ASTELL&KERN SR15 $700 REVIEW
October 31, 2018 Comments Off on ASTELL&KERN SR15 $700 REVIEW
“As mentioned before, Astell&Kern has two outputs. I have mostly been using the 2.5 mm balanced one, as most of my cables are terminated to that plug. I will go over the differences between balanced and unbalanced later. One thing up front though. I know people say balanced makes no difference. While I agree that there is no general rule for that, I say, it is all about the implementation. The circuit matters. I know balanced outputs that outperform the single ended one, and I also know single ended one’s that sound better than their symmetrical counterpart. It’s all about the components used and how well they act with each other.”
ELAC MIRACORD 70 TURNTABLE $2000 REVIEW
October 31, 2018 Comments Off on ELAC MIRACORD 70 TURNTABLE $2000 REVIEW
“This music pushed the limits of the Miracord’s supplied Audio-Technica budget cartridge. It complained. I started to hear some treble, and upper mid band coarseness as the stylus struggled to decipher a moveable feast of grating static-filled guitar riffs, tolling bells, high-pitched bird sounds, softly spoken voices and violin riffs that range from the pastoral to those that are pure torture.Replacing the Audio-Technica with an Ortofon 2M Bronze banished the upper-frequency brittleness. A cartridge switch proving the Miracord 70 has a natural upgrade path.”
FIIO M3K REVIEW
October 30, 2018 Comments Off on FIIO M3K REVIEW
“The entire top end of this player is a stark contrast to the rest of what is offered, where everything else seems purist based, the top end here gently bright and musical. I really love this type of tonality and it fit immensely well with my older AKG K267, which has amazing treble capabilities, even my Flare Audio R2Pro’s sounded amazing! I am so happy with the tonality of the top end.
You just don’t hear this type of a musical tendency these days and I wish FiiO would make a very warm, very musical sounding DAP in this ultraportable tier sometime soon to complement the sound of the M3K. The treble presence and dynamic kick are less than moderate and closer to the bottom end of the tier. Meaning, it is further from slamming than it is from very soft.”
DYNAUDIO MUSIC 5 WIRELESS LOUDSPEAKER REVIEW
October 30, 2018 Comments Off on DYNAUDIO MUSIC 5 WIRELESS LOUDSPEAKER REVIEW
“You can’t create playlists in the Dynaudio Music app but instead play the ones generated by the app/Music Now and your saved playlists from Tidal. You can, however, shape the Music Now playlists by click ‘dislike’ or ‘like’ when a specific track is playing. Also, if you create your playlists in Tidal and then they will automatically show on the front page of the Music app. The best way to think of the Music Now function, is as as an ‘always on’ playlist that is constantly adapting to your taste.
This is one of the true strengths of the Music 5, and the Music system entire. Pretty soon, the app goes away, and you just press one of those five buttons for your music (you can also assign specific albums, fixed playlists, or even internet radio stations to those hard buttons). In fact, about the only time you end up using your tablet or smartphone is when you hear something so good, you want to play it again. That happens quite a lot because the Music 5 quickly becomes spookily good at finding the sort of music you like. And I really mean ‘spookily good’… almost ‘music stalker’ good. You press that button and music you never knew you liked comes out of the speaker. ”
HIFIMAN SUNDARA HEADPHONES REVIEW
October 29, 2018 Comments Off on HIFIMAN SUNDARA HEADPHONES REVIEW
“If you think headphone technology and price/performance ratios aren’t changing, you haven’t done enough sampling of what’s out there today.
The HIFIMAN Sundara headphones have a clean, engaging sound. On the best quality audio, they really offer compelling performance. They are comfortable to wear, did not fatigue me in extended listening sessions, and could handle complex orchestral material and heavy rock without sounding congested.”
VPI Player Review
October 29, 2018 Comments Off on VPI Player Review
”
Listening to Wu-Tang Clan’s debut album Enter The 36 Chambers, again with onboard headphone amplifier, this time through KOSS’s Porta-Pro headphones, I was thoroughly impressed by what this all-in-one could do for what could be some of the best every-man headphones on the market. Bass was controlled and detailed beyond any experience I’ve previously had with them. Vocals were full of character and focused in what would be a rare occasion of sound-stage for such a bargain set of cans.”
Doshi Audio Monoblock V3.0 power amp $35,995/pair Review
October 29, 2018 Comments Off on Doshi Audio Monoblock V3.0 power amp $35,995/pair Review
“I soon discovered how much the bias changed, depending on the time of day. Between 5 and 10:15pm, tubes biased for 190mV would drop to as low as 183mV. Conversely, tubes rebiased to 190mV at dinnertime would later rise to 196 or 197mV. Because each tube seemed to respond differently to voltage fluctuations, vigilance was essential to determine the correspondence of bias to sound. Ultimately, I contacted our locally owned utility company, which is considering installing a more powerful transformer that will provide more stable voltage during times of peak demand.
I wanted to discover a setting at which the tube-like warmth and sweetness I’d heard during Nick Doshi’s visit and at audio shows could be toned down a bit. With the bias centered at around 180mV, I was blown away by the air around Jamie Barton’s mezzo-soprano in the Sibelius song “Var det en dröm?” (Was It a Dream?), from All Who Wander (24-bit/96kHz WAV, Delos DE 3494). The way Brian Zeger’s piano hung in space on a three-dimensional soundstage was very special. Captivated, I continued. With Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder, the Doshis communicated Barton’s willingness to venture into the depths of emotional emptiness. I sat mesmerized by her instrument and artistry, hanging on every note.
R
AURALiC ARIES G2 $3,800 Review
October 28, 2018 Comments Off on AURALiC ARIES G2 $3,800 Review
“Moving to another artist that has pleased many an audiophile ear over the years, I pulled up some Patricia Barber. On Barber’s Modern Cool (MFSL) album the track titled Company is what sold me on trading in a pair of Martin Logan ReQuests for a pair of B&W Nautilus 802 loudspeakers at HiFi Sound & Electronics in Minneapolis in 1999. Listening this time through TADs and the Auralic Aries G2 rather than a Krell CD player, this track was mighty impressive. The deep bass, yet also extremely controlled, that reaches down as low as my speakers can go is something to behold. However, the real star of the show is Mark Walker’s drum solo that starts about 2:40 into the track. I can’t say I’ve ever hear this solo sound better or more like a real drum set in my entire audiophile life. There just isn’t much more to say than that. Best I’ve ever heard this track? Probably. ”
Focal Elegia headphone $900 Review
October 28, 2018 Comments Off on Focal Elegia headphone $900 Review
“If you crave high-resolution sound, Elegia will put a smile on your face. It certainly did when I streamed Let’s Eat Grandma’s spectacular I, Gemini album on Tidal. This pop music’s delicate percussion, piano, and airy effects sounded remarkably clear and floated free of the headphones’ ear cups. Open yes, but not as spacious as the open-back Focal models mentioned above.”
AUDIOSOLUTIONS FIGARO M SPEAKERS REVIEW
October 28, 2018 Comments Off on AUDIOSOLUTIONS FIGARO M SPEAKERS REVIEW
“Unique removable grills were already mentioned above, but it’s more than worthy of bringing them up again. With most of the speakers, the grill is regarded as a stylistic hubris. A compromise, that is most often a must aesthetically wise. Audiosolutions Figaro M speakers grills were developed with a lot of attention. Each pair of speakers comes with two set of covers/grills. Usually one can immediately detect the variation when the grill is in place. Well, that’s not exactly the case with Figaro M speakers. Both of the grills were constructed from the ground up to provide diffraction-less sonic uniqueness, that is not in the way of the sound”
Audiophilepure 
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