The previous yr has been nice for me, as a reviewer, having had the chance to audition a superb variety of positive turntables, from entry degree to the highest of SoundStage! Access’s purview. (You can discover my turntable critiques on SoundStage! Access nearly each month.) For this posting, I revisited my critiques for the previous yr, chosen the best examples of the science and artwork embodied in high-value turntables, and summarized my findings.
I’ve identified about Kharma for a really very long time. I’ve seen their audio system reviewed in magazines and encountered them at reveals through the years. And it’s at all times been the attractive, raked, “entry-level” Elegance fashions that sprang to my thoughts on listening to the Dutch model’s title. For one motive or one other, I’ve by no means had the chance to sit down and take heed to a pair, however 18 months in the past I started a dialog with Vivienne van Oosterum, the daughter of Kharma founder, Charles van Oosterum, that in the end led to a pair of Kharma’s Elegance dB7-S loudspeakers (US$31,250 per pair) being deposited on my driveway, in mid-December 2022.
Since I’m principally* unable to spend paycheck cash on this pastime, I have a tendency to not maintain on to further gear for very lengthy. Freeing up outdated and unused gear on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace is a good way to fulfill like-minded native fanatics, nevertheless it additionally permits me to fund different, later purchases. It was with each these ideas in thoughts that I listed my Ortofon 2M Bronze ($419, all costs USD) moving-magnet phono cartridge on the market, though it saved my butt for just a few weeks just lately.
Since I’m largely* unable to spend paycheck cash on this interest, I have a tendency to not maintain on to further gear for very lengthy. Freeing up outdated and unused gear on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace is an effective way to satisfy like-minded native lovers, nevertheless it additionally permits me to fund different, later purchases. It was with each these ideas in thoughts that I listed my Ortofon 2M Bronze ($419, all costs USD) moving-magnet phono cartridge on the market, regardless that it saved my butt for a number of weeks lately.
A few months back I wrote about the system in my new living room, which includes an NAD M10 V2 integrated amplifier-DAC, Focal’s 1000 IW6 two-way in-wall loudspeakers, and KEF’s KC62 microsubwoofer. I love the KC62 because it’s perfect for my use case: a tiny 10″-cubed footprint married to extension and control below 30Hz. It looks unobtrusive in my room while still offering proper audiophile performance. If there’s an asterisk to this heroic little subwoofer, it’s the matter of output. Above a certain volume its extension begins to roll off to ensure that the little-sub-that-could doesn’t blow itself to pieces, and no matter how accomplished the hardware or DSP is, there is no substitute for displacement (as they used to say in the car world).
A system is only as good as the room that it’s in, and as I explained in my last article, I’ve had some pretty mediocre rooms over the last decade. But my now-sixth-month-old daughter gave me and my wife an excuse just over a year ago to move from South Philadelphia to the Philly suburbs in search of additional space and more in the way of peace and quiet. One of my non-negotiables for our new abode was a finished basement that I could turn into a listening room, and after failing to land any of the first five homes we bid on in the historic pandemic housing market, we struck gold on our sixth and landed our dream home.
November 11 is Veterans Day in the United States, the day we honor our military veterans. Despite the typically cold, gray time of the year, it’s a happy day. Memorial Day, which takes places in May, at the joyous onset of summer, is our sad day. It’s the time we mourn those who have fought and died in uniform. Unlike many Americans, who spend both days shopping, I take Veterans Day slowly, pausing to reflect on and reconnect with those who served with me overseas.
Earlier this year, SME launched one of the world’s truly great turntables, the state-of-the-art Model 60 flagship. Evidently, engineers have been busy at SME, in Steyning, West Sussex, UK, because the company is now releasing updated, Mk2 versions of every model in their range, from the Model 12 and Synergy to the Model 30. When you consider that the Model 30 has been in production since 1990 without major revisions and is still regarded as one of the world’s finest vinyl spinners, the significance of this launch is obvious.
Our new-to-us forever home is a mid-century modern designed by architect Carter Sparks for builders Jim and Bill Streng, Sacramento’s mid-century modern specialists. Sparks studied under Joseph Eichler’s architects, the former designing more than 3000 homes in the Golden State’s capital. Ours features a post-and-beam aesthetic, east-facing sliders and windows, and a large internal atrium skylight with exposed aggregate walkways and three internal garden beds.
Since I began writing for SoundStage! back in 2011, I’ve written from—erm—compromised listening spaces. My grad school apartment building was full of senior citizens who I respected too much to play music too loudly. My first apartment with my now-wife was a 750-square-foot concrete studio in Center City Philadelphia that was an acoustic nightmare. And our century-old 1020-square-foot first home together, in South Philadelphia, was a long, narrow row home that left my stereo most of the way down the long wall of its open-floor-plan first floor, resulting in horrendous room modes. I vowed that if we ever lived that suburban life, I would have two things: (1) a proper listening room that was truly my own, with as few compromises as possible, and (2) a big family room with a nice television and an audio system that was both inconspicuous and super user friendly.