-midband-distortion 4 ohm
tap, while the THD+N was respect-
ably low in the midrange into 8 ohms
(fig.8, blue and red traces) and 4 ohms
(cyan, magenta), there were large
rises in both the treble and bass. The
higher treble distortion is due to the
decrease in open-loop voltage gain as
the frequency increases; the higher
bass distortion is most likely due to
the increase in saturation of the output
transformer’s core as the frequency
decreases. This is poor performance.
Note how the right channel (red and
magenta traces) has lower midrange
distortion than the left (blue, cyan).
This will be due to the bias for the left
channel being not quite optimal. (I
assume it must have drifted during the
auditioning.)
The THD+N waveform with a 1kHz
signal at 1Wpc from the 8 ohm tap into
8 ohms (fig.9) indicates that the dis-
tortion mostly comprises the relatively
benign second and third harmonics,
though every harmonic is surrounded
by power-supply–related spuriae

% % V

W Hz sec

Fig.7 BorderPatrol P21 EXD, 4 ohm tap, distortion Fig.8 BorderPatrol P21 EXD, 4 ohm tap, THD+N Fig.9 BorderPatrol P21 EXD, 8 ohm tap, 1kHz
(%) vs 1kHz continuous output power into 4 ohms. (%) vs frequency at 2.83V into: 8 ohms (left waveform at 1W into 8 ohms, 0.11% THD+N (blue);
channel blue, right red), 4 ohms (left cyan, right distortion and noise waveform with fundamental
magenta). notched out (red, not to scale).

stereophile.com Q July 2018 95

BORDERPATROL P21 EXD

From the all-acoustic, past-meets-present exotica of

Transcending Continents and Memories: Medieval Europe Meets
Traditional Chinese Meets Avante-Gard (LP, M•A Recordings
M091A) to the throbbing electronica of Björk’s Homogenic
(LP, One Little Indian TPLP71)—plunging deep to near-
subsonic frequencies produced from, respectively, vibra-
phone and synthesized keyboards—the combo of P21 EXD
and Klipsch Heresy IIIs created superb bass vibrations in
my small listening space. Both the deep resonances of the
percussion and stringed instruments on Transcending Conti-
nents and Björk’s menacing synth tones summoned distinc-
tive bass flavors, each equally compelling and somewhat
surprising. Where my Shindo Haut-Brion power amp has
always reproduced bass frequencies as very colorful, rich,
and highly saturated presences, the P21 EXD unleashed
deep-bass delights that ranked with the tightest and tautest,
if not the deepest, I’ve heard in my Greenwich Village aerie.
When the Hana EL cartridge slipped into the grooves of Ho-
mogenic’s “Hunter,” the BorderPatrol’s bass rumble was not
only heavy and of great quantity, but the notes practically
levitated, seeming to rise from the suspended wood-plank
floor like the coils of some large creature flexing its muscles.
Beginning with the quality of its low-bass frequencies,
the P21 EXD didn’t respond like any other tubed amplifier
I know—certainly not like the Art Audio Diavolo 300B am-
plifier I owned many years ago. From then on, the Border-
Patrol’s sound impressed me with its super-“black” back-
grounds, solid dynamics, excellent imaging, and a special
way with texture and touch. After I got over thinking that
the P21 EXD was simply transparent, I heard its true voice:
one of great subtlety, nuance, dynamic inflection, and re-
trieval of micro-information. Like all amplifiers that eschew
gross distortion to focus on the spaces between the notes,
the P21 EXD re-created the wholeness of the signals sent
A S S O C I AT E D E Q U I P M E N T
Analog Sources Kuzma Stabi S turntable & Stogi tonearm;
Thorens TD 124 Mk.I turntable, Jelco 350S tonearm;
Denon DL-103, Hana EL, Ortofon 2M Bronze cartridges.
Digital Sources Apple MacBook computer running
Audirvana Plus; LG BD550 BD player (as transport); Halide
DAC HD, Mytek HiFi Manhattan, PS Audio NuWave DACs;
Western Digital T2 Mirror Drives (2).
Preamplification Auditorium 23 A23 moving-coil step-up
transformer, Heed Audio Quasar phono preamplifier,
Shindo Laboratory Allegro preamplifier.
Power Amplifier Shindo Laboratory Haut-Brion.
Integrated Amplifier Heed Audio Elixir.
Loudspeakers DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/93, Elac
Debut B6, Quad S2, Klipsch Heresy III.
Headphones Master & Dynamic MH40.
Cables Interconnect: AudioQuest Chicago & Water &
Yukon, DiMarzio M-Path, Morrow Audio MA-1, Shindo
Laboratory, Triode Wire Labs American. Speaker: Audio-
Quest Castle Rock, Auditorium 23, Tellurium Q Black,
Triode Wire Labs American. AC: manufacturers’ own.
Accessories IsoTek IVO3 Aquarius power conditioner,
Music Hall Aztec Blue & Mooo record mats; Spec AD-UP1
Analog Disc Sheet; Salamander five-tier rack; IKEA Aptitlig
bamboo chopping boards (under turntable, preamp, power
amp); Mapleshade maple platform (15" by 12" by 2") &
mahogany Isoblocks (2" by 2" by 0.5"); 3"-thick studio-
treatment foam damping (ceiling, walls).
Listening Room 12' L by 10' W by 12' H, system set up
along short wall; suspended wood floor, 6"-thick walls
(plaster over 2x4), wood-beamed ceiling. —Ken Micallef

measurements, continued

(fig.10). The second harmonic is high-
est in level even at low frequencies,
though higher-order products are also
present at lower levels (fig.11). Tested
with an equal mix of 19 and 20kHz
tones, the BorderPatrol produced high
levels of intermodulation distortion
(fig.12), the difference product at 1kHz
lying at –32dB (2.5%), despite the
low power level at which I took this
measurement.
While its low distortion at powers
of a few hundred milliwatts will mean
it will work best with very sensitive
speakers, overall, I was disappointed
by the BorderPatrol P21 EXD’s
measured performance, especially
considering that, as reviewed, it costs
$14,450. Modern tube amplifiers can
do better than this,3 or perform about
the same for a lower price.4 The
question is: Did KM like the sound of
the P21 EXD because of its measured
performance or despite it? I don’t
know the answer to that question.
—John Atkinson
3 See www.stereophile.com/content/audio-research-
reference-75-power-amplifier-measurements.
4 See www.stereophile.com/content/primaluna-
dialogue-premium-power-amplifier-measurements.

d d d
B B B
r r r
A A A

Hz Hz Hz

Fig.10 BorderPatrol P21 EXD, 8 ohm tap, spectrum Fig.11 BorderPatrol P21 EXD, 8 ohm tap, spectrum Fig.12 BorderPatrol P21 EXD, 4 ohm tap, HF inter-
of 1kHz sinewave, DC–1kHz, at 1W into 8 ohms (left of 50Hz sinewave, DC–1kHz, at 1W into 8 ohms modulation spectrum, DC–30kHz, 19+20kHz at
channel blue, right red; linear frequency scale). (left channel blue, right red; linear frequency 1W peak into 8 ohms (left channel blue, right red;
scale). linear frequency scale).

96 July 2018 Q stereophile.com


it, revealing the subtle melodic and
rhythmic gradations of every recording
I played. Though it could sound a bit
dry at times—unlike my Shindo Haut-
Brion, whose sound is perpetually rich
in saturated tonal colors—the P21 EXD
was more down-to-Earth, if not neces-
sarily more buttoned-down. Its sound
was less romantic, but perhaps more
neutral than my dear Shindo. In that,
the two amps represent performance
ideals that I find equally exciting.
The P21 EXD’s talent at reproduc-
ing discrete orchestral notes with
inner refinement and attention to
microdynamics was very evident with
two black discs: Mozart’s Sinfonia
Concertante for Violin and Viola, with
Jean-François Paillard conducting his
own orchestra (LP, Denon OX-7022-
ND); and Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy
and Hindemith’s Violin Concerto,
performed by violinist David Ois-
trakh, with the London Symphony
Orchestra conducted respectively by
Jascha Horenstein and Paul Hindemith
(LP, Decca/Ace of Diamonds SDD
465). From both discs I could hear the
sensual burr of the strings, even what
sounded like the orchestral players
inhaling and exhaling, and the unusual
“crying” tone of Oistrakh’s violin—an
emotional presence that the P21 EXD
captured perfectly. Again, instrumental
nuances and the intricacies of textures
were striking as revealed through the
P21 EXD. The BorderPatrol’s sound
was balanced and coherent from top to
bottom, and neutral in the best sense
of the word.
I always return to the terrific Blue
Note LPs of tenor saxophonist Hank
Mobley, the “middleweight champ”
who left a hard-won legacy of driving,
deeply felt, brilliantly swinging hard
bop gracefully informed by his clear-
headed, melodically wondrous solos
and breezy blowing. When people ask
for a jazz starter package, Mobley’s
Workout, No Room for Squares, A Caddy
for Daddy, and The Turnaround! always
top my list.
One of my favorite Mobley albums
is from 1960: Soul Station (LP, Blue
Note BLP 4031), a perfect LP for judg-
ing dynamics, midrange fullness, spatial
realism, and toe-tapping rhythmic
drive. Through the P21 EXD, Mob-
ley’s blissful tenor sounded intact, with
a bigger sense of air but less of that
lush, romantic tone I always associate
with this album. I also sensed more
propulsion, more microdynamic intri-
cacies from Art Blakey’s drums, and
stereophile.com Q July 2018
BORDERPATROL P21 EXD
the full-on heady release of that divine
nonchalance expressed so perfectly
by Mobley, Blakey, pianist Wynton
Kelly, and bassist Paul Chambers. This
is Saturday-night swing, all bonhomie
and carefree exultation. The P21 EXD
brought light and playfulness where
before it was all shade and pure, sweet,
insular soul.
The Story of O/93
Changing out the Klipsch Heresy IIIs
for the DeVore Fidelity Orangutan
O/93s3 created more fireworks and
revealed more of the P21 EXD’s
personality. I immediately missed the
midrange and treble spread of the
Heresys’ horns and the low-end
delivery of their 12" woofers. But the
more focused, detailed sound of the
O/93s only confirmed my previous
observations. As I played Soul Station, or
Dave Holland’s Triplicate (LP, ECM
1373), or Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis’s
Cookbook (LP, Prestige 7141), the P21’s
delicate resolution of microdynamics
and shading was more evident. I missed
the warmth and tone of my Shindo
Haut-Brion’s lower-end fundamentals,
but was gobsmacked by the speed,
clarity, and slam of the P21 and O/93s.
Triplicate was as palatable and present as
I’ve heard it, from the bassist’s knotty
rounds to drummer Jack DeJohnette’s
multi-limbed crash and roll, surging
from left to right in swinging, skull-
wringing stereo. The O/93s needed a
lot more power to sing at full voice, but
paid dividends in exposing the nooks
and crannies of the P21’s well-defined
soul and frequently huge soundstages.
This I Dig of You
If we engaged in a bit of that forum
fanaticism called A/B/X testing, I
surely could not tell whether the
BorderPatrol P21 EXD stereo ampli-
fier was tubed or solid-state, SET or
push-pull, a flea-watt flea-market steal
or a high-tech class-D switching amp.
It’s simply a great amplifier, a tremen-
dous all-round performer, a machine
made of tubes and trannies and nuts
and bolts and wires that got me closer
to the music without adding much in
the way of editorializing. Gary Dews’s
mahogany-wrapped 300B engine is
transparent, dynamic, and a serious
truth-teller. It defies expectations while
opening a door to new discoveries
and memorable journeys. Your music
library deserves no less. Q
3 See www.stereophile.com/content/devore-fidelity-
orangutan-o93-loudspeaker.
97
 A SECOND IMPRESSION

