Ayon Spirit III Integrated Amplifier Review
February 1, 2019 Comments Off on Ayon Spirit III Integrated Amplifier Review
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The Spirit III makes music in a manner that makes it impossible to listen to passively. All Ayon products that I have heard so far sound dynamic and lively first and foremost and the Spirit fits right into this description. It sounds solid and full-bodied, but also rich in texture and emotionally involving yet without the round and creamy-rich presentation, that for some people is synonymous with typical tube sound. Indeed, amazingly, the Spirit III’s bass performance is on par with some of the best transistor amps that I have heard. Its performance is much like a live act: not obviously super-refined or very polished but highly energetic, dynamic and powerful, with articulate, fast and very solid bass to make for a delivery that is instantly infectious.”
EXOGAL COMET DAC AND ION STEREO POWER AMPLIFIER REVIEW
January 31, 2019 Comments Off on EXOGAL COMET DAC AND ION STEREO POWER AMPLIFIER REVIEW
“The Comet has the usual array of digital inputs plus a single pair of analogue inputs in a billet machined case with a headphone socket on one side and an almost unreadable LCD display. It does look cool though and if you get the angle right it’s possible to discern the reflective text and numbers from the matte silver background. The information is pretty basic with the chosen input at the top above the selected output, the latter offering main, Exonet, or headphones, a numerical volume indicator sits below both. A cheap remote control is supplied that can be used to change any of these but the simple app that Exogal has developed is a nicer way to do it. The latter baffled me initially because the Comet has no network connections or Wi-Fi antenna, it does however have a short Bluetooth antenna and that’s how it connects to your smartphone or tablet. Users of streaming sources will realise that this is all fine, but when you are choosing tracks with the streaming app you don’t want to have to switch to another app just to change volume. One answer is to use a second touchscreen device but the remote is probably easiest; that said, the app does make it clear when the output is muted as is the case at switch on, which can save some head scratching. Since its introduction the Comet has had one upgrade and that’s a new power supply; this is a £400 extra in a nice aluminium box (albeit with a power inlet that’s a little deep for chunky IEC plugs) and this was supplied for this review. The Ion also has an external power supply in a less sexy plastic case.”
MBL Noble Line N11 Preamplifier $14,600 and N15 Monoblock Amplifier$35,200
January 28, 2019 Comments Off on MBL Noble Line N11 Preamplifier $14,600 and N15 Monoblock Amplifier$35,200
“The Noble Line N11 and N15 certainly bring out the 101s’ virtues without being hamstrung by their peculiarities. You might think that a speaker with a sensitivity of 81dB (or less), like the 101 E Mk.II, would be a challenge for any amp short of a behemoth, but the N15 (like the even more powerful MBL Reference 9011) never seemed fazed by the Radialstrahlers’ hunger for watts, volts, and amps. While I wouldn’t say that the N15s had quite the overall resolution or sensational treble snap and extension of the 9011s, they effortlessly reproduced hard-hitting bar-band rock ’n’ roll like Lake Street Dive’s “Shame, Shame, Shame” from Free Yourself Up [Nonesuch] at lifelike levels (ca. 95–96dB average SPLs), and they did this without sacrificing one of the very things that makes Radialstrahlers such a pleasure to listen to—their ability to play at very very high volumes without turning the slightest bit rough, bright, or annoying. (According to MBL’s literature, the N15 has a “soft-clipping” feature that, I assume, makes it sound even less rough and bright at very high levels, though this feature may also be partly responsible for the amp’s slight reduction in treble-range brilliance).”
