Focal Diva Utopia Streaming Active Loudspeaker System Review

December 5, 2025 Comments Off on Focal Diva Utopia Streaming Active Loudspeaker System Review

https://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/equipment-reviews/2017-focal-diva-utopia-streaming-active-loudspeaker-system

This past summer, I heard rumblings that Phil Collins’s health was rapidly declining. But these rumors seem to have been unfounded, with recent updates confirming he’d had knee-replacement surgery. All this attention motivated me to listen to the 2016 remastered version of his 1982 album Hello, I Must Be Going! (24/96 FLAC, Rhino / Qobuz). The famous track “I Don’t Care Anymore” opens with Collins’s signature solo drum sequence, followed by synth notes with an unmistakable 1980s sound. Through the Focal system, the snap of the drumsticks against the skins was vivid and visceral, with each percussive punch followed quickly by the hollow thud of the drum shells. Echo and reverb were copious, contributing to a generous soundstage that went beyond the placement of the speakers. The overall sound possessed a natural warmth and fullness. The Diva Utopia delivered excitement and musical engagement along with detail and nuance on this classic 1980s track.

Speaking of delicacy and finesse, I concluded my listening with a jewel of an artist I discovered only recently. Cécile McLorin Salvant isn’t new, but she’s new to me, and WomanChild (24/96 FLAC, Mack Avenue / Qobuz), her 2013 debut album, has been in heavy rotation in my listening room. Through the Focal system, the opening patter of the brushes on the drumskins in her rendition of Rodgers and Hart’s “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was” was delightful; the light slaps and papery scrapes of the bristles against the skins were extremely refined. The cymbals were similarly pristine, their gentle shimmer faultlessly delicate and extended. The Diva Utopia system produced a beautiful and extended treble—something I’ve come to expect from Focal’s beryllium tweeters, which have been refined over several generations. Salvant’s voice sounded sumptuously natural, coming across like a warm cappuccino on a cold morning. The Diva Utopia expertly presented her careful phrasing and mesmerizing voice with beautiful tone and presence. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t praise the authentic image size, generous texture, and timbral accuracy of the double bass.

EAT F-Dur Turntable & F-Note Tonearm Review

December 5, 2025 Comments Off on EAT F-Dur Turntable & F-Note Tonearm Review

https://www.stereophile.com/content/eat-f-dur-turntable-f-note-tonearm

The EAT gave Passos’s voice more haunting depth. It sorted the music better and enlarged its scale. The F-Dur consistently surprised me with its ability to surprise. Even as it expanded the soundstage, it assembled the many elements of a recording into a well-polished, cohesive, refined whole. Hearing this, I felt that the Thorens combo, for all its many virtues, was generalizing some. With the EAT, I heard more specificity—more of what’s on the record, moment to moment.When I swapped out phono stages, the EAT let each shine with its own character: the Tavish Audio Design Adagio‘s lush, tube warmth; the Manley Chinook‘s razor-sharp attack and punch; and the PrimaLuna EVO 100‘s balanced, composed refinement.

My Listening Room – DIY Room Acoustics

December 5, 2025 Comments Off on My Listening Room – DIY Room Acoustics

TriangleArt Selene Loudspeakers | REVIEW

December 3, 2025 Comments Off on TriangleArt Selene Loudspeakers | REVIEW

https://pt.audio/2025/10/17/triangleart-selene-loudspeakers-review/#google_vignette

The miracle of this album is that despite the simple, quiet arrangements that usually just features Tweedy, his acoustic guitar, and spare accompaniment from his two sons and a few others, this is inventive and unique music led by one of the most comforting and familiar voices I know. The singer I used to think of as nervous and tentative has now blossomed, at age 58, into an unusually effective communicator. The Selene’s gift of delivering a natural and organic sound is so welcome here, bringing incredible depth to the softest and kindest of songs, songs that are genuinely optimistic without abandoning the sadness many of us feel in this day and age. If you want a loudspeaker that preserves emotional content and musical beauty in equal measures, the TriangleArt Selene and a stunning 300B amplifier is all you really need.

