Sundance Film Festival 2014

Rick Schmidt

As in previous years it became just a little more difficult to get tickets.  But, I am less and less concerned about this since it forces us into more offbeat movies. I enjoyed all the movies we saw this year but in many cases that is simply because it was a film at Sundance. Some of them were surprisingly bad. I'll try to point those out in my reviews.

Show Reports, Film Festivals and Concerts

Yamaha CX-A5000 11.1 SSP (Surround Sound Processor)

Chris Heinonen

Suddenly the ESS SABRE DAC is showing up everywhere. At first it was only in high-end audio products like the Oppo BDP-95 and BDP-105 Blu-ray players. Now we have seen it in the Pioneer SC-79 receiver and in a pair of SSPs (Surround Sound Processors): The Krell Foundation and the Yamaha CX-A5000. From bench test numbers to listening tests, the SABRE offers up performance that is at the top of the DAC chain. Many of us just assumed we wouldn't see it in a processor or receiver due to the price. The Yamaha CX-A5000 11.1 SSP uses a pair of ESS SABRE 9016 DACs to support its 11 channels. A step down from the 9018, the SABRE should provide the Yamaha with superior jitter reduction, less tonal noise floor, and slightly greater dynamic range compared to the other DACs at its price. Is the rest of the CX-A5000 engineered around the SABRE up to the task?

Processors

NAD HP50 Viso Over-the-Ear Headphones

Stephen Hornbrook

The NAD HP50 is the latest headphone design from Paul Barton, founder of PSB, a sister company of NAD, and features a new trademarked concept called RoomFeel. RoomFeel attempts to recreate the sound of listening to high-end speakers in a room. Most listening rooms add a low frequency bump to the sound that is often not taken into account when designing headphones. A room gain compensation transfer function was developed to add a +3 dB per octave boost from 200Hz down to 50Hz in order to replicate the fuller, warmer sound of a room. Clearly a lot of time and engineering has gone into the development of these headphones, the only question is, did it pay off? Yes it most certainly did.

Headphone and Earphone Reviews

Low-Profile Speakers for the Audiophile in Challenging Space?

Brian Florian

I am somewhat spaced constrained and am looking for speakers (5-10K range) that are relatively low profile and, more importantly, are designed to be placed up against the wall. Many of the speakers I have sampled require a placement at least 12-18" from the wall. The room is approx.: 14 x 21. Ideally the speakers would be placed on the 21' wall. In wall speakers are not a good option (old plaster & lathe walls on 2/4 studs). I am looking for a 2 channel audiophile solution to replace an older system. Our listening preference is primarily classical (symphonic) and jazz with the occasional R&R. Generally prefer imaging over brightness.

- Submitted by: Peter R
Seattle, Washington

SECRETS Home Theater Q&A

Linn Audio

Secrets
The founder of Linn Audio Loudspeakers is David Linn, an Electrical Engineer, who is also a life long lover of music and audio.
AV Directory

Linn Audio Athenaeum Horn Speakers

John E. Johnson, Jr.

Horn speakers have been around nearly a century. They were used in movie theaters when the films became "talkies", and their advantage is that they are extremely efficient, which is good, because the power amplifiers in the theaters during the 1930's were very low powered. Linn Audio has built horn speakers for several decades, but most hi-fi enthusiasts may never have heard a horn speaker. They are characterized by wonderful, effortless midrange. The Linn Audio Athenaeum horn speakers are reviewed here.

Floor Standing Speakers

SIM2 SUPER LUMIS Three-Chip DLP Projector

Chris Heinonen

Projectors are often described as having a "film-like" image. We are all trying to replicate that movie theater experience at home and so it seems that achieving that look is what we would strive for. The SIM2 SUPER LUMIS has shown me that in a modern projector; film-like is no longer what we want. All our sources now are pixel-perfect digital sources. Ideal projectors are razor-sharp and incredibly bright. We can focus down to a single pixel on the screen. Very little we see in the theater today is film sourced or projected from film, and nothing we watch at home is stored on film. So "film-like" is not what I'm after in a projector. What I'm after is something that shows me every last detail and imperfection in what I'm watching. A projector as true to the source as possible. With that in mind, the SIM2 SUPER LUMIS projector is a machine that is capable of doing just that. Powerful, precise, and utter revealing of everything it projects onto the screen.

Projectors
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SIM2 Introduces SIRIO 2014

Secrets

SIM2 raises bar for visual display with launch of SIRIO 2014: a second-generation Dual-Lamp, High-Brightness Projector for Large Media Rooms and Multiple Screen...

Press

Emotiva Stealth DAC

Francisco Licon

Listening to my records one night, I received an email from Susan Johnson asking if I would be willing to review the Emotiva Stealth DC-1. Would I ever! Last year I tried the Emotiva USP-1 preamp and UPA-200 amp in my system and I have been very happy with the combination. Needless to say I was very curious to see and hear this reference piece from Emotiva.

DACs