AVM Ovation SD 6.2 Preamplifier-DAC-Streamer $9990
December 24, 2018 Comments Off on AVM Ovation SD 6.2 Preamplifier-DAC-Streamer $9990
‘As I listened more, I began to concentrate less on the performance of the SD 6.2 within specific frequency bands. For instance, when I tried to focus on what the AVM was doing in the bass, I realized I was assessing more the sound of the speakers than of the electronics. This became obvious when I swapped out the EgglestonWorks Kivas, which are fairly large, three-way floorstanders, for Monitor Audio’s smallish, two-way, Studio stand-mounts, then swapped the Kivas back in again. My takeaway from all of that was that the Ovation SD 6.2 had no problem of bass lightness or heavy-handedness. Its sound seemed perfectly neutral, feeding each pair of speakers exactly what it needed to produce excellent bass within that model’s capabilities.
Eventually, as I began to focus more on soundstaging, I came to find out that this largely depended on how the SD 6.2 handled high-frequency subtleties. Basically, the AVM’s reproduction of the treble was so delicate and precise that its re-creations of the subtle cues of the acoustics of live venues were stunningly realistic. Concert recordings took on a more holographic nature in terms of soundstage depth, and my perception of the AVM’s ability to reproduce the ambience that placed me at the center of a soundfield — as opposed to looking in at it from a distance, from the outside — also increased.”
Plex Adds Tidal Music Service Integration
December 24, 2018 Comments Off on Plex Adds Tidal Music Service Integration
Cambridge Audio Edge A Integrated Amplifier $5,000 Review
December 23, 2018 Comments Off on Cambridge Audio Edge A Integrated Amplifier $5,000 Review
“As an afterthought, I suppose anyone purchasing a $5,000 two-channel amp will probably already own a headphone amp of commensurate quality. If not, the Edge A has you covered. I tried all three of my available cans—long-standard studio Sony and excellent NAD and HiFiMan pairs—with great success: sound quality was about as high as I’ve heard from any of them, and in all three cases there was plenty of level. Another afterthought: the Edge A’s Bluetooth feature worked as expected, but since I lack a Bluetooth aptX source, wireless quality was dramatically inferior, though that’s no fault of Cambridge’s amp.”
Auralic Aries G1 wireless streaming transporter
December 23, 2018 Comments Off on Auralic Aries G1 wireless streaming transporter
JBL 4344 Distinguished Speakers
December 23, 2018 Comments Off on JBL 4344 Distinguished Speakers
MCINTOSH MA7200 INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER REVIEW
December 21, 2018 Comments Off on MCINTOSH MA7200 INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER REVIEW
“A McIntosh review is almost academic. People know what they want from McIntosh, and the MA7200 is going to deliver on that. But, in a way, McIntosh needs to be reappraised in the light of modern audio. As a complete package, without recourse to any other device (so no visual mis-matches between amp and disc player) the amp stands up as a fine audio option. This is more than some blue VU meters (although familiarity has made me rethink of them as ‘cool’) and a beefy build quality. It is an amplifier that I might not have considered through sheer weight of my own snobbery, and yet I came back from listening feeling very impressed by the MA7200 as the complete package. A hefty amplifier that is capable of great things and a lot more than just brute force, the MA7200 doesn’t just look the part, it sounds the part!”
ANSUZ X SERIES CABLES AND POWER CONDITIONER
December 21, 2018 § 1 Comment
“The top-of-the-tree cables always get the praise (and the flak) because they offer cost-no-object performance for cost-no-object systems. The trouble is, so many times in audio, if you see the cost… you’ll object! The best isn’t easy to do, but it is a lot harder to climb down from the mountain top and make something that works, and works well in context. That is exactly what X-Series does. It brings a lot of the sound of top Ansuz cable to the distinctly attainable level. What it sacrifices in the process is often no real sacrifice because it will be used in the context of good – but also attainably-priced – audio electronics. That, in a very real way, is a lot harder to do, because there are often more ideosyncrasies in more attainably expensive equipment. X-Series is extremely well balanced for its market.”
Fostex TH909 Headphones Review
December 21, 2018 Comments Off on Fostex TH909 Headphones Review
“That balance is why Brent, and his listening panel of LeRena Major and John Higgins, chose to award the Fostex TH909s a 9 out of 10 for “Sound.” That high Sound rating is why the TH909s were named a Reviewers’ Choice when Brent’s review was published, and is also why they’re the latest headphones to be added to our list of Recommended Reference Components.”
MBL 101e mk2 and four MBL N11 Monos. MBL Noble Preamp and CD/DAC.
December 20, 2018 Comments Off on MBL 101e mk2 and four MBL N11 Monos. MBL Noble Preamp and CD/DAC.
CHORD ELECTRONICS BLU MK2 UPSAMPLING CD TRANSPORT REVIEW
December 20, 2018 Comments Off on CHORD ELECTRONICS BLU MK2 UPSAMPLING CD TRANSPORT REVIEW
“Listening to an old favourite CD of mine, Haydn Symphony No 77, Christopher Hogwood and the Academy of Ancient Music, the difference between the three oversampling/upscaling options is not small. Starting with the minimum oversampling rate, which reads as 88.2 kHz on the DAVE, I get a pleasant presentation, fluid and coherent, but not the deepest of soundstages. Changing to the maximum oversampling immediately improves imaging and increases soundstage depth, while creating much greater space between the instruments in the orchestra. It’s almost as if you have pressed a button marked ‘3D’. There is also a sense of what happens when you move back five rows in a concert hall, a hint of the concentration of the intensity and colour of the sound being slightly diluted. On this period instrument recording, I miss a bit of weight in the bass; it is true that period cellos and basses make less grunt than the modern equivalents, but it is noticeable nonetheless. Contrasting the Blu with my Esoteric K-05 CD player, used as a transport only, playing through the DAVE via a Chord cable, the latter seems to have more grunt and there is more of a sense of the bass driving the harmony and the music than with the Blu Mk2. It doesn’t, however, have the effortless sense of space that the Blu Mk2 has, or indeed the litheness of its approach to making music. ”
Audiophilepure 
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