Articles, Reviews and Measurements of Audio Products

Arendal 1723 Speaker Review

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This is a review, listening test and measurements of the Arendal 1723 "Monitor" THX rated speaker. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $2,499 for a pair.
Arendal 1723 THX Monitor Speaker Home Theater Review.jpg

This is one substantial "bookshelf" speaker! It weighs around 58 pounds. The cabinet simultaneously feels nice and rigid. The back panel binding posts are a work of art and would be at home in a $20,000 speaker:
Arendal 1723 THX Monitor Speaker Home Theater binding posts back panel.jpg


Speaker is designed in Norway but manufactured in China.

I used the center of speaker as reference design and tested it with my Klippel Near-field Scanner without the grill. You get two foams to block the rear ports. I briefly tested the unit with them blocked but the rest of the measurements are with the port open.

Arendal 1723 Measurements
Let's start with our usual speaker...

Introducing the Phono Cartridge Measurement Library

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After years of development we are finally launching our phono cartridge measurement library. These measurements were created using the brilliant cartridge response python script written by @scott wurcer and @JP. Information about its origins can be found in the following threads:



The script itself, user guides, information regarding test record compatibility and limitations, and discussion are available here:


Information regarding Floyd Toole's phono cartridge blind test experiments and the importance of frequency response is found here:

[URL...

TP RA3 Rackmount Amplifier Review

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This is a review and detailed measurements of the TP (Topping) RA3 stereo balanced rackmount amplifier. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $229.
TP Topping RA3 Rackmount stereo amplifier balanced Review.jpg

Yes, this is a new sub-brand from Topping. I quite like it. The large and highly visible volume level is as gorgeous to look at as it is responsive. A remote control is provided which is something you don't usually get. The remote (or front panel) allow you to select between RCA and XLR input:
TP Topping RA3 Rackmount stereo amplifier balanced back panel Review.jpg

For those of us who have a DAC and an analog source, this is all that we need.

Lots of nice touches are there such as independent memory for the volume setting for RCA vs XLR. Safe volume settings. Trigger support and ability to update firmware in the future. Love that despite low cost, the power supply is built in. You have a hard power switch which puts the unit in standby. Push the volume knob or the remote button and it powers on.

This line of products...

Dan Clark Audio AEON 2 Noire Review

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This is a review, listening test and measurements of the Dan Clark Audio (DCA) AEON 2 Noire Planar Magnetic closed back headphone. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $850.
DCA Aeon 2 Noire Closed Back Headphone planar review.jpg

As soon as you touch and attempt to pick up the headphone, it immediately conveys a feeling of luxury with butter soft pads contrasting against the glossy finish. When I took off my everyday Dan Clark Stealth and put on the Noire, I felt like I had nothing on my head! It is that much lighter and so much more comfortable (although I wear my Stealth for hours).

Fitment on the GRAS measurement fixture was instant requiring almost no effort including great channel matching.

DCA AEON 2 Noire Measurements
We start with our usual frequency response measurement:
[ATTACH...

Nice Talk with Paul Barton of PSB Speakers

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As some of you may know, Paul Barton was there at National Research Institute when Dr. Toole started doing his research on speakers. In this interview with Darko, he fills in some of the details about that experience. It is about 50 minutes and sadly, I don't know how to speed it up on Soundcloud. But is very well worth a listen:
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Interview with Paul Barton

As an aside, Darko without mentioning my name, asks Paul about listening to speakers to mono. To his surprised, Paul confirms why this is better and explains why. There are other moments where Darko has no choice but to accept the technical points Paul is making about importance...

Amir's 2023 Pacific Audio Fest Report Day 2

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Purpose of going back for a second day to 2023 Pacific Audio Fest was to see a few suites I missed. But importantly, to spend more time in the ones I had already seen. Both goals were accomplished although I hit the closing time before I felt really finished. I was being up till 3:00am so was hard to get there in the morning.

The first suite I hit was from a company with a new approach to system design: active speakers with full streaming and DAC built in! The company was Cabasse and their Rialto speaker:

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At first they look like ordinary speakers but waive your hand on top of the right speaker and it lights up with the UI:
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Display changes to show album art when playing music! Yes, you can't see it from far but you can navigate using it. Speakers communicate over network (challenging) and support both Wifi and wired...

Audio-technica M20x Headphone Review

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Welcome to Cuckoo Studio review. I'm Anzol, The following content is presented from the perspective of a mixing engineer.

Measurement Conditions Explanation And Chart Interpretation Of Cuckoo Studio Review​


If you prefer video version:

In May of last year, when I went to Chengdu,I had the opportunity to listen to a rather "interesting" pair of M20x headphones at my friend FATE's house. I borrowed that pair from him and also purchased a pair from the official store to see how these two pairs of M20x perform.

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Let's start with the appearance. The design of the M20x is the simplest among the Mx series. Except for the metal construction inside the adjustable headband, the rest of the...

Amir's 2023 Pacific Audio Fest Report Continued

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This is continuation of day one report on 2023 Pacific Audio Fest. I have a few more writes up from day one and then will cover today's visit. The show was less crowded on Sunday which was just fine with me. I had more time to spend time with some manufactures. It was also a pleasure to meet quite a few more members from ASR of youtube channel. I had not thought that a lot more people could recognize me now give my videos! Reception from everyone who knew me was extremely positive and a highlight of my visit today.

Amir's 2023 Pacific Audio Fest Report

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Hello everyone. I attended the 2023 Pacific Audio Fest (PAF) today. I was pleased with the relaxed atmosphere of the show. Just enough people were there as to there being interest but not too crowded. The show is about 20% the size of the major audio shows like AXPONA and now defunct RMAF. I managed to attend all the exhibits (sans the headphone area) in an afternoon. I may go back tomorrow to explore more.

I was sad that there were no badges so you didn't know who was there other than the exhibitors. In that regard, I didn't think anyone would recognize me but many did! This resulted in many nice conversations and heartwarming comments from members about the work we are doing at ASR. I also caught up with some industry friends after some 3 years of absence.

I usually take my DSLR to shows but it is heavy and a burden so this year I decided to use my Samsung S23 Ultra. Pictures are a bit too crispy/over sharpened for my taste. But convenience was superb as was the signal...

Power Supply 101 (Linear Supply)

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This post (originally from ~2014) introduces the basic operation of a linear power supply, showing voltage and currents at the input and output.

There has been a lot of debate about power cords and their impact on the system. Aside from a defective or severely undersized cord I am a skeptic, largely because a few feet of cable is not going to change the rest of the wiring in your house and beyond. However, I do want to clear up some misconceptions about the bandwidth of signals coming out of your outlet. (OK, I admit that is a fanciful, wishful thought, but "clear up" is as good a choice of words as any for this). I am going to hand wave my way through a lot of technical details so purists please take note. This is not meant to be (and is not) a rigorous analysis.

I set up a very simple schematic (below). The voltage source represents the output of your power transformer. There are four diodes arranged in a full-wave bridge. For simplicity I used ten 1N4007A diodes in parallel to...
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