Elac Element EA101EQ-G Integrated Amplifier/DAC Review
March 4, 2017 Comments Off on Elac Element EA101EQ-G Integrated Amplifier/DAC Review
” In direct contradiction to my above statement, I began to wonder if the amp had a certain affinity for soundstaging. Tracks with generous hall sound (or high-grade studio reverb), and tracks with unusually wide stereo imaging, seemed just a shade more alive, distinctly wider, and even a bit “taller” than I remembered. A track I’ve heard countless times, Diana Krall’s version of “Frim Fram Sauce,” ballooned its gorgeously recorded vocal’s natural reverb above, behind, and around the piano in convincing fashion, but it kept unblurred the punchy pianoness of the occasional sharp accents from Krall’s fingers. With my worldview shaken, I tried to compare, but the process of switching source inputs and speaker outputs is laborious enough to make such comparisons inconclusive at best. Suffice it to say that the Elac not once suffered from the contrast.”
McIntosh C2600 Vacuum Tube Stereo Preamplifier With DAC, Phono Stage And Headphone Amplifier $7000 – REVIEW
February 27, 2017 Comments Off on McIntosh C2600 Vacuum Tube Stereo Preamplifier With DAC, Phono Stage And Headphone Amplifier $7000 – REVIEW
” I could only imagine the performance of McIntosh’s MP1100 phono preamplifier! The internal phono stage of the C2600 matches its linestage perfectly – it has a beautiful sounding midrange that brings out the best in vocals and string sounds, and although the very lowest bass and highest treble frequencies seemed a bit attenuated, with good system matching this might not come into play that much. The internal DAC of the C2600 is that it is as transparent as one could ask for.”
Audio Research G Series GS150 Stereo Amplifier $20,000 Review
February 26, 2017 Comments Off on Audio Research G Series GS150 Stereo Amplifier $20,000 Review
“Individual aural images on those stages weren’t any tighter or better focused than through the other amps, but the GS150’s superior reproduction of spaciousness made its sound slightly grander than either the 870A’s or BC204’s, which in direct comparison sounded a little closed-in. The VM60s could almost match the GS150’s spaciousness, but not quite.”
Focus Audio Liszt Concerto Mono Integrated Amplifiers $25,000 Review
February 21, 2017 Comments Off on Focus Audio Liszt Concerto Mono Integrated Amplifiers $25,000 Review
“I just did something I don’t often do — pulled out a Pink Floyd album. For the most part I left this group behind when I lost my last bong. But my half-speed mastered LP of Wish You Were Here (LP, Columbia APH (C) 5000) called to me across the centuries from another life. I’ve never liked most of the tracks on this album — they’re just too obvious, too AOR. But “Shine On You Crazy Diamond Parts VI-IX” is a compositional wonder. And what a delight this album was through the Liszt Concertos. Spacious and profound, this eulogy for Floyd founder Syd Barrett still makes me shiver. ”
NAGRA Classic and HD Line and Wilson Audio Alexx with Kronos, Transparent, HRS,
February 20, 2017 Comments Off on NAGRA Classic and HD Line and Wilson Audio Alexx with Kronos, Transparent, HRS,
Focus Audio Liszt Concerto Mono Integrated Amplifiers $25,000 Review
February 20, 2017 Comments Off on Focus Audio Liszt Concerto Mono Integrated Amplifiers $25,000 Review
” In Concerto No.2, I could clearly hear the trumpet dancing with the harpsichord, despite the latter being way down in the mix. As it hung in space, each instrument had a world-class three-dimensionality that I laid at the feet of the inner light portrayed by the Liszt Concertos. As with the Liszt Sonata, I think this was a very slight added richness, but it served — served, I say — the cause of musical realism, helping instruments pop from the fabric of the recording. I strongly feel that this helped to reproduce much of the human magic that’s lost when live music is compressed through the tiny point in space that is a microphone.”
BEL CANTO REF600M POWER AMPLIFIER $5,000 REVIEW
February 19, 2017 Comments Off on BEL CANTO REF600M POWER AMPLIFIER $5,000 REVIEW
“In the past I’ve reviewed lots of power amplifiers. Once I even had a dream that I was twenty feet tall with a Krell 160 monoblock under each arm striding across the urban landscape yelling, “I am Amp Man!” (imagine Godzilla, only prettier). Luckily I had that dream only once. But with the advent of compact and lightweight switching amplifiers such as the REF600M no audiophile need experience the “pleasures” of lugging around a 60-plus-pound amplifier because it was the only device that could deliver the power and finesse needed to drive a top-echelon system.”
Kharma Enigma Veyron EV2 , Lamm Industries, CES 2017 – Video
February 14, 2017 Comments Off on Kharma Enigma Veyron EV2 , Lamm Industries, CES 2017 – Video
Peachtree nova300 $2299 Review
February 11, 2017 Comments Off on Peachtree nova300 $2299 Review
“Music taste will determine preference here but how many US$2299 integrateds do you know of that can hold their own against the thrice more costly Devialet? I find the nova300’s greater headroom and more overt macro-dynamic shifts better suited to the KEF standmounts than the Devialet, especially with indie rock and electronica/techno. Want a little more warmth? Add a tube buffer to the nova300’s input/output loop (untested here).
ROTEL RA-1592 INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER $2,500 REVIEW
February 11, 2017 Comments Off on ROTEL RA-1592 INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER $2,500 REVIEW
“The RA-1592’s sense of reserve power and dynamic headroom was suggestive of the hulking RB-1090 in its bass extension, slam, and pitch definition. During Jen Chapin’s cover of “Master Blaster,” the acoustic bass reproduction attached itself to the acoustics of my listening room and delivered the resonance, snapping string attack, and bloom that I’ve come to expect from this superb Chesky SACD track. Compared with the relentless power and control of the 1090, the RA-1592 comes up a little short in extreme grip and backbone at high outputs (”
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