SAEQ Audio Armageddon $7,600 Review
October 17, 2024 Comments Off on SAEQ Audio Armageddon $7,600 Review
The Armageddon is a more neutrally tuned amplifier when referring to warmth and lushness, but it does have a full bodied presentation from top to bottom. You get a weighty sound over the whole frequency range, no matter what headphone you connect to it. It however is perfectly controlled weight, and there never is too much (or too little). For me, SAEQ got it just right body wise on the Armageddon, but for some it might come over as too full sounding.
Monitor Audio Gold 300 6G Loudspeaker $15,000 Review
October 17, 2024 Comments Off on Monitor Audio Gold 300 6G Loudspeaker $15,000 Review
I compared the Monitor Audio Gold 300 6G with my own Dynaudio C2 Signature loudspeakers (discontinued, $15,000/pair when available). On “Keep the Wolves Away,” from Uncle Lucius’s 2012 album And You Are Me (16/44.1 FLAC, eOne Music / Tidal), the Gold 300s were tight and textured in the bass and delivered the guitar dynamically, with precision and tube-like sweetness. Images were focused and natural. The Dynaudio C2s, by comparison, sounded appreciably fuller in the low bass and had a richer, more complex harmonic palette. And they presented vocals with greater detail and warmth, more lifelike. Where the Gold 300 6Gs were a match for the C2s was in transient response. In fact, their delivery was more incisive than the C2s’. In view of this comparison and of my audition, last year, of the Monitor Audio Platinum 200 3G, I would say that the Gold 300 6G, while not quite at the level of a top-tier loudspeaker, offers much of the performance of one.
Conclusion
The Monitor Audio Gold 300 6G is a most capable, highly refined loudspeaker. It is neutral and transparent, revealing the subtlest recorded detail (and any upstream change to equipment and interconnects). It is fast and dynamic, and it is honest, adding neither warmth nor color to recordings. Given its neutrality and transparency, the Gold 300 6G would be a good match to a ruler-flat front end. I’d be reluctant to pair it with brighter components, though. All told, the Monitor Audio Gold 300 6G is a high-performance loudspeaker that lives up to its gold-standard pedigree.
eno2 Streaming System network filtering Review
October 17, 2024 Comments Off on eno2 Streaming System network filtering Review
Focal Theva N1 Review
October 16, 2024 Comments Off on Focal Theva N1 Review
https://parttimeaudiophile.com/2024/08/11/focal-theva-n1-bookshelf-speaker-review
I think many reading this review have a BEYOND great primary music listening setup; floor-standing speakers, a powerful amp, comfortable chair right in the sweet spot…but your media room that’s primarily used by your kids to watch cartoons has a sound bar that makes you cringe. If only you could find gratifying speakers that you didn’t have to worry about so much…
I’ve got you. GET THESE SPEAKERS! And get the stands too, they’ll sound better. I just might sell my old Paradigms and buy these bad boys! For just under $1250 you’ll have great sounding, great-looking speakers that you can relax in front of. Have a drink, play with your kids, rough-house with your dog, and stop overthinking it.
Musical Fidelity A1 integrated amplifier $1779 Review
October 16, 2024 Comments Off on Musical Fidelity A1 integrated amplifier $1779 Review
https://www.stereophile.com/content/musical-fidelity-a1-integrated-amplifier
In this month’s Gramophone Dream (p.21), I describe my experiences with First Watt’s new SIT-4, which uses new, industrial-grade “SIT” output transistors. I couldn’t stop myself from checking out the flavor achieved by pairing Tim de Paravicini’s line and phono stage to Nelson Pass’s latest no-feedback, low-power (10W into 8 ohms) amplifier.
The SIT-4 costs $5000, and I was relishing its effect on my LS3/5as fed by HoloAudio’s $3098 Serene KTE preamplifier. I was curious whether the A1’s Pre Out would be as uncolored and transparent as the Serene’s, which I regard as state-of-the-art invisible. And by golly it almost was. It was at least 90% as transparent as the Serene.
This arrangement also let me compare the A1’s power-amp section to the SIT-4. Powered by the A1-pre/SIT-4 combo, the Falcons presented bolder, cleaner, more liquid, tactile, and exciting than they did powered by the A1 integrated—its preamp stage and output stage. This suggests that the A1’s signature boldness and tactility are spawned largely in the preamp section, which appears to be a world-class component in its own right.
Bryston Model T10 Loudspeaker $18,000 Review
October 15, 2024 Comments Off on Bryston Model T10 Loudspeaker $18,000 Review
https://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/equipment-reviews/1915-bryston-model-t10-loudspeaker
By way of comparison, I listened to the Model T10s alongside a pair of Monitor Audio Gold 300 5Gs (discontinued, $9500/pair when available). The Monitor Audios stand just under 40″ tall, making them nearly 3′ shorter than the Brystons. Like the T10s, the Gold 300s employ 8″ woofers, but two, rather than four of them. Additionally, whereas the T10s have titanium-dome tweeters, the 300s use a Micro Pleated Diaphragm, which is Monitor Audio’s version of an AMT (air motion transformer) tweeter. Standing alongside one another, the Canadian speakers dwarfed the British towers.
