ZMF VÉRITÉ CLOSED REVIEW
April 22, 2021 Comments Off on ZMF VÉRITÉ CLOSED REVIEW
Starting from the lowest frequencies, the ZMF Vérité Closed makes a very good account of themselves in this department. The bass is slightly thick and dense, but comes replete with a great blend of texture, impact, and authority. It is a very good middle ground for listeners who prefer a more austere bass presentation, and those of the basshead persuasion. It can, and will, conjure a fantastic, potent bass response when your song or track requires one. Otherwise, it’s happy to sit in a corner on the stage, producing great lows but never making it a standout feature. In that sense, you’re getting a presentation that is polite, yet powerful when it needs to be. There’s very good control in the low-end here.
Tidal review
April 22, 2021 Comments Off on Tidal review
https://www.whathifi.com/us/tidal/review
We also originally noted that Masters tracks and albums (all marked with an ‘M’ logo) could be hard to find, but Tidal has worked to make this less of a sore spot by offering a growing number of Masters playlists and increasing discovery of these hi-res streams.
The Masters home page in the ‘Explore’ tab is a good place to start. Or you can type ‘Masters’ into the search bar, filter by ‘playlist’ and see curated selections for pop, rock, hip-hop, R&B and even for more niche genres such as K-Pop and latin. Masters-specifics playlists expand past genre, too: there’s now ‘Tidal Masters: New Arrivals’ and ‘Tidal Masters: Essentials’, genre-specific (‘Tidal Masters: Motown’) and artist-specific (‘Tidal Masters: The Smiths’) options, plus ‘Master Edition’ Artist Radio and Track Radio stations, which allow subscribers to listen to an uninterrupted stream of Tidal Masters tracks based on their listening habits.
CH PRECISION L10 LINE-STAGE PREAMPLIFIER AND M10 TWIN-CHASSIS POWER AMPLIFIER REVIEW
April 21, 2021 Comments Off on CH PRECISION L10 LINE-STAGE PREAMPLIFIER AND M10 TWIN-CHASSIS POWER AMPLIFIER REVIEW
CH Precision L10 line-stage preamplifier and M10 twin-chassis power amplifier
Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante K.364 is perhaps the perfect choice for this exercise. Not only does it play heavily on the tonal contrast between violin and viola, but enduringly popular it has been recorded across the years by multiple artists in an almost dizzying range of styles. Of the early stereo recordings, Decca’s 1963 impression, featuring the brother’s Oistrakh is deservedly highly regarded – leading to the almost inevitable slew of supposedly superior re-issues. I don’t have the original LP, but amongst my collection you’ll find a Universal/Decca gold CD and an FIM XRCD. Listening to these two on the 10 Series amps, it’s hard to credit that it’s the same recording. The gold CD sounds thin, pinched and gutless in comparison to the warmth, dimensionality, full-bodied swagger and instrumental interplay of the FIM disc. The instrumental conversation at the heart of the performance, the character of the key instruments and the way their exchanges lead you through the piece is far more convincing. This is a musical as opposed to a sonic distinction.
BAMBERG SERIES 3 TMW ACTIVE LOUDSPEAKER REVIEW
April 21, 2021 Comments Off on BAMBERG SERIES 3 TMW ACTIVE LOUDSPEAKER REVIEW
If there is one room boundary that can be counted on to always be at the same relative position to any speaker, it is the floor. We call the reflection from the floor that occurs about halfway between the speaker and listener “the floor bounce”. Since it is delayed in time from the direct sound, it causes a comb-filter effect. The fundamental (starting) frequency varies depending on speaker driver height, ear height, and listener distance. The closer to the speaker, the lower in frequency is the floor bounce fundamental. When we measure a 41”-high midrange driver at 1-meter, we see a cancelation at 160Hz. At 2-meters, the dip moves up to 230Hz. At 3-meters, it occurs at 300Hz, as shown in Figure 20 above (blue curve for the midrange driver). In the raw response (i.e. before crossover filters) the midrange showed a 15dB deep dip one octave wide! There is also a floor bounce from the woofer itself, but since the woofer is so close to the floor, it occurs above 1kHz.
Yamaha’s A-S3200 Integrated Amplifier $7,500 Review
April 20, 2021 Comments Off on Yamaha’s A-S3200 Integrated Amplifier $7,500 Review
Yamaha’s A-S3200 Integrated Amplifier
Yamaha’s A-S3200 is a flawless performer. This product is even more stunning in person than our photos or the ones from Yamaha suggest. This is a quality product in every way: great sound, rock-solid build, fantastic execution. The level of sonic quality on tap with this and a few other excellent choices in this price range is staggering compared to 5 or 6 years ago, when most audiophiles would have turned their noses up at the suggestion of a single box doing everything. All but the most obsessed can live happily ever after with the Yamaha A-S3200.
There is one thing to take serious note of, should you buy an A-S3200 for yourself. The idea of component break in is somewhat contentious, and anything dreadful out of the box doesn’t transform into wonderful 1000 hours down the road. These aren’t butterflies. However, the A-3200 is slightly dry and stiff sounding out of the box. Not a deal killer, but after about 200 hours of continuous play, it opens up tremendously. Further than I’ve experienced with other solid-state amplifiers, which makes me wonder if my test unit was up on a shelf in a warehouse for some time before it made its way here. So, my only suggestion is that when you take delivery on your A-S3200, give it a couple of weeks play time before you judge it completely.
