Usher Audio S-520 Loudspeaker Review
July 2, 2019 Comments Off on Usher Audio S-520 Loudspeaker Review
“The sound of the Usher S-520 is as good as the construction and the finish of the loudspeaker. The tonal balance between the woofer and the tweeter is spot on. Too many loudspeakers have an uneven tonal balance. In my research it was disclosed that in some earlier production runs, the tweeter resistor was of slightly lower value. This would make the loudness of the tweeter higher than the woofer— this appears to be the case of earlier production runs and has been confirmed by technical measurements in Stereophile. Happily, my pair has the later, 5 ohm combined value tweeter resistor.
This mini monitor sounds different compared to many small loudspeakers I’ve heard. Some can sound anaemic and less substantial than I experienced with the S-520. The S-520s sound substantial in their presentation. In particular, their midrange and upper bass sound firmer and have greater physicality. This is especially true when listening to singers and piano. When listening to the Beatles’ “Let It Be” track on the album of the same name (EMI Records C2 46447), Paul’s voice, as well as the piano sounded more like the real thing. The piano had solid weight, and a truly percussive sound to it. This is not typical of most small mini monitor loudspeakers in my experience. ”
Vitus Audio RI-101 Integrated Amplifier $15,600 Review
July 2, 2019 Comments Off on Vitus Audio RI-101 Integrated Amplifier $15,600 Review
“Vitus has packed so much musicality into this single box, you might be tempted to stop your Vitus journey right here. The toughest part of the journey with this amplifier is that it is their entry level product. Should you go further up the line you will, of course, get more power, bigger dynamic swing, and even more resolution and delicacy, but this is the perfect introduction to the brand.
The top Vitus amplifiers are all class-A, so they take on a slightly warmer, more full bodied sound, but the class-AB RI 101 captures much of the flagship amplifiers’ character. Vitus calls this design a “high bias AB amp,” so the first 12 watts per channel are in full Class -A mode. At normal listening levels with moderately sensitive speakers, you’ll probably be listening in Class A on all but the most broad musical peaks. Just like the bigger siblings, the RI-101 is incredibly quiet, with well defined, powerful bass and a grain free high end to match. Vitus is one of the few solid state amplifier manufacturers that will not have you wishing for vacuum tubes.”
Schiit Audio Yggdrasil DAC Review
July 1, 2019 Comments Off on Schiit Audio Yggdrasil DAC Review
“I don’t have any real qualms with the Yggdrasil’s sound. Instead, most of my complaints are with its functionality and versatility. In my opinion, the biggest omission Schiit made for Yggdrasil was the lack of built-in volume control. There are other high-performance DACs out there, some that cost less than the Yggdrasil, that provide lossless digital volume control. I suppose the retort Schiit might have against digital volume control is that attenuating the output voltage creates a reduction in signal-to-noise ratio. But if you create a DAC with a low enough noise floor, you can still end up with no noticeable reduction in sound quality so I don’t think this is a valid argument, especially at Yggdrasil’s price point. Buyers should also be aware that this omission forces you into an additional preamp purchase (unless you’re using an integrated amp). As I said above, I don’t advise owners to use software volume control from the likes of Windows or MacOS as it will ruin the integrity of the audio you’re sending this high-performance DAC. If you simply must go this route, though, at least use something like JRiver Media Center. ”
KEF LSX Wireless Streaming Loudspeaker System $1099 Review
July 1, 2019 Comments Off on KEF LSX Wireless Streaming Loudspeaker System $1099 Review
“In the end, the KEF LSX is not going to replace traditional hi-fi rigs. It’s not going to make hardened, seasoned veterans of the hi-fi show circuit suddenly give up their ten-watt tube amps and worship at the altar of Spotify streaming. But it might convince some of them that good sound can come in new shapes and forms, that hi-fi doesn’t have to be limited to vast component systems and artisanal hand-crafted phono cartridges. I know I was convinced that bigger isn’t always better, that stacking more and more shiny metal boxes won’t necessarily get me closer to what I want.
