Dan D’Agostino Progression Integrated $23,000 Review

May 31, 2021 Comments Off on Dan D’Agostino Progression Integrated $23,000 Review

https://www.whathifi.com/us/reviews/dan-dagostino-progression-integrated

It’s a taut and precise presentation; one that edges towards the lean side of neutral without going as far as to be criticised for being thin or lacking in tonal colour. It’s this balance that allows the amplifier to sound so nimble for something so muscular.

Stereo imaging is terrific. The Progression paints a broad and expansive soundstage and populates it with crisply focused instruments. The orchestra is convincingly layered and there’s a pleasing impression of depth. This positional grip isn’t compromised when the music gets difficult either.Advertisementhttps://9a57bdb350320d1455158b06de8bb766.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html

We switch to Massive Attack’s Heligoland and are floored by the D’Agostino’s low frequencies. They’re superbly defined, beautifully layered and punched out with rare agility. There’s plenty of muscle and authority of course, but that’s to be expected given the power output on offer. What surprises – and impresses – us the most, though, is the Progression’s articulate nature.

Technics SU-G700 Integrated Amplifier $2,500 Review

May 30, 2021 Comments Off on Technics SU-G700 Integrated Amplifier $2,500 Review

Technics SU-G700 Integrated Amplifier


The SU-G700 has no negatives, and we haven’t even discussed the beautiful enclosure and attention to detail that goes along with this product. From the thick front panel, to the delicately lit power meters and even the high quality of the silk screening on the meters is in five-figure product execution range. If you are a build/style junkie, you’ll freak out by the level of overall quality present here. This is one beautiful piece of hifi gear – and it’s also available in black.

What the Technics SU-G700 does is provide you with a top-notch anchor for a great music system at an incredibly affordable price. It sounds great, looks fantastic, and offers an intuitive user interface too. Good as the remote is, the quality and feel of the controls just beg you to walk up to it, give the volume control a bit of a spin, and watch those power output meters come to life. Pairing it up with the SL-G700 and the speakers of your choice make for an incredibly high value proposition.

ProAc K1 review

May 29, 2021 Comments Off on ProAc K1 review

https://www.whathifi.com/us/reviews/proac-k1

While no one will see the plinth’s bottom surface once the speakers are on stands, it’s a shame that ProAc didn’t cover the base with veneer or give it some other treatment to make it look smarter. Currently, it looks a little unfinished with the plain wooden panel visible. This feels like cost-cutting that has no place in a product such as this. The way the plinth’s metal front plate is attached looks a little messy from underneath, too. Neither of these things are major issues, but at this price level, such small details matter.

ProAc makes 50cm-tall dedicated stands for the K1 that cost £995 ($1995). They require assembling and are held together by an oddly varied collection of screws and bolts. There are four columns in total for each stand and, thanks to pretty clear instructions, it doesn’t take long to put them together. The silver one in the front is solid aluminium (matching a similar piece on the front of the speaker), while the remaining three (all painted black) are hollow steel tubes. Once assembled, the stands are quite resonant, so a bit of mass-loading with sand or similar would help.

XDUOO XA-10 REVIEW

May 29, 2021 Comments Off on XDUOO XA-10 REVIEW

The xDuoo XA-10 has Qualcomm’s flagship-tier CSR8675. It supports LDAC and aptX HD. LDAC is currently one of the best Bluetooth codecs, in terms of performance. It is good to see that the XA-10 supports this codec. You can hook this DAC & AMP directly to your active speakers and control the playback through your phone, over-the-air. Bluetooth is always nice to have on these devices. Bluetooth range is also quite good, I had no drop-outs or any stability issues during my time with it. I want to say a couple of bits about controlling the device here. You already know that I can trade sluggish navigation for aesthetics but I wonder why xDuoo did not implement remote support to this beautiful-looking DAC. It would make things easier for us. In the menu, there are two subcategories only. Filter and gain setting. Upon spending around 2 hours fiddling with the filters, I can say that I haven’t heard any difference at all. Note that I am using the balanced output and streaming MQA files. There is no auto-standby setting either. 