FOLLOW-UP HERB REICHERT, ART DUDLEY,

JOHN ATKINSON & JASON VICTOR SERINUS
THIS ISSUE : Second listens to
Joseph Audio, HoloAudio, and
Lamm, and measurements of
LG’s hi-rez smartphone

JOSEPH AUDIO PULSAR LOUDSPEAKER and response, flute and sax riding high
Ever since loudspeaker designer Jeff Joseph, owner of Joseph Audio, delivered over rhythms of marimba and congas.
and carefully positioned in my Bed-Stuy bunker a pair of his stand-mounted Soumah’s sound has an enjoyable
Pulsar loudspeakers ($7700/pair without stands, serial nos. P-0187L/R), I’ve been force and texture. The outlines of this
experiencing a new variety of audio pleasure. I’d experienced short, scattered album’s precisely rendered images
moments of a similar pleasure in Joseph’s rooms at various audio shows, but I’d are beyond any I have experienced
never been able to understand its cause or perceive its full nature until I heard at home. The only aural images I’ve
the Pulsars in my home system. As I told Joseph as he walked out the door, “You “seen” as clearly rendered as these
know, I don’t own any $7700 adjectives.”1 came from Alta Audio’s Hestia Tita-
nium floorstanders ($32,000/pair).3
I needed to spend time with the Pul- To check that I wasn’t dreaming,
sar so I could understand what made I played my trusty DSD download
it a Class A (Restricted Extreme LF) of Puente Celeste’s Nama (DSDx2,
product in Stereophile’s list of Recom- M•A Recordings M084A) and almost
mended Components: Joseph Audio’s instantly had to admit that I’d never
smallest speaker (15" high by 9” wide experienced that quantity or purity of
by 13" deep), the Pulsar hadn’t been resolution in my own home either.
in our pages since Michael Fremer Piano and voice were focused, but it
reviewed it in the June 2012 issue2 —its was the textural pleasure of Santiago
design hasn’t changed since then—and Vazquez’s low singing and whistling
had fallen from our listing. And as over Luciano Dyzenchauz’s bowed
John Atkinson reminded us in last double bass that hooked me and held
April’s “Recommended Components” my attention.
feature, “In general, components I have experienced countless highly
do not remain listed for more than resolving loudspeakers, but almost
three years unless at least one of the none was also highly involving. The
magazine’s writers and editors has had Joseph Audio Pulsar was both.
continued experience with them.” With the Pulsar, all types of record-
In show reports, I’ve described ings became newly enjoyable because
Joseph Audio speakers as “quiet”— of what was newly revealed. As I fin-
mainly because, through them, no the tweeter’s output while reducing ished each album I smiled quietly for
fuzzy, blurry, grainy stuff happens the potential for metallic ringing from a moment, wondering what I should
between 1 and 4kHz. Unlike most the bass-mid cone. cue up next. Another old favorite?
two-way box speakers, the Pulsar’s It’s after midnight. Jeff Joseph is long The Pulsars made me like a lot of
sound in that region fades to silent gone. I sit peacefully, beginning to my records better—not because they
“black,” not a gray haze. Usually, I wonder what I really think of these made bad recordings sound better, but
expect metal cones to sound metallic, uptown-bourgeoisie Pulsars. I’m because all recordings sound best when
but the Pulsar’s 5.5" cast-magnesium listening to the gruff, gravelly voice of they’re fleshed out, well sorted, and
bass-midrange cone never sounded Guinean singer and tenor saxophonist vigorously alive. The Pulsars special-
metallic. I occasionally think soft-dome Momo Wandel Soumah forcefully ized in that.
tweeters sound too soft, but the Pulsar’s growling “Toko” and “Yérélélé,” from When Jeff Joseph arrived, my stereo
fabric dome sounds only . . . invisible. I his Afro Swing (Buda Musique 16/44.1 had been sounding balanced and
always expect thick, heavily lacquered Qobuz stream). “Yérélélé” rolls enjoyably musical. I had Mytek HiFi’s
boxes to sound almost imperceptibly forward in a quivering Afro-samba. Manhattan II DAC driving the Pass
restrained and less fully animated than Flute, marimba, and a chanted rap Laboratories HPA-1 line stage and
the Pulsars. I also expect to hear the vocal propel a groove that seems headphone amplifier, connected to
ports of ported speakers adding some- completely unrestrained by the Pulsars. Pass’s XA25 stereo amplifier driving
thing to the sound—but the Pulsars’ Wandel’s timeless backbeats reach the Harbeth P3ESR minimonitors.
ports don’t. repeatedly for control of my mind. The imaging was locked in, with no
I suspect that these attractive speak- Wandel’s wooden instruments and
ers are countering my expectations Joseph’s Pulsars let me delight in sound 1 Joseph Audio, Inc., PO Box 1529, Melville, NY
11747. Tel: (800) 474-4434. Web:
because of their asymmetrical, infinite- purely for the sake of sound. The www.josephaudio.com.
slope crossovers. These turn off the au- music of Afro Swing seems bigger and 2 See Michael Fremer’s review in the June 2012
dio signal to both drivers very sharply, clearer than it did through my Falcon issue: www.stereophile.com/content/
joseph-audio-pulsar-loudspeaker.
thereby minimizing cone breakup and Acoustics LS3/5a’s or Harbeth
3 See Jim Austin’s review in the January 2018 issue:
nonlinear behavior. Likewise, I imagine P3ESRs. www.stereophile.com/content/
that these steep crossover slopes purify “Léfa Lu” is a wildly arranged call alta-audio-hestia-titanium-loudspeaker.

stereophile.com Q July 2018 99


100Hz blip or dip. Except
for the Harbeths, I used this
basic system for the entirety
of this report.
The Pulsars arrived in
the middle of my latest
obsession: Buddy Holly’s
“Apartment Tapes,” released
on Down the Line: Rarities (2
CDs, Decca 80011675-02),
recorded only weeks before
Holly’s death (February
1959), and recorded with
a single microphone on a
consumer-quality, 7.5ips
Ampex recorder. I began not
with a song, but with the
hum, tape hiss, and street noise sur-
rounding the voices of Holly and his
wife, María Elena, saying stoned, silly,
intimate things. The room tone, spatial
coordinates, and vocal articulation
were all there in haunting, mesmer-
izing ways.4
After dozens of discs and files, I
began to investigate how the Pul-
sars would compare to the Harbeth
Monitor 30.2 40th Anniversary
Edition speakers, which I reviewed in
the April issue.5 First thing I noticed
was the extra flesh and density the
30.2s brought to male and female
voices. The Harbeths are less transpar-
HOLOAUDIO SPRING “KITSUNE
TUNED EDITION” LEVEL 3 DAC
Praise it all you want, but digital audio
is still my second choice: In a life in
which the enjoyment of art is infinite
but the hours in which to do so are
limited, and given the choice between
listening to LPs and 78s on the one
hand or files and CDs on the other,
digital is a waste of my time: It doesn’t
connect me with the music as well as
analog does, period. In my experience,
digital audio isn’t evil, merely banal.
But digital is getting better all the
time, and part of my job description is
to endure in meeting digital halfway,
to give it a fresh chance every time out.
But first I have to catalog and discard
all of the defense mechanisms I’ve
adopted without thinking—the wince
before the blow, if you will—to make
digital more palatable. In particular,
because early digital sound was so
damned bright, even when the glare
isn’t there, my ears still squint.
So it was that, during my first hour
with the HoloAudio Spring “Kitsune
Tuned Edition” Level 3 DAC,6 I
thought: Is it my imagination, or is this
stereophile.com Q July 2018
ent than the Pulsars, but considerably
meatier and more straightforward in
their renderings. They made singers
sound more like real people, less like
sonic holograms. The Harbeths image
accurately, but don’t showcase image
outlines as well as the Pulsars do.
Each speaker delivered its version
of monitor-quality neutrality—which
made it all the more fascinating to hear
how two equally neutral loudspeakers
could sound so qualitatively different. I
wonder if the differences I heard are
apparent in John Atkinson’s measure-
ments of these speakers.
My positive experiences with the
thing a little . . . dark?
It turned out to be the former.
The darkness was all in my head,
a semisubconscious product of my
expectations. I remember using my
Sony SCD-777 SACD/CD player to
listen to “Two Turns Home,” from
guitarist David Grier’s Evocative (CD,
Dreadnought 0901), then to an AIFF
file made from that same disc, played
through the HoloAudio DAC—and
the latter sounded, undeniably, a lot
richer. The electric bass was more
rounded, the fiddle more substantive,
the guitar more burnished in tone, and
the recording as a whole was more
listenable. I made a conscious effort
to let down my guard, and found that
FOLLOW-UP
Joseph Audio Pulsars were
most likely precipitated by
Jeff Joseph’s clever engi-
neering trifecta: steep asym-
metrical crossover slopes;
low-diffraction cabinets
that are neither too thick
nor too thin; and a port that
never sullies the midrange.
The Joseph Audio Pulsar
is a reference-quality loud-
speaker. If I were a master-
ing engineer, the Pulsars
would likely be my first
choice in studio monitors.
If I were a card-carrying
audiophile looking for a
top-tier stand-mounted speaker, I
might also choose the Pulsars. But
forced to choose between the Harbeth
M30.2 and the Joseph Audio Pulsar
for listening to music in my Bed-Stuy
bunker, I would forgo the Pulsars’
flawless detail and transparent spatial-
ity, and opt for the fuller bass, more
saturated tone, and deeper textural
descriptiveness of the Harbeths.
Fortunately, I don’t have to choose.
—Herb Reichert
4 You can hear the Pulsars in my room for yourselves
at https://tinyurl.com/yanwkwc2.
5 See www.stereophile.com/content/harbeth-moni-
tor-302-40th-anniversary-edition-loudspeaker.
nothing—and I mean nothing—in the
music was hidden from me. The notes
were no less apparent, the pitches no
less distinct, the ensemble playing no
less rhythmically accomplished than
when listening to the CD. Subtleties
of bassist Victor Wooten’s technique
and details of his fretless instrument’s
sound were front and center, and
Grier’s melodic variations rolled, color-
fully and altogether beautifully, into
aural view, one after the other. I was
more than enchanted—I was involved.
I couldn’t help but wonder: Was this
uncommon musicality a consequence
6 Manufacturer HoloAudio, China. US distributor:
KitsunéHiFi, 19410 Highway 99, Suite A #366, Lyn-
nwood, WA 98036. Web: https://kitsunehifi.com.
101
 Fact or Fantasy?
Dear Audiophile/Music Lover, that my system has ever and the presence of emo-
It’s a fact that every system I have
heard—in every audiophile’s home
experienced. I am amazed
at the differences I hear. Room tionally involving music
in their home is finally
that I have visited—is a pale shadow
of what it could have been.
The music now flows
with more rhythm and Play TM a reality.

