PS Audio AirLens and DirectStream DAC Mk2 Review
September 17, 2024 Comments Off on PS Audio AirLens and DirectStream DAC Mk2 Review
PS Audio’s rationale for that decision is because the company feels that USB is a noisier carrier to SPDIF or I2S. While that may be true, I caution the reader to take any blanket statement of standards with a grain of salt. During the AirLens and MK2 review, I had an in-depth conversation with a designer of a dedicated NOS (non-oversampling) DAC that has only one output – USB. That designer considers an external I2S connection to be redundant and inefficient and refuses to use it! That how the audio industry rolls; one designer swears off USB and the other promotes it! The audiophile is left scratching their head. I have encountered such contradictions consistently, so it no longer shocks me. In one sense, I could care less whether the favored connection is USB or I2S, may the best sounding connection in my system win!


Zanden Audio Systems 8120F Stereo Amplifier $30,500 REVIEW
September 16, 2024 Comments Off on Zanden Audio Systems 8120F Stereo Amplifier $30,500 REVIEW
For all this quality and excitement, I have yet to cite Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring; Scherzo à là Russe for Two Pianos LP, featuring Michael Tilson Thomas and Ralph Grierson (Angel S-36024). I played it on the Helius set-up with Koetsu Gold MC cartridge. “Part I: The Adoration of the Earth” was absolutely thrilling with diverse tonalities, crystalline trillings, complex chordings, rapid arpeggios, bombastic and lyrical passages, and startling clusters of high-pitched notes of tremendous energy and stunning effect. There was the anticipation of suspense and dread intermingled through much of the movement, which was an aural feast in full frequencies and dynamic range, characterized by the speed and precision of each pianist. There were a plethora of pleasing dissonances and swift changes of eccentric tempi, and it seemed as though every note from each measure of the orchestral score was anticipated in this earlier score for pianos. Deep bass drum strikes, screeches from an overblown piccolo, the sautillé of double basses, timpani strikes, horn and trumpet parts were all rendered on the keyboards for the four hands of two pianos


Wells Audio V8 Level II Tube Headphone Amplifier Review
September 16, 2024 Comments Off on Wells Audio V8 Level II Tube Headphone Amplifier Review
Once again Jeff Wells has shown that he can make a great amplifier whether solid-state or tube, and the Wells Audio V8 Level II Tube Headphone Amplifier has proven to be one of the better OTL amplifiers I have heard, with excellent detail, solid imaging, a linear tonal balance, a large soundstage, fantastic dynamic range and above all musicality. It works well with a broad spectrum of headphones, bringing out what that headphone does best.
Like most OTL amplifiers, the V8 is not particularly forgiving of source working best with high-resolution musical DACs rather than analytical DACs. What you put in is what you will get coming out, in that sense the V8 does exactly what a reference amplifier should; alter the sound as little as possible while providing dynamic range and sufficient power and damping to drive any headphone.

B&W 702 S3 Signature £7000 Review
September 15, 2024 Comments Off on B&W 702 S3 Signature £7000 Review
https://www.hifinews.com/content/bw-702-s3-signature
Switch to ‘The Smoke’, however, and the performance was more about unpicking the track’s many layers. There was a great sense of resolution noticeable in small details, such as Yorke’s voice reverberating into space and in the intricacies of the bass playing that carries this song.
Gritty guitars? On ‘Thin Thing’ these were enjoyably crunchy – perhaps a strange adjective but one that fits perfectly with Greenwood’s particular mix of distortion pedals. The speakers impressed here with their drive and power, but their strongest moments were with the more dreamlike tracks on this album where they showed off an ability to envelop, seeming to discover new details even in familiar songs.

Canor Asterion V2 £6000 Review
September 15, 2024 Comments Off on Canor Asterion V2 £6000 Review
https://www.hifinews.com/content/canor-asterion-v2
This turned out to be fortuitous, as the result was excellent as it stood, and PM’s Lab Report [opposite] indicated the single-ended/lower gain route would be the better choice with this cartridge anyway. And when a replacement Pro-Ject Connect it Phono DS cable was eventually delivered, I still preferred the single-ended connection for its more fluid sound and natural high-frequency detail.
Anyway, the tunes on …Cosmic Sofa were originally created for the milestone anime series Cowboy Bebop – not the derivative Netflix version – but Kanno re-recorded them last year for this vinyl release. ‘The Real Folk Blues’ made for especially satisfying listening, the Asterion V2 giving the carefully plucked guitar plenty of presence just as A-Sha Mai Yamane’s crooning was both gritty and packed with emotion. Yet what really stood out – and pardon the audiophile cliché – was the black background, testament to the vanishingly low noise of the Asterion V2 and to the Pick it MC9’s tracking prowess.

