Audiophilepure

REVIEW: Naim ND555DAC and PS555 Power Supply

Yes, build quality at this level is superb, and of course, thousands of hours of research, testing, and prototyping went in the front door. But in the end, when you compare the finest DACs at this price point as a whole, they still outperform the DACs a click or two down. Finally, when you graduate to a player at this level, there is no more regret. You won’t find yourself sitting in the listening chair pondering, “if it only did a little more of this, or a little less of that.” Build quality, execution, ergonomics, and most of all, sound quality are all top. Another thought to ponder:  because Naim can build a product at this level makes their entry-level digital products equally compelling. There’s a deep pool of knowledge to swim in, so even if you can’t play at the top of the mountain, it’s still a good day wherever you can be. Naim makes a fantastic $3k player because they have the engineering chops to make a $40k player.

Naim digital players are at the top of the mountain when capturing music’s pace and timing. There is a correctness here that is achieved by precious few digital players, and when listening to acoustic instruments, everything in the mix feels as if it’s the proper size and has correct spatial relationships. Some players can feel overblown, yet with the ND555, you can hear the difference between an upright Steinway and a Grand. This level of musicality will have you looking at your turntable, wondering if you really need to fuss with vinyl anymore. It’s that good.

Have I found ANY type of music that the Marantz doesn’t excel at? Not yet. But I’m still listening… What makes the Marantz so strait-laced in its proclivities? The bass is tight and very tuneful. The pitch of string bass and cello notes is easily followed whether the instruments are bowed or plucked. The bass extension (subwoofer driven off the Marantz’s preamplifier output jacks in my system) is prodigious. For example, try “Flight of the Cosmic Hippo” by Bela Fleck or “How Great Thou Art” by Valor. The Marantz brings it on in the bass.

The Marantz’s midrange is very dynamic without ever becoming brash (this is a very tight rope to walk). I like to test amps with complicated music like the Seekers’ and the Pentangle’s live performances. If the voices and instruments remain discreet instead of blending into mush, the amplifier is doing its job. The Marantz does. Another test for midrange is Goran Brevogić’s “Maki Maki.” The voice is somewhat recessed at times in relation to the instruments and other general musical mayhem in the background. If the lower-volume comments and asides are clearly audible in this piece, then the amplifier has got exceptional midrange definition. The Marantz does.

https://www.hifinews.com/content/rotel-michi-x5-integrated-amplifier

As on the X3 the two sets of speaker terminals are paralleled and designed to bi-wire a single pair of suitable speakers. A pair of pre-outs are provided should you wish to add an external amplifier for bi-amping your speakers, and there are two mono subwoofer outputs, plus a headphone socket on the front panel.

Also retained from the X3 is that simple fascia, with little more than source and volume controls, and a big, ultra-clear display complete with fripperies – all defeatable – such as VU meters and spectrum analyser readouts. Should you want to go for the full moody black look, the display can be dimmed or turned off from the excellent remote common to all Michi integrateds and the P5 preamp [HFN May ’20]. It’s a solid little device, and a masterpiece of clarity – you can even temporarily adjust tone and balance without leaving your listening seat.

https://www.whathifi.com/us/reviews/yamaha-rx-a2a

Watching the race from Ready Player One the movement of the motorbike zipping across the sound field feels both wide and precise as it weaves in and out of traffic. The long skids and screeches of these virtual vehicles are pleasingly broad and fizzy, while smaller features of the game such as the controller beeps and coin glissandos are neatly detailed. During big crashes, low frequency information occasionally sounds a bit blunt but there’s still plenty of drama and punch in the explosive action.

The M33’s Dirac Live is a sort of “Lite” version that measures and corrects only up to 500 Hz, which nonetheless covers most of the heavy lifting that any such system can offer. (Above the “transition frequency” where room modes cease to exert much influence— typically a few hundred Hz—equalization becomes much more of a crap- shoot that’s highly dependent on speaker radiation patterns, placement, and room surfaces and furnishings.) M33 owners can upgrade to full-bandwidth Dirac Live Full Frequency for an up-charge of $99 via a card supplied with the unit.

I ran the M33’s Dirac using the supplied “puck” micro- phone, conveniently via my iPad Mini 5 and Dirac’s relatively new iOS app, with no difficulty. It’s an elegant system, but since Dirac has been amply covered in these pages by myself and others I will not rehearse the process here fully, other than to point out that the M33’s iteration permits storage and recall of up to five different correction “runs,” for different speakers, placements, or seating positions. My measurement run for a single-listener setup required nine mic positions in concentric rings around the primary seating area, with the whole process taking 15 minutes. Unlike most receiver-bound correction systems, Dirac Live permits the user to adjust the target curve, shaping response to the listener’s room, speakers, or preference, though—unless one upgrades to Full Frequency—only over the bottom four-plus octaves

https://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/2-uncategorised/1559-bryston-b135-cubed-integrated-amplifier

As quiet as the B135 SST² is—it’s still one of the quietest integrateds I’ve heard—the B135³ seemed quieter still. The difference was subtle, but with “Get Behind the Mule,” from Waits’s Mule Variations, it was as though the head of the drum was stretched more tightly across the frame, sounding a bit more taut. The sound of a foot tapping out the beat was also more readily resolved through the B135³. Similarly, with Tori Amos’s “Caught a Lite Sneeze,” I thought the stage was even better resolved through the newer Bryston, with even greater fluidity in the rhythm of the music.

These aren’t the kinds of differences that will make B135 SST² owners run out and sell their amps—the gap in performance was no gulf. However, if I had the choice of buying one or the other and sound was the only factor, I’d opt for the B135³. As I switched back and forth between them, it was sometimes hard to pinpoint exactly what difference I was hearing—yet I consistently heard an overall smoothness to the sound of the B135³ that was incredibly easy on my ears. When I reviewed my listening notes, I found the nouns ease and easiness sprinkled throughout. Evidently, that was the consistent impression I was left with.