VTL S-200 Signature Stereo Amplifier $12,500 Review
February 28, 2019 Comments Off on VTL S-200 Signature Stereo Amplifier $12,500 Review
“For example, on Gerhard’s exceptional-sounding Astrological Series: Libra, Gemini, Leo [Decca], the S-200 in triode operation caused the lightning-strike percussive acoustic guitar strums and violin trills to initially sound more expressive, but the remarkable staging effects of this recording weren’t anywhere near as precisely defined as they should have been, and the speed, dynamic snap, and high frequencies were noticeably shorn off, resulting in a relatively dull rendition of this otherwise edge-of-your-seat performance.
In tetrode mode, not only was the music a thrill from the get-go—that magical sense of instruments being played in real space (the absolute sound, after all)—surrounded by halos of air, with split-second interplay between the musicians, but the performance was now rendered as musically riveting throughout.”
Schiit Vidar Review
February 26, 2019 Comments Off on Schiit Vidar Review
“Bass tests proved perhaps the most impressive of the spectrum, where control was exceptional, even at high volumes and heavy load. Listening to Marcus Miller’s Miller Time from Live In America reaction times and shove were outstanding. Firm control of the situation was everywhere, with no excess flab to be found. But mids and highs were not to be outdone. The experience of listening to the system is close if not on par with many of the other front ends I’ve heard the TAD MEs partnered against at audio shows. That’s something considering the least expensive comparison totaled $6k, with higher end offerings topping much more than even that. That smooth purity of energy and tone from the very high end is hinted at here and there along the way.”
Bandwidth Audio 288 Monaural Power Amplifier Review
February 26, 2019 Comments Off on Bandwidth Audio 288 Monaural Power Amplifier Review
“$10,000 for a pair of anything, let alone a pair of tube-based amplifiers possessing a mere 60 Watts of output, is a purchase not to be taken lightly. But I would argue that anyone with ten grand to spend on audio equipment is accustomed to a certain level of risk and is in search of a certain something, something that not everyone is going to have–nor even be privy to. If this is you, then I would urge you to take a good long look at Bandwidth Audio’s 288 monaural amplifier. Seek them out, audition them for yourself, for they are one of those products that possess that something special. The 288 is rarified air in that it has all of the traits a good, reference, cost-no-object amplifier must have, with virtually no discernable downside, sonically speaking, apart from either not having enough power for all speakers, or simply being too large or too expensive for some.”
VITUS RI-101 INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER REVIEW
February 25, 2019 Comments Off on VITUS RI-101 INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER REVIEW
“Many factors make just about any significant purchase a tricky decision and a serious audio amplifier is no different. Price is a prominant place to start. The reputation of the manufacturer is indeed another. The appearance and general presence of the product, its future compatibility with the rest of the system, perhaps the potential for an upgrade and the reality of how it compares with rivals. All these things are likely to play a part. But, maybe the most important thing for me is just whether I enjoy listening to it. A strange comment perhaps. I can’t remember the last time I heard an amplifier that was “bad”. By that, I mean an amplifier that left me emotionally cold and disinterested. Desirability though is a different matter and carries a lot of intangibles that are personal to each of us. This new integrated Vitus knocks it out of the park on so many levels, and the ability to supplement its capabilities with a genuinely excellent onboard retro-fittable DAC or streamer shouldn’t be underestimated, especially taking into consideration the extra costs concerning space and cabling that a separate DAC will incur. It also has that sense of drive-anything power and stability and a seriously engaging sense of very fine detail with something of an iron fist behind it. Musically it has all the Vitus hallmarks of really elastic rhythmic focus and precision coupled with excellent tonality and balance. I can see it being an excellent investment for the serious music lover for years and years. When an amplifier is this good, it has to get a recommendation from me. ”
Dynaco ST-70 Series 3 Tube Power Amplifier $3000 Review
February 25, 2019 Comments Off on Dynaco ST-70 Series 3 Tube Power Amplifier $3000 Review
” Its ability to resolve individual threads within a complex musical passage was highly evolved over that of most vintage tube designs. And it was able to latch onto transient decay down to what is an impressively low noise floor for a tube amplifier. Its spatial presentation and microdynamic conviction equaled or exceeded that of any comparably powered push-pull tube amp I’ve auditioned over the years, even when driving a 96dB-sensitive loudspeaker. That’s quite a testimonial for the purity of its first watt. In fact, I had just spent some quality time with a new 300B amp acquisition, and it hit me that the Dynaco approached the sound of a fine single-ended triode amp, actually sounding better at the frequency extremes, and nearly as refined in the midrange. I can say with confidence that the bass demons that afflicted the original ST-70 have been exorcised. Upright jazz bass was nicely defined with good pitch definition. However, deep bass performance was typical for a low-power tube amp, lacking current delivery into low-impedance loads.”
Dan D’Agostino Momentum Integrated Amplifier w/DAC & Audio Streaming World Premiere $50,000 Review
February 18, 2019 Comments Off on Dan D’Agostino Momentum Integrated Amplifier w/DAC & Audio Streaming World Premiere $50,000 Review
“My concentration changes focus throughout the piece, in sort of a meditative way as it ebbs and flows throughout the piece. I found this happening when listening to the MLife play my favorite power orchestral pieces. Regardless of how boisterous the music might become, my focus changes throughout the piece, focusing on different instruments, different sections of the orchestra, and to its soloists. As it does in real life. The dynamic distance the MLife can create with this large group of instrument is second to none in my experience, regardless of whether I’m listening to the internal DAC fed by the Ethernet connection or a source connected through an interconnect, digital or analog. The internal DAC of the MLife was the best at conveying the characteristics inherent to the MLife itself. And sounded the best out of all the sources. Yes, there will always be something special about playing LPs, and the MLife did not diminish this pleasure. But to have digital playback sound as good as the MLife could was new to me. And quite a pleasure.
