Chord Electronics Hugo TT2
May 15, 2020 Comments Off on Chord Electronics Hugo TT2
“There is a lot more ground to cover on the Hugo TT2, not least how it pairs with the TToby. I have the TToby hooked up to the Hifiman headphone amp adapter for use with the HE6 and I will try to cover that also.
I love how the HE6 and the Abyss Diana Phi sound with that huge power amp behind them both. The XLR balanced output of the Hugo TT2 might be a bit too much for these two so I need to be a bit cautious about the power obsession angle. Going unbalanced has already shown promising performance with the Susvara so there may not be a need for the additional power.
The Bluetooth angle is also worth looking into as we have a ton of wireless devices lying around this year including some good streamers. And of course, we need to compare, not just the DAC but also the headphone amp. We do have some worth competitors this year including the dCS Bartok so stay tuned for our full review down the line!”
Audeze LCD-1 Headphones Review
May 15, 2020 Comments Off on Audeze LCD-1 Headphones Review
“, the LCD-1s elicited the sort of reaction that often has me reaching for tissues to mop up the tears. Yeah, I still go dewy-eyed when music transcends the listening-for-review-purposes and gets to me, when I should be listening for stuff like bass control or stage depth. Both Kyu and Julie sang within my cranium, true, but the breathiness of the latter and the clear enunciation of the former were perfectly preserved and ‘non-intrusive’.
What is Kessler on about? How can something be in one’s skull and not be intrusive? Well, I heard both a lack of artifice and enough outside-of-the-head sound to preclude any distraction. Better was a sweetness that somehow rendered tolerable the massed violins on the Majestic Strings’ Strings For Many Moods [Tape-Mates TMS-131 3¾ips tape] over its agonising three hours.
As the above suggests, I love these headphones. My only complaint? They don’t have active noise reduction, which would make them my perfect travel cans.”
AudioQuest Niagara 1200 Low-Z Power | Noise-Dissipation System Review
May 14, 2020 Comments Off on AudioQuest Niagara 1200 Low-Z Power | Noise-Dissipation System Review
“I’ve been a huge fan of power conditioners since a salesman plugged in an early MIT (I forget the model, but is was 5K in the early ‘90s) and it transformed the system I was auditioning in a Queen St, Toronto store—an area known for crap power. Night and day. Of course, some conditioners I’ve heard, especially those not considering an amplifier’s high current needs, choked the life out of the sound. Happily, the AudioQuest Niagara Series has a wonderful consistency. Source or amplification, your gear is going to be treated with kid gloves.
If you have the cash, getting the new 3000 or the superb 5000 would elevate your system even further, but if not, the 1200 at $995 is a bargain. It’ll give you a serious taste of how Powell’s wonderful designs improve a system. Very highly recommended.
Jadis Orchestra Black integrated amplifier $3995 Review
May 14, 2020 Comments Off on Jadis Orchestra Black integrated amplifier $3995 Review
“While listening to the Benjamin Britten/Peter Pears/ London Symphony Orchestra version of Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius (2 LPs, London OSA 1293), something about the Jadis amp’s playback characteristics drew my attention to the harp, a key instrument in the work’s introduction. Each plucked note had pretty good—not top-shelf, but perfectly satisfying—physicality of attack, but even better decays: maybe a slight bit too much overhang, but in a pleasant, musically consonant way. And the physicality of those notes: Wow! Every one was gorgeous, every one a mini event.”
MartinLogan Motion 35XTi Loudspeakers Review
May 13, 2020 Comments Off on MartinLogan Motion 35XTi Loudspeakers Review
“The Dynamo 800X is what tips the scales even more in MartinLogan’s favor. At $2250 for the three-piece system, this is crazy good. I can’t think of too many speakers for this amount of money that I’d rather own. They certainly don’t reach 24 Hz. They don’t have room correction or Bluetooth or wireless capabilities, nor can they be operated with my iPhone. I can only wonder what would have happened if I had told Devin to send me the big 1600X subwoofer cuz I gotta have MORE BASS. With the 35XTi, it’s still just a $3400 investment.
I’m not sure if the MartinLogan Motion 35XTi monitors and Dynamo 800X subwoofer have turned me into a 2.1 kind of audiophile. I still prefer the simplicity of two-channel audio. But if someone asks me for a recommendation for an affordable yet killer pair of satellites and sub, I’m simply going to send them the link to this review. Superb!”
