Zavfino ZV8-X Review
May 3, 2022 Comments Off on Zavfino ZV8-X Review
https://stereo-magazine.com/review/zavfino-zv8-x-review
For all its differentiation, the ZV8-X does not appear analytical or even drained in the slightest, but plays with fulminance. It also gave Diana Krall on her “Live In Paris” album a grand performance by placing the concert in a spacious frame and keeping a perfect overview in the tumultuous as well as in the quieter passages, while transmitting the tingling live atmosphere and breathing aura in the Paris “Olympia”. Then, at the latest, it was obvious that Zavfino is by no means just any generic newcomer. It rather is a real discovery that even brings a high-quality phono cable with it.
This supposedly sober and rationally constructed turntable delivers a good portion of musical soul on top of a high-class performance. In this form, we‘ll enjoy following the impeccably functioning Canadian very much.
ASTELL&KERN ACRO CA1000 REVIEW
May 2, 2022 Comments Off on ASTELL&KERN ACRO CA1000 REVIEW
I can understand why the team at Astell&Kern settled on the phrase “Carriable Headphone Amp” to stick on the box – there really isn’t anything else succinct enough to describe quite what the ACRO CA1000 is, or what it can do. But, it’s far more comprehensive than simply a headphone amp that you can pick up and move around with you. To describe it simply, Astell&Kern have taken the screen, functionality and digital smarts of one of their higher-end DAPs, and melded it with a desktop-ready discrete headphone amplifier with enough grunt and multiple outputs that make it ready for pairing with anything from IEMs, to hard-to-drive headphones. And with multiple digital inputs, Bluetooth and wifi capability, plus RCA analogue inputs and outputs, the ACRO CA1000 is also ready to function as an audiophile-grade DAC and preamplifier upstream of other audio equipment, such as power amplifiers or powered monitors.
AVID Reference Four Loudspeaker £20,000 Review
May 2, 2022 Comments Off on AVID Reference Four Loudspeaker £20,000 Review
https://www.hifinews.com/content/avid-reference-four-loudspeaker
Staying with events in that county, the Fours do a fine job with the 2020 Bergen Philharmonic/Edward Gardner recording of Britten’s Aldeburgh-set Peter Grimes [Chandos CHSA 5250; DSD 64]. Yes, in absolute terms I could have done with a little more bass growl and weight for that celebrated ‘Storm’ interlude, but for speakers so small what’s on offer is still mighty impressive. In the context of an unfolding drama whose every nuance and twist is illuminated by the levels of insight these loudspeakers deliver, the loss of that last iota of room-shaking ability is a very minor concession.
In practice, those crashing, wind-tossed waves are certainly tumultuous enough considering the diminutive size of the speakers unleashing them, as is the way the Reference Fours portray the unearthly nature of the despairing conclusion to the piece. These are speakers to grab the listener and command attention, and they do that regardless of the musical genre being played.
Monolith by Monoprice 13-Inch THX Ultra Certified Subwoofer $1,700 Review
May 1, 2022 Comments Off on Monolith by Monoprice 13-Inch THX Ultra Certified Subwoofer $1,700 Review
Film sound, of course, is a big incentive in most purchases of subwoofers of this bulk, but I had little doubt of the 13THX’s capabilities in that sphere. I streamed a variety of bass-active titles with great effect, including the more-than-usually ridiculous Amazon sci-fi-er The Tomorrow War. The first five minutes are a flat-out bass-fest, with every kind of movie soundtrack low-end effect on parade: explosive shockwaves, ominous rumbles, time-machine vibrations, and musical-score bottom-octaves. Unsurprisingly, the 13THX reeled all this off, at THX-ref levels, without breaking a sweat or emitting any uncouth boom, bloat, or burp.
I also spun through a handful of favorite bass demo scenes that hold up to the light of memory, including T-Rex footfalls from Jurassic Park and the train/bus crash from The Fugitive. One that I rarely omit is the cannon-practice scene from Master and Commander. With the Monolith on duty, the sharp, open-air crack of ignition was as startlingly crisp as I remembered, while the very low-frequency underpinnings were as prominent, and as deeply resonant, as I’ve ever experienced.
NAD M10 V2 BLUOS STREAMING AMPLIFIER $2,499 REVIEW
May 1, 2022 Comments Off on NAD M10 V2 BLUOS STREAMING AMPLIFIER $2,499 REVIEW
NAD has produced a component that is almost the unicorn of audio products. It is a streamer, a top-quality DAC, an amplifier (and pre-amp), dual sub outs and with BluOS, a plethora of streaming services at your command. HDMI allows for a simple home theater set up. The screen is customizable and easy to use and see from across the room. Besides all the great sound, the NAD M10 V2 is just fun to use. Highly recommended!
