XENNS MANGIRD TOP REVIEW
April 23, 2023 Comments Off on XENNS MANGIRD TOP REVIEW
The build quality of the Mangird XENNS Top IEMs is quite good. I have experienced various IEMs from Mangird and each one shows impressive elements of craftsmanship. The resin shells are not only visually appealing but also provide a solid, durable construction that can withstand the rigors of daily use. The company states that the resin is imported from Germany and is of medical grade. The build quality deserves praise as all the joints look well-built. I can’t find any imperfections on the shells. Another subtle but nice detail is the use of a sleek piece of aluminum instead of a plastic filter in the DD’s air vent. I love it.
Zesto Bia 200 Select power amplifier $15,900 Review
April 23, 2023 Comments Off on Zesto Bia 200 Select power amplifier $15,900 Review
https://www.stereophile.com/content/zesto-bia-200-select-power-amplifier
The Haut Brion—both versions—is a wonderful, expressive amplifier. But it has nowhere near the sparkle, precision, resolution, or extension of the Bia 200. It also lacks the Bia 200’s tight, well-controlled, tuneful low end. It compensates by seeming more immediate, organic, and natural than the Bia 200. Both exist to serve the music, but they do it in different ways. The Bia 200 is transparent, powerful, resolving, fun. Maybe it’s the top end that seems to go out for miles, or the sonorous bass, or how it steps out of the way of recordings and lets them shine on their own terms.
Different people expect to hear different things from their hi-fi—different versions of transparency, as Herb Reichert would say—even as they seek musical truth. We’re all wired for the particular sounds that make our particular hearts sing. The Bia 200 is wired in a way that, for the right person, can make that happen.
VAUGHN LOUDSPEAKER LINE ARRAY REVIEW $9000 Review
April 22, 2023 Comments Off on VAUGHN LOUDSPEAKER LINE ARRAY REVIEW $9000 Review
I normally measure distortion using an 85dB signal across the bandwidth at my listening position, which would be about 94dB at one meter from the speaker. For the Line Array Majors, a 95dB signal at the listening position was used – a full 10dB above the normal test. This was loud enough that I wore earbuds for protection while taking the measurements. This is a slow sine wave, and not an enjoyable listen. It’s also a very difficult test for a speaker.
Let’s look at some distortion data from 80Hz and up. The black line is the frequency sweep, and the blue line is the THD+N. Any point with a 40 dB or greater spread between the lines is 1% THD or less. At 80-160Hz, we saw nothing higher than 1.47% THD. Above 160Hz, the THD was below 0.5%, hitting a low of 0.14% at 1,000Hz. This is an astonishing performance and dovetails perfectly with the listening results
NAD C 3050 LE Integrated Amplifier Review
April 22, 2023 Comments Off on NAD C 3050 LE Integrated Amplifier Review
https://www.soundandvision.com/content/nad-c-3050-le-integrated-amplifier-review
NAD’s C 3050 LE fully delivers on its promise of serious audiophile amplification with a side serving of streaming tech in a comfortably/not-painfully retro package at a very fair value. That statement is complicated, however, by NAD’s bewildering array of fully one dozen other integrated amplifier models, including a few that are variously equipped with network streaming/BluOS, DiracLive, and other hybrid-Class D technologies at power levels from 80 up to 200 watts per channel and at suggested prices from a few hundred dollars all the way up to the Master Series M33 that I raved about in these pages a couple of years back and which remains a jewel today at an eye-watering $5999.
HIFIMAN SHANGRI-LA JR REVIEW
April 21, 2023 Comments Off on HIFIMAN SHANGRI-LA JR REVIEW
The mids perfectly connect to the bass and they share the same amount of body but also the character. Natural, but smooth that is. The mid timbre probably is the most impressive. Spaciousness, airiness and that bit of tube smoothness and warmth do it fr me here. The vocals are more to the front and the upper mids have a brighter, less smooth character. The typical vocal presentation doesn’t bother me in any way in this typical tuning, and it always keeps things exciting (but realistic).
The treble section is where the SHANGR-LA jr is less linear and starts getting peakier from around the 2K mark. It’s not so much an issue to me, and many fellow headphone enthusiasts like this typical tuning. Treble is never bright or sharp, but it is energetic, spacious and extends nicely.
VTL TP-6.5 Signature II Phonostage $18,000 Review
April 21, 2023 Comments Off on VTL TP-6.5 Signature II Phonostage $18,000 Review
Review complete except for this wrap-up: I still haven’t returned to either reference phono preamp. Grant Green’s Feelin’ the Spirit (Blue Note ST-84132/B0033488-01) plays at moderate level in the background, and both the “Tone Poet” and VTL’s 6.5 MK II nail this one. Transparency, transient precision and delicacy, harmonic richness (RVG got Herbie Hancock’s piano just right on this 1962 recording), and an enveloping sense of the large, open Englewood Cliffs studio space produce a “you are there” sensation (and I’ve been there!).
