Audiophilepure

https://www.stereophile.com/content/bennyaudio-odyssey-turntable

The proliferation of ultrahigh-quality, ultra-expensive turntables presents a dilemma for those who wish to invest tens of thousands of dollars in vinyl playback. In my listening room, the BennyAudio Odyssey made a compelling case for itself. It’s a divine, sense-expanding machine that delivers total tonal saturation, translating the emotion of a record as if it were purpose-built for the task (which it was). Designer Tomasz Franielczyk may be new to the industry, but he has caught up fast, stepping into the big leagues with a winner.

https://www.hifinews.com/content/nagra-preamp-ii-s-preamplifier

If ever a product dismissed the hoary notion that hi-fi components are or should be genre-biased, it’s this beauty. The very first word that came into my mind was ‘neutrality’, and the second was ‘quietness’. I was reminded of the sonic resemblance to the HD Preamp [HFN Nov ’18] and thus had to marvel at how close the PREAMP II-S is to its dearer siblings. While it’s true that you get more sophisticated circuitry and possibly other features by moving up a level, the main sonic benefits I could recall were slightly more slam down below, perhaps thanks to the HD’s and Reference’s massive power supplies, and a whiff of grandeur. Otherwise, this is clearly related to its hugely expensive stablemates.

That, of course, mattered most when listening to the loud and angry punk of The Stooges, or the glam punk of the New York Dolls, but for both the most telling element was how Nagra’s PREAMP II-S dealt with Iggy Pop and David Johansen’s snarls. Their textures and tics came through with such detail and clarity that I’m obliged to add a third word to this Swiss brand’s lexicon: ‘transparency’. This tube preamp is so open sounding – again, it’s that quietness and the huge dynamic swings which both contribute – that I could swear I was hearing a deeper soundstage as well. This even carried over to the lean Julie London recordings, where space mattered more

https://www.theaudiobeat.com/equipment/wilson_audio_sabrina_v.htm

Cabling made enough difference that prospective buyers might want to borrow a few different brands for experimentation. For example, the Linn Silver interconnects that sound great with my Falcon Gold Badge speakers were too insistent, too energetic in the treble range for long-term use with the Wilsons. My Belden-wire-based interconnects were a better choice for the Sabrina Vs. Because the speakers present a low-impedance load in music’s power range, bass response and solidity benefitted from larger-gauge speaker cables. I used Nordost Flatline copper for most listening sessions, because it delivered strong bass response with a smoother top end. And even though the Wilsons had nothing to do with this, it was frustrating to discover that adding a new Ethernet router was a bad choice, with extra noise and hash from digital. The Sabrina Vs are not overly fussy, but they definitely are revealing, and you may need to take some time finding your perfect combination of ancillary equipment.

A final consideration is dialing in the listening angle. Treble response from the CSC tweeter is low in distortion, but I did need to do some placement work to make it sound its best. Using the WASP method, I had no trouble placing the speaker in my listening room, getting good midrange and bass response, coupled with fine soundstaging and imaging. But when listening to the speaker on axis, with the tweeter facing my listening position, the treble was a bit sharp and peaky, so I ended up having the speaker fire straight into the room, with no toe-in and the grilles on. This resulted in the smoothest treble response, and I would encourage owners to take some time and fine-tune the amount of treble that suits your taste. To be completely fair, the treble sounded better and better over time, so some of this may be a result of the copper capacitors needing more run-in time.

https://www.audiophilia.com/reviews/2026/5/23/staccato-audio-black-unique-bu-01-amplifier

Serious and simple-looking, it has a meticulous metal chassis with ample black grills on the right and left sides and small holes in the top plate (in an attractive swirling design with a large “S” in the center), all of which help it cool down when in use. The front has two large metal knobs: the left one for VOLUME/POWER, the right one for INPUT/DIMMER. Near the top of the front, “staccato” is sketched in large white letters; near the bottom, in small letters, is sketched “BU-01” with “BLACK UNIQUE” beneath it. You can choose from among 10 different color configurations for the knob and chassis. My unit was grey with black knobs. 

Pressing the left knob turns the power on, and the volume levels are etched to its right in small white numbers from 10 to 100, in multiples of 10, with tiny lights above each number. Once on, the amp slowly and automatically cycles through the numbers up to 90, making clicking noises along the way, then snaps back to 10 (or whatever level you left it at when you last turned it off). A soft-start warm-up. The right knob controls small white numbers 1 to 6 representing the line inputs, with the current line in use having its tiny light lit up. Turning the left knob controls the volume, while turning the right knob controls the line in use. The tiny lights can be dimmed by using the right knob. But the unit comes with a well-made, simple-to-use heavy-metal remote control that fits in your hand (see the photo below). In general, I used the remote because of its simplicity and convenience, and it has a mute button

In 2016, PSI Audio released the first active bass trap, named AVAA C20, which is fully analog. From then on, the company continued to develop the AVAA technology. In 2023, the first fully digital AVAA, the AVAA C214, was introduced. PSI is not the first or only manufacturer to produce an active bass trap, as Pass Labs had a large, floor-to-ceiling pipe-shaped active bass trap in the early eighties, and Bag End has produced the E-Trap since 2008. However, PSI did the same for the popularity of active bass traps as Apple did for portable music file players. Furthermore, PSI AVAA is the only solution that works automatically on all resonances, without any adjustments, within 15Hz and 160Hz, in such a small enclosure. While critics will object that digital processing is not 100% real-time, PSI indicates that this is not critical at such low frequencies, as the long wavelengths allow more than enough time for the required calculations.