Chord Electronics Alto $4320 Review
August 13, 2025 Comments Off on Chord Electronics Alto $4320 Review
https://www.whathifi.com/hi-fi/headphone-amplifiers/chord-electronics-alto
On the whole, the Chord does well, though we do find its outer limits soon enough to confirm that it works best in a nearfield context.
When we’re sitting close to speakers, say less than 2m, the Alto sounds suitably bold and powerful, delivering the sound with all the conviction we hear through its headphone outputs.
However, in larger spaces it doesn’t really have the scale, dynamic clout or low-end authority to truly satisfy, particularly when driving less sensitive designs such as the ATC SCM50 in our 3 x 7 x 5m (hwd) test room.
How does the Alto perform as a preamp? It turns out very well. There is little to complain about the insight it offers into recordings or the even-handed way it deals with each genre of music. The soundstaging isn’t the most spacious, and there is a lack of ‘air’ compared to our much pricier reference preamp, the Burmester 088.
But, judged by price standards, it is still up with the best of them when it comes to honesty, resolution and musical cohesion. Our only word of caution is that having just two inputs could be a major limitation for many.
Schiit Audio Gungnir 2 Balanced Multiform™ DAC $1,599 Review
August 13, 2025 Comments Off on Schiit Audio Gungnir 2 Balanced Multiform™ DAC $1,599 Review
As one would expect from a state-of-the-art DAC, the Gungnir2 is genre agnostic, working well with any form of music; the timbre and tonal balance are correct, imaging is laser perfect, the soundstage is palpable and realistic, and streaming music seems to perform as well as local storage.
The reality of the situation is that I intend to use the Gungnir2 as my reference DAC for as long as I continue to have it in my possession, which will probably be until I am able to perform the Lyr3 review. I can easily recommend the Gungnir2 to anyone who is looking for an end-game DAC and isn’t burdened with a ton of DSD tracks. Two thumbs up.
Magico S5 2024 loudspeaker $82,000 Review
August 11, 2025 Comments Off on Magico S5 2024 loudspeaker $82,000 Review
https://www.stereophile.com/content/magico-s5-2024-loudspeaker
Then something unusual happened. After setting up a Dayton Audio OmniMic V2 on a microphone stand above the center of my listening chair and connecting it to a USB port on his laptop, Peter called Magico’s CTO, Yair Tammam, at his home in Israel. Peter gave Tammam internet access to his laptop; I played the appropriate test-tone tracks from the OmniMic CD on my Ayre player; and Tammam measured each speaker’s in-room response. Yair and Peter discussed the measurements; Peter made some slight adjustments to the speaker positions; and Yair signed off on the placements.When, later, I interviewed Magico’s Alon Wolf about the S5 2024, I mentioned that Tammam had remotely measured the speakers in my room. He explained that Magico started offering this service to help customers who buy subwoofers. “We can measure the room, log in to the subwoofer’s DSP control panels, and do the adjustments so we have good integration with the main system.”The S5 2024s’ front baffles ended up 86″ from the wall behind the speakers; the center of the right-hand baffle was 56″ from the books that line that speaker’s closest sidewall; and the left-hand baffles were 37″ from the LPs that line that speaker’s sidewall. The Magico speakers were toed in not quite all the way toward the listening position, and the tweeters were a few inches above the height of my ears, which, when I was seated, were 36” from the floor.
FiiO K15 is a versatile, feature-packed headphone amp and streaming DAC
August 11, 2025 Comments Off on FiiO K15 is a versatile, feature-packed headphone amp and streaming DAC
FiiO is positioning the K15 as featuring “trickledown technology” from its higher-end K17 model, claiming to achieve pricing at half that of comparable rivals.
The company claims that the new K15 delivers an organic, immersive sound signature, while maintaining ultra-low distortion and wide dynamic range. Whether that translates to genuinely premium performance at this price point, remains to be heard.
