Esoteric Grandioso K1X SACD/CD Player-DAC and Grandioso PS1 Power Supply $36,000 Review
March 15, 2021 Comments Off on Esoteric Grandioso K1X SACD/CD Player-DAC and Grandioso PS1 Power Supply $36,000 Review
Mezzo-soprano Marianne Beate Kielland and pianist Sergei Osadchuck’s performance of the Gerald Finzi song “Come Away, Death,” from the album of that title (SACD/CD, 2L 2L-064-SACD), is haunting, with superb sound. However, its wide dynamic range can wreak havoc with a stereo system, particularly at high volumes. Even more than the K1, the K1X nailed the utter transparency, close miking, and subtle ringing of this mostly dry recording. Further, Kielland’s most pronounced vocal peaks, which sound a bit rough through the K1, were now tamed.
In most tracks on Come Away, Death, the same change was evident in the top notes of Osadchuck’s piano, which were now much more polished and crystalline than I’d heard before. As this album begs to be played loudly, I turned the volume high, even though my YG Acoustics Kipod II Signature speakers don’t really do well at sky-high volumes. Nonetheless, the K1X’s ultra-low noise floor became even more apparent—it was now a lot harder to get these speakers to misbehave.
JL Audio Dominion d110 Subwoofer $1000 REVIEW
March 13, 2021 Comments Off on JL Audio Dominion d110 Subwoofer $1000 REVIEW
The trick to getting better sound with subwoofers than you can get without them is to set up and configure them optimally for both your room and the loudspeakers they are paired with. I was very pleasantly surprised by the many ways in which the addition of the CR-1 and the stereo Dominion d110 subwoofers improved the overall sound of my system. The first and most obvious improvement was bass extension. Listening to the song “Heaven” by Meshell Ndegeocello, which combines her luscious voice with a real piano and synthetic bass, it was hard not to be wowed with the Dominion’s low-frequency performance. The bass was powerfully big—phat but also controlled, with well-defined textures and detail. Oh, and clean, too.
RHA TrueControl ANC Review
March 13, 2021 Comments Off on RHA TrueControl ANC Review
https://www.whathifi.com/us/reviews/rha-truecontrol-anc
The RHA’s sonic character plays into the hands of such a track: it’s big and full, warm and smooth, with an abundant low-end and rich mids that are able to get stuck into the meaty electric riffs and double-kick drumming. There’s a fair amount of detail in the mix, too.
Switch the noise-cancelling on and it doesn’t affect the sonics as much as we’ve heard with some other earbuds – all in all, it’s pretty satisfying. Their best efforts to reduce background TV noise and everyday road traffic are laudable, although as is to be expected from this kind of design they won’t cloak you in isolation to the extent that heavy traffic or engine noise is completely muted. You’re still likely to be disturbed when playing at low volume or mellow instrumental tracks, too.
FELIKS 300B integrated amplifier REVIEW
March 13, 2021 Comments Off on FELIKS 300B integrated amplifier REVIEW
Technics Ottava F SC-C70 MK2 Review
March 12, 2021 Comments Off on Technics Ottava F SC-C70 MK2 Review
https://www.whathifi.com/us/reviews/technics-ottava-f-sc-c70-mk2
The key, of course, is finding a good balance; the Auto Space Tune does a good job of that, and the ability to further tweak is welcome. But you won’t be criticising this Technics speaker for not having enough in the way of bass weight.
Detail levels are generally okay as well, giving enough information to keep that full-bodied presentation from becoming soft – in the upper registers at least. Unfortunately, though, the other side of
Sonus Faber Olympica Nova III Loudspeaker Review
March 12, 2021 Comments Off on Sonus Faber Olympica Nova III Loudspeaker Review
So where does that leave us in the overall scheme of things? For $13.5k the Sonus Faber Nova III certainly draw heavily on expectations, and from this reviewer’s perspective, deliver big on several fronts. The first being a very approachable frequency response. There are severe hand-me-downs from the extremely favorable Aida flagship, allowing for non-fatiguing rich tonal structure across range. This, paired with a level of detail retrieval expected from a device that costs the same as a used car – is something that brings next-level characteristics into the equation. Now, that alone is good enough for most speaker makers in the audiophile realm, but some of the secret sauce of Sonus Faber is intelligent and massively alluring industrial design.
ACELEC MODEL ONE SPEAKERS REVIEW
March 11, 2021 Comments Off on ACELEC MODEL ONE SPEAKERS REVIEW
https://www.monoandstereo.com/2021/03/acelec-model-one-speakers-review.html
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Many speakers, even larger and far more expensive ones, can act stoically with this splendid Reference Recording album. The efficacious Model One core not only provided a unique togetherness but allowed London Philharmonic Orchestra’s orchestral spirit to capture the essence of the music with a one of the kind interconnectedness.
This was especially evident in “A Sussex Overture, Op. 31” where the momentum was crafted with non-faux, sense-making qualities, and in the absence of aural blind alleys that are all too familiar with across too many loudspeakers on the market regardless of the price.
This was especially evident in “A Sussex Overture, Op. 31” where the momentum was shaped without faux pas, with sense-making qualities, and in an absence of sonic dead ends, as one knows all too well with too many speakers on the market, regardless of price.
WESTERN ELECTRIC 13A & 12A HORN SPEAKERS
March 11, 2021 Comments Off on WESTERN ELECTRIC 13A & 12A HORN SPEAKERS
https://www.monoandstereo.com/2021/02/western-electric-13a-12a-horn-speakers.html
As requested by many, here is update on the replication project of the Western Electric 13a and 12a horn speakers by Homin Kim’s (Silbatone Acoustics) friend, a well-known sculptor.
LEGACY AUDIO I-V7 MULTICHANNEL AMPLIFIER $7,550 REVIEW
March 11, 2021 Comments Off on LEGACY AUDIO I-V7 MULTICHANNEL AMPLIFIER $7,550 REVIEW
To sum up, I am very impressed with the performance of the Legacy i∙V7 Class D seven-channel power amplifier. Its efficiency allows the amplifier to output very high wattage in several channels at the same time without blowing a wall socket fuse. You would not be outputting 600 watts in all seven channels for more than a fraction of a second during dynamic peaks. Distortion is well controlled.
I think this technology is the future for surround sound amplifiers. If I were setting up a new home theater surround sound system, I would get this amplifier without hesitation. I would use it for the center channel and all the surround channels, including two height channels in the front. I would use a Class A or Class A/B amplifier for the front left and right channels since I would be using those channels for listening to stereo music.
AGD Audion Amplifier Review
March 10, 2021 Comments Off on AGD Audion Amplifier Review
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As usual I let the amps run in the back ground for a week to let them gel with my system. I do this with every single piece of gear to make sure it is well burned in, has at least a reasonable symbiosis with the rest of my gear, and to decide which of my speakers is best to utilize during the serious listening and critical reviewing period.
After a week or so everything seemed to gel in just fine, and I stayed with the VR4s for the review. I did run the Sonists a bit just for thrills, and overall it was a good match, but since they only plumb down to 40Hz, those hours were not logged for the review, but the AGD Audions would do well in a system with 95dB sensitivity if my experience was anything to go by.
Audiophilepure 
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