TAD CE1TX loudspeaker $32,500 Review
July 7, 2023 Comments Off on TAD CE1TX loudspeaker $32,500 Review
https://www.stereophile.com/content/tad-ce1tx-loudspeaker
My definition of the word “best,” as applied to audiophile speakers, would include expressions like “extremely well-sorted” and “exposes everything” and “flawless tone.” This thought struck me now because exactly these words passed through my head over and over during the hundreds of hours I spent listening with the TAD CE1TX’s. These luxuriously appointed standmounts specialize in converting tiny signal currents into moving air with atomic-clock precision—all by itself, a captivating phenomenon to witness. But what elevated these new TADs to a level of performance I’ve rarely experienced from any speakers, anywhere, at any price is the coexistence of that atomic-clock precision with an innate ability to present instruments and voices in a most agreeable, seductive manner.

AVM Inspiration CS2.3 CD receiver Review
July 7, 2023 Comments Off on AVM Inspiration CS2.3 CD receiver Review
https://www.stereophile.com/content/avm-inspiration-cs23-cd-receiver
The AVM Inspiration CS 2.3 is a delicious example of having cake and eating it. Some out-of-the-box thinking has taken shape in this small, attractively finished box. Designer-owner Besser is proud that many of the subcomponents for AVM are produced nearby his small German town; he told me he can literally call out the window to one of those vendors just next door.
But whether someone is carrying trays of capacitors or steins of beer back and forth is less important than the quality of the resulting products. That quality is patently evident in the AVM Inspiration CS 2.3—real creative excellence. It is not inexpensive, but when you price out everything it does—DAC, streamer, CD player, line and phono preamp, amplifier, headphone amp—and how well it does it, the smallness of that number starts to impress. I’d like to give the CS 2.3 an award. Instead, I’ll reward myself: I’m buying the review sample, to use in the Apartment System. Gut gemacht, AVM!




PS Audio aspen FR20 Loudspeaker £19,995 Review
July 6, 2023 Comments Off on PS Audio aspen FR20 Loudspeaker £19,995 Review
https://www.hifinews.com/content/ps-audio-aspen-fr20-loudspeaker
The industrial design is by Canadian-based Studio 63, which also penned the FR30. In this case the main enclosure is a one-piece design, with none of the adjustability of the two-piece FR30, and is built from heavily-braced MDF finished with 20 coats of hand-rubbed piano-grade lacquer. There’s a choice of Pearl White or Sable Black finishes, incidentally. The planar magnetic tweeter is attached to the rear of the thermoset resin front baffle, the latter with a shaped waveguide to control the dispersion of the midrange driver mounted, like the woofers, to the main structure.
Separate magnetically-attached grilles are provided for the top and bottom portions of the cabinet, as illustrated in our pictures, while the substantial alloy base comes with a set of adjustable milled brass feet. These include detachable spike tips and plastic inserts for use on hard surfaces, plus a set of sliders for ease of movement while the speakers are being set up. PS Audio provides a set of nifty Allen keys for adjustment in addition to a set of jumpers for single-wiring the bi-wire terminals on the rear of the speakers.

Focal Bathys Hi-Fi Bluetooth $799 Headphones
July 5, 2023 Comments Off on Focal Bathys Hi-Fi Bluetooth $799 Headphones
They cost less than the Levinson 5909, and the Bathys sound doesn’t shy away from the audiophile quality of the Levinsons. If you would ask me to decide, I’d probably choose the Levinsons—I like that they’re smaller and the aesthetics and neutral sound are more to my taste. The Bathys can feel a little bit plasticky to the touch and the buttons are a little big, but many people will like this. In general, the Bathys are more fun to listen to as well as more comfortable and have a more user-friendly firmware and app.
Caroline Shaw’s Partita for eight voices is a beautiful and complex composition that goes from voices in harmony to moments of disruptive chatter and noise. The Bathys developed a unique crescendo to the recording that blew me away. What sets these headphones apart is their dynamic driver’s subtlety and complimentary sound. You wouldn’t think a closed-back headphone could have the ‘air’ to bring out that detail, but it does. With its bass-filled songs, Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories rang through in a crisp and non-fatiguing way. I also tried some Alice in Chains, the best studio album of theirs Jar of Flies, the open chord voicings and Layne Staley’s gut-wrenching vocals were superb. Did I say Levinsons nudging the Bathys?

KEF R3 Meta $2200 Review
July 4, 2023 Comments Off on KEF R3 Meta $2200 Review
https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/kef-r3-meta
That the new R3 Meta allow us to park our analytical observations after a while and simply enjoy listening to our music collection really says it all. To confirm: these are hugely enticing speakers in design and in performance.
We haven’t come across many stereo speakers at this price point in recent years that are so accomplished in all the ‘hi-fi’ ways and fun to listen to in the same breath. If your system and budget allow it, the new KEF R3 Metas are worth the plunge. We promise you’ll be entertained.

