Suffice to say, it's a very complex device, a near-complete system minus speakers (and a turntable/cartridge system, if you're into vinyl). It's a radio (FM and FM-HD), CD player, networked streamercomputer, DAC, analog preamplifier (including analog tone controls), class-AB power amplifier, and power supply, all in one relatively compact and midweight, well-finished metal chassis. It is perhaps the most complete receiver ever made.
After I submitted the review, T+A's Jim Shannon said "Keep it a while." He offered to send an optional phono preamp module ($920) for installation and review. I jumped at this opportunity, as well as the chance to retest some of the app-control features when it was finally certified Roon Ready.² In a firmware/app update, T+A also added a swell feature to the built-in CD player.
Although the R 2500 R is fully featured and not inexpensive by any measure,³ it's still a receiver. I don't think its optional phono preamp will be of interest to a vinyl aficionado with a sedan-priced recordplaying rig. That person has their own fleet of cartridges and preamps and will connect them to the R 2500 R's line inputs. I asked Shannon to send me the moving magnet version of the phono board and configured its gain, input resistance, and capacitance as I thought would well match my Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge (once owned by the late Art Dudley, RIP), which was mounted on my Technics SL-1200MK7 turntable and connected with a vintage SME cable. I love this no-fuss, no-frills vinyl-spinning system. I won't claim for a second that it digs every tiny microdetail out of every groove, but it's a cinch to use, it runs flawlessly onspeed, and surface noise is minimal with clean, carefully owned records.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة February 2025 من Stereophile.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة February 2025 من Stereophile.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Michael Des Barres and the Art of Aural Obsession
Listening to music inspires us to take action. Upon hearing an I.E.-Instant Earworm-we must then determine the best way we can go about listening to it again (and again) at our convenience.
PLANET OF SOUND
BLACK FRANCIS ON HARNESSING THAT MAGIC PIXIES DUST
T+A R 2500 R STREAMING RECEIVER PHONO MODULE
In my review of the T+A R 2500 R receiver (August 2024 issue), I covered many of its features and took as deep a dive as time and column inches allowed.
Audia Flight FLS10
The dogma of separates has long reigned supreme among audiophiles: If you're serious about sound quality, you're supposed to need a dedicated preamp and power amp.
Totem Acoustic Element Fire V2
Totem Acoustic was founded in 1987, in Montreal, Canada, by a former high school math teacher named Vince Bruzzese. The company's first product, the Model 1 loudspeaker,' impressed me so much I bought a pair.
MoFi Electronics MasterDeck
Get two mouthy jazz drummers in a room and watch the sparks fly. Talented turntable designer Allen Perkins, the brain behind Spiral Groove,2 Immedia's RPM turntables,³ and various SOTA models, is first and foremost a jazz drummer.
Soulution 727
AImost 14 years have passed since a review of a Soulution product appeared in the pages of Stereophile.\"
The Spin Doctor checks out the Kuzma Safir 9, a superarm from Slovenia.
The British audio scene from the late 1970s through the mid-1980s was pretty strange. Audio as a hobby was a big deal, with widespread appeal to a much younger crowd than today. Audiophiles were guided by a flurry of what my friends called \"hi-fi pornos,\" audio magazines that filled the racks at the newsagents.
Alex goes to Japan
Arriving in Japan from the United States is like being turned upside down. This condition lasts for much of the first week. When I visited in November, the time difference between Tokyo and New York was 14 hours. \"The floating world\" is a term for the pleasure-addled urban culture of Edo-period Japan, but it's also an apt description for the twilit and not-entirely-unpleasant weirdness of first arriving in Tokyo. Everything seems slightly unreal.
Wilson Audio Specialties The WATT/Puppy
Since the original WATT/Puppy concept kicked off in the late 1980s,' there has been a 40-year evolution leading to the latest version reviewed here.
