Yamaha A-S3200 $7500 Review
July 23, 2021 Comments Off on Yamaha A-S3200 $7500 Review
https://www.whathifi.com/us/reviews/yamaha-a-s3200
While the phono stage’s 47ohm moving magnet input impedance will work well with pretty much any cartridge of that type, it’s a little odd that Yamaha has chosen to go with a 50ohm value for the moving coil option. While MCs vary in terms of their loading requirements, a 100ohm value would have suited many more cartridges. It’s not a make-or-break situation, but you’ll need to be careful with the cartridge choice if you want optimal results.
Siltech Classic Legend 680L Speaker Cables $4899 Review
July 23, 2021 Comments Off on Siltech Classic Legend 680L Speaker Cables $4899 Review
While I’m not generally into cables or tweaks, Siltech’s Classic Legend 680L speaker cables captivated me. Yes, their build quality is excellent, their materials clearly first-rate, and Siltech’s corporate narrative emphasizing measurements and iterative improvements in metallurgy is compelling.
But for an audio component to earn my highest recommendation, I must be able to hear its contributions to my system’s ability to re-create the sounds of the music I love. Siltech’s Classic Legend 680L speaker cables gave me a lot of such contributions to hear. Their ability to reduce low-level distortion and artifacts below what my lower-cost copper cables could manage was as enjoyable as it was surprising.
WESTONE ES80 CUSTOM-FIT IN-EAR MONITORS REVIEW
July 22, 2021 Comments Off on WESTONE ES80 CUSTOM-FIT IN-EAR MONITORS REVIEW
Westone ES80 custom-fit in-ear monitors
Another signature design element Westone’s ‘Deep Open Bore’, which is a deeply flared mouth that is moulded into the outer openings of the Flex Canals and into which sounds from the driver sound outlet tubes flow. Westone says the Deep Open Bore helps provide “a smoother transition between the monitor mix and the ambient sound.” My point in providing all this construction detail is to indicate that Westone assiduously works to address key earpiece design issues that most competitors have yet to address.
This same care and attention to detail has gone into the selection of accessories provided with the ES80. The CIEMs ship in a watertight, internally padded Pelican carry case whose lid sports a Westone logo plate, and a top surface etched with the owner’s name, the CIEMs’ date of manufacture, and the unit’s serial/model number. Within the case are found an owner’s manual, a padded microfibre cleaning cloth, a cleaning tool/brush, a small vial of Oto-Ease fluid (a gentle lubricant users can apply to earpiece shells to facilitate smoother insertion and removal), and a renewable desiccant-filled pod to help prevent moisture damage to the CIEMs.
Parasound JC 1+ Monoblock Power Amplifier $8495 Review
July 22, 2021 Comments Off on Parasound JC 1+ Monoblock Power Amplifier $8495 Review
How did the Parasounds perform on more delicate fare? You’ll get few quibbles from me, friends. There were moments when I was simply startled by the finesse that they offered. On Louis Bellson’s album Thunderbird, for example, I was smitten by the rendition of the Neal Hefti standard “Softly With Feeling.” The Parasounds were able to provide the hushed backing of the winds with total control, endowing the song with a sense of realism that it would otherwise have lacked. This was one of those times when this LP on the Impulse! label really sounded opened up rather than claustrophobic. I mean talk about pristine. Suffice it to say, that the Parasounds conveyed, or appeared to convey, just about every last little nuance the cartridge excavated from the black grooves.
But even on the delicate passages, the sound was never wispy. Take the magnificent album Festival of Trumpets [Nonesuch]. It was mastered in 1974 by Bob Ludwig and features the New York Trumpet Ensemble, directed by Gerard Schwarz. I was riveted, among other things, by a lovely Sonatina by the baroque composer Johann Christoph Pezel, who himself played trumpet and violin. The gossamer-like trumpet playing of Schwarz and Louis Ranger sounded very enticing, but it was the accompaniment of the bassoon and harpsichord that really caught my ear. It’s easy for them to get lost in the mix. But here it was easy to hear the pleasingly sonorous sound of the bassoon as it puffed along, as well as the soft and deliberate plucks of the harpsichord. If I had to pick a nit, it would be in the treble. It’s not that the sound ever became hard or dirty—the Parasound always has a rich, warm, inviting sound on top—rather, the amp could sometimes be less slightly transparent and pellucid on top than some of its far-pricier brethren.
Thrax Reference Components Full Review
July 22, 2021 Comments Off on Thrax Reference Components Full Review
Audionet Humboldt Integrated Amplifier $55,000 Review
July 21, 2021 Comments Off on Audionet Humboldt Integrated Amplifier $55,000 Review
There was a loss of the last micron of detail in hall presence, and vocal reproduction had a slightly thick layer about it. The realism of overall reproduction was a quarter-wavelength of a gamma ray away from perfection. All these phenomena occurred at an almost imperceptibly low level, but combined, they added up to a sound that intermittently exposed its electro-mechanical origin rather than one that instantly made you forget you were listening to anything other than music itself. Keep in mind that I’m desperately grasping at straws to find these “faults,” and these criticisms are only in comparison to the highest-resolution, best-performing, most insanely expensive amps and preamps I have ever heard. Omitting the standard reference to particular pieces of music that highlight this or that, I can comfortably say that changing a cable will affect the sonic integrity of the signal more than adding the Humboldt will.
Cerwin Vega Dual 1515 with McIntosh MC 1.2 KW power amplifiers
July 21, 2021 Comments Off on Cerwin Vega Dual 1515 with McIntosh MC 1.2 KW power amplifiers
VPI Avenger Reference turntable Review
July 19, 2021 Comments Off on VPI Avenger Reference turntable Review
If I played these files for you, you’d hear the differences, all at what might be defined as at the margins of audibility of, among other things, transparency, spatial definition, background “blackness,” and low-frequency extension and resolution. At the margins, yes, but add them all together, and the cumulative difference was significant and dramatic.
I think the biggest differences were produced more by the tonearms than by the turntables. What that really tells you is how well the Avenger Reference turntable performs, and how effective the new ADS motor controller is. Between these two arms, the one costing more than twice the price of the Avenger Reference with arm is simply in a league of its own—and I know of at least one owner of a Avenger Reference with SAT LM-09 who agrees.
Gryphon Audio Designs Antileon EVO Stereo Power Amplifier Review
July 19, 2021 Comments Off on Gryphon Audio Designs Antileon EVO Stereo Power Amplifier Review
One of Class A’s great virtues is that its harmonic distortion spectrum is primarily second and third harmonic, with virtually no odd-order upper harmonics, such as sevenths and ninths. We hear those upper-harmonic distortion components as harshness. Second-harmonic distortion, however, is relatively benign since it occurs in nature, and is a significant component of instrumental overtones. In fact, some studio-processing devices intentionally add a bit of second-harmonic to make an instrument sound warmer and “fatter.” By contrast, seventh and nineth harmonics are rarely heard in nature, and add a hard, steely character to the sound. Not coincidentally, these upper-order harmonics are produced when metal is struck—not a pleasant sound, or one you want overlaying harmonic textures. A distortion spectrum that’s primarily second and third harmonic, without the upper-order harmonics, confers the warmth and liquidity that are hallmarks of Class A designs.
Audiophilepure 
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