It doesn’t matter who did it, what
“rules” they followed, or how great
the components were supposed to
be. The sad fact is that if the system
doesn’t “play the room” properly, it
is significantly underperforming its
potential.
Fantasy
The fantasy is the belief that a
new amp, preamp, or cable is some-
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might help, but not nearly
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system was voiced proper-
ly to your room. This voic- Room
ing is called RoomPlay.
tempo. The harmony and Reference
blend between the treble
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it sounds more like live music. Music
is more emotionally engaging.
It is as if I can see into the record-
ing. The resolution of detail is remark-
able on every song. The soundstage
is more three-dimensional and the
height, depth and width seem more
right. Hearing the location of the
performers on the soundstage has
added an extra dimen-
sion of excitement to the
listening experience.
I find myself just lis-
Take Action
The Get Better Sound
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full comments and much more detail
about RoomPlay, including the new,
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If you are ready for a real improve-
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tact me at jim@getbettersound.com
or call 770-777-2095.
Best regards,
Jim Smith

The Real Deal

Play
Here is an edited ex-
cerpt from a review by a RoomPlay
client,* posted by Richfield_hunter
on Audiogon.com:
“As an audiophile, I was always
searching for the next level of per-
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TM
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Fact vs. Fantasy
The fact is that I get comments
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of HoloAudio’s similarly
uncommon approach to
digital processing? As
Herb Reichert noted in
his review of it in the
May 2018 Stereophile, the
Spring DAC “Kitsune
Tuned Edition” Level 3
is unusual, though not
entirely unique, in using
a resistive ladder to
passively convert the
incoming bitstream to
AC voltage. Allied with
this is a second and
arguably equally crucial
distinction: Although the
user can apply to the
incoming signal one of
three different switch-selectable
oversampling filters, in its default
mode, the HoloAudio Spring plays
music with no oversampling.
Again, I wondered: Is it a coin-
cidence that one or both of those
distinctions have been found in some
of my all-time-favorite digital source
components, including D/A converters
from Audio Note, 47 Laboratory, and
Wavelength . . . ?
As Herb also pointed out, conversion
via a resistive ladder can be accom-
plished by means of an integrated
circuit—the Philips TDA-1540 family
of chips, which flourished in the 1990s,
being a prime example—or by discrete
resistors. The latter route is extremely
labor-intensive, requiring the tedious
measuring and hand-selecting of every
resistor used. Building a discrete-resis-
tor ladder DAC is expensive for that
reason, and because hand selection usu-
ally means discarding a certain number
of out-of-spec parts. And if the builder
wants to use boutique resistors . . . well,
as the monkey said as he peed into the
till, That’s running into money.
I’ve had the pleasure of listening
to a Stereophile-recommended, Class
A+ discrete-resistor ladder DAC:
the TotalDAC d1-tube-mk2, which
I heard at Michael Lavorgna’s music
barn in the forests of New Jersey.7 It
was sublime. It also cost €9100—in
dollars, a five-figure price tag. So
when Herb told us that HoloAudio’s
discrete-resistor ladder DACs sell for
as little as $1499, and that the subject
of his review—the company’s all-out,
silver-wired, Mundorf-capped “Kit-
sune Tuned Edition” Level 3—costs
only $2499, the Holo became the rare
digital source that I begged to hear.
So here I was, doing just that, feed-
stereophile.com Q July 2018
ing the Spring DAC with files from
my Roon-equipped MacBook Air
computer, connected via USB—in
which case the Spring can handle PCM
up to 32-bit/384kHz and DSD up to
DSD512. I moved from acoustic guitar
at 16/44.1 to solo piano at 24/96:
Chopin’s Ballade in g, from Daniel
Barenboim’s On My New Piano (AIFF
file, Deutsche Grammophon 289
479 6724). And here I could point to
how the Holo put across the consid-
erable size of Barenboim’s unique,
straight-strung instrument, conceived
by him and built by Chris Maene, in
particular the texture and purr of its
lowest strings, and how the sound of
the recording space was realistically
and, I dare say, naturally intertwined
with the sound of the instrument, as
opposed to sounding like tacked-on
generic reverb. But the two things that
most impressed me were the fact that
the Spring DAC communicated how
much Barenboim was enjoying playing
the piece—you can just tell!—and how,
at about 7:17 in, when he goes up an
octave for a high B-flat, that note just
hung in the air, as solid and as meaty as
I’d expect a good LP to let it sound. I
remember how Naim Audio’s founder,
the late Julian Vereker, used to say that
if a CD player could make just one
disc sound good, then there was hope
for digital. I’d settle for one note—and
there it was.
All right, make it three things that
most impressed me: What is that scary
sound at 5:30 in the Chopin, and again
at 5:33? Is Barenboim slamming his
left foot down on the stage as he plays
those chords, or is it a structural sound
resulting from his having struck the
keys so hard? I have no idea, but it was
cool, and I’d certainly never before
FOLLOW-UP
heard it from this file.
It was time to throw at
the Spring a few bad, or
at least so-so, recordings.
It sailed through them all,
not only by making the
best of badly recorded
sound without throwing
a blanket over it, but by
playing the music so well
and so convincingly that
I was too charmed and
entertained and delighted
to devote my attention
to audiophile froufrou.
“Long Ago and Far
Away,” from the dB’s’
Falling Off the Sky (AIFF
from CD, Bar/None
BRN-CD-202102), elements of which
are recorded so close-up that it’s a little
too in-my-face and borderline edgy
through most DACs, was unbelievably
good: sonically sparkly but not at all
wince-inducing. And, for gosh sakes,
Will Rigby’s drumsticks on his cym-
bals, recessed in the mix, sounded just
like drumsticks on cymbals: You can’t
teach a DAC that’s merely rolled-off
on top to do that.
The listening described above was
done without oversampling. For this
Follow-Up I also relied on PCM rather
than native DSD; the latter, according
to distributor KitsuneHiFi, is heard
at its best via the Spring’s I2S input,
which would require a digital-to-digital
USB-to-I2S converter (Kitsune sells
such things, starting at $399) and an
I2S-over-HDMI cable. My primary
goal was to hear what a modern,
zero-oversampling DAC sounds like,
and in that context I was not only
impressed, I was overcome with the
sort of unexpected delight that discour-
ages further acts of daring. (I’m one
of those people who, on trying a new
restaurant and finding a dish I like,
never orders anything else.) But access
to the Spring’s oversampling filters can
be had with the press of a button, so I
tried them, too.
Relative to the believable color and
life of the Spring’s music-making, all
three of its oversampling filters added
different amounts and flavors of death
and dullness, blunting the sense of hu-
man force behind note attacks, sanding
off all the randomness, and replacing
the charged air around notes with
something that sounded like it was
molded from plastic. One example of
7 See Michael Lavorgna’s review in the January 2016
issue: www.stereophile.com/content/audiostreams9.
103

