First Impressions of the $250,000 Sonus Faber SE-17 Speakers
September 19, 2021 Comments Off on First Impressions of the $250,000 Sonus Faber SE-17 Speakers
Clearaudio Concept Dark Wood Active Turntable Review
September 18, 2021 Comments Off on Clearaudio Concept Dark Wood Active Turntable Review
And don’t be misled by Concept Active’s compact visage. There’s a misconception in audio circles that normal-scale components somehow “play small” in comparison to their big, brawny, and yes, sometime pretentious siblings. The Concept Active laid that assumption to rest from the very first slamming groove of “Come Together” to the final operatic fade out of “Her Majesty.”
From groove-one onward, I understood immediately why the Clearaudio distributor Musical Surroundings shipped the Concept Active with the low-output moving-coil option rather than the higher-output moving magnet. If the idea was to demonstrate how quiet and grunge-free a small discrete phono preamp could be (and how it might compare to a full-size stand-alone phonostage like my Pass Labs XP-17 or Parasound JC3+), then point taken. A dynamic, all-analog piano recording like Nojima Plays Liszt [Reference Recordings] exposes system nuances and system noises like few recordings I know. But this on-board phono rose to the occasion, expressing low-level detail and dynamic energy that knocked on the door of what the aforementioned “stand-alones” had to offer. Its character skewed slightly to a softer and rounder presentation, but overall it was superbly listenable and musically satisfying.
Circle Labs A200 Integrated Amplifier Review
September 18, 2021 Comments Off on Circle Labs A200 Integrated Amplifier Review
Rosewood is eclectic, too. Varying solo instruments including piano, melodica, Spanish guitar, and even accordion lace themselves well through what appears to be a soundtrack full of purpose. Unfortunately, I have not seen the movie. Regardless of how large the orchestra, or well-recorded, breathy strings would get, the A200 was able to hold the integrity of the delicate details in the music.
With my largest and most dynamic loudspeakers, “The Town Burns” was able to push the A200 to its limit where I felt the dynamics were not quite as extreme as they needed to be. It took ungodly volume levels to get there (peaks over 105dB at three meters) in an over-driven room, so I cannot feel bad about this miss. At all reasonable and high volumes, save the most extreme, the A200 truly shows what it means to be an extremely well-engineered piece.
Wilson Audio SabrinaX Loudspeaker $18,900 Review
September 17, 2021 Comments Off on Wilson Audio SabrinaX Loudspeaker $18,900 Review
The new sound of Wilson is warm, but not in a bad way. Think warm as a result of energy—like molecules being excited, not like sitting by a fireplace drinking scotch on the rocks with a blanket over your legs. The SabrinaX’s ability to convey weight and impact, with surprising power and depth, is wonderful for its size. But I will warn that ¼” movements in placement have dramatic effects on these qualities, and on timbre, as well, harkening back to my set-up warnings above. These things demand meticulous placement, but, boy, do they deliver when everything’s done right. I found that the SabrinaX played all genres of music well, without softening, cleaning, or warming anything up. It was quiet and nuanced, but bold and powerful when called upon. At the same time, it also allowed me to resolve the smallest details and easily identify upstream changes. I was constantly searching for new music, different music than my routine listening lists. And listened to it not just for a song or two, but for entire albums. I have to specifically highlight vocal transitions as exceptional, and the driver integration left this 3-way sounding like a 2-way bookshelf speaker. Cohesive and seamless. And with proper power, it can play loud without losing its composure
Fono Acustica Armónico Speaker Cables Review
September 17, 2021 Comments Off on Fono Acustica Armónico Speaker Cables Review
I looked around, searching for a better understanding. My gaze takes in my beloved YG Acoustics Anat Signature loudspeakers. Dynamic driver speakers do so many things excellently, but they are not noted for having a full-bodied midrange and the sweetest treble. Then I shift to the array of CH Precision components. I’m sure they all measure beautifully on the test bench in Switzerland, but flat response in the lab is no guarantee of what will happen in my room. Either of these may be complicit, but it’s unlikely.
I settle on the room itself. This is the big one. Sound behavior in a real room always presents issues. Now, I’m going to surprise you by suggesting that the second biggest challenge for the audiophile is RF pollution. Oh, man, it’s all over—the modern domicile is a swamp. No one grasps the full extent, but, from what I’ve read, it’s easy to imagine RFI could be responsible for an artifact-laden treble and a blurry, or thin, midrange. (It’s a working hypothesis, at any rate.)
Cary Audio DMS 700 Streamer and DAC
September 17, 2021 Comments Off on Cary Audio DMS 700 Streamer and DAC
TechDAS Air Force Zero turntable $450,000 Review
September 16, 2021 Comments Off on TechDAS Air Force Zero turntable $450,000 Review
https://www.stereophile.com/content/techdas-air-force-zero-turntable
It may seem contradictory to note that a turntable with a base price of $450,000 has a recognizable sound, but if you get to hear the Air Force Zero under conditions commensurate with its performance capabilities, you’ll quickly understand that it’s not contradictory at all. The turntable is recognizable because no other turntable, or none that I’ve yet reviewed, so effectively sinks unwanted and extraneous noise while passing the musical goods with effortless ease, often in the most subtle and nuanced ways. The AF Zero is not a flashy-sounding “show off” turntable.
The Zero is the most speed-consistent belt-drive turntable I’ve reviewed, and with its air-bearing platters and air suspension, also the quietest, best isolated, and most inert, with stable sonics, quiet, and exceptional detail resolution with no added grain or unnatural, mechanical edge definition. The Zero was also trouble- and hassle-free for six months and as much fun to use as it was to hear.
MEZE AUDIO ELITE REVIEW
September 16, 2021 Comments Off on MEZE AUDIO ELITE REVIEW
The last few days more and more rumors have been popping up about the ELITE and many of you were thinking the ELITE was a closed back headphone. But that’s not he case at all. The ELITE is a brand new open back headphone, and it was a very well-kept secret.
We’ve had the pleasure to play with the new Meze Audio ELITE for several weeks now and I have to say it’s been nothing but exciting. The ELITE still carries the “Empyrean” name and it basically is a different, higher end version of the award winning “normal” Empyrean. To fully understand this review, it’s rather important that you know all about the original Empyrean and we suggest to read up on that one first
Audiophilepure 
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