Plinius Reference A-150 power amplifier Review
January 19, 2024 Comments Off on Plinius Reference A-150 power amplifier Review
https://www.stereophile.com/content/plinius-reference-150-power-amplifier
The right button, labeled “Class A,” is for choosing between class-A and class-AB operation. In class-A, the LED lights. If I forgot to switch to class-AB after a listening session, the amp’s “Ecologic Control” reverted to class-AB a half-hour after I departed. The rear panel includes two pairs of speaker binding posts to facilitate biwiring (footnote 5), and one set each of RCA and XLR input jacks. Between them lies the previously discussed “amplifier configuration selector.” A power toggle switch, 15A IEC connector, remote trigger socket (for integration into a home theater/multimedia system; I didn’t use it), and a ground-lift toggle switch complete the back-panel layout.
The ground-lift toggle switch has two positions: ground lift and chassis ground. States the manual, “In some installations a hum loop may exist due to duplicate ground paths from different equipment. Use this switch to remove the connection from 0V to ground thus allowing some flexibility in your particular set-up, although when using Balanced XLR inputs, the ground lift switch should always be set to ‘chassis.'” Through experimentation, I learned that if you don’t switch to “chassis” when using XLR cables, hum is present at levels impossible to ignore.
SHANLING EH3 REVIEW
January 18, 2024 Comments Off on SHANLING EH3 REVIEW
You might feel that the top markings, such as the MQA badge, Hi-Res Audio markings, or the block diagram, are a bit unnecessary. It would have been better if they had followed a similar approach to the flagship M30 unit, which displays small areas of the circuit board, but this one is all enclosed.
The topic of design is always subjective, but I doubt anyone would find a flaw in EH3’s build quality. The device is exceptionally well-built, featuring a glass front and a complete aluminium wrap-around chassis. It feels like a rock-solid device from top to bottom, and the volume control is particularly impressive with good rigidity and satisfying clicks. All of the ports, inputs, and outputs are also nicely built, leaving me with zero complaints.
Astell & Kern AK UW100MKII Review
January 18, 2024 Comments Off on Astell & Kern AK UW100MKII Review
The two biggest drawback of the earphone is probably the touch interface and the overall build of the case. The touch interfaces is a bit…touchy. While this is by no means unique to the AK UW100MKII (I’ve come across far too many hard-to-use touch surfaces in the TWS market) a ultra responsive surface would just have been more consistent with the rest of the steller features of the earphone. To get the touch capabilities to work, one needs to touch the earphone only on the conical tip of the design, and nowhere else. The touch needs to be done with an exact pressure as well, which takes some getting used to. With proper training, a useful interaction can be had, but I found this hurdle to be under par for the rest of the exceedingly impressive feature set as a whole. However, outside of a few athletic implications, I typically just control things from my phone, so the issue is neither here nor there for most of my daily listening routines.
Usher Audio UA-50 Anniversary Three-Way Monitor Loudspeakers Review
January 16, 2024 Comments Off on Usher Audio UA-50 Anniversary Three-Way Monitor Loudspeakers Review
The Usher Audio UA-50 Anniversary loudspeakers are very impressive, delivering detailed, and wide-staged imagery, cohesive top-down from their diamond tweeters through a rich and lush midrange, into the mid-bass, and a little below. On their own, they render a variety of material from classical to jazz, blues, and rock. Combined with quality sources and electronics, they’re quite compelling. And if you need extra lower end, you can always deploy a quality subwoofer (or, better yet, a pair of subs) to your heart’s content. However, for the vast majority of time spent listening to them, the thought rarely crossed my mind. They really drew me into the music.
Summed up, if you’re into an immersive audio experience, high-performance three-way monitors with a slick retro 80s vibe, a lush and detailed midrange, and modern accouterments like an updated curved chassis and modern diamond tweeters, the Usher Audio UA-50s just may be your end game. But, don’t wait long; there are only a few left!
Simaudio’s Moon 791 Streaming Preamplifier:
January 15, 2024 Comments Off on Simaudio’s Moon 791 Streaming Preamplifier:
I’d be remiss to not point out that one way to better the 791’s performance is to opt for the company’s top-of-the-line streaming preamplifier, the Moon 891. Dimensionally similar to the 791, albeit taller, the 891 improves on its sibling through subtle circuitry refinements to the line stage, phono stage, and digital-to-analog sections, as well as to the volume control. The resulting improvements would undoubtedly show up on the test bench, but whether they’d be discernible to the ear, given the extraordinary performance of the 791, is questionable. The 791’s noise and distortion figures, and other performance parameters, already dip below the theoretical threshold of audibility. A side-by-side comparison would be the surest way to find out.
