Audiophilepure

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“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.”

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“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.”

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“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.”

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

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“Through that last day in my listening room, the sound of Cary Audio’s CAD-805RS monoblocks was thoroughly engaging: I enjoyed every record I played through them, and though their deep-bass response was too generous, it was never unmusical—and was often decidedly fun.

No less important, evaluated solely on the basis of the quality of parts and the apparent amount of labor that have gone into it, the US-made CAD-805RS offers good value. I have a rough idea of what it costs to make just the transformers in this amp; although $15,995/pair isn’t chicken chow, I find it difficult to imagine how two of these can be sold at retail for that price.

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“The F-03A’s moving-coil setting provided plenty of gain for the Sumiko Blue Point No.2 cartridge’s high 2.5mV. The phonostage was dead quiet even on the higher-gain moving-coil setting, delivering black backgrounds and good resolution of very low-level detail. I didn’t hear quite the midrange liquidity and treble smoothness through the phonostage that I do when using the Berkeley Alpha Reference DAC MQA. I attribute that difference to the Sumiko Blue Point No.2 cartridge, not to the Esoteric. Although the Blue Point No.2 is a good cartridge for the price, I suspect that the F-03A will be partnered with higher-quality cartridges. Nonetheless, LP playback had that wonderful feeling of openness and life, with bloom and air around instrumental outlines.

If the F-03A’s output power and bottom-end dynamics aren’t quite enough for you, consider doing what I did: add a JL Audio Fathom f113v2 (or f112v2) subwoofer. Although I evaluated the F-03A without the JL sub for this review, adding the f113v2 for my listening pleasure vaulted the overall system performance into another tier. Forget about any limitations in dynamics, or loudness, or bass impact; the Fathom f113 frees up the Esoteric to do what it does best—deliver delicious Class A sound—while handling the bottom-end duties and bringing 3000W to the party. This combination was the most successful mating of a subwoofer with an amplifier and speakers that I’ve experienced.”