Innuos ZENith Mk3 Music Server

Innuos ZENith Mk3 Music Server

Anthony Kershaw
Digital, Star Component Award

I first heard an Innuos product and the considerable buzz about this fairly new Portuguese company—formed in 2016 in the sunny Algarve—at the 2018 Rocky Mountain Audio Show. The Innuos unit I heard at length was the Statement Music Server, the top of the line unit (up to $15,000—review unit requested). In fact, numerous Innuos units were placed in several rooms—all rooms sounding uniformly collaborative. I heard Innuos models serving products from Spatial Audio, Anticables, QLN Loudspeakers, and Vinnie Rossi integrated amplifiers, amplifiers and preamps. They were all singing Innuos’ praises and the Innuos servers, right back at them. In fact, rarely have I been so engrossed in different showrooms playing digital content.

I enquired about a review unit of any of their products for our readers. Then came the typical, glacially-paced song and dance between reviewer, distributor, dealer and manufacturer after the craziness of a show. When we did finally connect, I found the Innuos chain, from US distributor Well Pleased Audio Vida to Portuguese home base, efficient and patient. As such, I’d like to thank Mark Sossa of Well Pleased Audio Vida and Mandy De Castro, Event Manager of Innuos, for their kind considerations.

Ortofon 2M Mono Cartridge

Ortofon 2M Mono Cartridge

Jesús González-Monreal
Analog

I’ve always had in mind a basic turntable setup for the beginner audiophile; the usual suspects: speakers, phono-stage and amplifier. They remain the building blocks for starting and developing better audio quality. To these components, I’ll add one more, and it’s the focus of this review: the cartridge/stylus. This needle is the connection to the grooves on the recording, the last external mechanism before it lowers and touches the LP of the music you love. But this review is not about any old cartridge, it’s a review for a monaural cart, the Ortofon 2M Mono ($356). A much needed tool in your turntable arsenal for those albums that carry so many memories.

There’s some history for me with mono albums. I remember being six years old and making the hour long drive with my mother to my grandfather’s home. As soon as I would get there, I knew I’d find a new ‘toy’ to play with. My grandfather sold used electronics, from TVs, to amplifiers, guitars, basses, to Casio watches and even turntables. The few times I visited him, listening was such a memorable experience; those memories are still with me.

IsoAcoustics zaZen Isolation Platform

IsoAcoustics zaZen Isolation Platform

Anthony Kershaw
Accessories, Star Component Award

I’ve had a lot of success using isolation devices under high end components (platforms, pucks, feet, etc). My early platform days were with a Townshend Seismic Sink (metal casing with air bladder) under a series of Rega turntables, a brief flirtation with the wondrous and very expensive Vibraplane, some home builts, including a tall ceramic planter filled with soil and a bog standard patio stone perched on top for my turntable (remarkably effective, if a little too ‘Flintstones’). From the exceptional Vibraplane, to demos of superb and expensive HRS (Harmonic Resolution Systems) gear, to supportive feet too numerous to mention, I’m a big fan of isolation gear. And utterly convinced of their efficacy.

Jackie Smiley, of Starscream Communications (a PR firm representing IsoAcoustics among others), suggested I review the newest IsoAcoustics product, the zaZen Isolation Platform. In fact, the product is debuting today.

Nordost Frey 2 Speaker Cables, Interconnects and Power Cords

Nordost Frey 2 Speaker Cables, Interconnects and Power Cords

Anthony Kershaw
Cables, Star Component Award

Cables are notoriously difficult to review. Capturing the subtle, even minute changes good cables make can be challenging to describe on the page. The ear is a much better arbiter than the written word. Thus, the description must be super accurate if the writer has a whisker of a chance convincing cable naysayers. Also, long term thinking is required to really hear the positive effects cables have on your system.

Connecting two or more cables from a ‘loom’ from one manufacturer makes things even more difficult, even though multiple products of the same design in the system should make changes seem more obvious. Literally, too much information in one sitting can lead to confusion (ever wonder why on black box recordings pilots ignore obvious multiple klaxon warnings when in deeply stressful situations?). As Emperor Joseph II says to Mozart, ‘Too many notes’.

