Dynaudio Focus 30 Active Loudspeaker System Review
January 13, 2023 Comments Off on Dynaudio Focus 30 Active Loudspeaker System Review
At the end of Gordon’s exhaustive review, he concluded that the Focus 30 system “deepened” his “admiration for Dynaudio’s active speakers,” and that he was “won over by the Focus 30’s transparent presentation, effortless dynamics, pinpoint imaging, and bass extension.” Gordon added that he “loved the look of the speakers” in his living room, but the support for Dirac Live is “the clincher” when it comes recommending this speaker system to readers. Gordon’s praise in his review earned the Focus 30 speaker system a Reviewers’ Choice award at the time it was published—and that same praise has now earned it a Recommended Reference Component award. Suffice it to say, DSP-based active speakers have come of age for those who are serious about sound—and Dynaudio’s Focus 30 has the features to optimize that sound, too.
Bowers & Wilkins Px8 Headphones $699 Review
January 12, 2023 Comments Off on Bowers & Wilkins Px8 Headphones $699 Review
https://www.soundandvision.com/content/bowers-wilkins-px8-headphones-review
Even without looking at, feeling, or listening to the Px8, there are so many things I love. I truly love that they have button controls instead of touch pads on the earcups. I end up accidentally doing “something” when wearing touch-pad headphones– advancing a track, pausing, adjusting volume, whatever, when I was only rubbing my ear or moving my hair. I love being able to assign different functions to the Quick Access button. I love the pass-through ANC mode. And I love the high-quality streaming function. And did I mention how much I love how they look, feel and sound?
They are expensive and have extravagant finishes. But you really do get what you pay for. With the Bowers and Wilkins Px8, you get luxurious ANC headphones with exactly the sound quality you would expect.
Emotiva BasX TA1 Integrated Amplifier Review
January 12, 2023 Comments Off on Emotiva BasX TA1 Integrated Amplifier Review
In general, the TA1’s performance is of the crowd-pleasing nature you’d expect from a feature-packed integrated at this price – it plays loud and low, has tangible driving ability, and snaps into detail. Depth of soundstage is also handled well, ensuring The Allman Brothers Band’s At Filmore East [Mercury 0600753270240] comes across like the live recording it is. But the amp doesn’t spread the sound particularly wide, meaning that, on the epic-length ‘Mountain Jam’, there’s a suggestion of the players fighting for the spotlight.
This, and the TA1’s lack of real richness and smoothness in mids and highs are where its sonic aspirations come face to face with its price tag. Yet I’ll end on a high, as the amplifier deserves it – Warren G’s hip-hop hit ‘Regulate’ [Violator Records 523 335-2] sounded as vibrant and bouncy as its producers intended, the TA1 digging up warm, room-filling bass and projecting the soul-inflected vocals right at me. That so much energy was coming from a slim, black box was an eye-opener.
dCS • Bartók 2.0 Digital-to-Analog Converter and Headphone Amplifier $19,950 Review
January 11, 2023 Comments Off on dCS • Bartók 2.0 Digital-to-Analog Converter and Headphone Amplifier $19,950 Review
https://www.theaudiobeat.com/equipment/dcs_bartok_20.htm
hat a reunion this turned out to be. Instead of adding a thicker faceplate or glitzy touchscreen, dCS has focused on features and performance with the Bartók 2.0. Excluding dCS’s own Rossini and Vivaldi DACs, I can’t think of another competing product with a greater level of user-adjustable sonic parameters than the Bartók 2.0. Once you begin to explore the new Mappers 1 and 3, both with DXD and DSD, I think you’ll discover that the 2.0 version easily exceeds the performance of the original. The new Bartók 2.0 with its accompanying Mosaic 2.0 app is simply brilliant
FIIO BTR7 PORTABLE BLUETOOTH HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER $189 REVIEW
January 11, 2023 Comments Off on FIIO BTR7 PORTABLE BLUETOOTH HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER $189 REVIEW
I enjoyed my time listening to music with the BTR7. Its overall tonal balance and dynamics reminded me greatly of the K3 and E10K-TC desktop DAC/amplifiers I reviewed previously. The highs are astonishingly clean, the midrange smooth, and the bass is powerful. The musical dynamics are effortless. No matter what the recording, it makes the listening experience enjoyable. What’s amazing is that BTR7 does it with a Bluetooth connection.