Multi-Million Dollar Music Room

December 3, 2025 Comments Off on Multi-Million Dollar Music Room

Acoustic Sounds Behind The Scenes

December 3, 2025 Comments Off on Acoustic Sounds Behind The Scenes

Vimberg Tonda D Loudspeakers REVIEW

December 2, 2025 Comments Off on Vimberg Tonda D Loudspeakers REVIEW

https://pt.audio/2025/10/10/vimberg-tonda-d-addendum-review/

After spending a weekend listening anything from Beethoven’s 7th symphony (with Ivan Fischer at the podium) all the way to the new Tron Ares OST by Nine Inch Nails, to Kuijken playing The Four Seasons on an obscure cello da spalla instrument, to Marcelle Meyer resurrecting Rameau, I came to the conclusion that my Vimbergs were even better than what I have already raved about.

Thing is, modern speakers evolved hand in hand with modern amplifiers and as watts became easier to come by speaker designs, they morphed into insensitive beasts, hard to tame by single ended triode tube amps. Not the TIDAL Audio and Vimberg designs.

It is not just a matter of sensitivity. The Vimberg Tonda D declares a sensitivity of 90dB/1m, which is neither very high nor very low, and on paper it’s about right and similar to what other manufacturers declare, give or take. It has to do with impedance, port tuning, crossover order, complexity and of course the type of drivers.

I won’t go into further technical details, I trust my ears and the humble GM70 monos make gorgeous music with the Vimberg Tonda D. Mids are lush and the highs are velvety. Voices sound human, strings vibrate and cymbals tickle my senses. The surprising part is that I barely miss anything from the lower registers, and this is comparing 23W to a few hundred. 

Arcam SA45 Streaming amplifier Review

December 2, 2025 Comments Off on Arcam SA45 Streaming amplifier Review

https://www.hifinews.com/content/arcam-sa45-streaming-amplifier

The SA45’s digital stage performs admirably overall, sounding focused and detailed if not quite hitting the precise, airy highs of dedicated solutions. Black Sabbath’s riff-filled ‘Symptom Of The Universe’ from the album Sabotage [Rhino/Warner; 96kHz/24-bit] sounded a little more cohesive and revealing in the high frequencies played via a Matrix Audio Element X2 Pure streamer [HFN Dec ’23] into the SA45’s balanced XLR input. Using that source to stream Kari Bremnes’ ‘A Lover In Berlin’ [Norwegian Mood, Kirkelig Kulturverksted; CD res] found the amp combining a detailed, textured depiction of the upright bass with a feather-light delivery of her vocals.

Thanks to this ‘best of both worlds’ performance, I struggled to find any music that would trip up Arcam’s flagship. Eric Clapton’s ‘Goin’ Down Slow’ [Pilgrim, Reprise Records; CD res] sounded clean and crisp, with rattlesnake-like percussion flitting behind keyboards, guitar, and Slowhand’s understated vocals. This track may straddle blues and easy listening, but the SA45 made every second a pleasure.

A Lifelong Dream – Room

December 2, 2025 Comments Off on A Lifelong Dream – Room

Quicksilver KT Mono Tube Amplifier Review

November 30, 2025 Comments Off on Quicksilver KT Mono Tube Amplifier Review

Next up were the Russian Mullard CV4004 stock tubes. This was better. Less detail, sure, but a more fully rounded sound and no hole. I could live with these tubes. They did nothing wrong, but also did not do anything outstandingly well. Just solid-sounding tubes. Maybe it was not terribly surprising, but these sounded similar to the Mullard 12AX7 tubes from Great Britain, and it was six of one and half dozen of the other – between the two. Best to go with what is available and less expensive.

The next tubes just smoked me, the Amperex Bugle Boy tubes. I was not prepared for this degree of difference. Unlike the Mullards, which did everything very nicely, these tubes did everything exceptionally well. Darn, the guitars sounded like musical instruments instead of a copy of a guitar. What a fantastic sound stage, wide and deep, and “Yeah, I am a sound stage freak,” and these delivered. Powerful low end, both the low bass and the mid bass. Very lifelike male and female voices. These tubes simply had no weaknesses. Sign me up for these. Now I wonder what they would sound like in my McIntosh C2200? I do not want to know because they are not inexpensive tubes, and I’d need four of them.

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