Shabaka & the Ancestors—We Are Sent Here By History/Vinyl Me Please Edition

Shabaka & the Ancestors—We Are Sent Here By History/Vinyl Me Please Edition

Maxwell Geiger
Music

2020 is shaping up to be a fine year for humanity to collectively ponder our mortality as a species. The global coronavirus pandemic, climate change, violent political unrest, accelerating wealth inequality and—for those of us in California—good old fashioned wildfires foreshadow how the end might come about. But what would the end times sound like? Shabaka & The Ancestors have the answer. On their epic double LP We Are Sent Here By History, Shabaka Hutchings, leading his octet of South Africa based musicians, channels the tradition of the african griot to narrate the extinction of the human race from a future perspective. Heavy, right?

Within the universe of jazz, We Are Sent Here By History is a momentous record released with appropriately high expectations. After all, it is the most ambitious record yet from the biggest name in the most exciting jazz scene in the world. Shabaka Hutchings, and his global collective of three groups, The Ancestors, Sons of Kemet and The Comet Is Coming, are the de facto torchbearers of the fertile South London jazz scene. 

Allnic Audio Rose MC Cartridge

Allnic Audio Rose MC Cartridge

Karl Sigman
Analog, Star Component Award

The new Allnic Audio Amber MC Cartridge ($4500) was recently reviewed very favorably by Audiophilia where it was also mentioned that Amber had an equally new twin sister, the focus of my review here: the Rose MC Cartridge which retails at the significantly lower price of $2900.

Although not an identical twin of Amber—for it comes in a beautiful rose-colored Duralumin 5052 housing (versus amber-colored) with the name ‘Rose’ written elegantly in white on its right side—it is identical looking otherwise, almost identical in construction and, like the Amber, is handbuilt by master Allnic Audio designer Kang Su Park. As I discovered and will elaborate on in this review, the Rose is a true bargain, handily performing above its price point, so beautiful to look at and very easy to install.

Sonos Arc—Three months later (incl. Sound & Installation)

Sonos Arc—Three months later (incl. Sound & Installation)

Anthony Kershaw
Loudspeakers, Digital

The excitement in late Spring 2020 was palpable. Sonos was debuting its most exciting product for years, the Arc ‘Premium Smart Soundbar’ ($799), successor to Sonos’ very popular and very fine Playbar.

Getting an Arc was a challenge, with (communication) hurdles at every level, corporate, distributor, dealer and mass market. I dug deep and found one nailed to the floor of my local ‘Sonos Platinum’ dealer. As usual, the staff were very kind and allowed me a long stretch with its sole Arc for the day. You can read my thoughts here.

Icon Audio Stereo 40 MkIV 'Plus' Integrated Amplifier

Icon Audio Stereo 40 MkIV 'Plus' Integrated Amplifier

Anthony Kershaw
Amplifiers, Star Component Award

Icon Audio’s Canadian distributor, Warren Lavender, has been excited to share products with Audiophilia for review. I echoed his excitement for Icon’s remarkably good phono stage, the PS1 Mk.II. It was such good value at $2400, I purchased the unit for my mono setup (it has a rare ‘mono switch’).

Lavender was equally excited about Icon amplification and preamp designs, including integrated amplifiers. As Icon owner/designer David Shaw calls them, ‘All Valve’. Brit-speak for tubes. As such, Lavender requested a review of the 50W (Ultralinear) 30W (Triode) Stereo 40 MkIV Integrated Amplifier. The MkIV is a KT88 based design. The 4 KT88s are a matched set.

Beethoven Symphonies: Barenboim—Dolby Atmos Music on Tidal HiFi

Beethoven Symphonies: Barenboim—Dolby Atmos Music on Tidal HiFi

Anthony Kershaw
Music

As Julius Baker would say when hearing of 600 applications for the next top flute job, ‘there’s always room for a great player’. I feel the same about Beethoven symphony cycles. James Norris’ review of the Steinberg/Pittsburgh/DG Beethoven cycle was published here only a few weeks ago.