EXOGAL COMET DAC AND ION STEREO POWER AMPLIFIER REVIEW
January 27, 2019 Comments Off on EXOGAL COMET DAC AND ION STEREO POWER AMPLIFIER REVIEW
“The Comet has the usual array of digital inputs plus a single pair of analogue inputs in a billet machined case with a headphone socket on one side and an almost unreadable LCD display. It does look cool though and if you get the angle right it’s possible to discern the reflective text and numbers from the matte silver background. The information is pretty basic with the chosen input at the top above the selected output, the latter offering main, Exonet, or headphones, a numerical volume indicator sits below both. A cheap remote control is supplied that can be used to change any of these but the simple app that Exogal has developed is a nicer way to do it. The latter baffled me initially because the Comet has no network connections or Wi-Fi antenna, it does however have a short Bluetooth antenna and that’s how it connects to your smartphone or tablet. Users of streaming sources will realise that this is all fine, but when you are choosing tracks with the streaming app you don’t want to have to switch to another app just to change volume. One answer is to use a second touchscreen device but the remote is probably easiest; that said, the app does make it clear when the output is muted as is the case at switch on, which can save some head scratching. Since its introduction the Comet has had one upgrade and that’s a new power supply; this is a £400 extra in a nice aluminium box (albeit with a power inlet that’s a little deep for chunky IEC plugs) and this was supplied for this review. The Ion also has an external power supply in a less sexy plastic case.”
Destination Audio System Review
January 27, 2019 Comments Off on Destination Audio System Review
“Streaming the Xfinity X1 platform via the Krell Vanguard Universal’s first HDMI input, the latter’s HMDI output fed the Destination Audio 45 monoblocks directly via its variable output. Thus driven as a mere two-channel movie playback, my wife started to sit up. Paraphrasing Vivian, she said it was the first time she could truly appreciate the dialogs and the realism of all the busy happenstances on screen. Putting my profound, immediate dismay aside, it was a wake-up call on the inadequacy of the 5.1 home theater system. Now, she demanded my turning on the entire system whenever a movie was on. It was like watching it for the first time. She is a converted horn fan. What else could bring out the magic of the theater but a large horn system?
The Destination Audio Vista horns were the biggest horns I’ve experienced that were also efficient enough to run on less than two watts to drive the 105 dB sensitive horns to deafening levels. When playing records, I didn’t have to turn the volume on the 76 preamp past 11 o’clock; same as with the digital.”
CH Precision I1 Universal Integrated Amplifier $38,000 Review
January 26, 2019 Comments Off on CH Precision I1 Universal Integrated Amplifier $38,000 Review
“Even if the two phono- stages had sounded identical, there’d be strong advantages to using the I1’s phono card. I’ve already described the support for a variety of EQ curves, but since even the standard RIAA EQ takes place in the digital domain, it is far more accurate than the analog implementations of other phonostages. You’ll also spend far less for this $4500 board than for an external phonostage of equal caliber, and you’ll save the cost—both monetary and sonic—of yet another set of interconnects. Lastly, the I1 board has tons of gain. This is a phonostage that allows you to take full advantage of low-output MC cartridges, such as the Lyra Etna SL that Jacob Heilbrunn has raved about (see his review in Issue 266). The conclusion is that unless you’re willing to shell out for a truly extraordinary stand-alone phonostage, there are solid sonic and functional reasons to use the I1’s board.”
Bryston 28B³ Monoblock Power Amplifiers $11,995 (each) Review
January 20, 2019 Comments Off on Bryston 28B³ Monoblock Power Amplifiers $11,995 (each) Review
“The 28B³ is an excellent sounding amplifier. As the wattage specification may indicate, there was more than enough power to drive my inefficient MartinLogan Summit X electrostatic-hybrid Loudspeakers, which are also a very difficult load—their impedance drops to 0.5 ohms at 20 kHz. It is a pleasure to have large amounts of power which enables the amplifiers to grab firm control of the loudspeaker and present no signs of strain at louder volumes. There was always plenty of power on reserve.
The tonal balance of the 28B³ is very neutral. The low frequencies, the midrange and the high frequencies are evenly balanced in volume level. The bass is powerful, very deep, and very well articulated. The midrange is clear and very sweet at the same time. The high frequencies are also sweet and easy to listen to. You can listen to these amplifiers for long periods of time with absolutely no listening fatigue.”
NuPrime Evolution One Review
January 13, 2019 Comments Off on NuPrime Evolution One Review
“Interestingly, while these speakers do not require much current at all, the amp-speaker match was perhaps the best so far even if it now became more evident that these amps won’t make a recording sound interesting unless this is in the recording itself. Martin Logans are highly resolving speakers but they also have the nice ability to always retain a certain continuity and this matched very well with the Evolution Ones. Other class-D amps that we tried in this system over the past years did not measure up but these NuPrimes, the system sounded great.”
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