World Premiere Review!Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum III Int. Amp. / Phono Stage $3495 Review
June 2, 2026 § Leave a comment
https://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0519/Rogue_Audio_Cronus_Magnum_III_Review.htm
Chances are a committed audiophile would own a copy of Nils Lofgren’s SACD Acoustic Live, and so let’s spin it up. Immediately there is a dimensional expansion of the sound scape. The scale of stereo imaging within the performance space, including those in front of the stage, are clear to hear. There are great aural hints of 3D space. Space is what you should expect, and that’s what would be a wonderful characteristic of this vacuum tube powered soundscape. Razor edged transient attack is what you might hear with a solid-state setup, yet Rogue Audio’s Cronus Magnum III integrated tube amplifier with phono stage reveals something far more satisfying. The sound is full of natural resonant harmonic overtones both odd and even. More than that, those overtones decay into silence much more gradually. My favorite Harry Pearson phrase is “Continuousness”, and here it fits nicely.
It’s not at all like early digital delineation. That’s when sound levels subside and they are eliminated as a least significant bit. What I have tried to convey is part of what some have called, “Tonal Body” but I would rather call this simply, the Gestalt! That’s when every part blends together and forms a clear coherent concept. There is another significant tonal characteristic of the Magnum III. On a very good recording It puts spaces around and between parts of the performance. It’s subtle, but it’s like a renaissance masters painting in that the main subje

LUXEAR Valor $3729 Review
June 2, 2026 § Leave a comment
The smaller storage case comes in a black leather finish and feels quite premium in hand. The only issue is the space inside. It is very limited.
It can hold the cable and ear tips, but not the IEMs themselves. I wish this case were a bit bigger, but it has a really nice vibe to it and feels too good to be used only for small extras.
The larger case is much more practical for day-to-day usage. It is spacious and very nicely built. In orange, it looks very funky. The case has clean stitching, a plush inner lining, and a gold zipper running through the center.
The brand name is engraved on the top, which gives it a neat finish. This case can easily hold the IEMs with the cable attached, so this is the one most people will actually use daily.
Overall, both cases are well-built. No real complaints there. The smaller one feels more premium but less usable, while the larger one is more practical and better suited for carrying Valor around.


Starke Sound SW15 Subwoofer | REVIEW
May 30, 2026 § Leave a comment
https://pt.audio/2026/04/25/starke-sound-brev-sw15-subwoofer-review
The question becomes this: are these state-of-the-art speakers systems finally getting it right? Have I been listening for the wrong thing? I thought about this during my first listening sessions with the Starke Sound SW15. Will the SW15 get it right/wrong? Or will the SW15 get it wrong/right? Well, the Starke Sound SW15 fell into the later camp, with the second drum beat deeper and more impressive. I thought I had an answer to this–has my view of the Yulunga Test changed because I’m using more grounding and noise suppression and power conditioning and that lower noise floor is the reason for the changing perspective? That was easy to find out, of course, by unplugging all those devices and listening again. Despite the fact that my entire system dropped down a notch of three in overall sound quality without this gear in the chain, the Starke Sound SW15 still delivered more impact on that second beat, and until I figure this out completely I’m going to move onto the next demo track, which is the title track from Radiohead’s Kid A.
There’s no doubt this is heavy electronica, but there are some synthesizer bass passages that just seem to dive underneath your floorboards and surface right underneath your listening chair like Esther Williams. The test, however is this: are those beats pronounced and full, or are they down a few dB? If your speaker doesn’t hit at least 50 Hz, those beats might actually disappear. It’s also common for a lesser transducer to make those beats sound slightly distorted and sloppy. With the Starke Sound SW15 and the Acoras, those notes are deep and round and full and clear. I’ve heard a little more decay with far more costly speaker systems, and perhaps more of those subtle textures and shadings that I look for in the Yulunga Test, but this is the first time I’m compelled to remind everyone of the price here.
Model 2RQ TVTI Balanced Power System | REVIEW
May 30, 2026 § Leave a comment
https://pt.audio/2026/02/13/equitech-model-2rq-tvti-balanced-power-system-review/
I realize it’s hard to discuss the importance of power management–so many audiophiles I know use nothing at all and they’re perfectly happy. But once you experience your hi-fi through a balanced power system, it’s very hard to return to the way things once were. (That goes for adequate grounding as well.) The Equi=Tech made that painfully aware once I took it out of the system. Can I survive with my normal complement of earthing devices and noise suppression and power conditioning? I can, but with one caveat: the Equi=Tech seemed to supplant many of those products in one box. I can describe that as downright economical, in fact. The comparisons between the Model 2RQ and nothing at all, however, were shockingly obvious, more than any other single power management device I’ve used in the past.
It’s rather industrial looking, downright utilitarian, especially when compared to other power management devices that are built to look like $50K power amplifiers, but that suggests the seriousness of this product and that it’s manufactured for people who know when something works and when it’s not pulling its own weight. (Besides, I still put my power management products behind the rack, so who cares.) My conclusion is that I’ve yet to try another power management product that gets the job done in such a convincing manner. Plus, it’s not ridiculously priced compared to some of the high-end competition out there.


Dan D’Agostino Master Audio Systems Progression S350 Stereo Power Amplifier Review $27,250 Review
May 29, 2026 § Leave a comment
I also must stress that most of the time when listening to this album, I was luxuriating in the sensation of being enveloped by the music on Led Zeppelin II, a recording that I must have heard a thousand times previous to that day. Despite this, before the D’Agostino S350 was in my system, I don’t remember ever having the experience of whipping my head around because I thought I heard something entering my listening room from its far corner. Of course, I’d quickly realize this was a tambourine or other percussion instrument entering the perimeter of the huge soundstage.
The frequency extremes the Dan D’Agostino Master Audio Systems S350 reproduced were extraordinary; never before have I heard a treble sound so extended yet so natural sounding. I’ve had experience with tube amps that had a seductive treble, one that sounded as if it possessed the gestalt of the real thing. Still, the S350 came close to doing this, but at the same time, no amplifier I’ve previously auditioned gave me the impression that I was hearing as close to what was exactly on the signal feeding it. Transparency is the name of the game, and the D’Agostino Progression S350 sound quality possessed what I would call, without exaggerating, the epitome of transparency.
After the D’Agostino S350 was in my system for a while, I never became accustomed to its supernatural sound. Never before have I had a component in my system that made each musical selections, regardless of how many times I’ve heard it before, sound as if I’ve never really heard it. I could use this amplifier to demonstrate every audiophile characteristic that one would desire, frequency extension, transient response, micro and macro dynamics, soundstage, imaging, etc.


Ella Fitzgerald – Sings The Rodgers and Hart Song Book—Verve (Acoustic Sounds Series) vinyl reissue
May 29, 2026 § Leave a comment
And when she phrases masterpieces like “Have You Met Miss Jones?”, “The Lady Is a Tramp”, “Spring Is Here”, “It Never Entered My Mind”, “My Romance”, and my personal favourite, “I Could Write a Book”, it’s breathtakingly musical. Check the track listing for your own favourites.
Buddy Bregman did the arrangements, and they fit the songs perfectly. They’re not Riddle-style swingers, but they match Ella’s style and sentiment beautifully. The personnel reads like a who’s who of L.A. studio royalty, including Harry “Sweets” Edison, Maynard Ferguson, and Pete Candoli on trumpets; Benny Carter and Ben Webster on saxes; and a rhythm section featuring Herb Ellis (guitar), Ray Brown (bass), and Alvin Stoller (drums), plus a full string section.


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