Audiophilepure

https://www.headfonia.com/fosi-audio-zp3-review/

So, how’s the Fosi ZP3 performing? Honestly, much, much better than I ever anticipated, and I’d even dare to say that it is – with the V3 mono – one of the most impressive pre-amplifier I got up to this date.

Straight out of the box, and paired with the SMSL DO400, the ZP3 delivered straight, colorless, end-to-end pre-amplification. A render equally neutral, clean, and transparent, that manages to enhance the source’s sound signature which, in the case of SMSL, was already incredibly detail resolving, reflecting the source and the track, without any coloration.

https://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/equipment-reviews/2014-anthem-mca-225-gen-2-stereo-power-amplifier

Turning to music composed several centuries earlier, I then listened to Josquin Masses (CD, Gimell CDGIM 051), an album by The Tallis Scholars, a British vocal ensemble focused on sacred vocal music. On the entrancing “Missa Hercules Dux Ferrarie,” I could pick out each voice distinctly—from the trio of sopranos on the left to the pair of baritones on the right. The deep baritone that opens the “Gloria” sounded as if it were emanating from the end of a long hallway. The soprano vocals, in contrast, sounded as if they were ascending to a great height, as though sung beneath the domed ceiling of a grand cathedral. These impressions closely reflect the geometry of the space in which this album was recorded, the long and tall Merton College Chapel at Oxford University. My Gold 300 5G speakers are capable of delivering a high level of detail, and that’s exactly what I heard through the MCA 225. It left no sonic footprint of its own, which is perhaps its most praiseworthy attribute.

During my audition period with the MCA 225, I received the Arendal Sound 1528 Monitor 8 speakers for review. I’ve been eager to hear these big standmounts since I learned I’d be writing about them, so I decided to connect them to the MCA 225 rather than wait to finish its audition and then connect them to my Bryston-based system.

Mazzy Star’s So Tonight That I Might See (CD, Capitol Records CDP 598253) opens with “Fade into You,” a breezy tune with a lively cadence centered on Hope Sandoval’s ethereal voice. The added vocal reverb creates a sense of spaciousness in this recording, an emptiness that befits the mood of the song. Here again, the MCA 225’s low noise floor made it easy to hear everything across the soundstage and to easily tease sonic images apart.

Aurender upgraded my digital audio source in early 2024 from the discontinued N100SC to the N200, a slightly higher performing cache network transport, which is now reusing the same 4TB SSD previously feeding the N100SC.  I know people whose music library consists of 8TB of audio files and more, but even the 4TB is going to last me a very long time, partially because I routinely chuck those music that I never accessed. If I haven’t listened to a recording for over a year, chances are it is not important to me and it’s just taking up space and I won’t miss it. Despite my ongoing hording of a considerable CD collection, I access the Aurender more and more. For the review, I installed a separate SSD with 2TB of files into one of the two rear docking compartments of the AP20. There is no discernible difference in sound quality between sourcing the music files from the N200 via an Audience frontRow USB cable or from the SSD in the AP20 itself. Note that there is no digital output on the AP20, meaning its cache player feeds only the internal preamplifier and cannot be used as a reference cache player to pair with an external DAC.

https://pt.audio/2025/09/26/quad-and-wharfedale-system-33-303-and-super-denton-review/

Of late, I have found myself enjoying Egberto Gismonti’s ECM album Solo (16/44 flac, streamed via Qobuz), which features the composer soloing on guitar and piano, punctuating the performances with some soft vocals and bells. This is a natural and ethereal recording, which accurately captures the acoustic space around the performer. I really enjoy recordings like this one, and the Quad and Wharfedale system pulls out all the stops in reproducing it. I hear recorded space and dimensionality, coupled with a delightfully warm and opulent presentation of voice, piano, and acoustic guitar. I also don’t want to imply that the system is slow, as in lacking the pace, rhythm, and timing the Brits are so well known for enjoying. I never felt that the music lagged, except perhaps slightly in the lower bass region. Outside of this one shortcoming, the tunes bounced along just as they should, with reasonably fast attack of leading edges of notes.