Reviewer's Bio

Anthony Nicosia 

  I was born in New York City on May 30th 1951. Upon turning three my family moved me to Greenwich Connecticut, a small suburb about thirty miles away. At age fourteen my father drove me back to New York City to buy my very first audio system. He knew a man who worked in an audio store that recommended a Rotel receiver, Wald loudspeakers and a Garrard turntable. I think I spent about $225 for the entire setup and I loved that system. My father did not know about audio equipment in fact I never even heard him listening to music, not even the car radio. Yet he did this especially for me and I never forgot that. I have two boys, one in college and the other who just graduated. I only hope I can do for them what me father did for me. He gave me the gift of music that has spanned forty years and still counting.

Throughout that time many pieces of equipment have passed through my hands, most of which I wish I had never sold. I always find it difficult to give up audio treasures as they have given me such fond memories of past musical experiences as well as marking life's passage of time and the special events in my life. I will not say that I like tubes more than solid-state or vinyl more than CD, as I find it hard not to love them all in their own way. They are like my children with each having a special spot in my heart even though they are difference. I own tube and solid-state amplifiers both old and new. Currently I have two very large floor-standing loudspeakers in my review system. One is an older pair of Klipsch Klipschorn’s, from 1989, and the other a more modern pair of Legacy Focus 20/20 loudspeakers, each weighing about 180 pounds apiece.

Priced at over $150,000 the Clearaudio Statement Turntable with integral stand is beyond my reach but not beyond my appreciation. I had the pleasure of enjoy a listening session with it and that was certainly a moment to remember. I however own an Oracle Delphi MK1 turntable with Grace 707 tonearm. I purchased this brand new from a store in San Francisco. Today my collection of records is close to 1000 vinyl discs and seems to grow monthly. I have an appreciation of a variety of musical genres. My vinyl collection includes such greats as Judy Garland, Perry Como, Philip Glass, Jimi Hendrix, Simon and Garfunkel, Willie Nelson, Pink Floyd as well as various musicals, classical arrangements and operas.

Having tried my hand at playing piano, accordion and even guitar I quickly discovered that I preferred listening to music to playing it. Between the ages of seventeen and fifty-seven I have been to many concerts, musicals, ballets and operas. Why I was at Woodstock and even the Strawberry Fields concert in Canada that followed shortly afterwards. The first time I heard a McIntosh MA 5100 integrated amplifier, back at my friend’s house in 1967, I knew I was hooked. From that day forward I have been trying to recapture that special moment when I first got what “high end” was all about.

I find it hard to remember what I did each and every summer while I was growing up, but there was one summer I will never forget. I was fourteen years old and would walk three miles to the library, Monday thru Saturday, so I could listen to their vinyl collection. This was the time just before I had purchased my first true stereo. At the library I would listen to opera, classical music and narrations of Edgar Allan Poe stories three hours a day for the entire summer vacation. When that was done I would proceed to walk another three miles to a very small indoor zoo, consisting of a monkey, two snakes, and a colorful Toucan, located inside the town’s only museum. After my visit there I would walk another three to four miles home. To me that was time well spent and it was my first exposure to truly great music. What a wonderful summer that was, a time for me to remember throughout the ages.

I now live in another small town but this one is just outside of San Francisco, not New York City. I have a good wife who has graciously given me two wonderful boys as well as put up with my audio idiosyncrasies. I graduated college with a B.A. in Psychology from S.U.N.Y College at Purchase (Purchase, New York) where I also took many film appreciation courses. I still love films and constantly watch them in my home theater setup. At one time I was a restaurant owner, with my best friend of many years, in the town of Port Chester New York. I was the bartender there and behind the bar was a Nakamichi cassette deck (pre CD days) that I had purchased. People used to love to watch this deck, as it would automatically, and rather quickly, flip the cassette around to play the other side. That was quite innovative for its day. Today and for about thirty years now I have been in sales. Currently I am a sales manager at one of the largest volume Mercedes Benz stores in Northern California. My spare time is spent with my family and my audio gear that usually takes me past the evening and into the early morning hours. Looking back I am very happy with my life, but I still am hoping to find time to pick up that guitar once again.

