Astell & Kern KANN Cube $1,499 Review
May 19, 2019 Comments Off on Astell & Kern KANN Cube $1,499 Review
“Spending time with the Cube makes one realize the level of flexibility it offers owners. While it was initially easy for me to experience the Cube as a portable player, in today’s networked home it fits in as media server too. Hooking it up to the KEF LSX Wireless Speaker System I have at home was a snap, with the Cube seeing the LSX immediately. Playback through the two-channel wireless KEFs was less warm or analog-sounding than through wi-fi with Roon, but that’s a direct reflection of the Cube’s accuracy to source and its pull-no-punches playback ethos. This is a device of incredible resolution to its sonic signature; there’s no sweetening to the sound happening with the Cube. What you hear is what’s on the recording, great or not-so-great.”
Klipsch Forte III speakers Review
May 19, 2019 Comments Off on Klipsch Forte III speakers Review
“I also heard another pair of Forte IIIs at a friend’s apartment with a very high-end Japanese Shindo Haut Brion tube amp, and the sound was to die for. I heard similar treble sweetness with solid state amps such as the Schiit Aegir, First Watt J2 and F7, and a Pass Labs XA100.5 in my large listening room.
The Forte IIIs’ effortless sound with high volume listening was expected — lots of big speakers can do that — but the Forte III also excelled with late night quiet levels. Detail and dynamics were consistent, regardless of volume level. The Forte IIIs let you feel the music.”
Ifi iOne Nano – Review
May 18, 2019 Comments Off on Ifi iOne Nano – Review
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Unlike the iDSD or their larger “Micro” series DAC, the iOne doesn’t also contain a headphone amp, so it’s a different animal form the rest of the companies DACs. Listening to headphones on a laptop you’ll want to combine it with the (stackable) iCAN. This is battery powered, so it will work, but it can’t charge via USB and thus could catch you out. Although the iCAN’s 70+ hour battery is supremely impressive if it could share the iOne’s USB cable to charge it would be perfect (v2 request :P). This also makes me wonder how long it would be until the convenience of bluetooth gets added to the Nano iDSD, where both DAC & amp are combined and the device is battery powered… Hmm 🙂
Adding the iOne to a home audio / entertainment system would probably have it surrounded by powered USB ports from a receiver or games consoles etc. however, using it to add Bluetooth to an aging hifi system might not be as easy to start. You would have to buy a USB power plug and a decent length USB cable. There is a cable included in the box, but it’s only long enough to place the iOne within a few 10cm of a powered USB port. It won’t reach anything from a power socket and it wasn’t long enough to reach the back of my desk from the desktop PC, directly underneath it. Although I’ve amassed many USB cables over the years this isn’t a particularly common type any more, so I do wish there was alonger one in the box. These tend to be needed for what you get them with (printers, scanners etc.) so you will probably will have to buy one for mains power as well as the plug”
Copland CTA408 Review
May 18, 2019 Comments Off on Copland CTA408 Review
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Perhaps the biggest surprise is just how well the Copland gets along with JBL L100 Classics. These retro-themed speakers may not seem an obvious partner but their combination of high sensitivity (90dB/W/m), vivid dynamics and sheer enthusiasm works brilliantly with the CTA408’s sophisticated style of sonic delivery. We stay with these for much of the test.
The sound of Copland’s products tend to buck the valve norm. They trade the stereotypical warm and softness of many such designs for a neutral, even-handed balance that’s far more typical of a good transistor circuit. Detail levels are impressive, though the CTA408 is never one to emphasise leading edges in a bid to make the music sound more exciting than it is. Instead you get a well-organised, insightful presentation that puts the musical message first.”
LARK STUDIO LSXC $1699 REVIEW
May 17, 2019 Comments Off on LARK STUDIO LSXC $1699 REVIEW
“Lark Studio have a fairly excellent support center for guidance on ear mold impressions that work best for them. this is pretty important given the costs of getting them done and the logistics of getting them there. They will do a refit free or charge within the first 30 days but still that shipping costs to China make doing the original ear impressions right the first time all the more important.
Lark Studio ask for an open-mouth full ear impression beyond the second bend in an open jaw position. I would advise a bite block of some kind of a max of two fingers in width to keep your jaw open and steady during the process.”
MARK LEVINSON NO515 TURNTABLE $10,000 REVIEW
May 17, 2019 Comments Off on MARK LEVINSON NO515 TURNTABLE $10,000 REVIEW
“I checked out this album during the holidays and found it to be very fun and engaging. Of course the No515 deck brought out the best in it. When we had my wife’s family over on Christmas afternoon, this was one of the albums I played during their visit. Everybody took note of the excellent sonics. It became more than just background music and soon enough there was a small group gathered around enjoying the funky arrangements. The next thing I knew, my mother in law said she could “listen to this all day”. That was another first!”
