Audiophilepure

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“I loved the Focal Spectral 40th. It exhibited the finest midrange I’ve heard in my room, and a near-perfect top end. Men’s and women’s voices were reproduced with a spooky vibrancy and presence and, more important, with no hint of glare or edge. I found its seemingly impossible marriage of a very upfront, detailed, and forward-sounding midrange to a buttery-smooth ease of sound absolutely intoxicating to listen to. The top end had superb “out-of-cabinet” extension, and delicate decay. On a few tracks that leaned toward sibilance, I did wish for 1-2dB less energy in the highest octaves, but this also reflects my personal preference for a downward-sloping response between 2 and 16kHz, a range in which the Focals measured essentially flat. But in this regard, my reference Bowers & Wilkins 705 S2 speakers, playing unequalized, are far worse. The Focals’ bass was tight, fast, ample, and completely satisfying, without ever booming in my relatively small room”

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“We could go on and on, with this track and that, but the bottom line with the Figaros is the level of music they reveal. While $7,500/pair can bring you a considerable glimpse into the upper strata of high-end speakers, Audio Solutions delivers a masterpiece. In the context of a $10k – $100k system, they’d probably be the last thing I’d upgrade if I did at all. The only key is that if you like this “sound” as much as I do. If you’re more of a mega detail person, these may not be the droids you want. I can’t think of a speaker in the last decade that’s delivered more sonic enjoyment than the Figaro Ms do for $7,500 a pair. Hence, I am happy to give them one of our Exceptional value awards for 2019. This is a lovely pair of speakers without fault, that could easily be the last pair of speakers you buy.”

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“In addition to the Revel models mentioned here, Philip Beaudette has reviewed many other speakers in the more than 15 years he’s been writing for us, so what he said in the “Conclusion” of his review speaks volumes: “The Revel PerformaBe M126Be is the finest speaker I’ve heard in my listening room,” and “a benchmark speaker against which others should be evaluated.” He leaves no doubt that Revel’s PerformaBe M126Be deserves a place on our list of Recommended Reference Components — and serves notice that its price of $4000/pair isn’t too much to ask.”

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“I alluded earlier to the NS-5000’s astounding level of neutrality and transparency. A level so high as to reveal the slight tonal warmth my equipment was adding to the music. No matter what album or genre of music, this tonal warmth remained.

My best guess is that as well as behaving like a musical instrument, the NS-5000 is also an ideal reviewing tool. One whose self-effacing, neutral and transparent sound will never leave you wondering about the real sound of the components played via these speakers.”

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Towards the end of the review period, I received some Schnerzinger interconnects and speaker cables. These, too, yielded an increase in clarity, transparency, and fine detail retrieval, but also improved dynamic range and soundstage width and depth. Schnerzinger uses a proprietary cable technology it calls Atomic Bonding to minimize audio signal transmission losses and sound-damaging dropouts, while increasing audio signal density. As I understand it, the cable conductors are specially formatted for several months to create an extremely stable structure for true and accurate signal transmission. In short, more of the subtle audio information gets through. ”

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“The joy of the KEF LSX is that it’s an Everyman loudspeaker, and it isn’t just designed to be some kind of audiophile-creation machine. People who listen to music through these loudspeakers like what they hear enough to both buy a pair and gain appreciation for those of us who go deeper into sound quality. If I was dumped on a desert island with only a pair of KEF LSX to keep me company, I’d be fine with that… that’s how good they are.”

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“What these speakers do so well is deliver massive weight, while being both nimble on their feet and creating a wide-open soundstage populated with tactile images. All this was clear with the DSD64 release of Yes’s ‘Roundabout’ [Fragile; Atlantic WPCR-15904], where the clean, crystalline acoustic guitar of the opening gives way to the thundering bass of Chris Squire, Bill Bruford’s powerhouse drumming and of course Rick Wakeman’s tireless noodling and crashing Hammond organ. On too many loudspeakers this track can quickly thicken up and become a mess – not so here!”