Joseph Audio Pearl 20/20 Graphene Loudspeaker $37,995 Review
December 5, 2020 Comments Off on Joseph Audio Pearl 20/20 Graphene Loudspeaker $37,995 Review
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/joseph-audio-pearl-2020-graphene-loudspeaker/
Choosing to go even bigger, I put on the Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 from Stokowski Rhapsodies LP/tape [LSC-2471, RCA/Classic Records reissue or 15ips RRAP 0009 Analogue Productions Ultra Tape]. Liszt begins with a big, rich, full-throttled sound (from strings, horns, percussion, and bass) that immerses the listener in a huge soundscape with a sense of stage depth, size, and grandeur appropriate to this music. The direct sound is reinforced by reflected sound from the orchestra’s hall that is easily heard as a supporting contribution rather than a homogenized facsimile. The Pearls maintained the direct-versus-reflected aural distinction embedded in the recording, while also allowing individual instruments to sound fabulous within the mix.
CAMPFIRE AUDIO VEGA 2020 $899 Review
December 5, 2020 Comments Off on CAMPFIRE AUDIO VEGA 2020 $899 Review
Campfire Audio Vega 2020 Review
The Vega 2020 for me is something new, not revised, or tweaked, but a fresh sound and a tuning that I think is more sure-footed in terms of how Campfire want to stamp a unique performance on each monitor they sell.
What does that mean? Well, having heard the Dorado 2020, I can understand why the Vega 2020 has gone for a weighty smooth tone because to some extent the Dorado 2020 might be closer to the classic Vega treble in terms of energy. The Vega 2020 goes its own way and that is cool because now I can look at each IEM they sell and I remember exactly how each one sounds.
In this day and age when we are totally washed over with tons of choices, a memorable sound is critical, one that you can easily describe when someone mentions the name. A rich and powerful bass response and a smooth euphonic mids and vocal timbre are very easy key points to remember regarding the Vega 2020.
MARTIN LOGAN BALANCED FORCE 212 SUBWOOFER $4,499 REVIEW
December 4, 2020 Comments Off on MARTIN LOGAN BALANCED FORCE 212 SUBWOOFER $4,499 REVIEW
The phase dial is the lower-most one in the photo. This adjusts the phase-angle of the deep bass sound. You have to do this by ear. Play some music with deep bass and turn the dial until it “sounds” the most appealing.
At the bottom are push buttons to play a Tone Sweep (120 Hz to 20 Hz). This lets you find out if you have anything resonant in your listening room so you can fix the problem. I ran this test and found a resonance in the 100 Hz – 120 Hz range. The spectrum below shows the sweep from left to right. I used an accelerometer for this test. There is a large peak in that range. Since it is above the highest crossover (Low-Pass) frequency of 80 Hz, it is not a problem that would be caused by the subwoofer.
Fleetwood Sound Company DeVille Loudspeaker $9600 Review
December 4, 2020 Comments Off on Fleetwood Sound Company DeVille Loudspeaker $9600 Review
Fleetwood DeVille Speaker Review
The overall in-room response, as measured on the tweeter axis and within a few inches above and below the tweeter midline, was fairly uniform to about 300Hz, where room modes began to appear. A response dip of about 3dB was seen in the upper midrange with the measurement mic positioned a few inches below the horn. I’m not suggesting that a single measurement is predictive of the in-room tonal balance when listening in the far field, where spatial averaging of sound energy becomes important. However, I had set up the DeVille as I would a mid-field studio monitor, and found listening height to be a critical factor to obtaining the most accurate tonal balance. Mounted on the 24-inch-tall factory stands, the horn ended up above my ear height. I experienced a significant increase in upper-midrange energy when I stood up, such that my ears either lined up level with or were slightly above the horn. I went the extra mile here and acquired 16-inch-tall stands (featuring a slight tilt back) so I could lower the horn midline by about 8 inches and match the horn height to my ear level. This gave the most accurate tonal fidelity with my favorite sopranos.”