the above came while listening to Tony
Rice Plays and Sings Bluegrass (AIFF from
CD, Rounder Select ROUCD 253).
Near the end of “I’ve Waited as Long
as I Can,” Rice begins his solo with a
D produced by bending his guitar’s B-
string to that pitch before his pick attack:
in non-oversampling mode, the ten-
sion involved in doing so was apparent;
with each of the oversampling filters—
LG V30 HI-RES SMARTPHONE
When Jason Victor Serinus reviewed
LG’s MQA-capable V30 smartphone8
in our May issue, he was mightily
impressed. “LG’s implementation of
its Hi-Fi Quad DAC is a work of
genius,” he wrote, concluding that “If
ever there were a device that could
bring the experience of high-end
sound to millions of music lovers, the
hi-rez V30 with MQA is it. It’s more
than a game-changer.” JVS added that
the V30’s combination of audiophile
sound quality and smartphone
portability “may prove unbeatable.”
However, our publishing schedule
didn’t include enough time for Jason’s
review to be accompanied by our
usual evaluation of its measured
performance. This Follow-Up corrects
that omission.
I measured the LG V30 DAC with
V V
sec
Fig.1 LG V30, Sharp filter, impulse response (one
sample at 0dBFS, 44.1kHz sampling, 4ms time
window).
d d
B B
r r
A A
Hz
Fig.3 LG V30, Sharp filter, wideband spectrum
of white noise at –4dBFS (left channel red, right
magenta) and 19.1kHz tone at 0dBFS (left blue,
right cyan), with data sampled at 44.1kHz (20dB/
vertical div.).
stereophile.com Q July 2018
especially the third, which oversamples
all incoming digital signals, regardless
of provenance, to DSD—the tension
was nowhere to be heard.
The above points to the only com-
plaint I have about the HoloAudio
DAC, though it’s less a complaint than
a suggestion: Why not make a version
of the Spring that dispenses altogether
with the oversampling chip, and with
my Audio Precision SYS2722 system
(see the January 2008 “As We See It,”
http://tinyurl.com/4ffpve4), using
test-signal files I copied to its inter-
nal memory using the Mac Android
Helper app. (Our V30 sample was
running Android OS v7.1.2.) The V30
played every AIFF, ALAC, FLAC,
WAV, DSD64, and DSD128 file I
tried, displaying on its screen the PCM
sample rate (up to 192kHz) and bit
depth (16 or 24), and whether the file
was MQA or DSD-encoded. The
maximum output level at 1kHz from
the headphone output was 1.04V with
both PCM and DSD data, and the
output preserved absolute polarity. The
output impedance was very low, at 1.5
ohms across the audioband.
The V30 offers a choice of three
reconstruction filters for playback of
PCM files: Sharp, Short, and Slow. The
sec
Fig.2 LG V30, Short filter, impulse response (one
sample at 0dBFS, 44.1kHz sampling, 4ms time
window).
Hz
Fig.4 LG V30, Slow filter, wideband spectrum
of white noise at –4dBFS (left channel red,
right magenta) and 19.1kHz tone at 0dBFS (left
blue, right cyan), with data sampled at 44.1kHz
(20dB/vertical div.).
FOLLOW-UP
the controls required to activate those
filters? Maybe such a thing could sell
for even less than $2499.
Never mind that. I’m just happy
that so relatively affordable a product
has proven me wrong in the most
agreeable way: The HoloAudio Spring
“Kitsune Tuned Edition” Level 3 DAC
is a revelation in every sense. As Herb
said: Highly recommended. —Art Dudley
Sharp filter’s impulse response with
44.1kHz data (fig.1) indicates that it is
a conventional, linear-phase, FIR type,
with time-symmetrical ringing to ei-
ther side of the single full-scale sample.
The Short filter (fig.2) is a minimum-
phase type, while the Slow filter
(not shown) is again a linear-phase
type. I couldn’t examine the time- or
frequency-domain behavior of the
V30’s MQA filter, as filter switching
is automatic. And as I have no MQA-
encoded test-signal files, I couldn’t
switch that filter on.
Tested with white noise sampled
at 44.1kHz (fig.3, red and magenta
traces), the Sharp filter’s output rolled
off rapidly above 20kHz, reaching full
stopband attenuation just above half
the sample rate (indicated by the verti-
cal green line). This filter completely
suppressed the image of a full-scale
tone at 19.1kHz (blue and cyan traces),
and the harmonics of this tone are
all low in level. Although a spurious
tone at 28.9kHz can be seen, this lies
at almost –100dBFS. While the Short
filter behaves very similarly in the fre-
quency domain (not shown), the Slow
filter has a peculiar scalloped ultrasonic
rolloff (fig.4). Some low-level audio-
8 The V30 costs $799 with 64GB internal memory,
$929.99 with 128GB. US distributor: LG Electronics
MobileComm USA, Inc., 1000 Sylvan Avenue,
Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632. Tel: (201) 816-2000.
Web: www.lg.com/us/v30.
d
B
r
A
Hz
Fig.5 LG V30, Sharp filter, frequency response
at –12dBFS into 100k ohms with data sampled
at: 44.1kHz (left channel green, right gray),
96kHz (left cyan, right magenta), 192kHz (left
blue, right red) (1dB/vertical div.).
105
106 July 2018 Q stereophile.com
 FOLLOW-UP

More Power
d
B
Less Noise
r V

Hz sec

Fig.6 LG V30, spectrum with noise and spuriae of Fig.7 LG V30, waveform of undithered 1kHz
dithered 1kHz tone at –90dBFS with: 16-bit data sinewave at –90.31dBFS, 16-bit data (left channel
(left channel cyan, right magenta), 24-bit data (left blue, right red).
blue, right red) (20dB/vertical div.).

d d
B B
r r
A A

Hz Hz

Fig.8 LG V30, spectrum of 50Hz sinewave, DC–1kHz, Fig.9 LG V30, Sharp filter, HF intermodulation
at 0dBFS into 300 ohms (left channel blue, right red; spectrum, DC–30kHz, 19+20kHz at 0dBFS into 600
linear frequency scale). ohms, 44.1kHz data (left channel blue, right red;
linear frequency scale).

band spuriae can now be seen, and

that spurious tone at 28.9kHz lies just
below –40dB (1%).
The Sharp Filter’s frequency
responses with data sampled at 44.1,
96, and 192kHz are shown in fig.5.
As expected from fig.3, the output
rolls off very rapidly just below half of
each sample rate, but a slight passband
ripple is visible before that rolloff.
Channel separation was superb, at
100dB in both directions in the mid-
band, and still 101dB at 20kHz.
The V30’s noise floor was clean,
but higher than I’d anticipated. With
file playback paused, there was about
5.3mV of noise on the output with
a center frequency of 450kHz. The
presence of this noise meant that
when I increased the bit depth from
16 to 24 with a dithered 1kHz tone
at –90dBFS, there was only a slight
reduction in background noise (fig.6).
Peculiarly, some second-harmonic
distortion was present with 16-bit data
(cyan and magenta traces); this disap-
peared with 24-bit data (red, magenta).
The noise also obscured the waveform
of an undithered tone at –90.31dBFS
(fig.7), which should appear with three
well-defined DC levels.
Harmonic distortion was extremely
low (fig.8), the primary component be-
ing the subjectively innocuous second
d
B
r
A
Hz
Niagara Power Products
Fig.10 LG V30, high-resolution jitter spectrum of
analog output signal, 11.025kHz at –6dBFS, sampled can supply 90 amps
at 44.1kHz with LSB toggled at 229Hz: 24-bit data
(left channel blue, right red). Center frequency of
trace, 11.025kHz; frequency range, ±3.5kHz.
peak on demand. Even
very low level listening
harmonic, at just –100dB (0.001%). includes transients
Intermodulation distortion was also
vanishingly low (fig.9). Finally, tested which tax even the
for its immunity to word-clock jitter,
the V30 produced a clean output spec-
biggest ampliiers.
trum (fig.10), though once again that
higher-than-expected level of analog Niagara Power Products
noise makes its presence visible.
Overall, LG’s V30 measures well— dissipate noise —
not only for a smartphone, but for a
legitimate hi-rez player. —John Atkinson
Unmasking your music
to a degree you never
LAMM INDUSTRIES L2.1
REFERENCE PREAMPLIFIER imagined.
Sometimes, great components enter
our lives with little fanfare. Thus, by
happenstance, did Lamm Industries’

stereophile.com Q July 2018 107

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L2.1 Reference preamplifier ($22,790)9
end up in my reference system.
The story began at the 2018 Con-
sumer Electronics Show, in Las Vegas,
when John Atkinson and I visited
Lamm’s oversize suite on a high floor
of the Venetian Hotel. Our intentions
were twofold: to report on what we
heard and saw, and to sniff out prod-
ucts for me to review. We found one
likely candidate—AQ Technologies’
Aqua Formula xHD D/A processor
($16,500), which I reviewed in the
June 2018 issue—but realized that I’d
need a preamp to control volume. John
immediately suggested the Lamm
L2.1 Reference preamplifier, which
he described, with a knowing smile,
as “a very good preamp.” In terms of
price, the L2.1 seemed an appropriate
complement to my reference system:
dCS Rossini ($23,999) or Vivaldi
($35,900) DACs, Dan D’Agostino
Master Systems Progression ($36,000/
pair) or Pass Labs XA 200.8 ($45,000/
pair) monoblock power amplifiers,
Wilson Audio Specialties Alexia 2
loudspeakers ($57,900/pair), and ultra-
transparent Nordost Odin 2 intercon-
nects and cables.
That my system lacked a preamp
was not accidental. More than 15
years ago, when the Theta Digital
Generation VIII became my DAC-
preamplifier, Theta’s technical director,
John Baloff, told me that the Gen.
VIII’s internal preamp would result in
better sound than running it through
an external preamp. That was certainly
the case when I connected the Theta
to the Bruce Moore preamp I had at
the time. Since then, I’ve tried only
one other preamp with the dCS DACs
that have replaced the Gen. VIII, but
what I’ve heard has convinced me to
stick with the volume controls in the
dCS components.
stereophile.com Q July 2018
FOLLOW-UP
When Vladimir Lamm sent me a
review sample of the L2.1 Reference,
I hadn’t recalled that Art Dudley had
already given it a glowing review.10
After listening to Jascha Heifetz’s
famed speed-demon recording of
Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in e,
with Charles Munch and the Boston
Symphony Orchestra (CD, RCA
Living Stereo/JVC JMCXR-0010),
Art wrote that “the very clear, open-
sounding Lamm . . . nailed the tone
and texture of the bassoon’s sustained
note that bridges the first and second
movements,” and depicted Heifetz’s
violin tone as “supple, limber, deli-
cately colored and textured, and with
every iota of his legendary intonation
in clear, full measure.” Calling it “a
damn good preamp,” Art enthused that
it “ranked with the very best preamps
I’ve heard in its ability to convey musi-
cal drive and propulsion, and to decode
the sheer exhilaration hidden in
some recordings.” JA’s measurements
seemed to support Art’s conclusion; he
said that the L2.1 is “well engineered,”
with “extraordinarily low” distortion,
“excellent channel matching,” “superb”
channel separation, and “extraordinary
linearity for a circuit that is said not to
use loop negative feedback.”
After finishing my review of the
Aqua DAC, I wanted to hear if pairing
the L2.1 Reference with a dCS front
end would leave me as enthused with
the Lamm as Art had been. But first,
I had to figure out how to optimize
my system to ensure a fair listening
experience. My Grand Prix Monaco
equipment rack had only four shelves,
on which I had to fit the L2.1 and its
9 Lamm Industries, Inc., 2513 E. 21st Street, Brooklyn,
NY 11235. Tel: (718) 368-0181. Fax: (718) 368-0140.
Web: www.lammindustries.com.
10 See the July 2017 issue: www.stereophile.com/
content/lamm-industries-l21-reference-preamplifier.
109
 FOLLOW-UP
equally sized power supply, as well as
the dCS Scarlatti clock and Paganini
transport and a dCS Rossini or Vivaldi
DAC. And since, if I wanted to play
digital files, the Vivaldi would also re-
quire a dCS Network Bridge, using the
Rossini instead cut the total of boxes
by one. But that still left five boxes for
four shelves.
Considering potential equipment in-
teractions, I ultimately gave the L2.1’s
power supply a shelf of its own, and
placed the L2.1 proper several shelves
away, atop the very solid Paganini
transport. Given that when I use the
Vivaldi, I regularly stack the Network
Bridge atop the Paganini and experi-
ence no loss in sound quality, I felt this
would prove a sound choice.
For further insurance, I tried a
number of different vibration-isolating
support feet between Paganini and
L2.1. While many of these increased
the sense of air in the sound, they
either darkened the top end or nega-
tively affected image focus. The Lamm
preamp sounded best when resting
directly atop the Paganini. I even tried
swapping out preamp and power sup-
ply, placing the latter atop the Paganini,
but heard no difference.
Next, I settled on pairing the Lamm
with two very different amplifiers: the
Bricasti M15 stereo power amplifier
($18,000), my review of which ap-
pears elsewhere in this issue, and the
D’Agostino Progression monoblocks.11
The Progressions are the most focused,
detailed, and dynamic amps I’ve ever
heard in my reference system, and
deliver the tightest bass and the airiest
soundstages.
As described in my review of the
Bricasti M15, the Lamm L2.1 acquitted
110
I settled on pairing the
Lamm with two very
different amplifiers.
The L2.1 excelled at
bass reproduction.
itself admirably between that power
amp and the Rossini DAC. It brought
out more air, heightened colors and
undertones in voices and instruments,
and enhanced musicality with, to
my sensibilities, a natural-sounding
warmth and weight. I felt more emo-
tionally involved with every track I
listened to. With the sassy, brassy title
track of Sarah Vaughan and the Count
Basie Orchestra’s Send in the Clowns, a
studio recording (Pablo/JVC-XRCD
VICJ-60246), the L2.1 did a bang-up
job with percussion, restored the horns’
natural bite and heat, and enhanced
the three-dimensionality and musical
intensity. Win-win all the way.
With the D’Agostino Progressions,
the L2.1 didn’t quite pull off a slam
dunk. In Alban Berg’s atonal, often
brutal Three Pieces for Orchestra, in the
recording by Michael Tilson Thomas
and the San Francisco Symphony
(24-bit/192kHz WAV, SFS Media/
HDtracks, SFS Media/Primephonic),12
complex and multilayered bass lines are
complemented by blasting horns and
pounding percussion. The L2.1 added
spaciousness while softening just a bit,
the leading edge of attacks. (There are
a lot of attacks in this music, which
presages the horrors and devastation
of World War I.) It was as though I’d
moved to a seat farther back in the hall,
where natural acoustic rolloff softens
treble bite, color saturation, and focus
July 2018 Q stereophile.com

