Audiophilepure

https://pt.audio/2026/10/18/ch-precision-p10-reference

In other words, with my 1.52 ohm Atlas, an extra ohm or two of wiring is not a rounding error. It is a meaningful chunk of the total. Florian traced that parasitic resistance through the cartridge contacts, the tonearm wires, and the arm-to-P10 cable, and his advice was to keep the whole path “as low as possible when working in current mode, ideally under one Ohm.” To be clear, a continuous silver cable does not automatically guarantee a low resistance path. But fewer junctions means fewer places for resistance to hide. When I had my AXIOM built without the extra DIN and interconnect connections, I thought I was being a little obsessive. Nice to know there was an electrical reason for the obsession. If you are building a current mode front end, have the conversation with your tonearm maker before you order.

It is a distinct advantage in reviewing to have two configurable devices side by side. It only took a few minutes to unscrew the footers, lift the lid, swap the board, and close the unit. Kudos for Heaven 11 trusting in the basic competence of the audiophile community and not charging for return (or round trip) shipping and bench time for upgrades. A set of identical components, one with upgrades, offers close to real-time comparisons and chases away any uncertainty whether the upgrades are efficacious; operationally switching between the two units during playback took me about 15 seconds.

As the two Mk3 units were connected identically, the headphone comparison was the quickest I have done. Starting with the music playing through both units, I kept the volume down on them both to silence the mains and subwoofers, plugged the  headset into one of the units, and brought up the volume. To switch, I lowered the volume, plugged the headphones into the other unit with the upgrade Performance Headphone Module ($150 if purchased separately, $99 when ordered pre-configured with the  amp), and brought up its volume.

https://www.hifinews.com/content/test-page

All our treatments – the corner and Tri-Traps, absorption, diffusion and scattering panels – were built to specification by GIK Acoustics LLC in Leeds. GIK Acoustics was even able to colour match its fabrics to our interior decor – everything counts when creating a peaceful room…

Aside from the Scopus bass traps already discussed, all our treatments are broadband, a mix of diffusion at the point of first reflection with intertwined absorption and scattering in the rear half of the room where 50% of the panels include scatter plates.

KEF’s engineers even specified the IKEA Kallax shelving system at the rear of the room as part of the strategy. Filling the cells with random shapes, rather than packing them solid with LPs, is still a work in progress! Nevertheless, this all has a purpose – we change what’s coming back from the walls by the same amount across all frequencies, so our reflected and reverberant soundfield has the same tonal balance as the direct sound.

Atomica floor speakers, full-bodied, pure 2-way D’Appolito configuration, made from okoumè, poplar wood, and glass, proudly posing in Atomica Audio Solutions’ brand-new official listening room at their headquarters in Italy.

One might still question whether the very efficient Ensiums need all the power that the SPA-8 has to offer. As mentioned in part 1 of this review, contrary to popular belief, it is usually the midrange that consumes most power, not the bass, which answers part of the question. But even if these speakers do not require much power, knowing firsthand how revealing they are, this sure says a lot about the amplifier’s refinement, fluidity, and neutrality, and the SPA-8 passes these tests with flying colors.

Even so, I will admit that audiophile prejudice remains hard to suppress, and I kept wondering how much different the amplifier would behave when driving a fully passive speaker. Aequo Audio also offers the Ensium as a passive version without the assisted bass section, and I was pretty sure it would sound very different, since the crossover’s additional capacitance for the passive woofer loads the amplifier differently and demands more of it. Even though Ivo at Aequo Audio had already assured me the two models sound very similar, I’ve been eager to directly compare the Ensium to the Adamantis to judge this for myself. Alas, the Adamantis was not yet ready for that initial visit.