Returning to Ongiara, I found both sets of floorstanders sounded neutral in that they tended to impart little of themselves onto the music. The Monitor Audios revealed an abundance of detail in “Your Rocky Spine,” and like the Brystons, they produced a precise, wide soundstage. In terms of their level of transparency, the Gold 300s conceded nothing to the Brystons, which cost nearly twice as much. If resolution was of the utmost importance to me, I’d buy the Monitor Audios.
However, as revealing as the Gold 300s are, they were no match for the impact delivered by the T10s. Yes, the Gold 300s can move a fair amount of air, but they couldn’t compete with the T10s’ octet of 8″ woofers. Listening to “Your Rocky Spine,” the bass was far more powerful than what I heard through the British speakers, yet every bit as controlled. I could feel it in my body, and in this battle between David and Goliath, the giant won.
Revisiting various choral and orchestral selections, the sense of acoustic space created by the T10s was far grander than what I heard through the Gold 300s, reproducing cathedrals and concert halls more voluminously. On Respighi’s “War Dance,” the T10s’ intense dynamics were more forcefully delivered—on another level than what the Monitor Audios could achieve.
Merrill Audio ELEMENT 110 Monoblock Amplifiers $12,500 Review
October 15, 2024 Comments Off on Merrill Audio ELEMENT 110 Monoblock Amplifiers $12,500 Review
Devices that ‘flavor’ music with their own timbre can make different recordings all sound too much the same. In those scenarios, we end up listening to the gear rather than the music. This is critical (and we often don’t pay enough attention to this). Each recording should sound like a completely different soundscape with the unique experiences buried deep within the performances. We want to hear music as the artists and recording engineers intended for us to hear.
Like many, I’ve previously fallen into the trap of having systems that colored the sound. It makes the performer become secondary to the system. That’s just wrong. We become so comfortable with the way our individual system sounds because it makes everything sound a certain way. That isn’t real life. No two recordings should sound the same. This is the work and reasoning behind Merrill’s way of thinking. Color, timbre, and character should be left to the performers—the way it was intended. All of these nuances can be revealed to the listener, regardless of musical genre with the ELEMENTs. This is the brilliance behind design engineers that strive to get out of the way of the music.
Piega Coax 811 Gen2 loudspeaker Review
October 14, 2024 Comments Off on Piega Coax 811 Gen2 loudspeaker Review
https://www.stereophile.com/content/piega-coax-811-gen2-loudspeaker
Any tendency toward tightness was mitigated by the Puritan PSM156 mains purifier ($2400), a six-outlet unit into which I’d plugged all my electronics except the Krell. I also used two Puron plug-in AC line conditioners ($295 each), cylindrical devices about the size of a KT88 tube. Inserting the Purons into the wall receptacle and/or the first outlet of a power conditioner will reduce system noise, the manufacturer claims. The Puritan, meanwhile, is said to battle both common-mode and differential-mode interference, remove DC offset, and scrub the earth-ground line of sonic impurities. It also offers 9000A of surge protection.
Adding first the Puritan and then the Purons made the air in classical recordings seem a bit more expansive, and music went up a step in effortlessness. The Puritan and Purons also subtly increased my system’s resolution. When, during this review, I spent a few days auditioning a 30-year-old Aragon 4004 MKII power amplifier—I was trying to decide whether I should keep it—the Puritan ably suppressed some low-level transformer hum. The three Ps—Piegas, Puritan, and Purons—played well together, but even without help from power-massaging devices, the Swiss speakers impressed with imperturbable precision and the ability to express fine detail.
Naim Audio Uniti Atom Headphone Edition Review
October 14, 2024 Comments Off on Naim Audio Uniti Atom Headphone Edition Review
https://www.hifichoice.com/content/naim-audio-uniti-atom-headphone-edition
Most of the session listening is carried out using a variety of headphones, but it is also tested running as a preamp into a main system. As it turns out, the Atom HE acquits itself well in both roles, though a fixed output option on the preamp sockets – enabling it to be used as a source as well as a streaming pre – would have been welcome. It’s also worth noting that Naim says all three headphone outputs can be connected simultaneously, which could be handy given that rear-pan
el XLR output, but for optimum performance it proves best to use just the one output at a time. Incidentally, the front headphone outputs will mute the preouts when ’phones are connected, while a button located above them switches the rear output on and off.
Raal 1995 Immanis €9.999 Review
October 13, 2024 Comments Off on Raal 1995 Immanis €9.999 Review
The Raal 1995 headphones aren’t your regular plug and play headphones, and in order for your amp to work correctly with the Immanis headphone you need to use one of Raal’s Ribbon Current Drive Interfaces like the TI-1b or their newest one (RCD-32(Ohm)) which you can see in the pictures. Both interfaces work fine, you don’t need to buy a new interface if you have one already. The RCD Interface, featuring purpose designed, highest-quality, toroidal transformers is designed in the style of a headphone stand. Toroidal transformers convert a voltage-controlled amplifier output into a current-controlled signal for driving the ribbons.
You also need to use a special headphone cable as well as an input Cable. You can buy a full bundle with everything you need, so no worries there. If you already have the cables and interface, then you can buy the Immanis only. Contrary to with the SR-1b you no longer may use the open-baffle Compensation Barrels. The barrels will change the intended sound signature but also, because of reducing the level above 2k for about 5dB, they may overload the ribbons with bass when you increase the volume to compensate for the 5dB loss. So make sure to remove the barrels from your SR-1a/b system when switching to the (Magna or) Immanis.
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