ampsandsound Arch Monoblock Amplifiers | REVIEW
July 20, 2023 Comments Off on ampsandsound Arch Monoblock Amplifiers | REVIEW
Listening to Yello’s The Eye, I really saw the speed of the ampsandsound Arch Monoblock amplifiers come to life. Each drum hit was clear, concise and exact. Sound seems to simply start and stop, and to continue with analogies I would compare it to a ballerina instead of break dancer. However, just imagine that the ballerina was as fun to watch as a break dancer. That is the thing with the Arch Monos–they were simply fun, and they were fun even when they were exacting and precise, and this is what makes them special. Listening to “Indigo Bay,” the Arch Monos painted a soundscape that enveloped the entire room. Each bass note reached low and the synth tracks had just the right amount of bite. It was enthralling.
Wrapping up my listening impressions, I listened to Cat Steven’s Teaser and the Firecat,
specifically the song “Moonshadow.” The bite of the guitar was palpable but never overbearing. I was able to turn the volume up to concert levels and at no point did the soundstage collapse nor did the detail ever change form pleasant to fatiguing. The final guitar round at the end of the song was especially impactful. The volume raises about 30% and the mic on the guitar becomes particularly hot. Normally I am reaching for the volume, but with the Arch Monos I simply sat back and let them do their thing, smiling the entire way.
KEF Reference 1 Meta $8999 Review
July 20, 2023 Comments Off on KEF Reference 1 Meta $8999 Review
https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/kef-reference-1-meta
We switch musical genres to Major Lazer’s Pon The Floor and the KEFs shift gear effortlessly. With music such as this, they sound agile and punchy, delivering the song’s rhythmic drive with verve. Bass notes kick hard and lows are delivered in a taut and tuneful way. Move up the frequency range and you’ll find that voices come through with clarity; every nuance is delivered in a clear and proportional way.
There is plenty of bite at the top end too, but never to the extent where the speakers make a meal of a less-than-perfect recording. While there is no denying the Reference 1 Meta’s high level of transparency, they never sound like the flaws in the recording are being highlighted. If those flaws are there you’ll hear them but there won’t be a spotlight on them.
Astell & Kern A&norma SR35 $799 Review
July 19, 2023 Comments Off on Astell & Kern A&norma SR35 $799 Review
https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/astell-and-kern-aandnorma-sr35
Sonic fatigue won’t be an issue either, unless your listening session includes playing the whole of The Cure’s Disintegration album at the volume level it deserves (and demands in the liner notes!) That’s because the SR35 has the punch and rhythmic drive to keep you tapping along to upbeat tracks, and the insight to draw you into the details of those calmer ones. This is the kind of musical machine we have come to expect from Astell & Kern, and while the company has done well to differentiate its models of varying prices with regard to resolution and overall transparency, it has remained consistently loyal to a full-bodied, entertaining character across them.
MoFi SourcePoint 10 Loudspeaker £4500 Review
July 19, 2023 Comments Off on MoFi SourcePoint 10 Loudspeaker £4500 Review
https://www.hifinews.com/content/mofi-sourcepoint-10-loudspeaker
With modern dance tracks that care little about stereo imaging, these speakers get on with sounding full-range and subjectively uniform. Trance anthem ‘Carte Blache’, by Veracoche [Pure Trance Classics; New State Music NEWCD9068], thundered along with a punchy kick drum and synth notes that ebbed and flowed through the midband, while DJ Brockie and Ed Solo’s drum ‘n’ bass piece ‘Represent’ [Undiluted 44.1kHz/
16-bit download] was less musical, more visceral. Both proved MoFi’s woofer isn’t slow, particularly with the deliberately jerky bass on the Brockie track, and with the McIntosh amp as back up the SourcePoint 10s smashed out these nightclub staples. Unsurprisingly, given their proven spec. and sheer size, they can be cajoled into sounding far larger than a staple standmount.
Monitor Audio Hyphn Loudspeaker £70,000 Review
July 16, 2023 Comments Off on Monitor Audio Hyphn Loudspeaker £70,000 Review
https://www.hifinews.com/content/monitor-audio-hyphn-loudspeaker
The same is true of The Who’s much more recently recorded With Orchestra Live At Wembley set [Polydor 4883160]. Here the Hyphns show Pete Townshend’s guitar can still slam and Roger Daltrey’s vocals snarl, but also make the most of the added warmth of the 57-piece ‘big band’ backing, whether on the opening ‘Who Are You’ or classics such as ‘Baba O’Riley’, the latter also notable for the contribution of the ‘audience choir’.