Dynaudio Contour 20i Loudspeakers Review
December 3, 2020 Comments Off on Dynaudio Contour 20i Loudspeakers Review
Like my old Contour 1.8 Mk.IIs, all current Contour models are still made in Dynaudio’s factory in Skanderborg, Denmark, where they also manufacture over a million drivers per year, for themselves as well as select OEM customers, and have impressive measurement and quality-control facilities. Dynaudio is a hi-fi heavyweight. Unlike many newer, smaller outfits, where production volumes are low and post-sale support can be spotty, Dynaudio warrants the Contour 20i for five years, extendable to eight years with registration of the units on Dynaudio’s website. Nice.
Rotel Michi P5 preamplifier Review
December 3, 2020 Comments Off on Rotel Michi P5 preamplifier Review
NOBLE SULTAN REVIEW
December 2, 2020 Comments Off on NOBLE SULTAN REVIEW
“The Wizard, Dr. John Moulton has been at this for a lot of years and been through some challenging times in his career. The Wizard is an audiologist by trade but is also a master engineer with exceptional skills in creating artisan products. The man is committed to designing the best products he can and in recreating music with the utmost transparency.
The Sultan was able to recreate a soundstage as good as I have experienced and the electrostatic drivers are amazing all designed with a crossover that works. Creating a 7 driver in-ear monitor is something many companies do but few if any have ever been able to get the integration of the crossover so good and get it right. Noble has created a product that delivers exceptional musicality and nails instrument tonality as close to live as I have heard.
PrimaLuna ProLogue One Integrated Review
December 2, 2020 Comments Off on PrimaLuna ProLogue One Integrated Review
The PrimaLuna ProLogue One Integrated
When I got the ProLogue One back from my (now ex) niece a few years ago, I couldn’t have been more excited to be reunited with this old friend. And it cost me dearly – I had to trade she and her husband a new Simaudio NEO integrated ($3,400), along with some heavy convincing that having a tube amp around the house with a couple of toddlers was a really bad idea. The fatigued tubes were replaced with a new pair of PrimaLuna 12AU7s, a pair of EAT 12AX7s and a mint quad of NOS Siemens EL34 power tubes. Other than a slightly noisy volume control (with a little bit of contact cleaner took care of immediately) the PL One was back rocking with a pair of 1976 vintage Klipsch LaScalas. The sound was glorious, and with the coolio, upgraded tubes, even better than the day I unboxed it for the first time.
INEAR PROMISSION X REVIEW
December 1, 2020 Comments Off on INEAR PROMISSION X REVIEW
InEar ProMission X Review
PMX has good extension performance on top, with a very clean and airy presentation. Treble is very refined and not digitized to create a bright upper zone like many IEMs. The treble here is very successful and the treble contains a high level of detail. Especially the micro details in the cymbals reach your ears with everything. Of course, let me emphasize again that the source quality is very important.
With the combination of the spacious and airy structure in the treble and the fact that the IEM does not lose control even in the complex passages and the treble does not stick together, a very satisfying treble presentation emerges. Overall there is no shortcoming that I can find in this part.
The PMX’s treble resolution and transparency are hovering at the highest levels and it’s very admirable. Despite the clear and distinctive, well-defined treble presentation, there is no aggression or a piercing presentation.
Hegel H95 Network-Attached Amp Review
December 1, 2020 Comments Off on Hegel H95 Network-Attached Amp Review
https://www.hifinews.com/content/hegel-h95-network-attached-amp
“And though one might expect this amp, with its comprehensive streaming capabilities, to have its competence slewed heavily in favour of music played in digitally, it’s as impressive when fed via its analogue inputs. Yes, there’s just the two of them, and as already mentioned the H95 forgoes the XLRs of its more upmarket brethren, but these analogue ins are no makeweight or a sop to ‘legacy sources’.
Connecting my usual Naim network player to the analogue ins – and here we’re talking a source playing through an amp less than a tenth of its price, the extra space, grunt and rhythmic acuity of the ND 555/555PS [HFN Apr ’19] was clearly evident via the H95 – but the amp’s onboard network facility wasn’t that far off, and delivered similar qualities, just to a lesser extent. And considering all else this amp offers, that’s pretty impressive.”
Audiophilepure 
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