The United Home Audio SuperDeck Head amp system

October 31, 2021 Comments Off on The United Home Audio SuperDeck Head amp system

AUDIOPHILE HEAVEN

October 31, 2021 Comments Off on AUDIOPHILE HEAVEN

https://www.monoandstereo.com/2021/10/the-audiophile-heaven.html

A glimpse of high-end audio heaven with Magico Ultimate III horn speakers and two Magico QSub 15 driven by Goldmund Telos power amplifiers.

Cambridge Audio CXA61 $999 Review

October 31, 2021 Comments Off on Cambridge Audio CXA61 $999 Review

https://www.whathifi.com/us/reviews/cambridge-audio-cxa61

Once we spend a decent amount of time listening, it becomes clear that few rivals have the resolution to challenge the CXA61. It digs up low level details with ease and renders them with care and conviction. 

This is made clear when we listen to the Olafur Arnalds set, which relies on the system having a high degree of subtlety. It’s easy for an amplifier to sound ham-fisted when playing this recording, but it’s a trap that the Cambridge avoids. Instead it is confident and composed, but never overplays its hand.

This Cambridge is a rhythmic performer too, delivering Prince’s 3121 with verve. There’s plenty of entertainment to be had here from thumping basslines to intricately shifting rhythms with Prince’s distinctive vocals at the centre. The CXA61 ticks all the hi-fi boxes without forgetting that all the detail and tonal neutrality in the world doesn’t matter if the emotional content of the music is ignored.

UNIQUE MELODY MEST MKII REVIEW

October 29, 2021 Comments Off on UNIQUE MELODY MEST MKII REVIEW

For the MEST MKII, UM decided to implement upgraded metal vents for the dynamic driver and the MKII now has an improved sensitivity and response range. “How did UM do that?” you ask?

The UM MEST MKII uses a double sided piezoelectric bone conduction driver. This driver is placed in between 2 supporting plates. At the center of the driver you have the vibration board which is covered by a ceramic coating on both the front and the back. The bone conduction driver now has a larger contacting area with the shells (double sided contact) and as such you feel more of the bine conduction effect.

UM hasn’t touched the rest of the driver configuration compared to the original MEST. There’s a slight change in efficiency and sensitivity, but nothing spectacular.

Audiovector R1 Arreté Loudspeaker Review

October 29, 2021 Comments Off on Audiovector R1 Arreté Loudspeaker Review

AMT drivers manifest both horizontal and vertical dispersion similar to that of a small dome tweeter, but without the vertical dispersion issues of a ribbon, which requires a listener to be seated at precisely the same height as the transducer to get the superior detail that technology promises. Audiovector further improves its AMT driver by implementing the “Soundstage Enhancement Concept,” sending 30% of the tweeter’s energy backwards—through a long tube so there won’t be any negative interaction with the radiation to the front. There’s less compression and distortion. Klifoth declared proudly: “The technology creates openness, better harmonics, and a generally more lifelike presentation.” Well, of course, he’d say that: They’re his speakers. Time to report on my own experience with the R1 Arretés—and the experience of three other listeners especially qualified to have informed opinions about the Audiovector’s high-frequency reproduction.

The journey from idea to finished horn speaker design

October 29, 2021 Comments Off on The journey from idea to finished horn speaker design

THX Onyx DAC/Headphone Amplifier $199 Review

October 28, 2021 Comments Off on THX Onyx DAC/Headphone Amplifier $199 Review

https://www.soundandvision.com/content/thx-onyx-dac-headphone-amplifier-review

Competition? I had an AudioQuest Dragonfly Red, another $199 portable DAC/amp with MQA support, on hand. After running my playlist using all available DAC/headphone combinations, I concluded both were capable of clean playback at loud levels and could easily handle dynamic musical passages such as the drums-heavy final 30 seconds of Anouar Brahem’s jazz/world-music jam “Bahia.” Where the Onyx differed was in its slightly wider, more layered spatial presentation—something that bodes well for the portable gaming and movie-viewing THX touts for its DAC.

Scansonic M20 Loudspeaker Review

October 28, 2021 Comments Off on Scansonic M20 Loudspeaker Review

https://www.hifinews.com/content/scansonic-m20-loudspeaker

Fed with the familiar symphonic work-out that is Britten’s ‘Young Person’s Guide To The Orchestra’, here played by the Kansas City Symphony Orchestra under conductor Michael Stern [from Britten’s Orchestra, Reference Recordings RR-120SACD], the strength of these Scansonic speakers is in the detail they bring out in the various instrumental groups, and their speed and lightness of touch. But as the great final fugue builds to its climax, one can’t help but want for a bit more grunt and scale.

That said, these speakers don’t need massive amplifier power to do their stuff. With a Supernait 3 integrated from Naim, which admittedly falls below the lower limit of Scansonic’s suggestion, they were easily capable of going more than loud enough with no signs of stress, while still sounding both open and dynamic.

Sound proofing

October 28, 2021 Comments Off on Sound proofing

RAAL-requisite HSA-1b headphone Review

October 26, 2021 Comments Off on RAAL-requisite HSA-1b headphone Review

https://www.stereophile.com/content/gramophone-dreams-53-raal-requisite-hsa-1b-headphoneloudspeaker-amplifier

As a reviewer-prattler, I endeavor to discover and advocate only those products I believe advance the cause of deep listening. Whenever I discover a “deep listening” product that sounds a lot better than its competition, I am obliged to stand up, applaud loudly, and declare its excellence. To that end:

In my 100-year-old-Herb view, RAAL-requisite’s SR1a pure ribbon Earfield Monitors, connected with RAAL’s optional SR728 silver cable to RAAL’s new HSA-1b headphone and speaker amplifier, represent the cutting edge of what is currently possible in high-resolution audio reproduction. And, in case you hadn’t noticed: RAAL-requisite’s style and coolosity factors are off the charts.

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