HARDPOINT REVIEW
September 5, 2021 Comments Off on HARDPOINT REVIEW
https://www.monoandstereo.com/2021/08/hifstay-hardpoint-trinia-vibration.html
HardPoint was designed with the clear goal of not compromising the sound or altering the tonal balance.
What it does do, as you can read in the review, is help the sound projection achieve more focus, clarity, and better harmonic density.
The decays and delays that are critical to recreating acoustic space are denser, and the perception of higher resolution allows for a more open and naturally relaxed sound that is not dynamically constricted.
BURSON AUDIO FUNK REVIEW
September 5, 2021 Comments Off on BURSON AUDIO FUNK REVIEW
I’m not really a powered speaker kinda bloke – I love the more ‘pure’ experience of a dedicated pair of hifi passive speakers, and having the freedom to be able to mix/match/tinker with upstream source gear and amplification. This brings us back to the clutter conundrum – speaker amps, for the most part, aren’t exactly tiny. I have to stack my monitor on either a vintage NAD 3020e receiver or a custom NCore500 stereo power amp (yes, 400 watts per channel is a little overkill) to play my KEF LS50 speakers in my nearfield setup. This is in addition to having a DAC, a proper headphone amp, and occasionally a CD player (sorry, CD’s are awesome) or a turntable (yes, I’m that guy) also fighting for desktop real estate.
DIY Passive Radiator Subwoofer BUILD
September 5, 2021 Comments Off on DIY Passive Radiator Subwoofer BUILD
SPL Director Mk2 Preamplifier-DAC $3599 Review
September 3, 2021 Comments Off on SPL Director Mk2 Preamplifier-DAC $3599 Review
Well, almost set. First, I familiarized myself with the Director Mk2’s sound when working as a DAC and preamp to drive my Classé Delta Mono power amps. The sound of the Director Mk2 when fed a digital music signal was, in a word, unveiled: highly dynamic, transparent, vivid, and powerful. Andy Newmark’s drums in “True to Life,” from Roxy Music’s Avalon (24/96 FLAC, Virgin), were re-created in my room with tangible impact—and I enjoyed the spaces between those drums, Bryan Ferry’s voice, and Neil Hubbard’s guitar, the image of which appeared at the far left of my room. I’ve listened to this album countless times through more components than I can count, and rarely have instruments, voices, and percussive effects sounded so well layered yet spaced so distinctly apart and individually dynamic. I especially enjoyed the opening seconds of “Take a Chance with Me” as Hubbard and Phil Manzanera fill the soundstage with eerie sounds from their masterfully manipulated electric guitars. Though Ferry’s keyboard filled the center of the soundstage, it was eclipsed by Newmark’s drums, which slammed out with more body and weight than I’ve heard.
Astell&Kern KANN Alpha Portable Player/Headphone Amp Review
September 3, 2021 Comments Off on Astell&Kern KANN Alpha Portable Player/Headphone Amp Review
https://www.hifinews.com/content/astellkern-kann-alpha-portable-playerheadphone-amp
Nevertheless, not everything about the player feels quite so well thought through. Internal memory is fixed at 64GB, which frankly feels somewhat parsimonious. This can be expanded via a microSD card, with cards up to 1TB supported, but these, of course, will need to be budgeted for in addition to the player itself.
I also found the size of the KANN Alpha’s screen problematic [see boxout, p73] while the control interface threw up its own issues. At its heart, the interface used by all Astell&Kern products is a modified Android platform, but rather than allow apps to be installed via Google Play, they must be loaded via APK and transferred over USB – a process that was not always seamless under test. Meanwhile, the embedded Tidal app ceased functioning during review due to a login problem, although Astell&Kern says this is a temporary issue and would be fixed, around our publication date, via a firmware update for the player.
New TEAC W-1200 cassette deck Review
September 3, 2021 Comments Off on New TEAC W-1200 cassette deck Review
Rotel Michi X5 Integrated Amplifier Review
September 2, 2021 Comments Off on Rotel Michi X5 Integrated Amplifier Review
https://www.hifinews.com/content/rotel-michi-x5-integrated-amplifier
As on the X3 the two sets of speaker terminals are paralleled and designed to bi-wire a single pair of suitable speakers. A pair of pre-outs are provided should you wish to add an external amplifier for bi-amping your speakers, and there are two mono subwoofer outputs, plus a headphone socket on the front panel.
Also retained from the X3 is that simple fascia, with little more than source and volume controls, and a big, ultra-clear display complete with fripperies – all defeatable – such as VU meters and spectrum analyser readouts. Should you want to go for the full moody black look, the display can be dimmed or turned off from the excellent remote common to all Michi integrateds and the P5 preamp [HFN May ’20]. It’s a solid little device, and a masterpiece of clarity – you can even temporarily adjust tone and balance without leaving your listening seat.
DEGRITTER RECORD CLEANING MACHINE REVIEW
September 2, 2021 Comments Off on DEGRITTER RECORD CLEANING MACHINE REVIEW
Degritter record cleaning machine
After cleaning 50 LPs, Degritter tells you the foam filter needs cleaning. It’s straightforward to do, and – unlike some rival ultrasonic cleaners – there are no expensive pads or brushes that need regular replacement. If you stick to distilled water, Degritter is exceptionally cheap to run.
However, this is perhaps running away with the review. To clean, or not to clean, that is the question! Every serious audiophile playing vinyl eventually has to consider whether or not to invest in some form of wet record cleaning machine – especially once you start buying secondhand vinyl.
There’s an old argument about not cleaning records. This states that it’s less damaging to play at most use a record brush, and the only cleaning required is to remove crud build-up at the stylus. In fairness, wet cleaning LPs can be a messy and involved process. It’s potentially harmful too; ham-fisted wet cleaning can leave LP surfaces sounding noisy.
Bottlehead Moreplay Preamp Kit, Tube Sound Done Right
September 2, 2021 Comments Off on Bottlehead Moreplay Preamp Kit, Tube Sound Done Right
AURALIC ARIES G2.1 NETWORK STREAMER REVIEW
September 1, 2021 Comments Off on AURALIC ARIES G2.1 NETWORK STREAMER REVIEW
http://www.hifiplus.com/articles/auralic-aries-g21-network-streamer/
Having got to this point the listening continued with Patricia Barber’s take on ‘Summertime’ [A Distortion of Love,Antilles], an evergreen standard if ever there was. Her voice at the start is positively ethereal, expanding into depths way behind the speakers and forcing your eyes closed to experience the sublime. The darkness of the background and the subtle percussion work that builds so slowly giving the piece a mesmerising quality that contrasts violently with the following track, ‘Subway Station #5’. Here, the drums’ energy forces your hands to attempt to emulate its activities, and you realise it’s a good thing that listening is a solitary pursuit. The ARIES G2.1 is an exceptional streamer with an excellent feature range and an increasingly sophisticated control app that gives instant access to those streaming services that are worth buying. If you get the components that surround it up to the same standard, you will have digital audio the likes of which few have enjoyed.
Audiophilepure 
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