Plinius Reference A-150 Stereo/Mono Amplifier $13,000 Review
August 14, 2020 Comments Off on Plinius Reference A-150 Stereo/Mono Amplifier $13,000 Review
“Next I went all old-school audiophile — I had a feeling the Plinius would have a field day. I loaded up “Only Time,” from The Very Best of Enya (16/44.1 FLAC, Reprise/Qobuz), and raised the volume on the Hegel until the SPL meter on my phone measured 85dB at the listening position. The sound was fully enveloping, the Plinius melding with the Vimbergs to produce dense images on a vast soundstage. The bass was strong but more round than square, and the feathery highs were miles from harsh. “Caribbean Blue” was next, from Enya’s Shepherd Moons (16/44.1 FLAC, Reprise/Qobuz), and the sound was just right. Her lead and overdubbed backing vocals were clear and just a touch upfront, but the characteristic that set the A-150 apart from most other solid-state amps I’ve heard was the density of tonal color. This amp gave me the gestalt of what music should be — full, rich, dense — without primarily focusing on detail retrieval and transparency.”
Vivid Audio Giya G2 Series 2 Loudspeakers $50,000 Review
August 13, 2020 Comments Off on Vivid Audio Giya G2 Series 2 Loudspeakers $50,000 Review
Toward the end of my listening sessions I swapped out the EMM preamp and DAC for Anthem’s STR preamplifier-DAC. The sound didn’t change drastically, though the total price of the system did: the Anthem costs $3999, the two EMMs $50,000. But with the STR, the soundstages of the tracks mentioned above were consistently just a bit shallower, and the sound wasn’t quite as refined. However, the width of those stages, and the way the sound floated so free of the speakers, were unchanged, as was the ability to play every musical genre with aplomb. Perhaps most important was that the sound was still top-drawer — don’t think the $50,000/pair Vivid Giya G2 Series 2s require ancillary gear as crazy-costly as themselves. The Anthem and Hegel taught me that, if you spring for a pair of G2S2s, it might be wise to experiment with upstream gear of all sizes, types, and prices.”
GRADO THE HEMP HEADPHONE REVIEW
August 13, 2020 Comments Off on GRADO THE HEMP HEADPHONE REVIEW
“Grado headphones all fall very much on the sensitive side when it comes to power requirements, and The Hemp Headphone with its 38 ohm 98 dB/mW drivers is no different. It’s an easy pair of headphones to power and will deliver excellent performance from modest sources such as your garden variety smartphone. This should be welcome news for readers who are considering getting into the hobby and might be balking at the prospect of having to spend additional money on source gear and amplifiers. While my Samsung S9+ gets them happily singing at around 60% volume, a quality discrete headphone amplifier will yield nominal audible benefits when fed with decently-recorded and mastered source material.”
Lumin D2 Music Server/DAC £1845 Review
August 13, 2020 Comments Off on Lumin D2 Music Server/DAC £1845 Review
“But in case you were thinking this player was all about delicate voices and minimal recordings, play the ‘1941 March’ from the Jerry Junkin/Dallas Wind Symphony on John Williams At The Movies [Reference Recordings RR142SACD; DSD64], and you’ll hear just how well the Lumin D2 lets the track build from almost inaudible woodwind all the way through to full band and drums bombasts, while at the same time keeping the rhythms tight and crisp.
Rhythms are also to the fore in the Philip Glass score for the opera-ballet The Witches Of Venice [Orange Mountain Music 0031], and the clarity of the Lumin D2 enables it to keep the various instrumental and vocal lines easy to follow, while delivering fine low-end extension of the synths to room-filling effect.”
Weiss Engineering DAC502 D/A processor Review
August 12, 2020 Comments Off on Weiss Engineering DAC502 D/A processor Review
“The DAC502’s Room Equalizer comprises five filters that can be set to peak/cut or high shelf for left and right speakers individually or together. To make use of this function, you download a FLAC or WAV file from the Weiss website that sweeps down from 200Hz to 20Hz. While playing this file, you note the time when the loudness is at a maximum. The Weiss processor’s manual includes a table that correlates the time with the frequency of the sinewave. You then manually create up to five correction filters, a complex process that would be more user-friendly if integrated with an app like Room Equalization Wizard.”
XDUOO TA-30 REVIEW
August 12, 2020 Comments Off on XDUOO TA-30 REVIEW
“– an Xmos XU208 for USB. A multi-core chip, fully compliant with USB 2.0 specification, and advertised as a “major upscale” from the previous U8.
Moreover, the xDuoo TA-30 now gets an FPGA chip, provided by Altera, to reduce the jitter and a dual active low phase noise crystal oscillator. That, and no less than 7 PCM filter + 1 DSD filters to adapt the DAC, to your taste”
Volti Audio Razz loudspeaker $5999 Review
August 11, 2020 Comments Off on Volti Audio Razz loudspeaker $5999 Review
“The ability of Volti Audio’s Razz to portray music of any genre with scale, realism, and thrilling dynamics is unmatched by any loudspeaker I’ve had in my system. The Razzes demonstrate a lovely midrange liquidity, but there’s no sacrifice of detail. The type of amplification—tubed or solid-state—made some difference in the Razz’s sonic presentation, but the result was never less than musical. The Razz is also beautifully constructed; the level of craftsmanship and quality is remarkable for a loudspeaker at this price. If you’re shopping for a serious, horn-based, high-sensitivity design in this price range, you should add the Volti Audio Razz to your short list.”
PS AUDIO STELLAR GAINCELL PREAMP/DAC $1,699 REVIEW
August 11, 2020 Comments Off on PS AUDIO STELLAR GAINCELL PREAMP/DAC $1,699 REVIEW
“The PS Audio GainCell preamp/DAC is a winner in every respect. It is an excellently built versatile preamplifier that can handle both the analog and digital signal switching equally well. Not only that, but it can also serve as a very capable headphone amplifier. Its audiophile quality is obvious in every aspect of its sonic performance. Transparent, great tonal balance, and good dynamics are some of the nice traits of the sonic characteristics of the GCD. As a DAC, it is capable of handling both PCM and DSD high-resolution music signals, which adds to its repertoire of capabilities. Considering that this versatile great-sounding product can be had for only $1699, the GainCell preamp/DAC truly represents a great bargain in the hi-fi world. Moreover, with 30 days home-trial offer and generous trade-in policy, this is a must audition product for someone looking for modern affordable preamp/DAC. The GCD easily earns my highest recommendation!”
Anker Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro $149 Review
August 11, 2020 Comments Off on Anker Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro $149 Review
“The inclusion of stabilizing ear wings that slips right onto the nozzle housing does help a lot with keeping the large Liberty 2 securely in place.
The ear wing initially looks like it is part of the driver itself but in actual fact, it is a slip-on rubber ring that is shaped to mimic the contour of the Liberty 2 body. That keeps it low-profile and prevents it from creating fitting and stability issues.”
Chord Ultima Pre 2/Ultima 2 Pre/Power Amplifier Review
August 10, 2020 Comments Off on Chord Ultima Pre 2/Ultima 2 Pre/Power Amplifier Review
“If the Ultima flagship is a costly ‘technology demonstrator’ then these Ultima 2 offsprings are a textbook illustration of trickledown in action. Frankly, if you were enthralled by the debut Ultimas and have been saving ever since then cash in your chips now, buy the Ultima 2s instead and spend the excess £40k on new floorstanders and music. Yes, the Ultima Pre 2 and Ultima 2 really are that good.”
Audiophilepure 
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