ESTELON AURA FLOOR-STANDING LOUDSPEAKER $19,900 REVIEW
August 6, 2024 Comments Off on ESTELON AURA FLOOR-STANDING LOUDSPEAKER $19,900 REVIEW
Though the AURA Loudspeakers are part of Estelon’s entry-level line, they still outperform many other excellent speakers I have reviewed over the years. They are not inexpensive, but their composite cabinetry, custom drivers, high-end internal wiring, generally excellent design, and form factor make them a “forever” speaker for many of us. As I mentioned before, the AURA whets my appetite to hear the bigger siblings in Estelon’s arsenal. Putting it into perspective, I can’t afford a Lamborghini either, but I’d still like to test-drive one.
It Isn’t Just the Music
August 6, 2024 Comments Off on It Isn’t Just the Music
https://www.stereophile.com/content/it-isnt-just-music
Until each track and album is tagged with reliable metadata—and your streaming appliance or app displays it—it’s impossible to know exactly what you’re hearing. Some listeners may not care, but we do, and we think others do.
Another form of control over music, and an important one, is search. Searching physical media may be laborious, but if your organization scheme is sound and you stick to it, you will find what you’re looking for, and you know when you’ve found it, since you’re holding it in your hands. Generally, streaming search engines are reliable and useful only for common, simple music. Search the same terms on Spotify and Qobuz, and you’ll likely get different results—maybe not for “Taylor Swift Red,” but try “Dorati Stravinsky” or “Copland Bernstein.” Many audiophiles have chosen Roon for this reason—because of its superior, cross-platform search capabilities. But from a search perspective, Roon is hardly ideal—and it doesn’t incorporate the two most popular streamers, Spotify and Apple Music. What’s more, though Roon adds data on many recordings versus what the streaming apps provide, that data is tied to titles and not to specific releases. For instance, multiple versions of Kind of Blue list all the engineers who ever remastered it instead of the correct person for that version
Warwick Bravura Electrostatic Headphones Review
August 6, 2024 Comments Off on Warwick Bravura Electrostatic Headphones Review
Triode Lab 2A3 EVO integrated amplifier Review
August 5, 2024 Comments Off on Triode Lab 2A3 EVO integrated amplifier Review
https://www.stereophile.com/content/triode-lab-2a3-evo-integrated-amplifier
Triode Lab amplifiers employ negative feedback to reduce distortion, stabilize gain, extend frequency response, and perhaps also to lower output impedance—but not a lot. “All our amps have a minimal amount of negative feedback, which is needed for good sound quality, stable performance, refinement, noise control, etc.,” wrote Noam Bronstein. “It also increases reliability and the ability to drive more types of speakers.”
To better understand a designer’s sonic vision, I always ask about their reference systems. Frank Ng’s Triode Lab system is a study in contrasts: Esoteric SACD player/DAC and an Accuphase tuner serve up music on the digital side. A Linn LP12 turntable with a Nagaoka MP300 cartridge spins vinyl. Ng employs a variety of speakers, ranging from single-driver designs to two-way and three-way configurations, with a focus on high-sensitivity speakers including horns. Furutech, Cardas, and Finale cables complete the chain.
Diana Krall’s The Look Of Love – Acoustic Sounds Series
August 5, 2024 Comments Off on Diana Krall’s The Look Of Love – Acoustic Sounds Series
Verve Records writes: “Diana Krall’s The Look Of Love (Acoustic Sounds Series) is available now to pre-order! The Acoustic Sounds Series features transfers from analog tapes and remastered 180-gram vinyl in deluxe gatefold packaging for the very best in audio and design. This revered recording from 2001 is a cinematic album of ballads and bossa nova tunes, coupled with the elegant piano playing and peerless vocals that are so, inimitably, Diana Krall. Pre-Order:
Astell&Kern + Empire Ears NOVUS Review
August 5, 2024 Comments Off on Astell&Kern + Empire Ears NOVUS Review
E.A.T. Fortissimo S Turntable
August 4, 2024 Comments Off on E.A.T. Fortissimo S Turntable
The Fortissimo S employs opposing magnets for platter support. This reduces the effective load on the bearing surface. The bearing has a unique inverted design topped with a ceramic ball and mounted in a steel alloy block. The shaft surface features a graphene-based low-friction coating that reduces friction to 1/6 of the EAT Forte S.
Siltech Launches Master Crown Cables Review
August 4, 2024 Comments Off on Siltech Launches Master Crown Cables Review
They also include an advance on Siltech’s Balanced Ground Principle, a unique cable winding geometry that significantly contributes to its exceptionally low noise floor. Their analysis of the design shows that this allows the cables to reveal signals down to an astonishing eight trillionths of a watt (0.000000000000008 watt)!
The Master Crown’s conductor and insulator construction employs both their Current Shield Distortion and Magnetic Field Distortion Reduction technologies, said to substantially reduce the effects of magnetic field distortion, allowing them to achieve incredible clarity in the critical vocal range.
Audio Note UK Meishu Tonmeister 300B integrated amplifier
August 3, 2024 Comments Off on Audio Note UK Meishu Tonmeister 300B integrated amplifier
Some readers may recognize the name Tonmeister (From the German meaning “Sound Master”). I first auditioned the Meishu Tonmeister 300B amplifier in 2019 and I was immediately enamored with the sound. I have never been much of a 300B tube amplifier fan. I liked the older Audio Note Meishu but it lacked a little pizzazz. The 300B is affectionately referred to in Asia as a “lady-like” amplifier – gentle and polite – perhaps refined and polished. And for certain music – girl at a piano – to some there is nothing else. Indeed, some audiophiles will prefer the older Meishu to the new Meishu Tonmeister. However, I am not one of them. For me the Meishu Tonmeister is the best of both worlds – an amplifier capable of gentleness and politeness but can also bring it with rock and roll.
Audiophilepure 
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