FRANCO SERBLIN ACCORDO STAND-MOUNT LOUDSPEAKER £7,498 REVIEW
April 20, 2021 Comments Off on FRANCO SERBLIN ACCORDO STAND-MOUNT LOUDSPEAKER £7,498 REVIEW
Franco Serblin Accordo stand-mount loudspeaker
The Franco Serblin Accordo is a sumptuous looking loudspeaker with a sound that at once harks back to some of the best small speakers ever produced, yet does so without becoming a rose-tinted wayback machine and has a clean and extended treble that’s as modern as they come without sounding harsh or brash. It’s also a deceptive looking loudspeaker because it looks smaller than it is, and it’s very much a deceptive sounding loudspeaker because it sounds bigger than it is! But, most and best of all, it’s as entertaining to listen to as it is to look at.
VPI Prime 21+ Belt-driven Turntable Review
April 18, 2021 Comments Off on VPI Prime 21+ Belt-driven Turntable Review
https://www.hifinews.com/content/vpi-prime-21-belt-driven-turntable
Gerry Rafferty’s ‘On A Night Like This’ from North And South [London Records LONLP55] had me grinning from ear to ear. Rafferty’s voice was strong and focused, but best of all was the backing percussion. This bounds around behind the main instruments like an excited puppy. Bongos on the right? Check. Kick-drum slightly left of centre? Absolutely. The Prime 21+ captured these elements with ease and highlighted them, albeit with subtlety, making it a delight to follow their appearance as the track unfolded. The bass line also had a pleasing presence, underpinning the song in a fluid and easy manner.
Finally, I swapped the Shyla cartridge for my regular Clearaudio MC Essence [HFN Aug ’17]. The Clearaudio pick-up’s excellent bass tightened up the lower registers very slightly, even though it didn’t disguise the deck’s signature upper-bass warmth. It also revealed a little more treble sparkle than the Shyla, at the expense of the latter’s rich midband quality and its more general sense of cohesion. Clearly, VPI has voiced its cartridge well – the Prime 21/tonearm/Shyla trio making for a compelling one-stop vinyl-playing solution for the enthusiast on the upgrade trail.
KEF LS50 Wireless II Review
April 18, 2021 Comments Off on KEF LS50 Wireless II Review
https://www.whathifi.com/us/reviews/kef-ls50-wireless-ii
We listen to Adrienne Lenker’s Symbol and it is a more captivating affair through the Wireless IIs. The extra space between her vocal and the strings is in relative contrast to the originals, where it sounds as though they’re fighting against one another for attention. That extra spaciousness isn’t at the expense of cohesiveness either – a hallmark quality of the Uni-Q driver’s tweeter-inside-the-mid/bass-cone design.
The new KEFs lay bare more intricacies in the guitar work, while disclosing the distinctive fragilities in her vocal. Similar sharpness and attention to detail is evident as we switch to Peter Broderick’s Moment, the piano sequence aching with meticulously written melody as the LS50 Wireless IIs more deftly define the start and finish of notes.
ExaSound Delta Music Server $3000 Review
April 17, 2021 Comments Off on ExaSound Delta Music Server $3000 Review
https://www.stereophile.com/content/exasound-delta-music-server
The Delta Music Server is the most capable server I have used, but it is far from the most expensive. The base price is $3000, in silver or black. The addition of a 1TB SSD for local storage adds $150, and the 7″ touch-screen adds $280. If you are capable and motivated, perhaps you’d prefer to build something like this yourself; you probably could do it for less money. The only caveat I can think of is that it is dedicated to Roon and will not support other software. The Delta is, in my opinion, what a Roon server should be
Karan Acoustics KAS 600 Stereo Amplifier and KAL Reference MK3 Preamplifier $28,000 Review
April 17, 2021 Comments Off on Karan Acoustics KAS 600 Stereo Amplifier and KAL Reference MK3 Preamplifier $28,000 Review
I love being able to revisit a manufacturer after years between products. In the case of Karan, it’s clear the advancements made to the KAS 600 amplifier and the KAL REF MK3 preamplifier have been more evolutionary rather than revolutionary. The essential character of the combo definitely harkens back to its lineage. I like that. Why mess with the secret sauce? The areas of improvement heard by these ears while wracking my failing memory are to be found in transparency and speed from top to bottom. They seem more efficient and effortless at passing the signal than their ancestors. It strikes me it would be very difficult to find precisely what the Karan duo offers in other products. At least that’s how I hear it. The Karan sound remains unmistakable, yet very difficult to pin an overt coloration too.
As I always do with any component I review, I let my fangs out and try to come up with a reason for someone who can afford the asking price not to add the components to their system. In this case, I simply can’t come up with anything. The lack of remote input switching? The lack balance control? No, those are not not game changers when such wonderful sound is provided by the Karan KAS 600 amplifier and KAL REF MK3 preamplifier. I cannot imagine a scenario where this combo would need to be replaced for years to come if enjoying music, all genres of music at the highest level of fidelity, not obsessing about gear, is the priority.
Audiophilepure 
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