Parasound JC 3 Jr. Phono Preamplifier REVIEW
July 4, 2023 Comments Off on Parasound JC 3 Jr. Phono Preamplifier REVIEW
Now, the Parasound JC 3+ has slightly more flexible loading options than its predecessor. You can choose 47K for your MM cartridge, 47K for your MC cartridge if you wish (some of the Transfiguration cartridges like this setting) and finally a variable setting (with custom-built Vishay dual-gang potentiometers) where you can choose between 50 and 550 ohms. I’m going to say that these are all the loading options I need.
The price of the Parasound JC 3+ phono preamplifier is $3000. That’s the same price as the Vendetta Research back when it came out in the early ‘90s. I have a feeling that if John Curl started making Vendetta Research phono stages again, just like the originals, he could charge a lot more than $3000. That’s what Parasound brings to the table—a scalable continuation of a legend.


LSA Signature 60 Monitor Loudspeakers $999 Review
July 3, 2023 Comments Off on LSA Signature 60 Monitor Loudspeakers $999 Review
With the impressive level of bass I experienced with the Signature 60 in the large room, I’ll admit that I was a bit concerned that they might overpower the smaller dimensions of the analog room. As it turned out, no worries—the room is fairly well-damped, and the bass level was absolutely perfect! Again, the imaging of the Signature 60 was spot-on, and as in the larger room, they simply vanished during playback, giving me a really great illusion of being live in Glasgow with Travis at this incredibly entertaining concert. The Signature 60 projected a stereo image with a greater degree of scale than one might expect from a standmount monitor; I was constantly amazed by this. My PrimaLuna EVO 300’s EL34 output tubes were an excellent match for the Signature 60, and helped imbue their sound with a very liquid and lush character. And the AMT driver presented a top end that was supremely musical, with incredible clarity and transparency—this really took me back to my first truly high-end loudspeakers, a pair of ESS AMT 10b that I was totally smitten with back in the late seventies.

Aavik Acoustics I-280 Integrated Amplifier €10,000 Review
July 3, 2023 Comments Off on Aavik Acoustics I-280 Integrated Amplifier €10,000 Review
https://www.audiophilia.com/reviews/2023/1/3/aavik-acoustics-i-280-integrated-amplifier
As usual, manufacturers are pretty well spot on (for the most part!) with costing out high-end audiophile components. €10,000 will get you a cracker of an integrated. I have not heard the 280’s lower and upper siblings, and I can only imagine what a €10,000 premium over the I-280 gets you with the I-580. I will be able to tell you what an extra €50,000 buys you with the new I-880, which is a completely different animal to the 180, 280, 580. Shipping to the island soon. In the here and now, and if you can stretch to the I-280’s price, your pre/power needs will be set for a long time no matter your speaker choice. Highly recommended.


VTL • TP-6.5 Series II Signature Phono Stage $15,000 Review
July 2, 2023 Comments Off on VTL • TP-6.5 Series II Signature Phono Stage $15,000 Review
https://www.theaudiobeat.com/equipment/vtl_tp65_ii_signature.htm
At its best, the TP-6.5 II has that rare ability to shrug off its technological baggage, sounding neither overtly tubelike, nor dryly etched and solid-statey. Instead, it cleaves to the musical character of the recording, burrowing into its musical core and then giving it a healthy shove in the right direction. There’s more than one way to skin a musical cat, and allowed to do so, this phono stage can perform the task with such sleight-of-hand you don’t even notice it happening — and that’s the mark of a product that will deliver not just great performance but long-term satisfaction. Party tricks and the sonically spectacular will quickly pall. The TP-6.5 II’s core musical virtues are made of sterner stuff. If you’ve ever wondered how VTL gets all those Best Sound at Show accolades, now you know: they play records and they play them through a genuinely excellent phono stage. Time and again, in public and throughout this review, VTL’s TP-6.5 Series II Signature phono stage has demonstrated that it is more than capable of producing (and reproducing) performances that are both musically powerful and compelling, the very essence of what vinyl replay should be about

Mission 770 Loudspeaker $5000 Review
July 2, 2023 Comments Off on Mission 770 Loudspeaker $5000 Review
https://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/equipment-reviews/1773-mission-770-loudspeaker
From its deep bass to its extended highs, the 770 proved commendably neutral, which is quite an achievement if it was truly designed more by ear than by measurements. But perhaps the ear-tuning is what instilled the performance aspects I liked most—the rich, powerful bass combined with a midrange that blossomed with realism with all the music I played, yet still provided detail akin to the best speakers I’ve heard. I was also surprised how well the 770 gets the sound out into the room, without those telltale big-box colorations that can make old-school speakers sound muffled rather than open and spacious. That sort of thing is tough to suss out with measurements, so maybe that’s what Comeau and crew used their ears for. That could be a lesson for those who rely more on charts than their ears.

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