SPL Elector Analog Preamplifier | REVIEW
January 10, 2023 Comments Off on SPL Elector Analog Preamplifier | REVIEW
My second quibble may be of more concern for some users. I did find that the gain of the SPL
Elector was considerably less than other preamplifiers I have on hand. I didn’t find this to be any issue for during my own use, as I just turned the volume potentiometer a little further to the right.
Never did I have to go beyond about the one or two o’clock position to get the volume I wanted
on any system in which I employed the Elector. Of course, if you have inefficient speakers
Lowther Almira Loudspeaker £12,000 Review
January 10, 2023 Comments Off on Lowther Almira Loudspeaker £12,000 Review
https://www.hifinews.com/content/lowther-almira-loudspeaker
Rawls’ and Dianne Reeves’ voices retained much of their correct textures, hers clear and his raspy, but the absence of deep bass created an imbalance. It was more like listening to a small two-way speaker, despite ample levels which would destroy such systems. Yes, these go loud, but even with plenty of volume in hand I didn’t even bother to try and see how far I could go. It reminded me why horns were the default choice for cinemas back in an era when 5W amplifiers were considered powerhouses.
What caused enough concern to make me question the voicing of the Almira was the Platinum SHM CD of Blind Faith’s lone, self-titled album [Polydor Japan UICY-40013]. As trivial as this may seem, it was the simple cymbal crash that punctuates ‘Can’t Find My Way Home’, a specific crunch which sounded papery rather than metallic. That version of Blind Faith is one of the best I’ve heard, and my trusty Marantz CD12/DA12 in balanced mode is as sweet as CD sound gets. Not this time.
Covering the supertweeter to see if it was responsible merely proved that it added little to the sound. The edginess came from the main driver, making me wonder if the phase plug should be returned to its rightful place, and the LPFRCB removed. One suspects that Chave, Voigt and the rest knew exactly what they were doing a few lifetimes ago.
Burmester 217 turntable £18,700 Review
January 9, 2023 Comments Off on Burmester 217 turntable £18,700 Review
Breaking down the sound of the Burmester 217 is ultimately self-defeating because it’s an extremely coherent sound. Going back to that Nic Jones album once more, his voice, guitar and fiddle playing demand a system that communicates music well, and that’s precisely what the 217 does so well. This album normally shows up a higher-mass turntable as being a bit ponderous and rhythmically challenged, but on the 217, it’s light, tight and beautifully ordered. Swap Nic Jones for Frank Sinatra singing ‘It Happened in Monterey’ [Songs For Swinging Lovers, Capitol] and the 217 nails it; both Nelson Riddle’s excellent scoring and Sinatra’s uncanny passing tones meld together exactly as you always knew they should.
My only real issue with the 217 is more ‘philosophical’ than ‘musical’. I’m still unsure if the high-end turntable market ‘gets’ the notion of a turn-key turntable like this. While there was a long hiatus when turntables were starting to be discussed in the past tense, audiophiles before and after the vinyl revival almost universally selected the turntable, arm, and cartridge from a selection rather than select them as a single entity. Even brands that provide all the links in the chain (Clearaudio, for example) don’t specify their high-end models as a turnkey solution.
Carver Black Magic 25
January 8, 2023 Comments Off on Carver Black Magic 25
The amp runs cool, and provides a sound not as romantic as a vintage Mcintosh, Marantz or Dynaco amp, yet still delivers plenty of tubey, midrange magic that you’d expect. And of course, with only three input tubes, you can roll em’ if you’ve got em’ to fine tune and experiment.
Thanks to careful design, this little jewel plays louder than you would expect a 25Wpc amp to play, even with less efficient speakers like a pair of Harbeths, or your favorite LS3/5a variation on the theme.
Audiophilepure 
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