Audiophilepure

https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/soulution-717-monoblock-power-amplifier

The amplifier that pulled this trick off was the aforementioned Soulution 710, the brainchild of Cyrill Hammer, the founder of the Swiss high-end audio firm Soulution, and the late Christoph Schürmann, formerly of the German company Audiolabor and at the time working for Cyrill. It took the pair better than half a decade to perfect their circuitry, but perfect it they did. The result was astounding. As I said at the time, “with a transparent-enough speaker and source, the Soulution 710 simply isn’t audible in most of the usual ways that solid-state or tube amps are audible. It isn’t dark, and it isn’t light; it isn’t warm, and it isn’t cool; it isn’t liquid, and it isn’t dry; it isn’t fat, and it isn’t lean; it isn’t sweet, and it isn’t sour; it isn’t great at the frequency extremes but less lifelike in the midband; it isn’t flat or airless, and it isn’t bloated or overly bloomy; it isn’t terrific on starting transients and AWOL on stopping ones; it isn’t too tightly focused, and it isn’t too loosely defocused; it just isn’t. And since it isn’t, speakers (at least those capable of high levels of transparency and neutrality) aren’t, either.”

https://www.hifinews.com/content/michell-gyro-turntablearm

This was a performance of remarkable low-end precision, the taut, focused impact making the most of the track’s production. At the same time, I noted an occasional touch of splashiness to the cymbals, as the new Gyro/TecnoArm 2 system fully uncovered the character of this early 1990s digital recording. Michell’s tonearm is a fine partner for the turntable but it has an incisive edge, which can occasionally creep into over-exuberance.

Still, the TecnoArm 2 contributes to this deck’s low-end prowess, so the drum strikes on the Eagles’ ‘One Of These Nights’, from the album One Of These Nights [Asylum K53014], thundered from my speakers with punch and immediacy. And when a more measured hand was required to capture the faster and more intricate bass on the title track of Jessie Ware’s 2026 Superbloom LP [EMI Records EMIV 2152], the Gyro skipped along with delicacy and insight. Additionally, the high-frequency information here was crisp, detailed and sparkling.

https://www.hifinews.com/content/burson-audio-timekeeper-voyager-v-400-max-power-amplifier

This assured sound was much to the fore in classical guitarist Sean Shibe’s Vesper recital [Pentatone PTC5187518; 192kHz/24-bit download]. Every note in James Dillon’s ‘12 Caprices’ landed with real impact before fading into the acoustic, resonant and yet with no blurring. And even with the longish silences here there was not a hint of the Voyagers’ fans running – instead, all the focus was on the image of fingers on strings, and the thrilling effect of thoughtful, totally concentrated musicianship.

Wrapping up with some good old-fashioned rock swagger, The Who’s ‘Baba O’Riley’, from Who’s Next: Life House [UMC 96kHz/24-bit download], sounded as dramatic as ever, The Ox’s grumbling subterranean bass and Keith Moon’s thundering drums underpinning Daltrey’s raw vocals and that familiar windmilling guitar. Meanwhile, The Rolling Stones’ skanking, slinking ‘Fingerprint File’ from It’s Only Rock ’N Roll [Polydor download] saw Keef’s guitar cannoning out from the speakers, Charlie Watts’ drumming as restrained and effective as ever, and Bill Wyman’s bass and synths driving it all along. It was a performance so captivating you could even forgive Jagger’s cod vocal theatrics. Burson’s Voyager Timekeeper amplifiers have it sorted – and in some style.

https://www.analogplanet.com/content/allnic-h-7000-phono-preamp

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While listening to “Bismillahi ‘Rrahmani ‘Rrahim” from Harold Budd’s Pavilion of Dreams, a Brian Eno–produced minimalist classic released in 1981, the interplay between Richard Bernas’s celeste and Marion Brown’s alto saxophone was rendered in ultrahigh resolution, the instrumental halos and reverberant trails sounding palpable enough to touch. And on the next track, “Two Songs: 1. Let Us Go Into the House of the Lord / 2. Butterfly Sunday,” adapted from compositions by Pharoah Sanders and John Coltrane, respectively, Linda Richardson’s mezzo-soprano and Maggie Thomas’s harp sounded so vividly detailed and present that they nearly startled me out of my seat.

The H-7000 also turned out to be remarkably, consistently quiet. Given the unusually high number of transformers inside, this didn’t surprise me, but it lent the copious sonic detail extracted from my records a suitably serene backdrop against which to unfold. Transient response was also superb, portraying music in a quicksilver manner that never impeded its flow. And the soundstage was finely layered and, when called for, both wide and de

https://www.analogplanet.com/content/craft-recordings-celebrates-miles-davis-100th-birthday-quite-prestigious-collection-miles

I could go on splitting more fine hairs like this side-for-side, but I think by now you get the idea that the new Miles 56 180g 4LP overview of Miles Davis’ work with his esteemed quintet in 1956 for Prestige is a very musical affair worthy of the attention of audiophiles and newer fans seeking a deep dive immersion into the artist.

As to the ratings, for the Music, Miles 56 gets an easy 10. As for Sound. I have no problem giving Miles 56 a solid 9, given that it has corrected timing/recording-speed issues and has also eliminated the blemishes of age that are magnetic tape dropouts. I did hear a bit of surface noise between some tracks (keeping me from going up to a 9.5), but that was not a dealbreaker for me. (AP editor Mike Mettler tells me he agrees with the 10 rating for the Music, but gives the Sound a 9.5, as none of the eight sides in his Miles 56 box displayed any surface-noise issues.)

Dollar for dollar, the Miles 56: The Prestige Recordings 180g 4LP box set is a great way to get terrific-sounding versions of Miles Davis’ music from this early career peak all in one place. If you don’t feel a particular need to hear all the tracks presented in the same running order as the original albums, and you don’t particularly care about owning the physical OG album covers, Miles 56 is also simply a great way to just immerse yourself in the heart of one of Miles Davis’ most important and productive musical years at a quite reasonable box-set price level.