Core Power Equi=Core 1000 Review
August 10, 2021 § Leave a comment
https://www.tonepublications.com/review/core-power-equicore-1000/
How will you know you’ve gone too far? If you’ve gone way too far and overtax the current capability, the circuit breaker on the front panel will pop. It’s worth mentioning here that staffer Jerold O’Brien uses an Equi=Core 1800 in his main system, and on a recent lightning strike to the house, only the sacrificial breaker on the front panel was damaged (an easy fix) but his beloved ARC SP-10 mk 2 and D76 power amplifiers were unharmed. So we know for a fact that the Equi=Core stuff will protect your gear. If you don’t push the EQ1000 hard enough to blow the breaker, you will notice a subtle flattening of the soundstage. Should you get to this point, take a quick look at how much power the components you have plugged in draw. You’ll probably only notice it when you’re really playing your system at high level. Remember, think about that 1800 if you have a big amp,
and/or really like to crank it up.
Accuphase DG-68 Digital Voicing Equalizer Review
August 7, 2021 § Leave a comment
https://www.stereophile.com/content/accuphase-dg-68-digital-voicing-equalizer
Each time I altered room treatments, or cabling, or power treatment, or equipment supports, or component resonance damping, I created new “Smooth” and “Flat” curves with the DG-68, turning VC/EQ on and off and listening intently. Over the same period, I also changed optical (internet) cabling and upgraded optical-to-electrical converters and SFP (small–form-factor pluggable; don’t ask) modules. In due time, I created and implemented 18 different “smooth” and “flat” VC/EQ curves.
Under ordinary circumstances, making changes to my reference setup during the course of a review would be verboten. But in the context of a Digital Voicing Equalizer review, each change provided a new opportunity to evaluate the DG-68’s efficacy. While the journey was more stressful than fun, it led me closer to Oz. In nonmythological terms, as I made successful changes, the system sound with the Accuphase bypassed got progressively closer to sound with the unit activated. The room itself was doing more of the heavy lifting, and the Accuphase was proving itself a useful tool.
AUDIO-TECHNICA AT-ART9XA AND AT-ART9XI MOVING COIL PHONO CARTRIDGES REVIEW
July 4, 2021 § Leave a comment
The higher output XI cartridge was no problem. If I held my ear right up to the speaker, I could hear a little preamp noise, but at a significantly lower level. The gain difference needed to make up for the lower output of the XA over the XI is 8 dB, so my preamp was right on the edge in terms of noise for the lower output unit. Ideally, I think you’d want something with closer to 70 dB gain for the XA and 60 dB for the XI. I set loading to 1 kohm. A-T recommends loading of at least 100 ohms. I did a little experimenting but decided to limit variables and just leave the loading at 1k for the test as I was happy with what I got. But you can experiment to your heart’s content.
Cleer Crescent Wireless Smart Speaker $700 Review
July 1, 2021 § Leave a comment
https://www.soundandvision.com/content/cleer-crescent-wireless-smart-speaker-review
For one last hurrah, I connected my PC to Cambridge Audio’s DacMagic XS USB digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and ran a cable to the Crescent’s analog input to enjoy a wide-reaching selection of 24/96 hi-res downloads, stopping to rock out to “Lone Star” by Supertramp guitarist Carl Verheyen. His squeaky clean Strat was appropriately twangy or fat and raucous when he hit the distortion pedal, punctuated by the powerful (and realistic) crack of the snare drum. On the whole, the character of the sound wasn’t perfect—it could be boomy and a bit strident a times—but it was still darn good for a single-speaker solution.
