FELIKS AUDIO ENVY REVIEW

May 7, 2022 Comments Off on FELIKS AUDIO ENVY REVIEW

The first option impacts the performance and it as such is called the Performance pack. It sets you back €500 Euro and in exchange you get upgraded 300b tubes (Full Music) and UPOCC (single crystal copper) signal wiring. Our review sample has the performance pack. The second option is all about the looks: Oak wood is included and American walnut (our version) is €200 Euro extra. That brings the price of our review sample to €7.199 Euro. If you want another special type of wood, it’ll set you back another €400. Other customisations are possible, just ask Feliks Audio about them. In example your own laser engraving, custom internal components or multiple inputs and outputs for maximum functionality. Everything goes.

New Acapella Audio Arts “Hyperion” loudspeakers

May 5, 2022 Comments Off on New Acapella Audio Arts “Hyperion” loudspeakers

 Hyperion speakers are the new penultimate speaker from Acapella – styled like the Apollon, but with four 15 inch woofers per speaker, instead of four 10 inch drivers (Apollon also has two 10 inch isobaric drivers per speaker). I think they took some lessons learned from the 18 inch woofer in the flagship Sphaeron speakers and reportedly the efficiency (and immediacy)  of the Hyperion is also quite high (nearly as high, as the Sphaeron).

There is a “review” of the new Hyperion speakers on a Chinese website (if you need to translate it, use chrome and select the ‘translate’ icon in the right side of the chrome address bar).

It is not really an in-depth of the Hyperion speaker’s sound, however, mostly a technical overview of Acapella in general and some good technical details of the Hyperion, with photos!

Hyperion Acapella Hyperion speaker in-depth evaluation (full)

The couple who owns our rental in Palo Alto has decided to sell [and, no, we can’t afford to purchase this nice little $3.8M Eichler ranch home] so we are moving. Since we have to crate our Apollon speakers anyway…. it’s a good time for someone to make us an offer so we will then have space for the Hyperion

Moonriver Audio Model 404 Reference Integrated Amplifier £4995 Review

May 5, 2022 Comments Off on Moonriver Audio Model 404 Reference Integrated Amplifier £4995 Review

https://www.hifinews.com/content/moonriver-audio-model-404-reference-integrated-amplifier

Play Carmen Gomes, Inc.’s latest album, Ray! [Sound Liaison SL1052A; DXD], and the sheer intimacy of Gomes’s voice, accompanied by no more than guitar, bass and drums – or indeed just bass on ‘The Sun Is Gonna Shine Again’ – makes for a compelling listen, the amp working with source and speakers to give a real ‘artists in the room’ effect.

There’s no overt ‘hi-finess’ here, but instead an honest, rich and enveloping sound from boogie to sweeping orchestra to sultry jazz. While some will wish for more power, a headphone socket, or even a functioning USB input, the 404 Reference still offers a refreshing alternative to amplifiers with more obvious physical size and swagger.

Avantgarde Acoustic • Trio G3 Loudspeakers and SpaceHorn Subwoofers Review

May 4, 2022 Comments Off on Avantgarde Acoustic • Trio G3 Loudspeakers and SpaceHorn Subwoofers Review

https://www.theaudiobeat.com/equipment/avantgarde_trio_g3.htm

Is the Trio G3 system as good as the very best? I don’t know because I haven’t heard the very best Trio G3 system — the one with six bass horns. But if you can accommodate the Trio G3 with a single pair of SpaceHorns and want to match or better its performance, I can’t see you getting close unless you look at speakers like the Tidal Akira or the Wilson XVX (with subs) — along with the amplification to match. Either option represents a serious step up in price. That makes the Trio G3 more than just musically impressive. It makes it impressive value too. For those of us for whom even the most modest Trio setup is simply too large or too expensive, the iTron technology will find its way into more affordable and more easily accommodated Avantgarde speakers, like the Duo models. An active Duo Mezzo, with its horn-loaded bass cabinet and twin spherical horns, remains for me a simply mouth-watering prospect.

HIFIMAN Deva Pro Active Headphone with Bluetooth Review

May 4, 2022 Comments Off on HIFIMAN Deva Pro Active Headphone with Bluetooth Review

The Bluemini R2R sounds very good. HIFIMAN says a lot of work went into the custom-designed DAC and listening to the same tracks I auditioned with the wired hookup, I was hard-pressed to hear a difference. I could detect a very slight difference when auditioning the highest quality tracks in my collection. I found a slightly compressed dynamic range and a very slight reduction in the highs. Having said that, it was the best Bluetooth sound I’ve heard.

JBL 4367 Studio Monitor loudspeaker $16,500 Review

May 3, 2022 Comments Off on JBL 4367 Studio Monitor loudspeaker $16,500 Review

https://www.stereophile.com/content/jbl-4367-studio-monitor-loudspeaker

Yet the 4367s deliver more of what I love about the Altecs than more conventional designs do. They don’t deliver it all, but they deliver what they do with fewer sonic tradeoffs. And even more than the Altecs, they largely free the listener from the mental calculus of deciding which types of recordings will sound good on their hi-fi: Unlike most contemporary audiophile speakers, the JBLs are at home with anything from solo harpsichord to the loudest EDM single. When called upon to do so, they can play back music at sound levels that rival a live performance. Besides their imposing size and appearance there’s not much you have to give up for these abilities. Sure, the 4367s will not sound quite as airy and holographic as some rivals, but, at least for me, the tradeoff is more than fair.

The JBL 4367 Studio Monitors provide a lot for your $16,500. They effortlessly fill the largest living spaces with loud music, don’t require mammoth amps (though at least 50W is recommended for all but the smallest spaces), and most importantly will play your whole record collection well. For listeners who want to hear every detail on their favorite recordings at lifelike volumes, these may be just right.

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

https://www.soundandvision.com/content/monolith-monoprice-13-inch-thx-ultra-certified-subwoofer-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.

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