With this and the classic Floyd set, the Hyphn shows it can let down its hair and rock hard when required, but then the next moment it can go back to lush and intimate. For example with Joyce DiDonato’s radiant Eden recital [Erato 0190296465154] every word of ‘As With Rosy Steps The Morn’, from Handel’s Theodora, is crystal clear, thanks to the speakers’ focused, insightful view of the singer’s remarkable voice, with every timbral nuance laid out for inspection. Or then again you could just enjoy the magic of the performance – these loudspeakers work on both levels.
Quad II Review
July 16, 2023 Comments Off on Quad II Review
https://www.hifinews.com/content/quad-valves-reinvented
Factor out nostalgia. Forget the miracle of Quad Making Valve Amps In The 21st Century. Look at the Quad units in terms of a current pre/power tube combination. Then look at the opposition. Now factor in gorgeous styling, superb build quality, perfect ergonomics, ample grunt, genuine heritage and the kind of sound which allows valve enthusiasts to show two fingers to transistor users. Suddenly, you sense a virtue found in Quad products made prior to the 405: unparalleled cost-to-performance ratio.
The preamp sounds like what I’d expect of a £2500 unit. The power amps? The best current all-tube rig I can think of below £3500, which is what you’d pay for the heartwarming Audio Research VT50. Eyes closed, then, and this system says to me, ‘£6000’. Which is what the old management wanted just for the Celebration Quad II alone. At £3995 for the QC-twentyfour and the Quad ll-forty, the waiting list is already thrice around the block.
Audio-Technica AT-LP2022 Fully Manual Belt-Drive 60th Anniversary TurntableReview
July 15, 2023 Comments Off on Audio-Technica AT-LP2022 Fully Manual Belt-Drive 60th Anniversary TurntableReview
The turntable is quite something; it just sits there, waiting for you, almost daring you to choose the best album for it to play. Its aesthetics are original and its tonearm/cart implementation working in unison to align themselves for our listening pleasure is an achievement on its own.
Back in the day having a Les Paul guitar or a Marshall amp said something about your style, your taste in music, and how you’d like to be perceived. And back in the day, I, like many other teens who went to gigs and watch cover bands, wished we had the money to buy that gear—it meant something. It feels like now at almost 50 years old it was my time to play in the band. The AT-LP2022 60th Anniversary Turntable is a commemorative component of years of work and achievement. It’s good to know it’s in good hands and I highly recommend you get yourself one if they’re still out there.
HIFIMAN HE1000 STEALTH $2,999 REVIEW
July 15, 2023 Comments Off on HIFIMAN HE1000 STEALTH $2,999 REVIEW
With the open cups, the HE1000 Stealth is not a headphone to use on-the-go. At home or at the office you best use it in a silent environment as a lot of sounds leaks in and out. No surprise there. What I do like about the HE1000 Stealth is that you can use it for many different things. I even use it for conference calls and watching tv straight from my laptop. The Stealth is fairly easy to drive (Impedance 32Ω & Sensitivity 93dB ) and though it performs best with an amplifier (more on this later), you really can plug it in to anything and enjoy it. It’s not one of those high-end setup, music only kind of headphones.
MartinLogan Neolith $120,000 REVIEW
July 15, 2023 Comments Off on MartinLogan Neolith $120,000 REVIEW
Naim Audio NSC 222 Streaming Preamplifier $8999 Review
July 14, 2023 Comments Off on Naim Audio NSC 222 Streaming Preamplifier $8999 Review
https://www.audiophilia.com/reviews/2023/5/3/dl8b6p1p0nk9xi7nywkbshspjq1kl1
My streaming (and CD) test track to end all tracks, “Dead Already” from Thomas Newman’s score to American Beauty, had life and super energy on the Personas, less so on the smaller Founder bookshelves. I was somewhat surprised considering comparison to my several super high-end frames of reference, the 222 had more air around all the whizzing and buzzing instruments; very impressive and immersive. Also, the bass from the recording via the 222 was monstrous and incredibly deep. Same on two of my favourite “electronic” albums (I’m so late to the party!), Boards of Canada Music Has The Right To Children (Trip Hop and mesmerically beautiful) and the raucous, fun debut album from Tranquility Bass, Let The Freak Flag Fly.
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