What I want is fun and good music. That’s what the LSXes provide. Sure, the apps aren’t great, but that’s far from a deal-breaker. The LSXes sound fantastic; they’re simple and easy to set up; they’re surprisingly versatile and portable; and they’re genuinely affordable. They aren’t the future of hi-fi, but they’re definitely one of the futures. From now on, if a normal person in real life asks me how to get into this hobby, I’m going to recommend the LSXes or something like them. I think that more or less says it all.
CH Precision M1.1 power amplifier: $104,000/pair Review
June 30, 2019 Comments Off on CH Precision M1.1 power amplifier: $104,000/pair Review
“More to the point, some amplifiers that veer toward the warm and smooth side of the sonic continuum can produce boredom by softening transients, and sometimes by obscuring inner detail in a pleasant fog. The M1.1s never went there. You’d be sure of that if you’d been with me to hear them play Binaural Baroque, a direct-to-disc binaural recording by the Locrian Ensemble of London (Chasing the Dragon VALDC005). While binaural is best enjoyed via headphones, the presentation through my Wilson Audio Specialties Alexx loudspeakers, driven by the M1.1s, was vividly three-dimensional, especially the Vivaldi Guitar Concerto, which placed guitarist Morgan Szymanski solidly and convincingly in front of the ensemble.
Did the presentation on that Elgar recording, and on other exceptional-sounding, minimally miked recordings, lose a bit of hall reverberation and air, compared to what I was used to? Yes, slightly so—but other attractive sonic qualities were gained in the trade-off.
RUSSELL K RED 120 FLOORSTANDING LOUDSPEAKER REVIEW
June 30, 2019 Comments Off on RUSSELL K RED 120 FLOORSTANDING LOUDSPEAKER REVIEW
“This is an unusually revealing loudspeaker that more than makes up for its diminutive stature with the sheer level of detail that it can extract from the signal. It’s clearly a slave to whatever comes down the cable and manages to expose an awful lot of musical detail in a fabulously coherent manner. ‘Coherent’ is the key word; the Russell K Red 120 may not produce the biggest image in the world or have the most muscular dynamics but it can deliver the music precisely and effortlessly in time. There is no sense of time smear and in this respect it deserves to be ranked alongside the best that Rega, Neat, and a few others have done. The Red 120 doesn’t look like great value when compared with the other floorstander I reviewed this month (Audiovector QR5) but looks can be very deceptive. Musical enjoyment is not a visual thing it’s a sonic trick that only really works when the timing is spot on. And with the Red 120 that is always the case.
Wilson Benesch Eminence Loudspeaker $235,000 Review
June 29, 2019 Comments Off on Wilson Benesch Eminence Loudspeaker $235,000 Review
“Although many loudspeakers have very flat frequency response, the Eminence went a step further by combining tonal neutrality with a colorlessness that served as a blank canvas upon which instrumental timbre could be portrayed with sensational realism and vividness. The speaker didn’t impose its own tincture on tone colors that would have diluted their vibrance. Not only did instrumental and vocal timbres sound more “alive”; they were also differentiated from each other more clearly. The result was that each instrument in an ensemble was its own entity, more vividly present. It was like looking at a multi-hued photograph printed on pure white, rather than slightly grey, paper. This impression was heightened by a stunning sense of openness through the midrange and top octaves. There was a gossamer-like sense of the music existing independently of the speakers, unencumbered, and with the impression that a lid had been removed from the top octave.