without noticeably affecting the bass.
To further test the L2.1’s reproduc-
tion of bass, I turned to “Laptevin-
meri” (Laptev Sea), from Pan Sonic’s
Katodivaihe (Cathodephase) (16/44.1
WAV files, Blast First Petite 006)—and
“Limit to Your Love,” from James
Blake’s eponymous album (16/44.1
WAV, A&M 949999). While I heard
no difference in the size and depth of
these recordings’ room-shaking bass—
the L2.1 excelled at bass reproduc-
tion—their vibrant highs and overall
transparency were greatest without the
Lamm.
While reviewing Alexander Mel-
nikov’s Four Pieces • Four Pianos (24/96
WAV, Harmonia Mundi 902299),13
in which the differences between the
sounds and dynamics of the four dif-
ferent pianos used to record master-
works by Chopin, Liszt, Schubert, and
Stravinsky could not have been greater,
naturally ringing highs were brightest
and most impactful without the L2.1.
By that, I don’t mean that the L2.1’s
presence was detrimental—given how
forcefully Melnikov often plays, the
Lamm made listening to this album a
bit less overbearing and fatiguing by
softening the ring of these period in-
LETTERS
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11
Individual Educational Plan calls for it.
What is telling is that on each of these
six unit tests, about six of the AP stu-
dents fail the test, which is pretty telling
of what the rest of the math students
might and often do: fail the test. The
pressure and disappointment wears on
these students.
The most troublesome part of all this
is that my students, the lowest learners,
all benchmark-test in math and reading
at the second- to fourth-grade levels, but
due to “social promotion” are sitting in
seventh grade, dealing with a curriculum
that’s nearly impossible for them to
master. Over 90% do not master it. They
are going on to the eighth grade
regardless. It is not my call.
In addition, I give them basic skills
tests: single-digit numbers, 100 ques-
tions each in the disciplines of addition,
subtraction, and multiplication, and
they must do each test in five minutes,
without a calculator. All of them average
between 20 and 50 answers correct on
each test—hardly proficient—and yet
these are my ABCs for mathematics. I
would not ask someone to read a book if
stereophile.com Q July 2018
struments. With the L2.1 in the system,
I felt more transported than assaulted.
Lastly, with Masaaki Suzuki and
Bach Collegium Japan’s recording of
Mozart’s Great Mass in c (SACD/CD,
BIS-2171),14 the L2.1 lent a modicum
of delicious, extra warmth to soprano
Carolyn Sampson’s heavenly rendi-
tion of “Et incarnatus est.” At the same
time, the natural edge on her voice,
which I’ve heard in concert, was toned
down and softened a smidge, and
instrumental lines were a touch less
distinct. Given that the midrange was
concomitantly warmed and fattened a
bit, Sampson’s voice shone less brightly,
and the sound was less transparent.
It felt like I was listening through a
scrim, with edges softened just enough
to afford a romantic take on music that,
in this case, was performed on period
instruments without romantic bias.
This is not necessarily a bad thing.
While I expect this reference will date
me a bit—hey, so does life—consider
director George Cukor’s treatment of
Greta Garbo in the film Camille (1936).
In close-up, filmed through a scrim,
Garbo’s titular, tubercular courtesan
appeared even more sympathetic and
breathtakingly beautiful than she might
they didn’t know the alphabet, but that is
exactly what I am required to do, and it
is hardly fair to them to ask them to do
seventh-grade math work well beyond
their second-to-fourth-grade capabilities.
I would not ask any of them to read and/
or understand War and Peace. You cannot
succeed at math if you can’t add, subtract,
or multiply.
I had a recent high-school graduate,
days before school started this year, who
could not give me 18¢ change from a $5
bill, and had to use her “Smart iPhone”
calculator to do this most basic of math
skills. How far have we fallen, that we
have allowed this student to think she is
educated and ready to compete in the
job market? Are we not better than this?
Therefore, most need Siri or Alexa.
I started a Digital Audio club at the
beginning of school, but as soon as
students heard that it had “some math
involved,” many would not come. It’s
more about audio recording, but I also
show them a digital audio workstation
and what waveforms look like, as well
as microphones, mixing boards, etc., and
what they accomplish—it was fun for
those who showed up. They also had
great fun doing some hands-on record-
ing and playing/singing, which is the
FOLLOW-UP
have otherwise. True, contrasts be-
tween black and white were softened,
and the shades of gray were grayer, but
it all enhanced the movie’s fairytale
charm. Some people love their music,
too, with such a romantic touch.
Ultimately, the Lamm Industries
L2.1 Reference preamplifier is so well
engineered that perception of its effects
will depend as much on the interac-
tions of the other components in the
system and the music played as it will
on listener preferences. While some
might ascribe its sound to its tubed
power supply, I prefer not to invoke
hoary clichés of tubed vs solid-state
sound, especially to describe the sound
of a component whose preamplifier
section contains no tubes at all.
Ultimately, the Lamm L2.1 is what it
is: to quote Art Dudley, “a damn good
preamp.” —Jason Victor Serinus
11 See my review in the October 2017 Stereophile:
www.stereophile.com/content/dan-dagostino-pro-
gression-mono-monoblock-power-amplifier.
12 See my review of this recording: www.stereophile.
com/content/berg-composes-world-chaos.
13 See my review of this recording: www.stereophile.
com/content/audiophile-bonanza-melnikovs-four-
pieces-%C2%95-four-pianos.
14 See my review of this recording: www.stereophile.
com/content/suzukis-sacred-and-sunny-mozart-sacd.
ultimate point. It is not what it is, but
what it does!
So, as I head off to retirement on June
1 and look to do something else—sitting
at home is not an option for me—I leave
a profession that may be beyond repair,
with students in way over their heads,
due to being promoted because of their
age, not because of what they know. I
don’t know that, as a society, we have the
will to fix it, as this is a creation, a plan,
put in place by those supposedly “in the
know”—but I am not believing that now.
The US ranks low among developed na-
tions in math ability. I now know why.
—Jim Tavegia
jamestavegia@gmail.com
Record reviews are worth the
subscription
Editor:
Stereophile’s record reviews are worth the
subscription. I love the latitude of the
music that’s covered, and the reviewers’
commentary. Being a vinyl enthusiast, I
find the reviews very helpful, in particu-
larly for classical and jazz.
Cheers, too, for your reviews of budget
systems. —Bob Graham
Minneapolis, MN
moscuba@comcast.net
111