The Listening Environment
The listening room is 18 feet 8 inch long by 13 feet wide. Its cathedral ceiling starts at 8 feet high then slopes upward to 13 feet at its peak in the middle. Flooring is a soft hardwood covering with an oriental rug placed dead center in between (but not under) the listener and the audio system. There are no doors that open or shut into other rooms. There are two large openings one facing the speakers and the other to its side and slightly in front of the right speaker. I have a nice comfortable marble fireplace opposite one opening and in front of the left speaker. As for my audio equipment it is tucked away nicely inside of a Cherry Synergy Twin S30 Salamander audio rack about fifteen inches away from the wall opposite the listening position.

Review Equipment
Amplifiers:
Pair of Dignity Audio DA08SE integrated mono amplifiers  (imported by Monarchy Audio)

Pair of Monarchy Audio SM-70 Pro Stereo Amplifiers (run in mono single-ended configuration or sometimes one run in stereo)

McIntosh Mc275 original 1960ish tube amplifier

Threshold 800A class A 200-watt solid-state power amplifier

Preamplifiers:
Placette Passive Preamplifier (3 input model)

Placette Passive Preamplifier (1 input model)

Dynaco PAS 3X original tube preamplifier with phono stage

Analog Source:
Oracle Delphi Mk I turntable with custom made interconnects

Grace 707 tonearm with Denon 301 II MC cartridge

Whest PhonoStage.20 + MsU.20 power supply

CD Source:
Sony DVP-S7700 CD/DVD Player

Monarchy Audio Dual 20-Bit D/A Converter

Samsung DVD- HD-841 Up-Converting DVD Player

Sony Playstation 1 model SCPH-1001

Loudspeakers:
Klipsch Klipschorn loudspeakers (1989 model unmodified)

Legacy Focus 20/20 loudspeakers

Interconnects, power cords and speaker wire:
Anti-Cable speaker wire (ten foot pair)

Canare 4S11speaker cable with Monster Space termination (ten foot pair)

Home made speaker cable with banana termination (ten foot pair)

Anti-Cable Interconnects 1 meter (2 pairs)

Anti-Jumpers for Legacy speakers

Whest phono stage interconnects 1 meter

PS Audio Transcendence Silver interconnects xStream Audio Series 1meter (2 pairs)

Tek Line TL-500S (Silver Interconnects) 1 meter

Monarchy Audio DR-1 (Silver Interconnects) 1 meter (2 pairs)

Anti-Digital Interconnect single-shielded 1.5 meters in length

Anti-Digital Interconnect triple-shielded 1.5 meters in length

Monarchy Audio AC-1 Power Cord one six foot length (2)

Tek Line PC-8 Signature Power Cords six-foot length (2)

Mr-Cable Musician power cord nine foot length

PS Audio Prelude Power Cord 1 meter (2)

PS Audio Lab Cable II Power Cord 1 meter

Power Conditioners and wall outlets:
Acoustic Revive RTP-4Ultimate Power supply box

Acoustic Revive RTP-2Ultimate Power supply box

PS Audio Power Port Receptacle

Blue Circle BC86 MKIII power line pillows (2)

Accessories:
Acoustic Revive RD-3 Disc Demagnetizer

Acoustic Revive Rio-5 II Minus Ion Generator

VPI 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine

Yamamoto Audio Bases

Black Diamond Racing Cones

Audio Prism IsoBearing globes and cups

Room Treatment:
Acoustic Revive Acoustic Conditioner RWL-III, floor-standing panels (3)

Equipment Rack:

Cherry Synergy Twin S30 Salamander audio rack

Home theater setup:
Marantz SR880 MKII Surround Sound Receiver

Sony DVP-S7000 DVD/CD player

Monster Power HTPS 7000 Power Center

Monster Power HTS-2100 Power Center strip

Silicon Image Iscan Pro Line Doubler

Sony VPH 1272q Data projector with three lenses (red, green and blue)

100” Diagonal screen with leather boarders (permanently wall mounted)

Polk Audio SDA-SRS loudspeakers (front)

Optimus Pro LX-10 loudspeakers (three, one center two rear)

Martin Logan Dynamo (powered subwoofer)

Target Audio Rack

Monster Cable Interconnects, both audio and video

Tek Line Interconnects

Canare Loudspeaker cables