Bowers & Wilkins 705 S3 loudspeaker $3400 Review

July 8, 2023 Comments Off on Bowers & Wilkins 705 S3 loudspeaker $3400 Review

https://www.stereophile.com/content/bowers-wilkins-705-s3-loudspeaker

 Considering my well-established predilection for large speakers with extended bass, I didn’t expect that much from these small standmounts. I should have expected more. Even though my listening room was not as favorable to the 705s as a smaller, more damped room would be, their performance was rewarding and enjoyable—no apology need be made on account of their size. Their midrange and treble resolution is outstanding, and their bass is musically satisfying. When properly set up, they will readily pull off that little trick and disappear into their own soundstage.

iFi Go Link $59 Review

July 8, 2023 Comments Off on iFi Go Link $59 Review

https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/ifi-go-link

Rather a lot, as it so happens. The iFi Go Link feels like the perfect device for enhancing your headphones on the move and on a budget, living up to its brief of providing discernible sonic enhancements in a portable package without forcing you to fork out a fortune for the pleasure. Choose your apt analogy – Luton Town FC, Bruce Lee, Peter Crouch – the iFi Go Link joins the pantheon of performers punching well above their weight.

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

https://www.audiophilia.com/reviews/2023/5/5/focal-bathys-hi-fi-bluetooth-active-noise-cancelling-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.

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