RECORD REVIEWS
he sound of Steve Tibbetts’s
T guitar music is unique—one
need hear only a measure
or two of his new album to
identify the distinct tang of his playing.
Common wisdom is that a guitarist’s
sound is in the hands and fingers, but
Tibbetts has another trick: his weath-
ered, 50-year-old Martin D12-20
12-string acoustic guitar.
As Tibbetts was growing up, his fa-
ther drove around Wisconsin teaching
labor law. “When he’d break out his
12-string at a meeting of tired union
Boot and Shoe workers in Stevens
Point, everyone would perk up,” Tib-
betts explained to me. “Guitar is an
attention-getting device. They’d sing
from the Joe Hill songbook, or what-
ever passed for an AFL songbook.
“I came home from college some
winter break around 1978 and saw the
guitar in its case, propped up against
the shoe rack in the front hall of our
house,” Tibbetts continued. “I stamped
the snow off my boots and said, gestur-
ing to the guitar case, ‘Hey, you should
let me take that back with me!’ I was
kidding. Ten days later I was putting
on my shoes, getting ready to leave, the
guitar in the same place. My dad was
leaning over the railing again, hands
clasped. He gestured at the guitar with
his chin and said, ‘Take it.’”
It’s important to note that, after all
those years of wear, the metal frets and
the wood between them along the gui-
tar’s neck were worn down so far that
pressing hard on a string pushes it out
of tune, until you let it up a little again.
Listening to Life Of, I picture Tibbetts’s
fingers as strong, fleshy, gecko-like
digits that can grab the pairs of steel
strings and deform them slowly in all
directions, producing subtle acous-
tic flanging and chorus effects as he
pushes and pulls.
Tibbetts has also learned to resist
changing his strings, letting them age
until the bright edges wore off. “Some-
time in the ’70s, a friend of mine (and
Leo Kottke’s sound man) called me up
and told me to come over,” he recalled.
“He had Leo’s guitars in his front hall.
‘You can play them if you’re careful.’ I
zoomed over. The action was very high
stereophile.com Q July 2018
CLASSICAL
ROCK / POP
JAZZ
EDITOR’S PICK
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH
STEVE TIBBETTS
Life Of
Steve Tibbetts, 12-string guitar, piano;
Michelle Kinney, cello, drones;
Marc Anderson, percussion, handpan
ECM 2599 (CD). 2018. An ECM
production; Steve Tibbetts, eng.; Greg
Reierson, eng., mastering. DDD. TT:
50:40
PERFORMANCE
SONICS
on the two 12-string guitars, and the
strings were dead. It sounded like Leo.
I decided then and there that I would
make dead strings my sound. If you get
used to the bright, ringing tone of new
strings, you’ll have to change them all
the time. Dead is better.”
But all of this would amount to little
more than neat gimmicks were it not
for Tibbetts’s ability to play in unex-
pected ways, to sound unique and ex-
otic and, at the same time, comforting.
Unlike some of his more electric and
frenetic albums of past years, Life Of,
coming eight years after his last record,
Natural Causes, never strays far from its
center of acoustic guitar or piano, with
sparse layers of carefully placed percus-
sion, cello, and other artifacts floating
around the capacious soundstage.
The compositions are modest in
length, each named for a friend or
family member. Not songs per se, they
pour forth slowly like careful medita-
tions, or a deep fog moving over a
range of tree-shaded mountains. That
last sentence might suggest new-agey
syrup, but Tibbetts’s approach is too
intelligent, textured, and idiosyncratic
for that characterization. There are
no repeating patterns or gratuitous
dynamic builds—instead, you feel
Tibbetts trying to gently reach inside
the guitar to pull out every ounce of
detail and meaning as a piece develops.
He later flavors and spices the tracks
with his confederates’ contributions, to
further bring out the embedded intent.
Those confederates are Tibbetts’s
longtime companion Marc Anderson,
on percussion and handpan, and new
collaborator Michelle Kinney, who
provides sparse cello and, per her
liner-note credit, “drones.” Kinney has
performed with many jazz legends,
including Henry Threadgill and John
Zorn; here she provides deep back-
drops for Tibbetts’s sinewy, sweet-and-
sour guitar lines.
Tibbetts primarily records in his self-
built studio, using two microphones,
a Mojave and a Neumann, set up to
record an acoustic guitar. “They haven’t
moved in years. Using an unmatched
pair seemed like the right thing to
do. The Mojave worked well at the
12-string’s sound hole, the Neumann
made a home looking at the 12th fret.”
He also resists EQ or compression,
the tradeoff being that “the music can
sound a little dull, like the speakers
are wrapped in muslin. I tried jacking
up the treble, like everyone seems to
do, and it just sounded screechy and
annoying.”
This mannered approach has
resulted in a soft, glowing sound that
manages to capture plenty of detail
and character across a deep, wide
soundstage. Some moments—as when
Anderson adds a deep drum pulse,
then moves to a hazy wash of cymbal—
will flex your speakers or headphones,
and add just the right amount of grunt
to keep it interesting.
I picture Tibbetts traveling the
globe, unseen and quietly taking notes,
then sending his perceptions back to us
in sublime recordings such as this.
—Jon Iverson
113

C L AS S IC AL
BEETHOVEN
Piano Sonatas 14 & 29
Murray Perahia, piano
Deutsche Grammophon 479 8353 (CD, 24/96
download). 2018. Angelika Meissner, Maider
Múgica, exec. prods.; Andreas Neubronner, prod.;
Markus Heiland, Martin Nagorni, engs. DDD. TT:
55:39
PERFORMANCE
SONICS
Ever since he returned to the studio
following a debilitating hand infec-
tion that first appeared in 1990, pianist
Murray Perahia, now 71, has released
a string of superb recordings. After
recording the Bach works that he
studied during his forced withdrawal
from performance—cornerstones of
his 21st-century discography—he’s re-
turned to Beethoven, whose concertos
and sonatas he began recording in the
analog era.
Remarkably, this is Perahia’s first
recording of two of Beethoven’s best-
known sonatas, No.29, Op.106 (“Ham-
merklavier”), and No.14, Op.27 No.2
(“Moonlight”). Recorded in the wood-
lined Hall 1 of Berlin’s Funkhaus
Nalepastrasse studio, they benefit from
engineering that captures the fullness
of Perahia’s instrument, including a
goodly amount of resonance, without
ever sounding harsh or lapsing into
grandiloquence with unnatural weight
added to the lower octaves. The results,
heard in 24-bit/96kHz courtesy
HDtracks, serve an artist whose selfless
commitment to honoring Beethoven’s
intent enables him to shift with ease
among majesty, anguish, and pathos
without ever resorting to egoistic
grandstanding.
By ending the disc with the much
earlier “Moonlight” (1801), Perahia
illustrates how Beethoven pushed the
expressive limits of his instrument
at a time when fortepianos sounded
more like harpsichords. Moving fast
without ever becoming breathless,
his interpretation weeps and exults as
he explores the mysteries of earthly
existence.
—Jason Victor Serinus
stereophile.com Q July 2018
KJELL TORE INNERVIK
Utopias: Radical Interpretations of
Iconic Musical Works for Percussion
Xenakis: Psappha.
Morton Feldman: The King of Denmark.
Kjell Tore Innervik, percussion
2L 2L-141-SABD (SACD/CD, BD, downloads:
DXD, DSD256, MQA). 2018. Morten Lindberg,
prod., editing, mix, mastering, balance; Beatrice
Johannessen, rec. technician. DDD. TT: 46:04
PERFORMANCE
SONICS
With 32 Grammy nominations, 24
for Recording Engineer and Music
Producer, Morten Lindberg and his 2L
label continue to issue one astound-
ing recording after another. Their
recordings are not simply unique for
their sound, available in multiple two-
channel, surround, and hi-rez formats,
physical and virtual; they also stand out
for 2L’s repertoire, which ranges from
core classical, folk, and jazz to cutting-
edge contemporary explorations sure
to scare away fainthearted record
producers and listeners.
If the two works on this recording,
Xenakis’s Psappha (1975) and Feld-
man’s The King of Denmark (1964),
aren’t exactly new, their construction
and sound are radical in the extreme.
Xenakis doesn’t specify instruments,
but does call for three groups of wood
and/or skins and three groups of metal
percussion instruments. His score for
the 18-minute Psappha is written in
extremely challenging graph notation
consisting of 2396 segments. As with
the chance compositions of John Cage,
the possibility that two performances
will sound alike is nil.
Even more astounding is that Psap-
pha, which in Innervik’s performance
seems all about color, texture, rhythmic
patterns, and maximally percussive
disruptions rather than the emotions of
the heart, derives its name from Sappho
(ca 610–ca 580 BCE), the Greek poet
from the Isle of Lesbos whose first-
person lyrics rhapsodize love between
women. Xenakis may or may not have
given a hoot about lesbianism, but he
does seem to have been taken by the
RECORD REVIEWS
rhythmic structures of Sappho’s verse.
Feldman, who claims to have
written the nine-minute The King of
Denmark on a Long Island beach while
under the influence of, in part, “the
muffled sound of kids in the distance
and transistor radios and drifts of
conversation from other pockets of
inhabitants on blankets,” constructs
a timeline of columns of boxes three
high. Each box represents a beat, the
choice of tempo left to the percus-
sionist but with indications for type of
instrument, number of notes, and rela-
tive pitches. Not only that, the piece
must be performed only with fingers
and arms, rather than sticks and other
implements. Feldman goes for the
flesh that Xenakis ignores.
Ironically, if Xenakis’s work is about
mathematical precision, structure, and
dynamic impact rather than sensual-
ity, Feldman’s intentionally softer and
dynamically limited work is about
space, silence, and sounds that, in Kjell
Tore Innervik’s performance, strike me
as sensual in the extreme. If Psappha is
forthright, masculine, “just the facts,
ma’am,” The King of Denmark creates
an expansive space for wondrous jour-
neys of mind and spirit. Two different
faces of wow, as it were.
Innervik seems to have spent an
inordinate amount of time research-
ing each composer’s background, and
the effects of war and persecution on
the evolution of his music. (One side
of Xenakis’s face was permanently
disfigured by British shrapnel in 1944.)
He and Lindberg positioned instru-
ments to maximally underscore the
importance of patterns and space in
both men’s compositions—there’s a lot
of movement on these DXD-native
recordings—and selected instruments
with radically different colors and
sounds. Lindberg also recorded Psappha
from two different perspectives—it
appears twice on Utopias—with “first
persona” designed to present the inten-
sity of color and impact heard by the
performer. The result is an extraordi-
nary auditory feast: a major showpiece
for how much color, texture, and
dynamic contrast an audio system can
deliver, and one that will sate both gut
and imagination.
—Jason Victor Serinus
FOR MORE RECORD
REVIEWS, VISIT
WWW.STEREOPHILE.COM/
CATEGORY/JASON-VICTOR-
SERINUS
115
 RECORD REVIEWS
R O CK/PO P
DAMNATION OF ADAM BLESSING
The Damnation of Adam Blessing
Exit Stencil ESR-050 (LP). 1969/2018. TT: 38:47
The Second Damnation
Exit Stencil ESR-051 (LP). 1970/2018. TT: 41:57
Both: Eric Stevens, prod.; Ken Hamann, eng.; Eliot
Kissileff, remastering. AAA
PERFORMANCE
SONICS
“You take your Technicolor daydream /
Aww, let your mind and soul unwind /
You walk a mile into a mirror / Yeah,
travel sideways into time.” Thus begins
“Cookbook,” track 1 of The Damna-
tion of Adam Blessing, the eponymous
1969 debut of a Cleveland-based
underground quintet who, despite
being signed to then-legendary United
Artists Records, ultimately failed to get
much commercial traction beyond the
Midwest touring circuit of the day, and
split up in ’73.
Damnation and 1970’s The Second
Damnation remain crucial artifacts, and
the ever-diligent archivists at Cleve-
land’s Exit Stencil Recordings have
rescued both platters from relative
obscurity in these fully licensed reis-
sues remastered from the master tapes.
Prior Damnation reissues on CD and
LP, particularly those from Akarma,
an Italian label specializing in reis-
sues of 1960s and ’70s music, sounded
notoriously thin, and possibly were
mastered directly from original LPs.
Here, though, the sound is full-bodied,
with rich dynamics that particularly
benefit the low end. The Damnation of
Adam Blessing is perhaps the stronger
of the two, with standout tracks such
as “Cookbook”—it wouldn’t have been
out of place on a Free album—and the
baroque pop of “Strings and Things,”
a lengthy excursion that ventures into
Jefferson Airplane–style psychedelia.
Pressed on heavyweight vinyl and
boasting sharp sleeve reproductions
and lengthy, detailed liner notes, both
albums are essential listening for
anyone even remotely interested in
probing the less-explored corners of
the era. —Fred Mills
116
UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA
Sex & Food
Jagjaguwar JAG322 (LP/CD/WAV). 2018.
Ruban Nielson, prod., eng.; Bob Ludwig, mastering.
DDA/DDD? TT: 43:18
PERFORMANCE
SONICS
Ruban Nielson’s fourth album as Un-
known Mortal Orchestra is his strang-
est and most alluring. Rather than re-
turning to the Portland, Oregon, home
studio where he created the critically
acclaimed Multi-Love (2015), the New
Zealand–American singer-songwriter
sought inspiration in foreign places.
Sex & Food was recorded in Seoul,
Hanoi, Reykjavik, Mexico City, and
Auckland, and features musicians from
each of those cities’ nations, as well as
Nielson’s frequent collaborators: Jacob
Portrait, who plays a thick, soulful bass;
and drummer Kody Nielson, who has
mastered tightly loose timekeeping.
To say that the listener is treated to
the indigenous sounds of the coun-
tries in which this music was recorded
would be a lie; nonetheless, one hears
the soft, sweet sounds of wanderlust
and wonder, homesickness and desire.
“Hunnybee” highlights its bouncy
disco-funk with sweeping violins
and a guitar solo that would make
Prince smile. “American Guilt” is Neil
Young’s Crazy Horse covered by Rob-
ert Wyatt’s Soft Machine—rollicking
and boisterous riff-heavy jazz-rock—
with Nielson either contemplating
consumerism and revisionist history or
just messing around: “Oh no, here it
comes! / American guilt.”
Nielson and mastering engineer
Bob Ludwig have created a delicious-
sounding mess that perfectly comple-
ments the band’s music: Guitars are
heavily and beautifully flanged, phased,
and fuzzed; cymbals are ruthlessly but
purposefully compressed; voices often
sound as if recorded through a toy mi-
crophone. Everything drips with rich,
bold color. The album moves quickly,
gracefully, and finishes too soon.
—Stephen Mejias
July 2018 Q stereophile.com
 RECORD REVIEWS