Cayin N3Ultra Review
September 13, 2024 Comments Off on Cayin N3Ultra Review
At the heart of it all is a locked-down, highly optimized operating system based on Android 8.1, which has been stripped of its usual functions, including networking, to focus solely on delivering the best possible sound quality. This means no third-party apps are supported, allowing the N3 Ultra to bypass Android’s Sample Rate Conversion (SRC) to ensure bit-perfect playback. Navigating through the N3 Ultra’s OS is smooth, despite the rather low-end Snapdragon 425 processor and 2GB of RAM. This is where the software comes in, and the more optimized it is, the better for both the sound and the UI experience. The N3Ultra’s UI snappiness far exceeded my expectations and I was amazed to see it outperform the unlocked Android 13 DAPs with better processors I have. The 4.1-inch TFT touchscreen is responsive and fairly bright, with a good ppi, and displays album art and UI elements sharply. The capacitive home button below the screen acts as an LED indicator, changing colour depending on the sample rate of the file being played.

Burmester B38 Review
September 13, 2024 Comments Off on Burmester B38 Review
https://www.hifinews.com/content/burmester-b38
Listening to the B38, I was reminded of that famous commercial from Heineken about refreshing the parts that other beers cannot reach. The impact of this speaker’s 32cm woofer – unusually large for even a floorstander at this price – is immediately noticeable, delivering a bass performance with real extension, plus grip and control. Coupled to succinct, clean highs from the AMT tweeter, the resulting sound has plenty of dynamism, and the voicing shows no desire to add extra warmth to what’s already on the track. There’s energy and liveliness; a direct feel to the sound that’s simpatico with the loudspeaker’s physical style.
It’s a performance that worked wonders with Daft Punk’s ‘Da Funk’ [Homework; Parlophone CDV 2821], which begins with a deep, propulsive electronic bassline and rat-a-tat percussion underpinned by a thudding kick drum. Each element landed with rapid attack and decay, the space between beats making it easy to latch on to its nightclub groove. Furthermore, even at a listening level that could be described as anti-social, the B38 didn’t lose its clean, composed nature.


Wilson Audio WAMM Master Chronosonic Review
September 12, 2024 Comments Off on Wilson Audio WAMM Master Chronosonic Review
WAMM is my Mount Everest of loudspeakers, capable of presenting an entire symphonic orchestra or an acoustic singer / songwriter on stage right in one’s listening room. I often couldn’t believe what I was hearing when listening to music I know very well. The separation of musicians and instruments was likely the most amazing aspect of what I heard. It was the exact opposite of an entire orchestra that emanates from two loudspeakers. The WAMM’s presentation made Stravinsky Conducts Le Sacre du Printemps (Columbia Symphony Orchestra) sound like there was a loudspeaker for each musician on stage. The separation was mind blowing, and the entire performance retained amazing delicacy, transients, and musical engagement like I’d never experience.
I didn’t set out to write about this listening experience, but the more I listened to the WAMM Master Chronosonic the more I thought I had to at least share a little bit of what I heard with everyone who may never get the opportunity. Only 70 pairs of WAMM Master Chronosonic loudspeakers will ever be built, and the cost is certainly prohibitive for most people, including myself. I have to thank The Audio Salon in Santa Monica, CA for enabling this bucket list audio experience. The WAMM Master Chronosonic checks an item off my bucket list, and checks absolutely every sonic box imaginable for those of us who love music.

SME Model 20 Mk 2/Series V $35,619 Review
September 12, 2024 Comments Off on SME Model 20 Mk 2/Series V $35,619 Review
The Model 20’s transparency is highlighted when we switch to Orff’s Carmina Burana. The soundstage grows massively, giving a firm sense of the recording venue’s scale. The stereo imaging is as stable as it gets with the orchestra and massed choir firmly planted in place. There is never a hint of stress or loss of focus even as the music becomes dense and demanding. Dynamics are explosive and delivered with breathtaking impact. There is a palpable feeling of power here, and the kind of authority that one rarely hears, even at this level.
A cartridge largely dictates the tonality of a record player. The Ortofon Windfeld Ti is about as even-handed as they come, delivering voices and instruments in a natural way. That said, if you partner this cartridge poorly it wouldn’t be hard to make it sound a little thin and lacking in body. We would expect the selling dealer to advise on the specifics. Make sure that the partnering phono stage has enough gain and quality to cope with the Ortofon’s relatively low output, too.

STAX SR-X9000 Earspeaker $6,200 Review
September 10, 2024 Comments Off on STAX SR-X9000 Earspeaker $6,200 Review
Let’s start with the basics of how an electrostatic driver (whether headphone or loudspeaker) operates. Imagine an incredibly thin and light diaphragm material (in STAX’s case, about 2 microns thick) that can accept a constant voltage charge. This wispy material is suspended between two electrodes which receive a fluctuating and alternating voltage charge from the incoming musical signal. This static charge (+) versus alternating charge (+ and -) condition causes the diaphragm to precisely vibrate, accurately recreating the music. The advantages are that in this type of system, the speed and accuracy of reproduction, along with the inherent transparency of output are just naturally very good. There are no magnets involved either, so any magnetically induced distortion (hysteresis) is nonexistent. The tradeoffs (if you factor easy portability out of the discussion) are mainly in bass capability. The driver’s surface area needs to be larger to reproduce lower frequencies and (even though they are close to your ears) they can only be so big when you wear them on your head


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