BALANCED AUDIO TECHNOLOGY REX II PREAMPLIFIER AND REX II MONOBLOCK POWER AMPLIFIERS REVIEW
January 21, 2016 Comments Off on BALANCED AUDIO TECHNOLOGY REX II PREAMPLIFIER AND REX II MONOBLOCK POWER AMPLIFIERS REVIEW
” If the BAT equipment has continued to make great strides toward what some more audacious than myself term the absolute, it also retained some of the qualities that have characterized its performance in previous generations. The timbral reproduction of both the preamplifier and amplifier, it must be said, continued to hew to the darker sound of the spectrum. This has both pluses and minuses. The upside is that the overall presentation is rich and organic without a trace of treble rebarbativeness. The downside is that the treble is not as extended as that of a variety of other amplifiers. A certain rounding of the treble means that even hand claps or whistles simply sound lower on the frequency spectrum than I have heard with other gear. There is absolutely no shrillness that can be associated with the Rex, but it’s also the case that the somewhat velvety treble impinges ever so slightly on the micro-dynamic performance of the Rex II.”
Sennheiser Orpheus $50,000 Headphones CES 2016 – Video
January 9, 2016 Comments Off on Sennheiser Orpheus $50,000 Headphones CES 2016 – Video
Naim Audio • Statement NAC S1 Preamplifier and NAP S1 Mono Amplifiers $88,000 Review
January 5, 2016 Comments Off on Naim Audio • Statement NAC S1 Preamplifier and NAP S1 Mono Amplifiers $88,000 Review
” ran the Statements exclusively with the Wilson Sasha 2s, partly because the implications of relocating either product are daunting, but mainly because they simply worked so well together that I felt no need to ring the changes. The Wilsons deliver exactly the sort of enthusiastic dynamic response and slightly awkward load that Naim amps have always thrived on — and the Statement amps are no different. Obviously I haven’t tried it, but I suspect that pairing with Alexias or Alexandria XLFs would prove even more efficacious, with the big Naim monoblocks having both the power and authority to drive either speaker, as well as the musical qualities they demand”
Goldmund Telos Amplier/DAC $10,400 Review
December 26, 2015 Comments Off on Goldmund Telos Amplier/DAC $10,400 Review
” The Hifiman HE1000 soundstage is large and precise. The Telos and HE1000 were synergistic and a excellent match. The Telos was able to get the best out of the HE1000 and brought out everything the headphone had to offer. Art Pepper’s saxophone came alive on “Move” from “+11’’, Art was located in the center and each musician was in their own defined space with excellent separation. Each instrument had sufficient air and created a 3D image within the soundstage. Closing my eyes I could identify every musician in the stage easily.The Telos involvement with the music was as good as I have heard in any combination. The listening sessions sometimes went over a 10 hour period and never did I feel any distractions while listening. The music was involving and non fatiguing. ”
Jeff Rowland Design Group • Model 825 Stereo Amplifier $32,000 – Review
December 20, 2015 Comments Off on Jeff Rowland Design Group • Model 825 Stereo Amplifier $32,000 – Review
” The Model 825’s sonic profile begins from a very deep well of musical detail that’s free of accompanying noise. It is a model of directness — of neutrality — presenting the music the way it is on the recording with uncommon resolution and purity, and resolving space with singular acuity. And just when you’ve come to appreciate all of this, you realize how liquid and non-electronic it sounds, offering up its gobs of detail with abundant naturalness that at first seems out of place. It is a true connoisseur’s product; beautiful and thoughtfully made, it does its proclaimed job, amplifying a signal, without even a minor issue. It hasn’t just single-handedly redeemed class D for me, but made me take it seriously again, something I would never have imagined without experiencing it for myself.”
HiFiMAN HE1000 Planar Magnetic Headphone Review – Video
November 23, 2015 Comments Off on HiFiMAN HE1000 Planar Magnetic Headphone Review – Video
Woo Audio 234 SET Monoblocks headphone amplifier $16,000 Review
October 18, 2015 Comments Off on Woo Audio 234 SET Monoblocks headphone amplifier $16,000 Review
” I’m hoping by now you know I’m completely smitten with the Woo Audio 234 MONOs. But the question still remains: are they the world’s best headphone amplifier? Until I hear something more amazing, they certainly are to me. $16,000 is absolutely crazy money for a headphone amplifier, but it’s all relative. If you love headphones, have multiple pairs that you cherish and a world-class source or two to provide music, there’s no other way to play the game.
ASTELL&KERN AK500N MQS NETWORK AUDIO PLAYER $12,000 REVIEW
October 17, 2015 Comments Off on ASTELL&KERN AK500N MQS NETWORK AUDIO PLAYER $12,000 REVIEW
“Finally, totally confounding my expectations, I preferred playback from my NAS over my home network to both the other sources. It seemed to combine the best features of the other two: low-end depth and impact were just as great, and I heard just as many bass details as from the SSD and more treble detail than from the USB drive. Microdynamics were just spectacular; the music sounded like a spring being wound up, then suddenly released. While I’ve heard this characteristic from other servers, it’s seldom if ever been as starkly defined as with the AK500N.
AUDIO RESEARCH REFERENCE 75SE STEREO POWER AMPLIFIER
October 8, 2015 Comments Off on AUDIO RESEARCH REFERENCE 75SE STEREO POWER AMPLIFIER
By now, listening to classical and the obligatory well-worn test recordings was almost a formality. The Reference 75 SE harnessed that grace and fluidity of mid-range of great Audio Research amps, included the surprisingly powerful bass of its predecessor, and pulled everything together to make you want to bask in its presence for hours on end. There was nothing that fazed the Reference 75 SE and in partnership with the Wilson Duettes and especially with a Nagra HD DAC and ARC Ref 5 SE front end, this was the kind of sound you could listen to with no need to change for decades. Bigger, more upscale ARC buys you more power for bigger systems and rooms and gives you slightly more finesse to the top end, but as the best bang for your ARC-shaped bucks, you can’t get better than this right now!
MAGICO M PROJECT LOUDSPEAKER $129,000
October 6, 2015 Comments Off on MAGICO M PROJECT LOUDSPEAKER $129,000
While the D-5’s ported bass and contoured frequency response are laughably “inaccurate” by Magico’s linear, low-distortion standards, the D-5 is anything but laughable in the listening. The added mid-to-upper bass sock that this speaker generates, the dark, rich, beautiful tone color from top to bottom, the Magico-equaling transient speed, and the superb treble are, in the words of my friend and colleague Andre Jennings, “simply addictive.” Another way of putting this is that the D-5 and the Wilsons are gorgeous, powerful, and finely detailed on every kind of music. Whether they also sound plausibly like the real thing on every kind of music is a different question. But let me say something else here that’ll rock the boat. For most listeners, the absolute sound doesn’t matter. Let me repeat that again: For most listeners, the absolute sound doesn’t matter. For most listeners, it is the effect of the absolute sound (or of the canned one, for that matter)—the horripilating visceral excitement and ravishing beauty of music and not a fool-ya simulacrum of, oh, a violin or a piano—that matters most.
Audiophilepure 
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