JAZ Z
MARY HALVORSON
Code Girl
Mary Halvorson, guitar; Amirtha Kidambi, voice;
Ambrose Akinmusire, trumpet; Michael Formanek,
bass; Tomas Fujiwara, drums
Firehouse 12 FH12-04-01-27 (2 CDs). 2018.
Mary Halvorson, David Breskin, prods.; Nick Lloyd,
prod., eng. DDD? TT: 90:11
PERFORMANCE
SONICS
A singularly original electric guitarist,
Mary Halvorson is perhaps the most
innovative representative of jazz’s new
avant-garde. For her latest release she’s
added lyrics to her music, or rather
set her poetic lyrics to music, sung
sweetly by Amirtha Kidambi, who
numbers modern classical, free jazz,
and Carnatic music among her influ-
ences. Also featured is the chameleonic
trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, who tracks: the knotty “Thunderhead,” the
homes right in on Halvorson’s quirky chugging “Off the Record,” and the
wavelength. The other two musicians, minute-long guitar-trumpet duo “Ar-
bassist Michael Formanek and drum- mory Beams,” in which Akinmusire
mer Tomas Fujiwara, are Halvorson’s mimics the human voice. Challenging
bandmates in the trio Thumbscrew. in concept and execution, Code Girl
“My Mind I Find in Time” begins makes for uneasy but rewarding listen-
with the spiky echo of Halvorson’s ing. —Larry Birnbaum
unaccompanied guitar loops, followed
by vamping guitar and buttery abstract DUDLEY’S LISTENING ROOM
trumpet as Kidambi sings, “It is not
predictable my mind.” Guitar and IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER, THESE
STUDIO RELEASES HAVE BEEN
trumpet play the melody in unison GETTING THE MOST TIME ON MY
over cryptic words in “Possibility of TURNTABLE:
Lightning,” Halvorson’s palpitating
Ray LaMontagne
solo providing a hint of alternative rock Trouble
before she and Akinmusire break into RCA/LEGACY
cacophony.
“Storm Cloud” includes folkish- Alice Coltrane
Journey in Satchidanada
sounding guitar arpeggios and wistful
IMPULSE
trumpet musings, while “Pretty
Mountain” features a dissonant staccato Neil Young
dialog between trumpet and guitar and After the Gold Rush
REPRISE
some wordless vocal improvisation. “In
the Second Before” offers enigmatic Yura Guller
music to match such lines as “his voice Nocturnes Favoris/Chopin
comes out of the sound of the million PARLOPHONE/ERC
people we are known to discard,” end- The Tony Rice Unit
ing with crunching guitar chords and Manzanita
squealing trumpet. ROUNDER
There are three strictly instrumental

STEREOPHILE
Excel Audio McIntosh Labs 57 Tenacious Sound 97
ADVERTISER INDEX (Record players and Vinyl) 74
Morrow Audio 77 Totem Acoustic 6
Acoustic Sounds 26, 27 Fidelis 106 Music Direct 25, 30, 31, 114 Triangle Art 35
Aqua Acoustic Quality 12 GoldenEar 36, 37 Needle Doctor 45, 46, 47, 48 Upscale Audio 28
Audio Plus Services C4 GTT 58 Ortofon 116, 119 VAC 88
AudioQuest 107, 109, 110 Hammertone Audio 40, 41 Paradigm 8, 9 Vandersteen Audio 80
Bel Canto 90 Harman Luxury AV 60 PrimaLuna 18 Wilson Audio 4
Bowers&Wilkins 38 International Audio Holding 123 QuarterNote Press 102 YG Acoustics 78
Bryston 43 Joseph Audio 11 Rogue Audio 16 Ypsilon Electronics 62
Cable Company 14, 15, 121 KEF 72 Rotel 86

Cambridge Audio 52 Kimber Kable 68 SME Limited 32

CEDIA 108 Kirmuss Audio 106 Sonoma Acoustics 82

Chord Electronics 24 Kiseki 67 Sonus Faber 17

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stereophile.com Q July 2018 117


