Aurender N20 Music Server / Streamer Review
December 7, 2021 Comments Off on Aurender N20 Music Server / Streamer Review
https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/reviews/review-aurender-n20-music-server-streamer-r1066/
Aurender has wisely curated the features available in its Conductor application by accepting feedback and deciding which ideas don’t belong in the app. I’ve asked for some fairly technical features over the years and looking back on it now, I’m happy the team said, thanks but no thanks. I still want the ability to upload a convolution filter, but that’s a topic for another day.
One more note about Aurender’s Conductor application. The app works very well on Apple Silicon based hardware. I run the app on my Mac Mini (M1) with Pro Display XDR and enjoy seeing more album covers on one screen that I can possibly comprehend (OK, I counted, it’s 264). It’s just nice to sit at my desk and control the Aurender from my desktop rather than wake my iPad or iPhone (I know, first world problem).
64 AUDIO – U6T REVIEW
December 6, 2021 Comments Off on 64 AUDIO – U6T REVIEW
First of all it’s important to mention that the U6t plays perfectly with all kinds of sources, and it’s dead silent at all times with a pitch black background. My favorite modules for the U6t are the m15 ones (gun metal grey like the IEM color) and the below impressions are based on that.
Sound stage wise the U6t scores well, but there is margin for improvement, so let’s call it moderate. This is especially the case when it comes to the sound stage width. The U6t extends better at the bottom than it does at the top, but you overall get a more intimate presentation. There’s nothing wrong with that actually, and many people prefer this kind of tuning. What I do like is the depth in the U6t, and that both for the bass and mids. Together with the lovely depth, you get good layering and that’s something I always love hearing.
Rogers AB3a Subwoofer Review
December 6, 2021 Comments Off on Rogers AB3a Subwoofer Review
https://www.hifinews.com/content/rogers-ab3a-subwoofer
Rather, you need to approach the AB3a expecting to free up the sound, if in ways that do not immediately spring to mind. Call them unintended consequences or, better still, unanticipated benefits. And what first made me realise this was the Nimbus Supercut of Miles Davis’ Kind Of Blue [CBS 62066]. The difference between with AB3a and without revealed itself throughout the entire LP, in various ways. The first was a sense of greater openness, the second was enhanced stage depth, while a third benefit was the exposure of fine details with improved clarity.
As this LP is a trumpeter’s creation, you’ll be pleased to learn that the punch, extension, clarity and, yes, the sound of Miles’ saliva, were a touch more vivid. Please bear in mind that the subwoofers were tuned to their least intrusive settings, such that I was wondering if they were even switched on. I couldn’t see or feel any woofer movement when I removed the grilles from the AB3as to check.
Cambridge Audio CXA61 review
December 5, 2021 Comments Off on Cambridge Audio CXA61 review
https://www.whathifi.com/us/reviews/cambridge-audio-cxa61
This is made clear when we listen to the Olafur Arnalds set, which relies on the system having a high degree of subtlety. It’s easy for an amplifier to sound ham-fisted when playing this recording, but it’s a trap that the Cambridge avoids. Instead it is confident and composed, but never overplays its hand.
This Cambridge is a rhythmic performer too, delivering Prince’s 3121 with verve. There’s plenty of entertainment to be had here from thumping basslines to intricately shifting rhythms with Prince’s distinctive vocals at the centre. The CXA61 ticks all the hi-fi boxes without forgetting that all the detail and tonal neutrality in the world doesn’t matter if the emotional content of the music is ignored.
Fyne Audio F700 Loudspeakers Review
December 5, 2021 Comments Off on Fyne Audio F700 Loudspeakers Review
https://www.soundstageultra.com/index.php/equipment-menu/1067-fyne-audio-f700-loudspeakers
Let me be clear up front: Fyne Audio’s F700 is a riot. I queued up Seinabo Sey’s “Younger [Acoustic Version]” from her debut album Pretend (24-bit/44.1kHz MQA, Universal Records/Virgin EMI Records/Tidal) and laughed out loud when I heard the finished product. The Swedish singer’s voice emerged from between these stylish two-ways in commanding fashion. The Fynes were decidedly not shy, propelling Sey’s closely-miked vocal into my room with a forwardness and immediacy that was impossible not to admire. The flanking piano lines were marked by a similar vibrancy; the aforementioned lower treble prominence is quite real, so careful equipment partnering is a must to ensure that this quality doesn’t become too much of a good thing. I need to emphasize that while I was sitting unmistakably front row, center seat for “Younger,” both Sey’s voice and her piano were utterly refined and silky smooth. This is not a bright-sounding loudspeaker, just forward. The F700 is so much more than a quick thrill. Stereo imaging of Sey’s vocal was terrific, with strong spatial definition; not exactly a shock given the Fynes’ coaxial driver arrangement. And detail retrieval was excellent for the price point. I easily picked up Sey’s mouth movements and inhalation of breath before she delivered her opening lines, and the track was as engaging at low volume as it was when I cranked my Hegel’s volume dial. It all sounded so effortless, yet hugely expressive and invigorated.
NAD C 298 Class D Power Amp Review
December 4, 2021 Comments Off on NAD C 298 Class D Power Amp Review
https://www.hifinews.com/content/nad-c-298-class-d-power-amp
I’ll not fall into the ‘but it’s a Class D amplifier’ trap. There’s no elephant in the room here, just a relatively compact black box sat on a kit rack. Yes, NAD’s C 298 might not bring the mug-of-cocoa warmth and smoothness one might expect (or demand) from a hot-running transistor or tube amp but that’s because it’s voiced for a very direct sound, presenting the music without gloss. In this instance there’s no fear the experience becomes clinical or dry, turning listening from a relaxed pleasure into something more demanding. There’s so much excitement to be had from its exuberance, power and rhythmic ability that any craving for something mellower doesn’t last for long.
