GRYPHON AUDIO DESIGNS ETHOS CD PLAYER REVIEW
August 20, 2021 Comments Off on GRYPHON AUDIO DESIGNS ETHOS CD PLAYER REVIEW
Gryphon Audio Designs Ethos CD player
Then you put on something you know really well. I’m at once proud and not proud to say that first disc was Back In Blackby AC/DC [Atlantic]. This is one of those albums I had on LP, cassette and CD (the LP got destroyed by playing on cheap equipment and was stolen by a junkie friend of an ex-girlfriend, the tape got mangled in a car cassette player and the CD has led a comparatively sheltered life by way of comparison). From the opening peel of ‘Hells Bells’ through to the title track, Ethos played these early 1980s arena rock tracks with the sort of force and intensity that makes you reach for the volume control and wish you were young enough to headbang without all the crepitus. The guitars on this disc can often sound ‘toppy’ and compressed, but here although you can still hear the compression, you realise its both deliberate and a pedal effect before the amp’s own distortion rather than laid on afterwards. As a consequence, it causes an equalisation of plectrum strike and makes for those intense power chords the Young brothers used to such good effect.
MCINTOSH XRT2.1K AND JL AUDIO GOTHAM V2
August 20, 2021 Comments Off on MCINTOSH XRT2.1K AND JL AUDIO GOTHAM V2
https://www.monoandstereo.com/2021/07/mcintosh-xrt21k-and-jl-audio-gotham-v2.html
Along with two of our Gotham® v2 subwoofers, this incredible home system features a pair of McIntosh Laboratory Inc. XRT2.1K loudspeakers featuring a whopping 81 drivers each, a set of MC2KW amplifiers, a C1100 tube preamplifier and a MX170 surround processor. Additionally, the system includes two Pioneer DJ CDJ3000 Media Players and a DJM-V10 mixer.”
Technics SL-1000R turntable Review
August 19, 2021 Comments Off on Technics SL-1000R turntable Review
Two things I learned from listening: Technics was correct to supply a rubber record mat. I tried the various hard mats I had on hand—made of carbon fiber, graphite, etc.—and while I’m a fan of the Funk Firm’s Achromat and Stein Music’s The Perfect Interface fiber mat, if you want the “blackest” backgrounds the SL-1000R can produce, rubber rules.
The other thing I learned, and quickly: While the SL-1000R’s feet let you easily lock out the silicon-rubber insulators, I don’t recommend it. I placed the SL-1000R on a decoupled Harmonic Resolution Systems base, and because two different decoupling suspensions used simultaneously can sometimes fight one another, I locked out the turntable’s. But that audibly raised the noise floor.
Tidal Review
August 19, 2021 Comments Off on Tidal Review
https://www.whathifi.com/us/tidal/review
Below these personalised sections in the Home tab, you’ll find sections dedicated to the most popular playlists and albums on the service, as well as mood-based playlists, podcasts, radio stations and the Tidal Rising section, which helps promote new talent.
Away from ‘Home’ the two main tabs are ‘Explore’, which duplicates many of the discovery elements of ‘Home’ and seems rather redundant, and ‘Videos’, which hosts music videos. The final tab is ‘My Collection’, which groups all of your favourited music and custom playlists and also houses your downloads.
Tidal has also partnered with Tune My Music and Soundiiz to offer two ways of importing playlists from other streaming services, meaning you needn’t drag and drop everything again if you’re migrating from one of its rivals.
Paradigm Founder Series 100F Loudspeakers Review
August 18, 2021 Comments Off on Paradigm Founder Series 100F Loudspeakers Review
I’d already listened to this album often through several different speakers, so I knew its sound well. But no more than 30 seconds into track 1, “White Dress,” I could tell that there was something very different about the sound of the Founder 100Fs. This track has a bright, bass-light sound, with a wispiness to Del Rey’s voice that, through too-bright speakers, can be off-putting. Through the 100Fs it was still a bit bright, but not too much so, and that wispiness, while still quite audible, was now more pleasing than offensive. The track also sounded a bit smoother and richer than I’d heard it before. In fact, it was the best I’d heard it reproduced.