MANUFACTURERS’
COMMENTS
AkitikA GT-102
Editor:
Thanks to Herb Reichert and John
Atkinson for their positive, thorough, and
insightful review of AkitikA’s GT-102
power amplifier. Perhaps they’d next like
to review the PR-101 preamplifier?
Dan Joffe
AkitikA
Bricasti Design M15
Editor:
A review in Stereophile is very important to
Bricasti Design and to our dealers and ex-
port partners, so we took our responsibili-
ties in this matter very seriously. We did
our best, in hopes that the process would
be transparent and fair, and that Stereo-
phile’s reviewer would report on the best
that our product the M15 stereo amplifier
can sound. We don’t think that is what
happened, and are very disappointed.
When Jason Victor Serinus approached
us at the 2017 Rocky Mountain Audio
Fest while we were demonstrating
the M15, we told him that in view of
previous experiences we have had, for
the review to go forward, our West
Coast–based setup expert would have to
deliver and set up our amplifier. Bricasti’s
amplifiers are designed to work directly
with high-quality sources with true dual-
differential balanced analog outputs. The
M15 was also designed to sell at a price
point half that of our M28 monoblocks.
Bricasti’s US Sales Manager, Damon
Gramont, delivered an M15 stereo ampli-
fier to JVS and set it up. Damon con-
nected the M15 directly to the balanced
outputs of JVS’s dCS DAC. Damon
reported to me that, after careful setup,
the sound was excellent.
At that time, JVS had no complaints
about the way his system sounded with
the M15 operating as we intended it to.
For whatever reason, JVS then ignored
our very strong recommendations that
our amplifier be driven directly by a high-
quality source with balanced outputs. For
his review, he used a single-ended vacu-
um-tube preamplifier with our balanced
solid-state amplifier. (Per the Lamm
Signature’s rear panel: XLR jacks have
pin 3 dead. The jack legends say “Pseudo
Balanced.” True balanced tube preamps
are very rare.) As noted in the M15 User
Manual, care must be taken when driving
118
the M15 with an unbalanced source, as
the design is a true differential circuit;
otherwise, performance will be compro-
mised. At Bricasti, we do not believe that
our products need sonic Band-Aids such
as unnecessary vacuum-tube circuits.
So, Damon set up the M15 to sound
the way we intend it to, but JVS seems
to have decided that he did not want to
review that sound; he wanted to review
some other sound. In the process, he
added in excess of $22,790 to the cost of
the system.
As if that were not enough, JVS then
compared our $18,000 stereo amplifier
to massive monoblock amplifiers, which
cost $55,000/pair—and with 500W into
8 ohms vs the M15’s modest 125W into
8 ohms.
We respect Stereophile’s policies regard-
ing not pestering the critics during the
review process. Therefore, receiving the
preprint of this review was a shocking
disappointment. We have never heard
anyone say that the M15, when set up
properly, sounded “dull.”
Bricasti’s M28 and M15 amplifiers
were used for stereo and multichannel
monitoring during the mastering of the
2018 Grammy® winners in the catego-
ries Best Orchestral Performance and
Best Engineered Album, Classical. That
recording does not sound dull, and those
engineers would not have purchased
Bricasti M15 amplifiers for their studios if
they thought the M15s sounded dull.
Bricasti’s M15 amplifier is a great-
sounding amplifier that has a very strong
“family resemblance” to our $30,000/pair
M28 monoblock amplifiers. We wish
that John Atkinson would give the M15 a
careful listening under the conditions we
recommend and write a brief Follow-Up.
If JA is willing to make Follow-Up
comments that include comparisons, we
would hope that he compare our $18,000
stereo amplifier only to similar products
in that general price and power tier.
For the reasons we state above, we
conclude that the review the M15 re-
ceived did not meet Stereophile’s standards,
as we have understood them to be.
Brian Zolner
Bricasti Design
BorderPatrol P21 EXD
Editor:
ANY CLOD CAN HAVE THE FACTS;
HAVING OPINIONS IS AN ART
THIS ISSUE : AkitikA, Bricasti,
BorderPatrol, and Joseph Audio
respond to our reviews
of their products.
Thanks for a great review, Ken. Despite
finding the P21 EXD’s character initially
elusive, when you got it, you really got it!
Regarding John’s measurements: The
ear/brain interface is much more sensitive
than a spectrum analyzer. Until someone
devises a measurement system that can
measure what we can hear, there will con-
tinue to be a disconnect between what the
reviewers hear and what John measures.
I suspect that Ken likes the amp not
because he likes harmonic distortion or
high output impedance or any of the
other measurement issues John mentions,
but because he likes the hear-through
and microdynamic capabilities that are
the exclusive preserve of triode ampli-
fiers that operate without global negative
feedback. Gary Dews
BorderPatrol
Joseph Audio Pulsar
Editor:
We’d like to thank Herb Reichert for a
superb Follow-Up review of the Pulsar!
As avid music lovers, we live for the
joy of listening deeper into our treasured
recordings, so we were thrilled to see
that Herb found “all types of record-
ings became newly enjoyable because of
what was newly revealed,” and that “As I
finished each album I smiled quietly for
a moment, wondering what I should cue
up next.”
It was also gratifying to read that
“Joseph’s Pulsars let me delight in sound,”
and that the “precisely rendered images are
beyond any I have experienced at home.”
Thanks to its benign 8 ohm imped-
ance, the Pulsar presents a very easy
load to the partnering amplifier. Other
listeners have found that the transparency
and spatial qualities of the Pulsar, married
to the added warmth and fuller tone of a
tube amp, make an irresistible combi-
nation. It’s simply a matter of personal
preference. While it was probably outside
the scope of Herb’s brief Follow-Up,
it would’ve been fun to hear about the
Pulsars in that context as well.
We will let Herb have the final word:
“I have experienced countless highly
resolving loudspeakers, but almost none
was also highly involving. The Joseph Au-
dio Pulsar was both.” Thank you, Herb!
We wholeheartedly agree! Jeff Joseph
Joseph Audio
July 2018 Q stereophile.com
 ANTHEM
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 89
driven by a rack of Mark Levin-
son electronics at CES 2018. The
room was different, of course, and I
was depending on unreliable audio
memory—I’m not about to argue that
this amp-speaker combo could equal
the Levinson-Revel setup. But my
Monitor Audio speakers driven by the
Anthem STR gave more than a taste of
it, responding beautifully to Eeg’s flex-
ible, vibrant singing and Fonnesbæk’s
supple bass playing. While the sound
of the latter had the warmth and rich-
ness I’d noted in the other recordings
mentioned, its low notes were well
defined, none jumping out in an un-
natural way. Equally impressive were
the natural mechanical details audible
when a recording mike is positioned
close to an instrument, including subtle
sounds of fingered strings, and the oc-
casional buzz as they snap back after a
vigorous pluck.
Listening: With ARC
Despite the STR’s superb sound sans
EQ, I was anxious to give ARC a
shot at compensating for my room,
particularly by setting the maximum
EQ frequency at a level that interfered
as little as possible with my speakers’
midrange and treble characteristics. I
chose a ceiling of 500Hz; with ARC
leaving untouched everything above
that frequency, the speakers should
still sound reasonably close to the
speakers I use every day because I like
them, minus most of the bass boom,
tubbiness, and bloat that any room can
cause. I suspect that most buyers of an
STR will make a similar choice.
ARC is used in many other Anthem
products, but the version included
in the STR and Anthem’s new STR
preamp is the most advanced, with
some 50% more correction capability
than even the best of them. Consider-
ing that the other Anthem models
with ARC are all A/V receivers and
surround processors, which have to
handle more than two channels and in
most cases cost less than half the STR’s
price, that’s no surprise.
I set up ARC using Anthem’s recom-
mendations, placing the mike at eight
or nine different positions (I forgot to
write down exactly how many—mea
maxima culpa!), one of them at the point
occupied by my head when I sit at the
primary listening position, and the
others within 2' of it. The computer
did its calculations quickly, after which
stereophile.com Q July 2018
I uploaded the correction file to the
STR. [See “Measurements,” fig.3.—Ed.]
The differences I heard ranged from
subtle to striking, depending on the
recording played, and were only rarely
inconsequential. Recordings with
strong bass content saw the greatest
improvement. Drums were tighter;
closely spaced drum rolls, in particular,
sounded more precise, each stroke
more cleanly differentiated. Recordings
of pipe organs, such as Jean Guillou’s
performance of his own transcription
Beauty lies in
of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition
(CD, Dorian DOR-90117), sounded
not only cleaner but more powerful.
the ear of
The latter was due, at least in part, to a
clearing up of a room-response dip at
roughly 43Hz—although, as indicated
the beholder.
earlier, not all bass dips, some of which
are “black holes” in the response, are
correctable.
The sound of the double bass on Eeg
Fonnesbæk was cleaned up significantly;
while I’d had only minor issues with
it before, now I had none. Marcus
Miller’s M 2 was tighter and crisper,
particularly the bass guitar and kick
drum. And while the King’s Singers’
G&S album was only marginally
affected, the greater precision in the
upper bass made the rapid patter songs
easier to follow.
The application of ARC didn’t
alter the Anthem’s exceptional sound
in other respects. But some listeners
accustomed to the quirks of their
listening rooms might not like the
result at first, particularly the reduction
in extraneous “warmth.” I can only Silver Cube Phono Stage
recommend that they listen to their The high art of music listening.
EQ’d systems for two or three weeks.
The benefits of ARC in comparison
over the system’s uncorrected sound
should then be obvious.
Conclusions
Distributed by:
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processing, particularly when per-
formed at high enough bit and
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accomplish in the analog domain. In
that regard, the Anthem STR is a
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watershed product worth serious www.lehmannaudio.com/silver-cube
consideration. Highly recommended. Q
119
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 THERE’S ONLY TWO KINDS OF MUSIC: THE BLUES AND ZIPPETY DOO-DAH.
—TOWNES VAN ZANDT

MY BACK PAGES BY JIM AUSTIN

Blues is about feelings. It’s a natural
action from the heart and soul.
—LUCIOUS SPILLER

Highway 61 Revisited
’m sitting in a rented Nissan just off Highway 61—yes, that Highway 61—

I looking out at a Shell station through the bug-stained windshield and across
a litter-strewn, not-yet-planted cotton field. It’s late March, and I’ve just left
Clarksdale, Mississippi, on my way to Memphis. Leaving Clarksdale made
me thoughtful, so I’ve pulled over to jot down a few notes.
Clarksdale—specifically, the intersection of highways 61 and 49, at the town’s
southern edge—is the crossroads where, according to legend, Robert Johnson
encountered the Devil and exchanged his soul for his legendary guitar chops. The
list of musicians born in this small city (pop. 18,000) includes Sam Cooke, John
Lee Hooker, Son House, and Ike Turner. Johnson lived here; so did W.C. Handy.
Muddy Waters moved here as a child.
As you drive west through Clarks-
dale’s outskirts on Highway 49, and
then onto Desoto Street, aiming to-
ward the center of town, you pass acres
of broken-down shacks and mobile blues posters and marked with graffiti.
homes. Downtown is unprepossessing, Where Red’s seemed unimproved,
full of empty storefronts and red-brick GZBC is self-conscious, cultivated:
skeletons. There is no Starbucks. Kai juke-joint authentic, real but not infec-
Ryssdal, host and senior editor of tious. Its owners include actor Morgan
NPR’s Marketplace, said in a report on Freeman, born in nearby Memphis,
the Mississippi Delta that, “in terms of and Bill Luckett, a local property
economic mobility and poverty, this lawyer and developer who himself
stretch of land is far behind anywhere has acted in half a dozen Hollywood
else in the developed world.” films. Until he was voted out last May,
Music, though, is ubiquitous here. Luckett was Clarksdale’s mayor.
At Deak’s Mississippi Saxophones & This ain’t Disneyland, but Clarksdale
Blues Emporium, bluesman Deak is stage-managed. It’s subtle but not
Harp sells harmonicas, folk art, and Years after I’d escorted her for a hard to see. And while there may not
cold beer, and performs “open harp local Teen Miss America pageant, Beth be a Starbucks, there is Yazoo Pass, an
surgery” on diseased instruments. The married blues-harp virtuoso Ed John- espresso bar with copies of The New
barbershop was founded by the late son, aka Porkchop Slim. When Pork- Yorker sitting on the wicker coffee
Wade Walton, who, after a promising chop played Red’s Lounge a few years table. That is not the rural Deep South
start playing blues, chose a steadier ago, Beth accompanied him. She was I know.
income. There’s Bluestown Music, online and wrote right back, offering You can’t force things back the way
Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art, and sage advice: Go to Red’s for the music, they were, and you wouldn’t want to
Delta Digs, which was closed when I she wrote, but “wrap yourself in Saran if you could. The blues gestated on the
was there but I think it’s a record store. Wrap and suffer through, or stand porches of African-American shacks—
The Delta Blues Museum occupies the outside and try not to get knifed.” But gritty, impoverished places—in the
renovated train depot. And then there Thursday’s space on the whiteboard minds, throats, and fingers of former
are the juke joints. was blank, and that locked doorknob slaves. The roots of the blues—hence of
The first juke I came to yesterday— was putting out scary vibes. all America’s music, including jazz and
minutes after parking off Yazoo At the Ground Zero Blues Club, rock’n’roll—are in that suffering and
Avenue—was Red’s Lounge. It’s not a Thursday’s attraction was Arkansas the effort to redeem it through art, or
pretty place. What once was a window transplant Lucious Spiller, whom one at least to find peace.
is now a sheet of unpainted plywood. critic has called a “soon-to-be legend.” Sometimes I think the time has
The music calendar is scrawled in black Spiller wears a bandana headband come to put this music in a glass case
Sharpie on an office-style whiteboard and has some Hendrix in him. He’s in a museum. Clarksdale is a museum
under a failing gray-white awning. no blues purist—he’s opened for Bo of sorts, but its residual grit makes it a
After trying Red’s doorknob and Diddley and been known to play fitting tribute to the music. As long as
finding it locked, I had one of the “what Prince—but Spiller can flat-out play the there are suffering, talented musicians,
PHOTOS: JIM AUSTIN

the heck am I doing here?” moments I old-time Delta blues. and a respect for what’s real and true,
often have while traveling. I texted an The Ground Zero was sticky but not there is hope for the music’s continued
old friend for some Clarksdale advice. gross. Every surface is covered in old vitality. Q

122 July 2018 Q stereophile.com

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EST. 1983

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