I finished with The City Of Prague Philharmonic’s performance of Elmer Bernstein’s ‘The Magnificent Seven’ [100 Greatest Film Themes; Silva Screen Records SILCD1309]. Here, the brass instruments and rat-a-tat snare drums emerged from silence with the speed of an Old West sharp-shooter, but there was a light touch to the proceedings too. The C 298 didn’t overstate its power, and the sweeping string notes that followed were writ both large and lush. The amp also let the piece’s warmth and energy shine through. Magnificent? At this price, I’d say so.
Active Speakers from Cabasse: The Pearl Pelegrina €25,000 MSRP
December 3, 2021 Comments Off on Active Speakers from Cabasse: The Pearl Pelegrina €25,000 MSRP
https://stereo-magazine.com/article/exklusiv-active-speakers-from-cabasse-the-pearl-pelegrina
At the heart of the new speakers is the tri-coaxial TCA driver, also found in Cabasse’s La Sphère and Baltic V speakers, which combines woofer, midrange and tweeter into one driver. A built-in 30-cm subwoofer with Cabasse’s HELD technology is added to that. Thanks to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, DAC and active technology, the Pearl Pelegrina can be used as a complete streaming system; additional digital and analog inputs are also available.
The Pearl Pelegrina additionally offers DSPs and room correction – which works via a built-in microphone – to further optimize the music signal. The wireless speakers are also multi-room capable via the StreamCONTROL app, and can be controlled with the included Bluetooth remote.
The Cabasse Pelegrina are limited to 70 pieces and are said to cost €25,000 (MSRP for Germany including stand). Each model also features a numbered aluminum plaque.
Wells Audio Cipher DAC $5000 Review
December 3, 2021 Comments Off on Wells Audio Cipher DAC $5000 Review
I tend to find that ESS based DACs have a sound that I describe closer to etching than to painting when it comes to how they present the sound stage. The Cipher is not an exception to this. It etches the sound stage in front of you, with incredible detail, space, and depth. While the Mytek Brooklyn does this as well, I find that the Mytek is drier and more forward in its presentation. This creates too much of a good thing depending on the recording. Said a different way, give the Brooklyn the wrong material in the wrong signal chain and it can sound overly sharp and bright to my ears.
Unlike the Brooklyn, the Cipher never sounded overly harsh or dry to my ears. I assume that a big part of the reason why is Jeff’s output stage. I found that every recording has a minimum amount of body or weight. This weight when combined with the extremely detail of the ESS chipset balanced the sound and created something really special.
Degritter Ultrasonic LP Cleaner Review
December 1, 2021 Comments Off on Degritter Ultrasonic LP Cleaner Review
Degritter Ultrasonic LP Cleaner
In practice, the Degritter delivers all the incontrovertible benefits of ultrasonic cleaning. I pulled out a copy of Joni Mitchell’s classic Court and Spark that I bought more than 40 years ago (and have since replaced with a remastered version), and listened to it before and after cleaning. I also compared the sound before and after cleaning with another record I’ve had for decades, Bill Evans’ You Must Believe in Spring. I also tried a couple of recent used acquisitions, Linda Ronstadt’s For Sentimental Reasons (a spectacular recording, by the way), and Dexter Gordon’s The Monmartre Collection, Volume Two (that was sent to me in a Montmarte Collection Volume One jacket). This record, not available in any digital format, captures Gordon in his prime (1967) with a terrific band. With all these LPs, a cycle through the Degritter didn’t just reduce surface noise, as you’d expect; it also presented a startlingly blacker background that made the music seem to exist independently of the physical medium. The effect is a more believable presentation and a heightened sense of contemporaneous music-making. I really heard this on the Dexter Gordon record; the feeling of hearing a four-piece group play in a jazz club was more pronounced after cleaning. Ultrasonic cleaning also seems to make it easier to hear individual instruments, as though each exists as its own entity rather than being fused into a single fabric.
Monitor Audio Silver 500 7G Loudspeaker Review
December 1, 2021 Comments Off on Monitor Audio Silver 500 7G Loudspeaker Review
https://www.hifinews.com/content/monitor-audio-silver-500-7g-loudspeaker
Inside there’s also a new crossover, which the brand says was designed concurrently with the Silver 500 7G’s drivers, one project informing the other. Ceramic resistors, polypropylene and polyester capacitors, and air-core and steel-core inductors are used across an optimised three-way (800Hz/2.7kHz) network.
For £1725, these floorstanders are rather imposing. If you want a loudspeaker that will fit neatly in a small/mid-sized room, investigate the Silver 200 or 300 models, as these use 156mm woofers and so don’t have this cabinet’s 23cm girth. The Silver 500 7G enclosure is deep too (33cm), and once Monitor Audio’s new – and smart – moulded ABS outriggers are attached you’ll have lost a lot of floorspace.
It’s useful, then, that the new styling of this seventh generation is right on trend. Monitor Audio describes it as ‘crisp-edged’, but that sells it short. There are no curved faces, but corners are smooth and the finish of our ‘High Gloss Black’ and ‘Satin White’ samples was spectacular. There are three other colourways to choose from: Black Oak, Natural Walnut and Ash variants that dress the cabinet in real wood veneers. The last of those is intended to evoke the ‘Scandinavian look’, so ABBA fans should hunt it down.
Audiophilepure 
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