Audiophilepure

https://www.stereophile.com/content/nad-m66-streaming-preamplifier

It is hard to think that any user would exhaust the M66’s options. As an analog preamp, as a digital “preamp,” as a DAC, as a room-correction tool, as a Roon endpoint or BluOS-based streamer, its functional and sonic performance is outstanding, and it seems optimal with all sources (though I didn’t try the phono inputs). The learning curve was relatively short, and as I learned to use it, I found it easy to use despite its extraordinary range of functions. The NAD M66 is a tour de force!

https://www.soundstageultra.com/index.php/equipment-menu/1248-simaudio-moon-891-streaming-preamplifier

This review reminded me of the importance of perspective. The Moon 891 proved to be a captivating performer across all inputs. It is built like a tank, is almost ergonomically perfect, offers a plethora of digital and analog inputs, and comes equipped with a proprietary streaming platform and an onboard phono stage that can hold its own against dedicated options costing south of $5000. It took comparing the Moon 891 to a set of standalone components that together cost significantly more to hint at any shortcomings—and therein lies the importance of perspective. The Moon 891 was designed to replace such products while costing thousands less, saving space, and reducing cable count and component clutter. When measured using those metrics, Simaudio’s Moon 891 streaming preamplifier is a triumph. Highly recommended.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/ch-precision-l1-line-preamplifier

I would happily live forever with the CH Precision L1, especially paired with the X1. Considering the prices and CH Precision’s perfectionist approach, this is not surprising. What is surprising is how much extra performance apparently remains unrealized, even in a very well-designed product, as demonstrated by the improvement when the X1 was employed. I find myself wondering how much room for improvement is still out there, waiting to be realized. How much better could a four-box L1/X1 system, or the L10 preamp, be?

https://www.soundstageultra.com/index.php/equipment-menu/1248-simaudio-moon-891-streaming-preamplifier

Cueing up the 24/96 FLAC version of “Love Letters” highlighted two key differences. First, when used just as an analog preamp, the Moon 891 is utterly transparent. Subsequently, I realized that the Moon’s and the T+A’s DACs sound very different. Through the 891’s streaming module and DAC, instruments and vocals exhibited body and dimension, but compared to the T+A, lacked a bit of sizzle. The T+A MP 3100 HV painted more holographic images within a larger soundstage, while placing those objects closer to me. Bass performance was nearly indistinguishable. I say “nearly” because the 891 sounded ever so slightly more controlled in the bottom end, with deep notes able to be felt in my chair just a wisp more than from the T+A. Focusing on the orchestra, the MP 3100 HV added a bit of scale but didn’t quite lock down instruments with the same precision I heard through the 891. The same observation rang true with Krall’s vocals. Through the 891, Krall sounded as if she was two to three rows further back on the stage, yet was drawn more sharply. Malone’s electric guitar lost a fraction of tonal color through the 891. Additionally, the T+A presented Erskine’s brushes of the cymbals and Krall’s piano through a clearer lens, perhaps because it positioned these elements closer to me, which I enjoyed.

https://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/equipment-reviews/1911-nad-masters-m66-streaming-preamplifier

The subterranean bass on “Full of Life,” from Paranoïa, Angels, True Love (24/176.4 FLAC, Because Music Tidal), by Christine and the Queens, was deeper and better articulated with the M66 than with the STR. When the track’s deep, long tones started to pound, they filled up my listening room and held fast, with no discernible overhang.

On its Dirac Live Bass Control web page, Dirac states that “Bass Control leverages all-pass filters, plus machine learning and artificial intelligence, to calculate gains, delays, and all-pass filters for each subwoofer.” Anthem’s ARC Genesis room-correction system allows automatic adjustment of subwoofer phase to optimize it for the main speakers, but it relies on a much older DSP chip and is more limited in what it can do. One feature the STR does have that the M66 doesn’t is home-theater bypass mode, which in the STR includes the subwoofers—they are always in the circuit, whether in multichannel playback or stereo. In my combined stereo-HT system, I have found this invaluable. I know of no other component that offers such flexibility in an HT-bypass mode.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/dan-dagostino-master-audio-systems-relentless-line-preamplifier

After a walk with my dear friend Anna Frank, who some months back spent time alone with Pink Floyd in my music room, I invited her to take another listen to the 2023 50th Anniversary remaster of The Dark Side of the Moon (24/192 FLAC, Legacy Recordings/ Qobuz). After declaring that the impending doom of “On the Run” left her short of breath, she reported that she heard elements of hi-hat, keys, and bass lines that she had “actually not noticed before.” Individual instruments sounded crisper and more location-specific, and the album’s concluding heartbeat had a lower depth of tone than heard previously. “I’ve listened to this album 100+ times, but I loved this listen more than any,” Anna declared.

I felt similarly when I turned to a beloved fave, the final movement of Mahler Symphony No.4 performed by soprano Kathleen Battle and the Vienna Philharmonic, conducted by Lorin Maazel (16/44.1 MQA, Sony (Columbia)/Tidal). The expanse and warmth of the hall, the natural acoustic surrounding the voice, and every small vocal nuance stood out as never before. For an alternative to the Mahler heavies, play this movement and the rest of the Fourth Symphony and discover a succession of rare instances when Mahler allowed himself to be happy for more than a few minutes at a time.