I greatly preferred the active JFET/tube input to the transformer-coupled input, though I most preferred my costly transformer into the mm input. A different cartridge or a different system might produce a different result, but I don’t think so. My only complaint about the 6.5 Mk II was that there was more background noise (“tube rush”?) than I like to hear, and I wish it had been quieter. But that’s it. Successful transplant. In an email, Luke Manley (whose signature could not be found anywhere on the “signature” phonostage) wrote that “we are selling all we can make of this design.” I believe it.
TAD DA1000TX $15,900 Review
April 20, 2023 Comments Off on TAD DA1000TX $15,900 Review
https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/tad-da1000tx
Despite all these great things, there are still a few areas where we feel there is space for improvement. One of them concerns rhythmic drive. There is real momentum to Cave’s Babe, I’m On Fire but the DA1000TX doesn’t quite capture that energy. Our feet are still tapping but we know the similarly-priced Chord DAVE would capture more of the verve and drive of the track. It seems TAD’s search for refinement, analysis and control has sacrificed a little of the music’s fun in the process. That includes the way it pulls its punches when it comes to delivering the leading edge of transients and powerful large-scale dynamic shifts. This DAC prefers to err on the side of politeness, and on some more aggressive forms of music, we can feel the loss.
Klipsch La Scala AL5 loudspeaker $13,198 Review
April 20, 2023 Comments Off on Klipsch La Scala AL5 loudspeaker $13,198 Review
https://www.stereophile.com/content/klipsch-la-scala-al5-loudspeaker
The Klipsch La Scalas have been in constant production for 59 years, longer than all but a tiny handful of audio products, and this is surely not an accident. (Happily, it also means that secondhand examples, available for a fraction of their current price, are relatively common.) They aren’t perfect, and they require a large room and a suitable amplifier, but they offer the closest thing I’ve heard to a musical performance taking place in my home. They do this as reliably with solo viola as they do with Minor Threat. Best of all, they provide as direct a route as I’ve found to hours of musical engagement—to embodying what Sakuma-san described as “endless energy with sorrow,” to which I would add love, rage, humor, and elation. $13,198 is an investment, but it will buy you some of the most sonically irrepressible and musically communicative speakers in the known cosmos. They just may sustain you for life.
FiiO R7 Desktop Digital Music Streamer, Preamplifier, and Headphone Amplifier $700 Review
April 19, 2023 Comments Off on FiiO R7 Desktop Digital Music Streamer, Preamplifier, and Headphone Amplifier $700 Review
After hundreds of listening hours with FiiO’s R7 musical masterpiece on a variety of sound systems/headphones/IEMs, it was always easy to use and sounded great. While no one has heard every piece of audio gear at the under $1000 price level, for $699 FiiO has a big hit on its hands yet again. There are reasons why you see FiiO reviewed very positively within many publications all around the world. Overall, FiiO produces audio gear whose sound quality seems to far exceed the asking price time and time again.
If you love bass-heavy modern music, the FiiO never seems to run out of go-go juice. For naturally recorded acoustic music midrange mavens, you’re in for a real treat! For those whose ears are very sensitive to upper midrange and highs, your ears will be greeted with a delightful sound. The sound of the FiiO R7 is recording studio clean. I can not think of another product within the market today for under $1000 that offers as much usability, flexibility, and sound quality as the FiiO R7. But don’t just take my word for it. I encourage you to read other magazine reviews too. Then give it a listen and decide for yourself.
Playback Designs MPS-X Review
April 19, 2023 Comments Off on Playback Designs MPS-X Review
The first version of the PLINK interface was launched more than 15 years ago and supported DSD up to 5.6MHz. This version is called “Classic” and is implemented in the Playback Designs 5-series products and IPS-3 (unless they have been upgraded). As technology never sits still, the DSD sample rate has been expanded to 11.2MHz several years ago. Accordingly, Playback Designs also expanded the PLINK format and called it “Sonoma” reminiscent of its Sonoma workstation origin.
Interestingly, PLINK is compatible with NAGRA LINK. This means that the MPS-X Network Transport is compatible with NAGRA DACs that have a NAGRA Link input. And the same logic applies to the MPT-8 Transport. This is worth noting as there are currently no CD/SACD or Streamer Transports in the NAGRA catalog.
Audiophilepure 
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