The midrange had an electrostat-like directness and immediacy that were sensational. Brass and woodwinds were reproduced with an unfettered dynamic life and visceral presence. Trumpets had a full measure of high-frequency energy without sounding hard, brittle, or metallic. Freddie Hubbard’s instrument on his composition “Byrdlike” from the George Cables album Cables’ Vision was richly portrayed, with just the right balance of immediacy and liquidity. Piano was particularly well-served by the Eminence’s freedom from dynamic constraints, the purity and clarity of its midband, and its exquisite resolution of lower registers. I particularly enjoyed how the Eminence conveyed the way pianist Brad Mehldau’s left hand creates counterpoint with his right, weaving in melodic developments with equal facility in his right and left hands (and sometimes simultaneously) and in the process seemingly improvising an entirely new composition. The colorlessness of the midrange was apparent on vocals, rendering them with outstanding clarity. The Eminence’s reproduction of vocals was a bit understated spatially compared with many other speakers, presenting voices along the loudspeaker plane rather than projecting them forward. It was a more subtle and sophisticated perspective that tended to draw me in.”
MERRILL AUDIO ELEMENT 118 MONO POWER AMPLIFIERS $36,000 REVIEW
June 29, 2019 Comments Off on MERRILL AUDIO ELEMENT 118 MONO POWER AMPLIFIERS $36,000 REVIEW
“The high-ender’s lament – that there are few good preamplifiers – should be extended to include power amplifiers too. Really good ones are thin on the ground. But as soon as you hear a really good one, like the Merrill Element 118, you know what you’re missing! Most seem to either accent something at the expense of other things, or colour the sound, or in the case of very big amplifiers, slug the sound. The Element 118 shows this is, in fact, a false dichotomy, because you can have big and powerful, and have it with good imagery, and have it with excellent pace, rhythm, and timing. You just need to know what you’re doing! Merrill and the Element 118 show they clearly know what they are doing when it comes to making power amplifiers!”
ROON Nucleus and Nucleus+ Review
June 27, 2019 Comments Off on ROON Nucleus and Nucleus+ Review
“While the Nucleus needs to be hardwired into your network, you can access it wirelessly from your phone, tablet, or laptop anywhere in your listening environment. Simply go into ROON and create whatever “zones” you need. Now that so many streaming DAC’s can be used as ROON endpoints, there’s no need to be a computer-based music listener, tethered to your DAC. Considering what some premium USB cables cost, you can almost buy a standard Nucleus for the same price!
If you aren’t utilizing a NAS for some of your music collection, you can still select a hard drive that is connected to a computer on your network or plug a USB drive directly into the back of the Nucleus. Finally, there is an HDMI output that can be utilized for output, and the sound quality will work in a pinch, but streaming via a ROON ready DAC is still the way to roll for optimum sound quality. Either way, it’s nice that ROON offers the option.”
Mark Levinson No.5805 integrated amplifier $8500. Review
June 27, 2019 Comments Off on Mark Levinson No.5805 integrated amplifier $8500. Review
“Once I got things tuned, the sound was great. On Monk’s own “Rhythm-a-ning”—one of the tracks with a more prominent rhythm section—soundstage depth was excellent, with Ware and Wilson eight or so feet back from the Monk-Mulligan plane. Every note of Ware’s bass had easily identifiable pitch—not the case on every vinyl system. Monk’s piano was suitably percussive. Wilson’s cymbals had energy but weren’t harsh. This recording, which I know very well, sounded like itself.
I encountered a small operational issue with the No.5805: Switching from one input to another could take a second or more. Todd Eichenbaum, Harman’s director of engineering for luxury audio, told me that such slow switching is necessary because of the Levinson’s direct-coupled design. “We need to allow extra time when changing inputs because the unit is direct coupled and DC needs time to settle. Speeding this up would result in pops when changing inputs. . . . [W]e’ve been tweaking software and our order of operations when changing inputs, and later software should be able to speed this up a bit.” This is another one of those how-much-does-it-matter issues. I found it annoying when trying to compare one input to another—the internal DAC to an external DAC, for example—but this matters far less when what you want to do is just listen to music.”
Read more at https://www.stereophile.com/content/mark-levinson-no5805-integrated-amplifier-page-2#ggzQhiJSL2vOQcJ7.99
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