Audiophilepure

https://www.hifinews.com/content/ps-audio-aspen-fr5

Therefore, as also evidenced by its joyful, snappy handling of Artemesia’s ‘Bits And Pieces’ [Hooj Choons HOOJCD031], PS Audio’s loudspeaker is great for when you want your listening room to feel like a nightclub at 1am. But what of more audiophile concerns? Given Maria João Pires’ recitals of Chopin’s ‘Nocturnes’, a ‘4D audio’ recording at both Munich’s Musikhochschule and London’s Henry Wood Hall [Deutsche Grammophon 447 096-2], it convincingly evoked the sense of listening at a distance, as piano notes smoothly decayed into an echoey ambience.

On this solo piece the music ebbs and flows at Pires’ command, but on Wagner’s Das Rheingold [Decca Music Group; 192kHz/24-bit], it is Georg Solti (figuratively) pulling the strings of the whole Vienna Philharmonic. Listening to both pieces back-to-back proved the FR5’s chameleonic nature, as it widened its focus on Wagner’s prelude (‘Vorspiel’) to dig deep into the low basses, convey the moving air of the horns, and let the mass of strings build up, and up, to the memorable crescendo. This is a small speaker that makes a big impression.

https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/dali-epikore-3

They take a measured approach to music replay where control and composure take priority. Added to their excellent detail resolution and insight this means that they can track low-level instrumental strands in a dense composition with ease and continue to sound organised even when the music becomes demanding. There are no hard edges or signs of stress even when the speakers are pushed hard, and when cracks do start to appear it is at far higher levels than we would usually listen at.

https://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/equipment-reviews/1932-t-a-elektroakustik-criterion-s-230-loudspeaker

I spent many hours listening to the Criterion S 230 loudspeakers and was consistently impressed by the confidence, capability, and composure of their presentation. As confirmed by the foregoing comparison with the Dynaudio C2 Signatures, the Criterion S 230s performed well throughout the frequency range: bass was prodigious, when that was called for, and had great articulation and texture; midrange was smooth and natural, particularly in its lifelike presentation of the human voice; treble was silky smooth too, well polished but not dazzling. Given its good-natured sonic disposition, the Criterion S 230 proved an extremely easy speaker to listen to for long periods even at high volumes.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/audia-flight-fls10-integrated-amplifier

Beyond the somewhat brutish (dare I say un-Italian) exterior, the FLS10 is a thing of beauty. It animates even speakers with difficult loads. Above all, it doesn’t just play music—it unlocks it. From heavy metal and EDM to jazz and pop and classical fare, the amplifier’s speed tended to stay one step ahead of my high expectations, and the reproduction never felt frantic or mechanical.

With a slightly mellow midbass and a potent, agile bottom end, the Audia Flight isn’t warm in a bloated, nostalgic way, but its sensuous shimmer keeps pulling you in. More than once, I perceived phantom tubes in the system, although my ears also told me that second-order harmonic distortion is reassuringly low.

The FLS10 sounded even more commanding than it looked in my room and on paper (200Wpc into 8 ohms, almost double that into 4). Basswise, the amplifier doesn’t produce slam as brutally visceral as my beloved Krell reference does, but for the first time I’m considering that the Krell may be overly prodigious, and that the Audia Flight has it beat for musicality.

https://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0125/PureAudioProject_Duet_15_Loudspeaker_Review.htm#gsc.tab=0

My impression is that among audiophiles of this era, the preferred sound emphasizes extremely low noise floors, see-through transparency, and, to my ears, an artificially hyped-up detail that is reminiscent of super high-definition television. Some of these attributes, to some degree, contribute to creating a credible musical experience. But they are not ends in and of themselves, certainly not from a musical point of view. At the extreme, they are distracting artifacts that take us farther away from the music, relegating us to taking pleasure in being observers of the experience rather than active participants in it.

The same point can be made slightly differently. We can hear something that sounds absolutely beautiful, stunning even, and find it seductive, relaxing, even gorgeous, yet find that it conveys nothing to us. By that, I mean it fails to provide insight into the composer’s intention, or into the interaction among the performers – the key element of what constitutes making music together (as opposed to playing in the same setting individually. It can sound gorgeous yet fail to convey emotional meaning or narrative content. It’s beautiful, but empty, much like the Cosmopolitan magazine issues of the 80s and 90s.  We learn nothing from it.

The main problem with the focus on sound rather than music is that producing a desired sound is largely a technological achievement, whereas conveying the musical content in ways that express emotional or cognitive content or that allow us to see into the performance is an artistic achievement.

https://pt.audio/2024/12/27/genesis-g7-minuet-loudspeakers-review/#google_vignette

Gary elaborated further on this decision: “I’ve always had an issue with measurements because there are things I can measure that I don’t hear, and there are things I can hear that I don’t know (yet?) how to measure. The published sensitivity figure of 85dB 1 watt 1 meter is the traditional ‘anechoic’ measurement. When I mentioned 87dB to you, it’s with white noise using a high-power amplifier delivering constant voltage, which is more real-world to me. It is the same with frequency response. I publish a ‘musical range’ referencing music notes. An anechoic frequency response from these speakers is not representative as the double bass in a jazz quartet would be completely missing if you read the numbers instead of listening to music.”

The smooth, warm and gorgeous presentation of this pair put a huge smile on my face–I enjoy the Allnic so much but I don’t always have a pair of efficient speakers to use with them. After a few weeks, I felt that the pairing could struggle a bit to energize the room with enough bass, so I swapped the Fern and Roby in. The Amp No. 2’s 25 watts per channel sounded more in control of the Minuets’ low frequency performance. This, of course, was a supremely enjoyable pairing for a reasonable amount of money–just $18k and change for amplification and speakers, and you even get an excellent inboard phono stage thrown in.

https://www.soundandvision.com/content/kef-unveils-new-q-series-mat-high-fidelity-every-home

Early access to KEF’s Q Concerto Meta begins today for myKEF members. The full Q Series lineup hits shelves October 10, featuring models Q11, Q7, Q3, Q1, Q6, and Q8 Meta. The Q4 Meta, along with optional SQ1 Floor Stand and PQ1 Plinth Spike Kit accessories, will appear this winter. Prices range from $500 to $2,200 depending on the model.