D’Agostino Relentless Preamp Preamplifier Review
April 30, 2022 Comments Off on D’Agostino Relentless Preamp Preamplifier Review
https://www.hifinews.com/content/dagostino-relentless-preamp-preamplifier
‘From there, I couldn’t resist trying it in a preamplifier circuit. The Momentum Preamplifier was the first one to benefit from this FET input stage, becoming the Momentum HD in the process [HFN Apr ’20]. However, I knew we could achieve more starting with a blank slate and additional real estate to fully exploit the benefits of our FET concept.’
So will we see this FET circuit exploited in other line stage applications? ‘Certainly’, declares Dan, ‘we’ve already inserted an additional FET stage between the DAC output and the Relentless Preamplifier circuitry in our forthcoming Streaming Module’.
Dan’s outboard Phono Preamp (‘I haven’t had time to think of another name yet’, he admits) will be the next component in the Relentless series, powered off the back of the Preamplifier. RIAA equalisation will be all-passive, sandwiched between two ‘Relentless’ FET stages and offering a total +70dB gain. ‘It’ll be MC only’, says Dan. ‘And more to come?’, I ask. Dan pauses.
Von Schweikert Audio Ultra 7 loudspeaker $180,000
April 29, 2022 Comments Off on Von Schweikert Audio Ultra 7 loudspeaker $180,000
Finally, VSA’s revolutionary Room Adjustment Control Suite. Von Schweikert Audio’s designs are 100% analog and achieve reference flat frequency response shipped from the factory. Yet they understand the real-world challenge of getting flat response in the various listening room By utilizing our Room Adjustment Control Suite consisting of autoformers with induvial signal paths for each level selection, they can adjust the Main Tweeter, Super Tweeter and Rear Ambient Array independently by 1/2 dB increments allowing us to achieve much greater reference performance in your room than any other analog loudspeakers available. This is one of the key factors that led to our unprecedent number of Best in Show awards over the years.
Audio Note UK M1 Phono preamp & Empress Silver parallel single-ended triode monoblocks Review
April 29, 2022 Comments Off on Audio Note UK M1 Phono preamp & Empress Silver parallel single-ended triode monoblocks Review
I have fielded e-mails from audiophiles asking me about which power amp to get and I can’t answer that except to say that if you listen to a lot of rock and pop the Empress is more exciting to listen to than comparable Quest 300Bs in my experience. If you want that lusher, softer, valve-like presentation you may want the 300B or even Audio Note Paladin 45 output tube, which I like but is limited to just 2 watts per channel.
With the M1 warmed up and ears now used to the sound of its presentation, I was impressed by the preamp’s low noise floor and its ability to get along with not only the Empress Silver monoblocks but also my KingKo KA101 Pro EL84 integrated (used as a power amp) and, perhaps most surprisingly, my Wyred 4 Sound mAmp monoblocks. This is important because a good preamp gives the listener a choice of power amps. A lot of audiophiles on forums own speakers that are “borderline” in terms of efficiency and sensitivity. Yes, a low-powered SET amp will drive an 87dB sensitive speaker rated at 4 ohms but the amplifier won’t want to play AC/DC or large-scale classical music. When you want to play and be truly beguiled by Eva Cassidy, then the Empress will give you that added bit of magic
Kimber Kable Naked £12,700 Review
April 28, 2022 Comments Off on Kimber Kable Naked £12,700 Review
https://www.hifinews.com/content/kimber-kable-naked
Physically lightweight, Kimber’s Naked still packs as much experience and ‘technology’ into its fragile frame as you’ll find in any battleship interconnect. Here, oxidation-resistant solid-core conductors meet as ideal a dielectric as might practically be devised, and all without skewing the basic ‘lumped’ LCR parameters. While it’s as neutral and equipment-agnostic an interconnect as you’ll encounter, an in situ demo remains de rigueur.
ATC SIA2-100 integrated amplifier Review
April 28, 2022 Comments Off on ATC SIA2-100 integrated amplifier Review
ZZ Top bass player Dusty Hill sadly passed away toward the end of my listening, so I paid my respects by putting Tejas [Warner Bros] on the turntable and allowing the Rega Aphelion 2’s stylus to work its way across side A to the fabulous ‘Enjoy and Get it On’. The needle was sufficiently warmed by the third track for the raw sound of the band’s precision boogie to really get under my skin and by the time the desired track came around it was smoking, Billy Gibbons’ guitar delivering a scorching solo over the perfectly synched rhythms of Hill and drummer Frank Beard. With a digital source supplying a line level signal you get a bit more detail and finesse than the onboard DAC with equally impressive timing but in truth the result wasn’t dramatically superior to the onboard converter, and that, for a £2.5k component, is a decent result.
Audiophilepure 
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