My head began to spin, my stomach churned, and my mouth grew very dry as I read that Gold Note’s DS-10 ($2995) was a “chameleon DAC” with 192 setup options that enable it to “completely blend in with different music genres, giving the listener the opportunity to adapt the behavior of the unit to the music playing, to one’s stereo system and, most of all, to the listener’s taste.”
My brain was rattled by memories of Michael Green Designs Chameleon tunable speakers and the frightening number of hours I had devoted to trying to get them to sound “right.” I flashed back to the afternoon in my East Oakland living room when I was so convinced that everything was perfect that I had invited my friend Danaan over for a visit. That’s when I indulged in one of my friend’s joints—something I never do when reviewing equipment because it affects my hearing.
“Something’s wrong with the tuning,” cried the delusional one (me). Much to Danaan’s chagrin—he was a practitioner of vibrational medicine, and my vibes had just shot into critical diagnosis zone—I grabbed the tuning control and began to alter speaker settings far too much. After the fiasco ended rather abruptly—how could anyone possibly groove to music as this wide-eyed mad person was radically altering tonal balance, soundstage width, and bass while babbling hysterically?—my friend gave up and left. Hours later, after I had returned to a “normal-for-me” level of audiophilia nervosa, I took one listen to the mess I’d made and vowed that I would rather sell those speakers than engage in one more round of tuning.
Denne historien er fra August 2020-utgaven av Stereophile.
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Denne historien er fra August 2020-utgaven av Stereophile.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Louis in London
No jazz-centric visit to New York City is complete without a trek out to Queens. At 46th Street in Sunnyside stands the apartment building where famed cornetist Leon Bismark \"Bix\" Beiderbecke's alcoholism finally killed him in 1931.
Believing in bricks and mortar
North Carolina hi-fi dealer Audio Advice has been busy lately.
Musical Fidelity AI
In 1989, I bought my second pair of Rogers LS3/5a's from a guy on Staten Island who had them hooked up to a Musical Fidelity AI integrated amplifier.
Burmester 218
As much as I tinkered with a little crystal radio as a child and started reading stereo magazines in high school, it wasn't until my early 30s that I half-stumbled into the higher end of the hi-fi sphere.
Bowers & Wilkins 805 D4 Signature
The \"Bowers\" in the name of British manufacturer Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) refers to founder John Bowers, whom I got to know fairly well before he passed in 1987.
Hegel H400
STREAMING INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER
SVS Ultra Evolution Pinnacle
How many times have you been told by parents and teachers that everything successful must be built on a strong foundation?
RECOMMENDED RC2024 COMPONENTS
Every product listed here has been reviewed in Stereophile. Everything on the list, regardless of rating, is genuinely recommendable.
Paging Dr. Löfgren
It started one evening when I was killing time watching YouTube videos and stumbled across a 2017 talk given by Jonathan Carr, Lyra's brilliant cartridge designer.'
Music among the Fairchildren
Pull down the shades, find a comfortable seat, and come with me on an imaginary journey to the year 1956. The Eisenhower-Nixon ticket wins reelection, the United Methodist Church begins to ordain women, and a can of Campbell's tomato soup costs 10 cents.