Audiophilepure

https://www.hifinews.com/content/techdas-air-force-ivreed-1h-turntablearm

I am not going to say it was as night-and-day as comparing tubes with transistors, but careful, intense and even frustrating listening allowed me to differentiate between the two, the vast cost disparity notwithstanding. That in itself makes all of this moot. But I was able to tell which was which thanks to my old faves, the J. Geils Band.

‘Did You No Wrong’ from Ladies Invited [Atlantic SD 7286] features each of the band’s members displaying virtuoso talents on guitar, harmonica, drums and assorted keyboards. Both decks allowed the listener to zoom in on each, or simply sit back and savour the experience. Where the two differed was in presentation. The Air Force III was more revealing, more analytical, with the kind of grip and command which places great demands on the rest of the system.

With the EMM, the soundstage was very clear. Mostly, the instruments were placed on each side, as was common with early stereo, but in ‘So What’, Miles’ horn came out from the right toward the center, with a remarkably three-dimensional effect. The result was spellbinding, as that solo can be. ‘Freddy Freeloader’ sounded as if it had been recorded with a different mic set up. It was still left-right, but the horns seemed more up front, with more space around them, and with a bit more warmth. The detail, again, was superb, but in the service of the music. Miles’ occasional hesitancies in his attacks, his sudden volume changes, and his other somewhat unusual expressive devices, were as – or more – clean and clear than I’ve ever heard.

Stromtank S-6000 Alpha – uncompromising power for the ultimate high-end experience
The Stromtank S-6000 Alpha represents the pinnacle of clean power delivery for the most demanding audio systems. Designed as a true reference solution, it provides enormous power reserves and an exceptionally pure energy supply, allowing high-end components to perform at their absolute best. With its advanced battery technology and complete mains isolation in OFF-Grid mode, the S-6000 Alpha creates the ideal foundation for maximum transparency, dynamics, and musical realism.

https://www.hifinews.com/content/franco-serblin-accordo-unica-loudspeaker

To reiterate, in the wholly solipsistic Kesslerverse, this Franco Serblin speaker joins a motley crew of disparate designs. Solely relative to my biases, it’s up there with the Apogee Scintilla [HFN Sep ’85], Quad’s ESL [HFN Nov ’57], and Wilson Audio’s Watt/Puppy [HFN Nov ’90].

So, for those of you looking to this magazine for guidance, let me offer a caveat. Undoubtedly, the hi-fi marketplace is not just crowded but overburdened with costly and massive loudspeakers. If two-thirds of them disappeared, there would still be too many from which to choose. But if the Accordo Unica is in your price/size range, I implore you to hear a pair. They’re that good, and the fact they’re also drop-dead gorgeous is pure bonus.

Hi-Fi News VerdictPlease forgive the rampant use of arguably irrational superlatives, but I found the Franco Serblin Accordo Unica to be a spectacular loudspeaker. It balances grace with power, transparency with warmth, scale with minutiae. Detail, dynamics, transient attack – it reminded me of how Serblin rewrote the rules for speakers 40 years ago, in sound and looks. I could only find one fault with the Unica: that I don’t own a pair.

With the aR6-T4 conditioning my system’s power, the treble registers were reproduced with crystalline purity. Shadowfax’s Folksongs for a Nuclear Village is a nuanced amalgam of world music, jazz and ambient soundscapes., with a myriad of percussion instrumentation flitting in and out of the broader performances. Via the addition of the aR6-T4 and frontRow powerChord, the chimes, gongs, cymbals, and shakers on “Lucky Mud” were reproduced with more air, shimmer, and dynamism. Likewise, Manu Katche’s cymbal work on “Digging in the Dirt” from Peter Gabriel’s Us SACD were more readily discernible against the background of the complex multi-tracked mix. 

The sonic benefits conferred by the aR6-T4 were made more readily apparent with its removal from my system. With all components plugged directly into the wall, the soundstage shrunk, dynamics flattened, and there was a coarse grit that overlaid the overall presentation, leading to less verisimilitude, which, in turn, engendered less musical involvement. And, as good as the aR2p-T4 is, especially at its price point, the larger aR6-T4’s performance improved upon that of its sibling with greater transparency, enhanced soundstage recreation, and improved rendering of dynamic contrasts. These differences were subtle, but experienced over time in a system tweaked for resolution, they became difficult, impossible even, to live without. 

Musical enjoyment is a gestalt experience, where minute and disparate factors combine to create an end result that transcends the components involved in its creation. As a music-playback system becomes more resolving, even small improvements begin to have outsized impact. Audience’s aR6-T4 wrought such an impact to my system’s performance, proving that the subtle can be profound. Well done.

https://www.soundstageultra.com/index.php/features-menu/for-the-record/1315-an-ortofon-vertical-tasting-ending-with-the-mc-90x

Via the MC 90X, the 45‑rpm DMM pressing of Abacab (Atlantic / Analogue Productions APA 042‑45) had me shaking my fist at the sky. This is a wonderful slice of early ’80s prog rock. And the MC 90X sure can rock. Despite being an “audiophile” cartridge, this Ortofon has an incredible ability to swagger, to grip the start and end of notes. Phil Collins’s crisp, crackling snare drum on the title track jumped forward in the mix, dynamically assured, with an aggressive leading edge and a rolling, detailed tail. Keeping on with the bombastic prog, Earth, Wind & Fire’s horn section on “No Reply at All” was brassy and rich, again with an excellent sense of snap on the upshot.

All of these traits—the silky, extended treble, the extreme refinement, the startling dynamics—went notably above and beyond the abilities of the Cadenza Black, and that’s as expected given the price, right? But it was the midrange where the MC 90X took my breath away. Returning to perhaps my most-played record, I sat through both sides of Astor Piazzolla’s Tango: Zero Hour (Pangea PAN‑42138) and then flipped the record back and did it again. On the best track of this best album ever, “Milonga del ángel,” all of the magic happens in the midrange, with a wet-sounding violin doing a back-and-forth with Piazzolla’s bandoneon, along with a piano leaning in from the side.