Audiophilepure

https://www.hifichoice.com/content/svs-ultra-evolution-nano

There will continue to be arguments about what constitutes the ideal compact standmount speaker. Prioritising accuracy, something as much imagined as achieved in hi-fi, has its advocates and then there’s the Ultra Evolution Nano, a small speaker with a big heart that merely wants to give its listeners a good time, even if it means taking a few liberties. Can’t say I mind in the slightest.

https://pt.audio/2025/05/23/kalista-dreamplay-x-transport-and-mantax-dac-review/

One of the strengths of this duo was the ability to soften the blow of some of the more typically aggressive, more strident sounding, early ‘80s all digital (SPARS Code, DDD) CDs in my collection, titles like my UK Deutsche Grammophon copy of Beethoven: Symphonien 1 & 2, by the Berliner Philharmoniker under Karajan, or the original US Warner issue of Donald Fagen’s, The Nightfly. Employing some combination of either the “Corrected Minimum Phase Fast,” or “Minimum Phase Slow,” along with the AKM chipset and the tubed output options, rendered such titles not only less harsh, edgy, or strident sounding, but imbued them with a “warmer,” more analog feel or flavor, very closely approximating an LP playback experience.

As a specific example, my Redbook CD of the reading of the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 13, by Franz Liszt, with Alfred Brendle on piano, was utterly captivating. Here, this system’s ability to bring this performance to life, especially its ability to recreate the nuance and power of its dynamic prowess, made for a stand-out presentation. This is a recording that I’ve often heard sound too energized above about 3000 Hz with many digital front ends. Yet this presentation was balanced with remarkable tonal honesty, an engaging vibrance, and an amazing sense of harmonic bloom. Suffice it to say that, depending on the variation of combinations of title, label, mastering, and production values found within my disc collection, the Mantax was able to deliver the musical goods on so many different levels that I simply fell in love with the surprisingly impressive and resultant enveloping tapestry of sound it routinely created for me.

https://www.enjoythemusic.com/superioraudio/equipment/0625/Raidho_X26_Floorstanding_Loudspeaker_Review.htm

Because I began listening to this album at an incredibly early age, I often get goosebumps when listening to this album on a high-end system. When the Stone’s SACDs were released this furthered my fascination. Thankfully, we can stream these SACDs via Qobuz and high-resolution streaming services. Through the Raidho X2.6 floorstanding loudspeaker, on certain tracks I felt as if I was hearing this album again for the first time, except now I was able to hear all the details I was missing throughout the years. The Raidho X2.6 are extremely transparent speakers; they were able to reproduce every detail of both Rolling Stones albums. Regardless of how long I listened to them, and regardless of how loud I had the volume on my preamp, my ear-brain never became fatigued. In fact, the opposite occurred. The more music I played, the more I wanted to hear.