Audiophilepure

https://www.stereophile.com/content/wharfedale-heritage-series-super-linton-loudspeaker

For speakers that failed to impress out of the box, the Super Lintons eventually sang their hearts out. In the initial setup, with higher-end amplification, the scale was immense, and I heard endless airy detail, but it came at the price of occasional harshness. In a second setup—with, incidentally, less-expensive amplification—I heard the Super Lintons at their best, producing engaging sound that soulfully charmed and captured this music lover’s heart.Speakers competitive in price with the Super Lintons include the JBL L100 Classic MkII, the Focal Aria Evo X No.2, the MartinLogan XT F100, and the B&W 706 S3. These are fine, sophisticated speakers, with plenty to say about your music, but I doubt any of them would play it back with the naturalism, lifelike color, emotional truthfulness, and tonal rigor of the Wharfedale Super Linton.

A key feature of the preamp is its two chrome-plated, ball-bearing rotary controls, which feel solid, heavy, and precise during use. The step size of the volume change depends on the rotation speed. Slow rotation changes the level in 0.5 dB steps, while fast rotation changes the volume in 2 dB steps. Unusually for a high-end product, the preamp includes Bass, Treble, and Loudness controls that can also be fully bypassed. Even though there are valid arguments against using EQ, there are times when it can be beneficial. Thus, I always welcome the inclusion of this almost forgotten feature.

The preamp, presumably mandated by law, has an Auto-Standby feature that switches to standby after 15 minutes of inactivity, which can be quite annoying for a tube product with a warm-up period. Fortunately, the function can be defeated in the Personal Setup menu. The manual indicates that “the menu button on the right under the display” must be pressed before waking the unit from standby. To be fair, it says “on the right”, but confusingly, the middle button has a ‘Menu’ label, while the other buttons are unlabeled. As it turns out, the unlabeled button on the far right opens the Personal Setup menu, not the Menu button. With that addressed, I left the preamp powered on for most of the day before starting my listening tests.

https://www.hifinews.com/content/perlisten-a4t-loudspeaker

You don’t, then, need to feed this floorstander a hard-driving, bass-rich diet to appreciate its talents. Shostakovich’s Symphony No.1 in F Minor, from the Boston SO for Deutsche Grammophon [96kHz/24-bit], showed the A4t can sound sprightly and light on its feet despite the visual evidence to the contrary. It easily conveyed the fizz of pizzicato strings and the work’s staccato melodies, while shifts in both tone and weight were well handled. This was a performance of subtlety and precision… until the thrusting first crescendo of the ‘Allegretto’ saw orchestral drums conjured with real depth and dynamics. In a word? Tasty.

Hi-Fi News VerdictWhile aiming for a lower price point, Perlisten clearly has no desire to change the way it goes about designing its floorstanding loudspeakers – the A4t is once again a weighty yet controlled performer, with a focus on imaging precision and nuance. With the push to affordability, however, comes a softer and arguably more ‘crowd-pleasing’ sound. Put this on your list if you like to listen long… and loud.

https://www.audiophilia.com/reviews/2026/6/18/the-ps-audio-aspen-fr5-loudspeaker

Jane’s Addiction’s “Mountain Song” from the album Nothing’s Shocking is not just a power-chord masterpiece. At the 3-minute mark, the solo begins, and Dave Navarro’s bends seem otherworldly. There’s a degree of separation without too much sibilance that you can always hear in the recording; this is perhaps because of the bass in these monster speakers. When I compared my Alyssa speakers to the FR5, I could hear the tuning for the Alta Audio component to be of the soft-silk side of the sound, whereas the FR5’s have a more pronounced neutral sound; the Alyssas still had a little more pop in the highs. The neutral side of the FR5 (though the bass was always present) was more welcoming to some of the music I played than the Alyssa (which almost doubles the price). I’ll give a few examples.

In the last few years, Mary Halvorson has become one of my favourite artists; her sound is original, the layers of her compositions are volatile, and their unpredictability shows her mastery of the instrument. She just recorded an album with Ambrose Akinmusire, Slo-Mo Neon Luminate Hoverings (2026). I invite you to listen to it. The air of Akinmusire’s trumpet is palpable, and Halvorson’s Guild archtop guitar sings with phrasing that fragments your mind. The FR5’s make this album not just enjoyable, but an unforgettable listening experience. 

https://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/equipment-reviews/2043-audiolab-9000p-stereo-mono-amplifier

The 9000P power amplifier provides Audiolab owners on a budget with flexibility and options. Not only can it be paired with the company’s 9000Q preamplifier, as I did in my review of that unit, but it can also be used to add biamplification to Audiolab’s well-regarded 9000A integrated amplifier. There is also the option to mate the power amp directly with the matching Audiolab 9000N streamer, which can act as a preamp by virtue of its variable output, or even to use two 9000Ps in bridged, monaural operation to provide additional power. And of course, it should match well with any high-value preamplifier, streamer, or source component with variable output—like the Oppo UDP‑205 used for this review—although it wouldn’t coordinate as well cosmetically. At US$1499, Audiolab’s 9000P would make a fine addition to almost any high-quality, budget-minded system.