This very fine Barenboim set with his Staatskapelle Berlin (the opera orchestra rejuvenated from the pit of East Berlin’s Unter den Linden opera house, equally rebuilt umpteen times since commissioned by Frederick the Great in 1741) was originally released on Teldec CDs twenty year ago. Warner re-released them in 2017.

Allnic Audio Amber MC Cartridge

Allnic Audio Amber MC Cartridge

Anthony Kershaw
Analog, Star Component Award

The star products from South Korea’s Allnic Audio continue to arrive on the island for review. Usually, the delivery guy/gal is cussing me under his/her breath wrangling the massive boxes in which the Allnic tube amps and preamps arrive. This time, no grumbling. A tiny cartridge.

The new Allnic Audio Amber Moving Coil Cartridge, in fact, the more expensive sister to the equally new Rose MC Cartridge ($2900—now in Karl Sigman’s hands—review up late August). The MSRP of the Amber Moving Coil Cartridge is $4500.

Allnic Audio A-2000 25th Anniversary Power Amplifier

Allnic Audio A-2000 25th Anniversary Power Amplifier

Anthony Kershaw
Amplifiers

This is the 25th Anniversary edition of Allnic Audio’s A-2000 stereo power amplifier. The 25th is both a 100 watt (pentode) and 50 watt (triode) push-pull design that retails for $9,900. The pentode/triode feature is switchable ‘on-the-fly’.

Changes from the original A-2000 include upgraded output transformers, a modified chassis with a newer, swept look and a power tube swap from KT88s to KT150s. Designer Kang Su Park also made some circuitry changes for greater stability and tube longevity.

Streaming the Classics: Berlioz—Roméo et Juliette

Streaming the Classics: Berlioz—Roméo et Juliette

Charles Brown
Music

Do you ever type a streaming query in Roon for a classical work and are overwhelmed by the choices? Rather than clicking on any old recording or the first one you see, Audiophilia will make things a little easier for you and do the heavy listening.

These choices are for streaming only. Is the best in streaming also the best vinyl recording and performance? That’s for another article.

A few criteria:

  1. Recording must be on Qobuz and/or Tidal HiFi.

  2. It does not have to be HiRes or MQA.

  3. No more than ten recommendations in no particular order, then my top three for streaming in order of preference.

SONOS Arc

SONOS Arc

Anthony Kershaw
Digital, Loudspeakers, Star Component Award

Driving with cabriolet top down on a particularly sunny Spring day last month, I heard the CEO of Sonos, Patrick Spence, being interviewed by Nilay Patel of The Vergecast. Spence was particularly smooth and spoke mostly in corporate talk but did take responsibility for the debacle last year where some bright spark at Sonos decided to brick older products when new software updates were applied. Even with a healthy discount, my older purchased review units were expensive and not ready for the landfill. As such, the anger was not typical of the ‘faux-outrage’ you read every day on social media. It was visceral.

The tenor of the Verge interview got me thinking about the birth of Sonos and its exponential growth based on superior engineering and brilliant marketing. Word of mouth, too. And then my thoughts turned to more challenging days—the massive layoffs, the paradigm shift to ‘smart’ speakers and how Sonos navigated those minefields. Finally, the transition to the new products and post debacle marketing.

Mojo Audio Mystique EVO Pro D/A Converter

Mojo Audio Mystique EVO Pro D/A Converter

Karl Sigman
Digital, Star Component Award

The vast majority of modern audio DACs use a Delta-Sigma DAC chip because such chips are now tiny, manufactured by companies that sell them in mass relatively cheaply, and have become outstanding in quality. Examples of such chips include the California USA Company’s ESS Technology 9038PRO SABRE chip used in many of the highest-end DACs. Even their slightly lesser chip, the ESS Technology 9028PRO SABRE has been used impressively in some high-end DACs with which I am familiar such as the Mytek Brooklyn DAC + at only $2195.

There are, however, a few companies that use other methods. One novel alternative is illustrated by PS Audio’s DirectStream (DSD) DAC at $6000 that stands out because of its use of a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) which is a circuit board that is programmed with software (that can be upgraded on a regular basis) to perform the essential conversion, and does so using DSD. This FPGA method for use in Hi-Fi audio, however, requires sophisticated software to run which most audio designers do not have the knowledge to assure (PS Audio, for example, leads their effort with one incredibly talented man: Ted Smith). The DirectStream DAC has been my reference for a number of years now.