FLUANCE RT85 REFERENCE HIGH FIDELITY TURNTABLE REVIEW
May 16, 2019 Comments Off on FLUANCE RT85 REFERENCE HIGH FIDELITY TURNTABLE REVIEW
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The vaunted ‘speed regulation’, was a curious note for me initially in that the RT85 seemed to spin fast when the tone arm was lifted only to settle down after a few seconds later before properly regulating the speed. The only way to mitigate this was to lift the tonearm and remember to wait a few seconds for the speed to regulate and then place the needle down. It’s not a deal breaker but it is noticeable and mildly irritating.
I had to fight the urge to touch the vinyl as I normally do and kept the dust cover on for most of my listening, so I wouldn’t give it a shot.
While the RT85 is quite substantial in appearance, I did find that having only three isolation feet rather than four made the deck susceptible to wobbling or tipping over if nudged by accident. Again, unfairly compared to the Technics which is much heavier and planted on four feet, I realized I couldn’t be as hard on this turntable as I am with my DJ gear, as sometimes the needle would jump or even worse, I would fear flipping the turntable deck itself! So, I backed off.”
SVS SB-3000 Subwoofer Review
May 15, 2019 Comments Off on SVS SB-3000 Subwoofer Review
“The driver uses a lightweight and rigid aluminium vented cone with a composite fibre dustcap, which is combined with a proprietary injection moulded gasket and long-throw parabolic surround to allow for extreme excursion and incredibly deep bass. There’s a dual ferrite magnet motor assembly weighing over 11kg, along with a flat edge wound split-wind voice coil within the motor assembly. Together, they deliver sufficient power at the highest excursion levels, but reduce mass and improve overall driver efficiency.The driver’s ability to move massive amounts of air is backed up by a rear-mounted Sledge STA-800D2 amplifier, combining the high current output of discrete MOSFETs with Class D efficiency to deliver a claimed 800W RMS and peaks of up to 2,500W. All this is governed by a 50MHz Analog Devices DSP with 56-bit filtering that SVS claim is the most advanced digital processor ever used in a subwoofer.”
Master & Dynamic MW65 Active Noise-Cancelling Wireless Over-Ear Headphones Review
May 14, 2019 Comments Off on Master & Dynamic MW65 Active Noise-Cancelling Wireless Over-Ear Headphones Review
“I flew down to Palm Springs in February and looked on with envy at passengers with comfy, over ear ANC headphones. We had none in for review and my old Bose set broke some time ago. So, I organized a couple of reviews of top models in time for Audiophilia’s trip to High End Munich 2019 (we’re live blogging May 9-12). I could write the reviews and then test them in the noisiest environment I know, Air Canada’s Q400 and its two howling Pratt & Whitney turboprops. The plane is used for the 10 minute flight from Victoria to Vancouver, where the big jets fly. As we are flying on the date this review is published, I had to test the M65s in alternate noisy environments. I’ll post an M65/Q400 follow up in Comments, for those interested.
I contacted three manufacturers, two of which I knew had highly regarded models debuting this year, and one, Sony, who never got back to me. I didn’t bother with Bose. They’ve been done to death and the result is always the same, great ANC, but sound is usually below those of similarly priced models. Ditto for the current Bose QC35s ($349). The Sennheiser PXC 550s ($349.95) arrived the day after my request (thanks Katie Kailus) and the review will appear in June. ”
REVEL PERFORMA M126BE STAND-MOUNT LOUDSPEAKER REVIEW
May 14, 2019 Comments Off on REVEL PERFORMA M126BE STAND-MOUNT LOUDSPEAKER REVIEW
“The other half of the ‘not what you do’… equation is to be found in the crossover; the M126Be has a ‘high order’ (actually, fourth-order) slopes provided by film-only capacitors and air core inductors. This is a well-regarded approach to keeping distortion at a minimum and transparency good and high. The mid/bass driver has an aluminium cone of the sort Revel describes as a ‘deep ceramic composite’ and is finished in the same white as the tweeter waveguide. The colour contrast gives it and the PerformaBe floorstander a distinctive look that sets them apart from the crowd, but you can’t help wondering if they got the idea from their colleagues at JBL who have used white woofers for decades. Little is said about the box itself, which presumably means it’s fairly conventional in construction but distinguishes itself with a curved top section finished in metallic black with the brand embossed in relief using a process called electroforming. The finishing overall is to an exceptional standard. On the back panel there is a reflex port and a single pair of cable terminals. Bi-wiring seems to be on the wane these days; it’s hard to say whether that’s because of fashion or the limited aesthetic appeal of cables in an increasingly wireless world, but I for one am all for it. ”
Audiophilepure 
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