Audio Research REF160S Tube Power Amplifier £19,998 Review
May 13, 2020 Comments Off on Audio Research REF160S Tube Power Amplifier £19,998 Review
“Initially, I didn’t even bother to check whether I was in Triode or Ultralinear mode, the power differences between the two never an issue for me as I’m no headbanger. I couldn’t wait to hear the thing but impatience is an ugly trait, and switch-on involved the usual waiting for the unit to settle down and come out of its mute condition. I was chomping at the bit. Those two minutes or so seemed an eternity…
It was worth it, for what issued forth was so extreme a jump in performance that I immediately thought about selling my wine cellar so I could acquire a REF160S of my own. As there had been so many changes to my system since I reviewed the monoblocks, I threw out the notion of using the same LPs and CDs in an attempt at repeating precisely the same test. Instead, I trusted my ears (and hundreds of hours with the rest of the system) to decipher the charms and merits of the REF160S. And it started with the bass.”
1MORE True Wireless Review
May 13, 2020 Comments Off on 1MORE True Wireless Review
“The battery life in the ANC drivers and cradle is just ok for me, nothing really stands out aside from the 10 min quick charge giving 60 mins of use. At the moment, however, ANC performances for most TWS is below that of class-leading non-ANC TWS by up to 50% so this is not just a 1MORE challenge.
For example, the non-ANC Noble Falcon and Lypertek TEVI have a driver battery life of 10 hours with cradles that range from 30-70 hours. The 1MORE is a max of 6 hours with the ANC off and 5 with the ANC on and a total of 22 hours including the case. The Edifier TWS NB has the exact same battery measurement and the Sony WF-1000XM3 so slightly better at 6 hours with ANC on.”
HiFiMAN HE1000se Review
May 11, 2020 Comments Off on HiFiMAN HE1000se Review
“Switching to the Chord Hugo2 driven from a Lumin U1 Mini was even more of the same – more detail, even more precise timing and sounstaging whilst never losing musicality. The additional drive from the single-ended quarter-inch jack made for an even more dynamic sound, more so than even in balanced operation with the Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ – testament to the fact that balanced isn’t always best. On the track Noise in the Attic from the album Like Someone in Love, Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers (TIDAL 44/16 FLAC stream), the opening drum solo is electric – the cymbal textures are fantastic with the hi-hat shimmering beautifully “overhead”.
Although they sounded perfectly fine with the Onkyo Phone/DAP and even with the Astell&Kern 380 (Copper edition), there was definitely a slight lack of energy and verve when driven from these otherwise excellent DAPs – the best match for me was with the Chord DACs, with the Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ a close third.”
MartinLogan Motion 35XTi Loudspeakers Review
May 11, 2020 Comments Off on MartinLogan Motion 35XTi Loudspeakers Review
“I can only think of a handful of loudspeakers at the same price point as the MartinLogan Motion 35XTi that are truly competitive. While some can definitely surpass the Martin Logan’s low end, they can’t quite match the performance of that stunning Folded Motion tweeter. If you need more bass, you can always check out the floorstanding models in the Motion line—the $1800 20i, the $2400 40i and the $3500 60XTi. You get that same fab tweeter in those as well.
The Dynamo 800X is what tips the scales even more in MartinLogan’s favor. At $2250 for the three-piece system, this is crazy good. I can’t think of too many speakers for this amount of money that I’d rather own. They certainly don’t reach 24 Hz. They don’t have room correction or Bluetooth or wireless capabilities, nor can they be operated with my iPhone. I can only wonder what would have happened if I had told Devin to send me the big 1600X subwoofer cuz I gotta have MORE BASS. With the 35XTi, it’s still just a $3400 investment.”
Innuos Statement music server $13,750 Review
May 11, 2020 Comments Off on Innuos Statement music server $13,750 Review
“Natively, the Statement uses its own software—of course it does—to manage the library and streaming services and play music. “Its own software” is the InnuOS operating system, which is identical on all Innuos music servers and upgradable by Ethernet. The Statement is also compatible with Roon software; in fact it can be used with Roon in two distinct ways. (Please note, however, that Vitorino describes this as “an experimental mode” in which playback is “limited to 24/192 and DSD64”.) First, the Statement can be used as the Roon “Core”—Roon’s computational center, which does Roon’s file management and other computational heavy-lifting. The Statement can also be used as a Roon output device only—an endpoint in common Roon parlance—the Roon Core located elsewhere on your network—specifically, in this case, on my Roon Nucleus +. In neither of these configurations is the Statement either “RoonReady” or “Roon-tested” currently, but this is expected to change with upcoming updates. (“We are working with Innuos to have their future products fully Roon Ready,” Roon’s Bill Leebens wrote to me in an email.) In future, all Roon server partners will be required to run ROCK, Roon’s operating system. Roon and Innuos are still discussing how the two systems will work together.”
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