Leema Acoustics Tucana II Anniversary Edition Integrated Amplifier
- Written by: Jonathan Gorse
- Category: Full-Length Reviews
Design and technology
Wales isn’t well known for its audio manufacturers, but Leema Acoustics and subwoofer specialist REL Acoustics are doing their best to change all that. Leema can trace its origins back to 1998, when its two founders, ex-BBC engineers Lee Taylor and Mallory Nicholls, came together to design their first loudspeaker, the Xen. This project took four years of intensive and innovative development, resulting in a small loudspeaker that—the company claims—can outperform speaker systems many times its size. The Xen was squarely aimed at the professional audio market for mixing and related applications, but the firm soon realized it had a product that hi-fi enthusiasts desired, too.
“Chaomorphic” Dissolves the Ego
- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: For the Record
About 35 years ago, via a mutual friend, I became acquainted with Matthew, an aspiring poet and keen dabbler in psychedelic drugs. At that point in my life, I’d basically finished with psychedelics, as the transition from carefree student to aspiring systems programmer had siphoned much of the fun out of that form of recreation.
Roon in the House—the Future Is Now
- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: Opinion
When last we met, I described my experience of building a Roon ROCK (Roon Optimized Core Kit) server and setting up Roon as my music-streaming software in my home. I got as far as installing the ROCK and Roon clients on my laptop and phone, attaching an external drive and cataloging my music, and getting the thing working with my Logitech Squeezebox Touch streamer.
TAD Compact Evolution One TX Loudspeaker
- Written by: Hans Wetzel
- Category: Full-Length Reviews
Tokyo-based Technical Audio Devices Laboratories (a.k.a. TAD) is a company I’ve long admired. My first exposure to the brand occurred over a decade ago at CES in Las Vegas, Nevada—the first electronics show I ever covered. TAD’s room in the Venetian Hotel, where the high-end audio exhibits were housed, featured their Reference One mk2 flagship loudspeaker, finished in gorgeous Beryl Red. I was gobsmacked by the outstanding clarity of its beryllium tweeter, which was nestled in the middle of a beryllium midrange in a coaxial configuration. Because I was mainly covering budget gear back then, the notion of reviewing a pair of TAD speakers seemed as remote as Pluto. But the seed had been planted. This year, when TAD demoed their new Compact Evolution One TX ($32,500 per pair, all prices in USD) at the Florida International Audio Expo in February, I got to meet the TAD team, including CEO Shinji Tarutani. Several months later, a pair landed on my doorstep. Game on.
The Adam Deitch Quartet: “Roll the Tape”
- Written by: Joseph Taylor
- Category: Recording of the Month
Golden Wolf Records GW009LP
Format: LP
Musical Performance: ****
Sound Quality: ****
Overall Enjoyment: ****
Drummer and producer Adam Deitch has worked on a lot of records since 1994, with musicians as diverse as John Scofield and DJ Quik. He is a member of three bands, which gives him the opportunity to show his grasp of different musical styles: electronica with Break Science, psychedelic funk with Lettuce, and 1960s-style soul jazz with the Adam Deitch Quartet.
Angela-Gilbert Yeung C312 Preamplifier
- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: Full-Length Reviews
Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click here.
Marcia likes to wake up earlier than I do. On weekdays she gets up around 5:30 a.m. and writes in her journal for about 45 minutes. She sits in our darkened living room, and she lights about a half-dozen candles, including one thick beeswax job that ends up with a giant wick.
Jason Does Digital
- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: Opinion
I’ve become dangerously comfortable in my reviewing life. My main system is fed by one source—my VPI Prime Signature turntable. Occasionally new ’tables come and go, and the phono stage changes too. Cartridges flow through here also. But no matter how I take it apart, no matter how I break it down, that single analog source is a consistent feature.
Chord Electronics Ultima 6 Power Amplifier
- Written by: Jonathan Gorse
- Category: Full-Length Reviews
Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of reviewing Chord Electronics’ new Ultima Pre 3 preamplifier. Along with the Ultima preamp, Chord shipped me the subject of this review: the matching Ultima 6 power amplifier ($9925, all prices in USD). My first encounter with these components was in February this year at the Bristol Hi-Fi Show. I was impressed enough with what I heard to request review samples.
Shelly Manne & His Friends: “Modern Jazz Performances of Songs from ‘My Fair Lady’”
- Written by: Joseph Taylor
- Category: Recording of the Month
Craft Recordings / Contemporary Records / Stereo Records CR00391
Format: LP
Musical Performance: ***½
Sound Quality: ****
Overall Enjoyment: ****
In the 1950s, Contemporary Records released a number of Broadway-themed LPs by trios led by pianist André Previn or drummer Shelly Manne. The sessions fronted by Previn featured Manne on drums and Red Mitchell on bass; Manne’s featured Previn and bassist Leroy Vinnegar. In my June 2023 review of the Craft Recordings / Contemporary Records reissue of West Side Story, the 1959 album by André Previn and His Pals, I wrote: “I’m already anticipating the Craft Recordings reissue of Manne’s My Fair Lady this fall.” Modern Jazz Performances of Songs from My Fair Lady was a 1956 mono release by Shelly Manne & His Friends, and its popularity led Contemporary to ask Previn and Manne to record more albums in the same vein.
Vivid Audio Giya G3 Series 2 Loudspeaker
- Written by: Hans Wetzel
- Category: Full-Length Reviews
You’d be forgiven for looking at Vivid Audio’s Giya G3 Series 2 loudspeaker ($43,000 per pair, $45,500 per pair as reviewed; all prices USD) and thinking it seems more like an exercise straight out of a design student’s sketchbook than a serious attempt at creating a state-of-the-art loudspeaker. But lead designer Laurence Dickie—the brains behind former employer Bowers & Wilkins’s Matrix cabinet-bracing system and the English firm’s iconic Nautilus loudspeaker—wouldn’t have it any other way. “It’s always easy to draw parallels between the automotive and audio sectors, and if that’s fair, I like to compare Vivid Audio with Citroën of the 1950s and 1960s,” Dickie told me. “The Citroën DS was a very curvaceous, aerodynamic design with an awful lot of engineering innovation, and its shape really did divide people. There are those who dismissed it as a frog on wheels, but I like to think we’re [like Citroën]. We’re not afraid of sticking our necks out.”
- Emcee Sick Comes A-Knocking
- Go East, Old Man
- Fezz Audio Lybra 300B Integrated Amplifier
- Ornette Coleman: “Something Else!!!!”
- Crystal Cable Art Series Monet Speaker Cables
- It’s Come to This—How Many Systems Do I Actually Need?
- Chord Electronics Ultima Pre 3 Preamplifier
- Pete Townshend: “Empty Glass”
- Perlisten Audio S5t Loudspeaker
- Take Off the Blinkers!
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