JBL 4349 STUDIO MONITOR LOUDSPEAKER $7,500 REVIEW

May 28, 2021 Comments Off on JBL 4349 STUDIO MONITOR LOUDSPEAKER $7,500 REVIEW

And, most delightfully, the 4349’s woofers don’t lose pitch definition or speed despite their size and weight. But as good as the bass is, it is NOT their best feature – that would be the midrange and treble! JBL’s horns put out a dynamic, clear, open, and extended midrange and treble. Again, I was highly skeptical about the 38mm horn driver – surely it couldn’t have the high-end sparkle and extension of a smaller driver of lighter mass? But from the first listen, the squinched-up-looking horn and its driver just astounded me. Not only did it disappear as being a discreet sound source, but the dispersion provided a holographic-sounding image with more clarity than I’d heard in my room before.

AURIS AUDIO HA2-SF REVIEW

May 28, 2021 Comments Off on AURIS AUDIO HA2-SF REVIEW

The HA2-SF can drive as good as all headphones on the market and because of the gain switch option, the VU meters now more easily dance around no matter what headphone you connect to it. With the Nirvana this is one of the downsides as it’s so powerful that the meters only move with really hard to drive headphones, or when you’re deaf and up the volume way too much. It’s nice to see that Auris listened to the market feedback, and know we have lovely moving VU meters on the front for most of the headphones you hook up to it in low gain.

NAD C 298 power amplifier Review

May 27, 2021 Comments Off on NAD C 298 power amplifier Review

https://www.stereophile.com/content/nad-c-298-power-amplifier

Although my system is multichannel, there is no processor or preamplifier. The output of the DACs drives the power amps directly via balanced connections. I used the NAD’s XLR inputs in both stereo and bridged modes. When playing two-channel music, I used fixed gain. Fixed gain in stereo mode (28.6dB) also worked when playing multichannel with one C 298 powering the front L/R speakers. However, to use a pair of bridged C 298 amps, my options were to use fixed gain and adjust the channel balance in JRiver or the DAC or to use variable gain to match the other channels. The character of the amp remained constant across all these permutations

IBASSO DX300 REVIEW

May 27, 2021 Comments Off on IBASSO DX300 REVIEW

The brand also developed a new in-house FPGA-Master chip, working as the audio system controller. Working as the brain of the audio circuit, it receives the data from the CPU, synchronizes and generates all audio clocks at the same time using two Accusilicon femtosecond oscillators, then sends it to the quad DAC in I²S, or DSD.

Sonus faber Lumina $899 REVIEW

May 26, 2021 Comments Off on Sonus faber Lumina $899 REVIEW

I’ll admit to having some preconceived ideas about how smallish bookshelf speakers were going to sound. Just because of their size, I assumed they wouldn’t have deep bass heft, and they probably wouldn’t have the tightest sense of rhythm and dynamics. However, the Luminas proved me very, very wrong. No, they aren’t going to give you heart palpitations with their sub-bass rumbles. (Again, physics is a thing.) But the Luminas certainly changed my mind about how small bookshelf speakers are supposed to sound—or can sound. As far as I’m concerned, these are the new sub-$1k bookshelf speakers to beat. Just keep in mind those power amp requirements. Highly recommended to anyone looking for fantastic sound and beautiful style in a surprisingly compact package. 

Tri-Art Audio B-Series 60W Stereo Integrated Amplifier Review

May 26, 2021 Comments Off on Tri-Art Audio B-Series 60W Stereo Integrated Amplifier Review

https://www.audiophilia.com/reviews/2021/3/17/tri-art-audio-b-series-60w-stereo-integrated-amplifier

It is time to conclude, dear reader; and many thanks for your interest. I know Steve Ginsberg and TAA’s Head of Electrical Engineering, Adam Thomaes, would agree with George Polychronidis of Moon River Audioforgive me for quoting the competitionwhen he states that in the audio industry there is a misunderstanding about power. ‘Power is always measured by a constant, stable frequency in the lab—a single continuous sinewave without alterations of the level in time—when the major question is how much power an amplifier can deliver instantly, not constantly. Measuring with a stable frequency doesn’t tell you much about how an amplifier will handle musical dynamics, follow precisely music’s chaotic and complex transients, and drive the speaker.’

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