Ortofon 2M 78 Phono Cartridge

Ortofon 2M 78 Phono Cartridge

Jesús González-Monreal
Analog

Why does vinyl have such a strong hold on audiophiles? Perhaps it’s the ritual of the LP, the ‘warm’ sound of the grooves, the quality of the sound, that one can play around with cartridges, speakers, cables and preamps not to mention turntables. A little over two years ago, I started getting more serious about vinyl, wanting more from my music. Spending years collecting records was not just a hobby, but a way to experience sound. Collecting LPs of favorite composers and conductors as well as researching great recorded performances is a passionate activity for those of us who are immersed in music and its sound.

The listener or audiophile researches how to get the best sound out of their vinyl. Reading, watching videos, visiting chatrooms, all information about LPs pressings, labels, mono, stereo, types of grooves, cartridges, have but one goal—the clarity of sound and the experience of it. Having some experience with the LPs, I decided to start my journey into the oldest type of mass produced records, the 78rpm shellac. With a very introductory setup (Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Esprit SB Turntable, a Pro-Ject Phono Box MM preamp and Edifier R1280DB Loudspeakers) and acute curiosity, I dove head first into this new world of the 78rpm.

Beethoven: The Symphonies—Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra/Steinberg

Beethoven: The Symphonies—Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra/Steinberg

James Norris
Music

William Steinberg (1899–1978) was a conductor much loved and respected by musicians with a clear and concise beat and an unassuming manner who was much in demand from the world’s leading orchestras and soloists for much of the 20th Century. His recordings with Heifetz, Milstein and Firkusny are among the best to be found anywhere and have stood the test of time for over 60 years in the catalogue.

He held conductorships in London and Boston and founded the Israel Philharmonic with Hubermann, but it was as the successor to his earlier teacher and friend Klemperer in Pittsburgh which cemented his fame and reputation.

Graham Slee Accession MC Phono Preamp

Graham Slee Accession MC Phono Preamp

Anthony Kershaw
Analog

I noticed several things almost immediately when opening the box of the Graham Slee Accession MC Phono Preamp. Its diminutive size & weight and the four toggles/knob on the front fascia. More on these somewhat rare recording curve and playback options later.

Though small, it’s a handsome piece and is priced at $1949, including the upgraded PSU1 Enigma power supply. Knock off a couple of hundred bucks with the standard PSU1. My Accession was the moving coil version. Slee manufactures a moving magnet version with the standard power supply for $1299. It’s been my experience phono stage quality takes bucks, more than any other high end component. My only lengthy experience with one approaching the Accession’s price point was the excellent Rega Aria Phono Stage.

Green—Hiroshi Yoshimura

Green—Hiroshi Yoshimura

Maxwell Geiger
Music

Too often ‘ambient music’ is defined by what it lacks. Describing it as music without standard melody, rhythm and structure provides a cursory reference point to pop and classical music for the unfamiliar. Unfortunately this overlooks the many truly engaging ambient records which contain creative, nuanced and powerful artist statements.

GREEN, the recently remastered and reissued ambient classic by Hiroshi Yoshimura, is one such record. Like a lot of ambient music, GREEN is mellow enough for heavy rotation while logging mandated work-from-home hours but it stands up to deeper listening as well.

Streaming the Classics/The Dream of Gerontius—Elgar

Streaming the Classics/The Dream of Gerontius—Elgar

James Norris
Music

Do you ever type a streaming query in Roon for a classical work and are overwhelmed by the choices? Rather than clicking on any old recording or the first one you see, Audiophilia will make things a little easier for you and do the heavy listening.

These choices are for streaming only. Is the best in streaming also the best vinyl recording and performance? That’s for another article.

A few criteria:

Recording must be on Qobuz and/or Tidal HiFi.

It does not have to be HiRes or MQA.

No more than ten recommendations in no particular order, then my top three for streaming in order of preference.

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