The four tracks that follow “White Dress” are less trebly, and without that wispiness in Del Rey’s voice. Here the 100Fs’ midband was as neutral as I’m used to hearing from my reference Revel Ultima2 Salon2 speakers ($21,998/pair), as well as clearer and a bit more detailed—which speaks well for the 100Fs at less than a quarter the price. And while the 100Fs’ highs weren’t quite as sweet as the Salons2s’ with these tracks, they were still clean, very refined, and with a good amount of air when the recording included that.
Spotify Review
August 18, 2021 Comments Off on Spotify Review
https://www.whathifi.com/us/spotify/review
Those who want to get the full Spotify experience have a few options. A standard, single Premium subscription will set you back £9.99 ($9.99, AU$11.99) per month, while a student subscription is available for £5.99 ($5.99, AU$5.99).
Even better value is Spotify Premium Family, which gives Premium access to up to six people (nominally from the same household) for £16.99 ($15.99, AU$17.95) per month. That’s a potentially huge saving. Spotify Premium Family also gets you a Family Mix playlist that combines music liked by all users on the plan, plus the option of Spotify Kids accounts, which serve up a range of audio content aimed at nippers, including singalongs, soundtracks and stories, and block out explicit content.
LSA T-1 Turntable Review
August 17, 2021 Comments Off on LSA T-1 Turntable Review
REVIEW: The LSA T-1 Turntable
This table has a lively sound, somewhere in-between what you can expect from similarly priced Rega or Pro-Ject tables, and when you line them up, it’s easy to spot a lot of crossover in the basic engineering. The T-1 offers solid bass fundamentals, and thanks to the mating between cartridge and arm is able to create a big soundfield between your speakers. This table is right at the point where (if your records are nice and clean) you can start to hear a difference between analog and digital.
ALTA AUDIO ALYSSA COMPACT SPEAKER $5,000 REVIEW
August 17, 2021 Comments Off on ALTA AUDIO ALYSSA COMPACT SPEAKER $5,000 REVIEW
What I enjoyed most about the Alyssas was their precise detail. I couldn’t stop listening to them because they truly brought things out of my most familiar recordings that I had not heard before. The sparkle of piano tones, the nuances of different bassoon sounds, and the huge soundstage and presence all suggested a much larger speaker. If you can set them up on stands with some breathing room away from the walls, you will be rewarded with a sound that is much larger than the small cabinets would suggest. Those ribbon tweeters are pure gold. The Alyssas truly disappear into the room.
SPL Performer m1000 Monoblock Amplifiers $8598 Review
August 16, 2021 Comments Off on SPL Performer m1000 Monoblock Amplifiers $8598 Review
My two months of listening to SPL’s Performer m1000 monoblocks has left me impressed and a bit smitten with them. The m1000 packs one hell of a punch, in sound and in value. Not once did I feel it had to strain to produce enough output power, or that its sound was constrained in any way, even at very high playback levels. Furthermore, the Performer m1000s ran cool, look cool, and, if you’re brave enough to lift one, feel solid as a rock. But most important, the m1000s were compelling to listen to.
BURMESTER BC150 EXCLUSIVE £97,500
August 16, 2021 Comments Off on BURMESTER BC150 EXCLUSIVE £97,500
Burmester BC150 Exclusive First Look
Burmester Audiosysteme GmbH is one of the world’s most renowned manufacturers in the field of high-end audio systems. The owner-managed company based in Berlin was founded in 1977 by Dieter Burmester. With a clear focus on home and automotive audio, Burmester maintains global collaborations with industry leaders in other industries (including Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and the Königliche Porzellan Manufaktur Berlin, among others) and is a member of Meisterkreis Deutschland and Initiative Deutsche Manufakturen.
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