Audiophilepure

The P14 gives you the option to use a 12V trigger for automatic turn-on, but I chose to place the Turn On Options switch located on the back panel in the manual position. This requires you to press the power button on the front panel to turn on the P14. Once you have pressed the power button on, a blue light comes on and the current meters light up. After that, you simply press the Engage switch and you will be outputting 19V to your Roon Nucleus+ and it’s lights, camera, action time.

The first album I played with the P14 powering my Roon Nucleus+ was Roy Haynes We Three (Qobuz RVG 16/44.1) and it quickly showed the improvement to sound quality the P14 brings to the table.  The song “Reflection” showed the bass was more powerful and more fleshed out. The piano sounds more fleshed out as well in terms of power and dynamics. Roy Haynes’ cymbals have more impact and air around them. There are also more micro dynamics that brings out more subtle shadings of tone. The overall dynamic range of the music is wider now.

That means that competition for the enthusiasts’ dollars gets harder and harder for manufacturers to earn. The folks at Schiit Audio have risen to that challenge, and, through relentless innovation and continuous improvements, they sell audio components that provide excellent value for extremely reasonable prices.

The Stjarna phono preamplifier is a giant killer. For its $1,699 price tag, you get a very impressive set of features that would cost you $4,000 from other manufacturers. It provides non-fatiguing and detailed analog sound with the reliability of a solid-state architecture. It will work with essentially any kind of phono cartridge, and it has inputs for two cartridges. You can roll the tubes, and you can control it from your phone. I really can’t think of anything it can’t do. Highly recommended.

https://www.audiophilia.com/reviews/2025/10/2/alta-audio-geo-mark-ii-loudspeaker

Because of its ability to do so much with so little, the small and inexpensive (USD 3000/pair) Alta Audio Geo Mark II loudspeaker—endowed with the patented XTL II Bass—is a welcome addition to the Alta Audio line. It is undoubtedly an audiophile-quality speaker;  I think it will satisfy and fill in the gap for those who only have a relatively small space and want audiophile-quality sound, or want a second system in another small part of their home, such as a study. One could even bring them on a vacation. I must chime in with Levy, by ending with his observation, “The Geo Mark II is proof of how well the Alta Audio patented XTL II works.” A must try. Very highly recommended.

The output quality scales with a higher resolution file; also, extracting a CD over direct playback sounds better defined and dynamic.

You will notice the output is more resolving and textured when playing local files, and sounds marginally more confined in layering when listening to lossy sources like online radios. Overall, it is still tuned to be dynamic and rather natural in tone.

With the COAX output, it sounds a bit meatier in the lower end, and with the 3 digital outputs, you can connect to 3 decoders simultaneously.

In terms of streaming software support and the overall streaming experience, this device is stellar when compared with the FiiO S15 and the Eversolo DMP-A6 gen2 streamers, both of which have a slightly different positioning.