At the heart of the amplification stage sits a discrete Class A/B circuit capable of delivering up to 3000mW per channel through its balanced output. That should be enough grunt to drive both sensitive in-ear headphones and high-impedance over-ear headphones.
The fully balanced signal path extends from the DAC stage right through to amplification, with FiiO choosing a tri-board design that separates digital, analogue and power supply sections across different PCBs. This approach should, in theory, reduce crosstalk and electrical interference for cleaner sound reproduction
Audeze CRBN2 Electrostatic Headphone Review
August 11, 2025 Comments Off on Audeze CRBN2 Electrostatic Headphone Review
Pathos InPoL Legacy integrated amplifier Review
August 10, 2025 Comments Off on Pathos InPoL Legacy integrated amplifier Review
https://www.stereophile.com/content/pathos-inpol-legacy-integrated-amplifier
I found it hard to ignore the partial dropouts—split-second reductions in gain—that accompanied every 0.5dB-step adjustment, as if the amp were stuttering. At the same time, a faint, percussive thwup emerges from the speakers with every stepped change. Harmonia’s Jesse Luna relayed my experience to Pathos HQ in Italy and got the following response: “The volume control is a laddered resistor network that uses premium Vishay Dale metal-film resistors and individual relays, so the signal goes through one resistor per channel and comes out 100% pure. Because they’re a mechanical device with a switching speed, there can be a very short delay between the devices responding.” For maximum sonic purity, Pathos’s engineers rejected the idea of inserting a mute circuit, transistors, or ICs into the signal path, at the expense of the tiny serial dropouts I mentioned. “These kinds of solutions would most definitely impact the overall sound quality in a negative way,” team Pathos asserted. I can easily live with that decision.What I couldn’t brook was the Legacy’s remote control. Even with a fresh battery, turning off the amplifier often required as many as a dozen power-button pushes. Curiously, that same button performed better—but still not reliably—when powering the Legacy on. The remote has gray icons printed on a mottled silver finish. Until you become familiar with the buttons and can operate them by feel, prepare to do a lot of squinting, if you are of a certain age. I eventually just kept the master volume at 60 and adjusted from there within the Roon app running on my MacBook A
LP10 Packs AirPlay 2 and Cast for $99
August 10, 2025 Comments Off on LP10 Packs AirPlay 2 and Cast for $99
https://www.soundandvision.com/content/arylic-prices-lp10-airplay-2google-cast-streamer-99
Networking options include dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi and a 10/100 Mb/s Ethernet port. Physical I/O consists of 3.5mm analog line-in and line-out jacks, an optical S/PDIF output, and a USB-A port that plays files from storage devices up to 16GB (about 1000 tracks). A 0.91″ OLED panel, four touch buttons, an IR remote, and Arylic’s Go Control app handle operation. The aluminum chassis measures a compact 108 × 72 × 26.6mm and it weighs 500g.
Next Level HiFi Store Tour | Inside a World-Class High-End Audio Showroom
August 10, 2025 Comments Off on Next Level HiFi Store Tour | Inside a World-Class High-End Audio Showroom
HiBy R3Pro II $199 Review
August 8, 2025 Comments Off on HiBy R3Pro II $199 Review
Since Qobuz and Tidal are the only streaming apps available on the R3Pro II, neither is accessible in my country, as previously mentioned.
And since I don’t have any device that can transmit or receive AirPlay, DLNA, and HiByLink, I can only test the WiFi speed and signal strength through the use of the WiFi music transfer feature, which allows transferring music files from a PC or a Laptop to the R3Pro II wirelessly, no cables needed.
To allow wireless music transfer from the PC, the R3Pro II needs to be connected to the same WiFi network as the PC. I then need to go wireless and navigate to the ‘Import music’ page.
There, I’m shown an IP address that I need to type into my internet browser to go to the page where I can drop the music file.
It took about 30 seconds to transfer a 50.2MB worth of music album folder with 13 songs, which isn’t bad in my opinion.
Audiophilepure 
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