The takeaway
In implementing a large set of valuable features with no apparent compromises to its performance, the Moon 791 marks an extraordinary departure from the expected norm, linking fancy features to performance penalty. In fact, the outstanding test-bench results of the 791 led Diego to write to Dominique Poupart, “Bravo on a technically exceptional product!” Diego rarely offers such commendations, and rarely do I heap such praise on a component, but the audiophile-grade 791 is exceptional: it is a straight wire with gain and it has oodles of features. Have your cake and eat it too!
B&W 603 S3 Loudspeaker Review
January 15, 2024 Comments Off on B&W 603 S3 Loudspeaker Review
The most significant – and presumably most expensive – upgrade for this generation is to be found in the tweeter. Diamond or carbon domes, as used higher up B&W’s range, are not tenable in this price category, so instead the manufacturer has developed a new titanium dome tweeter. A two-part design, this features a 25µm-thick main dome framed by a marginally chunkier (30µm) titanium ring, and fires through a new mesh grille derived from the 800 D4 series’ tweeter assembly. For this generation, the positioning of the tweeter is also closer to the midrange below (their trim rings ‘overlap’) to improve driver integration.
The titanium dome is mounted into an elongated tube that’s hidden inside the cabinet. The principle behind this design is nothing new for B&W – albeit more apparent with its ‘Tweeter-on-Top’ models – and is intended to progressively attenuate the rear output of the tweeter, minimising rear reflections while also isolating the driver from pressure variations within the main cabinet.
HIFIMAN SVANAR WIRELESS IN-EAR MONITORS $499 REVIEW
January 12, 2024 Comments Off on HIFIMAN SVANAR WIRELESS IN-EAR MONITORS $499 REVIEW
The new HIFIMAN Svanar Wireless IEMs have some cool tech implemented including an R2R Himalaya Ladder DAC section, a Topology driver that features special Nanoparticle coatings on the driver diaphragm, and a custom headphone amplifier module. Among the Bluetooth codecs supported HIFIMAN has thoughtfully included LDAC for higher bitrate transmission. The advanced Active Noise Cancellation is claimed to reduce outside noise by up to 35 dB.
FiiO Q15 Desktop / Portable Hi-Res Music DAC And Headphone Amplifier $399 Review
January 10, 2024 Comments Off on FiiO Q15 Desktop / Portable Hi-Res Music DAC And Headphone Amplifier $399 Review
Using the FiiO Q15 with my Sony Walkman instead of the Sony Walkman without the Q15 wasn’t like night and day. An audiophile description I first used nearly 30 years ago was “a small but significant improvement in sound quality.” This perfectly describes the experience of using the Q15 with my Sony Walkman. Sound quality improvement was much more noticeable when listening to high-resolution files, especially DSD. There was an improvement in sound quality across the board, including the size and scale of the sound field, its apparent frequency response, micro- and macro-dynamics, and, most importantly, the perceived realism of acoustic instruments and voices.
Of course, the level of improvement the FiiO Q15 rendered depended on the recording quality and headphones used. Connecting the Q15 to the USB output of my music server was not to embarrass it when compared to my usual DAC in the main system in my dedicated listening room, the mighty EMM Labs DA2. Yet I was very impressed with this FiiO DAC, as it displayed the audiophile traits I listed above when used with my Sony portable player. A more modest desktop system would appreciate the FiiO Q15 much more than my high-end system.
Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 800.2 integrated amplifier $10,999 Review
January 10, 2024 Comments Off on Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 800.2 integrated amplifier $10,999 Review
https://www.stereophile.com/content/musical-fidelity-nu-vista-8002-integrated-amplifier
This was a difficult review to write given that, like other 21st century solid state amplifiers that offer superbly low distortion and noise, the Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 800.2 didn’t have a readily discernible sonic character. Yes, Michael Fremer did write in his review of the original 800 amplifier that “There’s no mistaking the velvety, delicate sound of a nuvistor front end,” and I did indeed find the 800.2 easy on the ears. But Michael also wrote that while “CDs with a touch of hard edge and brightness were suitably softened and corrected, those that were hopelessly hard and bright remained so.”
I found that to be the case with the Musical Fidelity amplifier. It is exceptionally revealing of what was on the recordings I played or, with the loudspeakers I used for my auditioning, their intrinsic characters. But with its tight grip on the speakers’ woofers, its sense of almost unlimited power, its superb soundstage definition, and—again—that sense of ease to its presentation, the Nu-Vista 800.2 gets an unreserved recommendation from this audio critic.
The Best Jazz Albums (mostly reissues) of 2023
January 10, 2024 Comments Off on The Best Jazz Albums (mostly reissues) of 2023
Audiophilepure 
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