One of the pleasures of a high-end system is being to step back in time, and thus come as close as humanly possible to what bewildered audiences heard in the very early 19th Century when Beethoven’s 3rd Symphony, or Eroica, was premiered. We’re hearing modern instruments, of course, but that’s not my point. At the time of its premier it was thought as too “structurally rigorous”, and at nearly 45 minutes, much too long. It was quite a ground-breaking piece of music. Now it is regarded as one of his most celebrated works, and for good reason. It probably surprises no one that my favorite movement is the Adagio, the second movement, which Beethoven titled “Marcia funebre”, or “Funeral March”. The DSD file of the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, conducted by: Kurt Masur Symphony is not only well read, it is a great recording. Via the MLife’s internal DAC it is amazing to hear how it enables the sections of the orchestra to occupy distinct areas within the huge soundstage, projecting itself between, behind and to the sides of the speakers, making the speakers very difficult to locate when closing my eyes.”
CH Precision I1 Universal integrated amplifier $38,000 Review
February 18, 2019 Comments Off on CH Precision I1 Universal integrated amplifier $38,000 Review
“I also felt that the I1 conveyed music’s full emotional impact. When I wrote in my notes that Shostakovich’s Quartet 15 “ends with a tragic epilogue in which each disruptive pluck and skirmish conveys unadulterated fright . . . [in] music that chills with its emotional honesty and despair,” I did so in full confidence that I was hearing all the music had to offer.
Nonetheless, it was my trusted reference tracks—whose every note, dynamic shift, and emotional nuance is now inscribed in my DNA—that truly told the tale. While that long tale began to unfold, I soon confirmed that adding an outboard clock—in my case, the dCS Scarlatti—invested the sound with considerably more depth and life. Music became more involving because images were more realistically defined and three-dimensional, and set farther back on a more resonant and convincing soundstage. With additional air around individual instruments as well, the sound seemed to expand more organically in acoustic space. Bass was also more profound.
Air Tight ATM-300R power amplifier $16,995 Review
February 17, 2019 Comments Off on Air Tight ATM-300R power amplifier $16,995 Review
“After spending so much time listening to George Bernard Shaw’s two favorite composers, I found myself in the mood to hear something from Brahms, whom the playwright and occasional music critic—the latter under the name Corno di Basseto—held in contempt. The Air Tight did a lovely job with Rafael Kubelik and the Vienna Philharmonic’s recording of Brahms’s Symphony 1 (LP, London CS 6016). String and woodwind tones throughout were lusciously textured and colorful, but not pushed to unrealistic extremes in those regards: tones were beautiful and faithful. The kettledrum in the introductory measures had realistic force, and a convincing increase in intensity leading to that portion’s climax. In the scherzo-like third movement, both the clarinet’s tone and the believability of the air surrounding it in the recording space were remarkable—and the ATM-300R conveyed the rhythmic change as the bubbly first part led into the more accented rhythms of the Trio section. The sound was consistently involving, and held my attention right through the smooth transition into the final movement, with the swooping strings allowed a believable sense of scale: Here, as in Das Rheingold, the Air Tight was capable of letting the music sound big.”
R
Gold Note PA-1175 MkII solid-state stereo amplifier $6,295 Review
February 16, 2019 Comments Off on Gold Note PA-1175 MkII solid-state stereo amplifier $6,295 Review
“One last design characteristic must be addressed, and it is important enough to mention, though not technically a design flaw. The effort to make the amp balanced through and through – remember, even to the operations of the back panel – causes a logistical connection problem for speaker cables when the amp is in BTL mode. The red/positive posts only are used to connect the + and – leads of the speaker cables when the amp operates in BTL (Mono). There is a serious shortcoming, and the word “shortcoming” is a propos to describe the frustration of discovering that not a single speaker wire I have on hand had long enough leads to reach breach the approximately 14” gap between the two red posts!
I love stereo amps that go mono, but this issue drove me crazy! For some time I could not use the amps in BTL mode because the leads of the speaker cables would not stretch a necessary 15-16”. I had, just days before, returned the last of the TEO Audio Liquid speaker cables on loan following review – it figures, as they were the ones with individual positive and negative runs for each channel.”
Gold Note IS-1000 Integrated Amplifier $5,000 Review
February 14, 2019 Comments Off on Gold Note IS-1000 Integrated Amplifier $5,000 Review
“Love it or hate it, the IS-1000 is equipped for decoding MQA files, and being on the “I like MQA” side of the fence, I’m glad that Gold Note left nothing out, especially considering the ROON endpoint capability makes it so easy to stream TIDAL files encoded in this format. Everything I tried, from the oldest classic rock tracks, to recently released faire proved sonically delicious.
Like the rest of the IS-1000, the digital and streaming options all worked without incident, and did not require consulting the owner’s manual. All wireless devices synced up without problem, and ROON quickly found the IS-1000 as an additional zone. Thanks to a recent firmware update, controlling volume in the digital domain is excellent, making it easy to control the volume of your streaming based system with no more than your laptop, phone or pad.”
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