BOWERS & WILKINS PX WIRELESS NOISE CANCELLING HEADPHONE REVIEW
September 16, 2018 Comments Off on BOWERS & WILKINS PX WIRELESS NOISE CANCELLING HEADPHONE REVIEW
“Of the three wireless noise cancelling headphones that I introduced in my “First Look” video, the Bowers & Wilkins PX stand out the most to me. Not because of some overwhelming superiority over the other two (they are all very capable, high performance headphones), but it’s because of what they do differently that makes them so memorable. From the quality design and build that make them feel immediately special to hold, to the high comfort and spacious, balanced sound character that make them addictive to listen to, the Bowers & Wilkins PX demand attention and earn respect. If you want gobs of bass from your headphones, don’t bother with these”
Focal Kanta No. 2 Loudspeaker Review
September 15, 2018 Comments Off on Focal Kanta No. 2 Loudspeaker Review
“If price is your main consideration–and it certainly is for most people–there are plenty of options available at roughly the $10,000 level. An equally important consideration, though, is size. A smaller speaker is much easier to integrate into a room, and if it can perform at the level of the Kanta No. 2, you will score some bonus points with your significant other. I would contend that most audio enthusiasts are guilty of believing that more is better. Go big or go home is the typical thought process. I would caution to choose speakers for the room size, not based on your insecurities: Bigger is not always better and is more often a problem when considering the speaker to room proportion ratio. Having lived with the Kanta for a few months, I began to appreciate the total package: a huge and high-resolution soundstage with manageable dimensions.”
COMPUTER AUDIO DESIGN GC1 GROUND CONTROL REVIEW
September 15, 2018 Comments Off on COMPUTER AUDIO DESIGN GC1 GROUND CONTROL REVIEW
“I’m often quizzed about the usefulness and impact of the high-end audio accessories. There’s no general-right respond to these queries. These add-on devices are ordinarily the last to be introduced to a thoroughly fine-tuned audio system. Not always, but in most instances, the benefits will be marked in an already established and balanced setup. The alternative way around would put in the preference making all right from the beginning. This approach is perhaps a painfully more complex and nonetheless more costly, but for some purists, this is the only legitimate way of matching the assembly of the high-end audio components into a balanced system.”
Dynaudio Contour 20 review
September 14, 2018 Comments Off on Dynaudio Contour 20 review
“Things are good tonally. The Contours have a smooth, refined balance that avoids emphasising the harshness in aggressive recordings. Bass is rich but remains articulate, and is surprisingly extended for a speaker of this size. With eyes closed, it would be easy to imagine the sound coming from the 20s to be that from decently sized floorstanders.”
Simaudio Moon 888 Mono Amplifiers $118,888 Review
September 13, 2018 Comments Off on Simaudio Moon 888 Mono Amplifiers $118,888 Review
“In wrapping up, Aron called Simaudio’s big, heavy, expensive Moon 888 “a new musical masterpiece.” With that kind of endorsement, and with these amplifiers having allowed him to hear from his reference system the best sound he’s ever heard, the Moon 888 received a Reviewers’ Choice award in the review. And now we’re happy to make the Moon 888 the newest addition to our list of Recommended Reference Components.
Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 Digital Headphone Amp/DAC Review
September 13, 2018 Comments Off on Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 Digital Headphone Amp/DAC Review
“I hadn’t expected much from the Sennheiser: it has a reticent top end of its own and I’d expected that the combination with the Pre Box would be overkill. Instead, their mutual smoothness in the presence region let me push the volume up enough to compensate for the Sennheiser’s modest bass, making the sound bigger and beefier than it normally would be in everything from symphonic staples like Beethoven’s Fifth (Carlos Kleiber, Vienna Philharmonic, 24/88.2 FLAC) to rock stompers like Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog” (24/92 FLAC). Images, though not strongly outlined, were generously scaled, beautifully fleshed out, and darkly colorful, giving extra intensity to lushly arranged tracks like Nick Drake’s “Riverman” and “Hazy Jane II” (24/96 FLAC).
REVEL PERFORMA M126BE BOOKSHELF SPEAKER REVIEW
September 12, 2018 Comments Off on REVEL PERFORMA M126BE BOOKSHELF SPEAKER REVIEW
“My takeaway from the measurements is that they confirm my listening impressions. This is probably why trying to equalize these speakers (at all) provides no significant improvement. They’re designed to work just fine, thank you, right out of the box! No room correction, parametric equalizers, or bass foolery required. Now this presumes (obviously) that you have a room that is not an echo chamber, that your speaker placement in the room is symmetrical from right to left, and that you’re willing to do some “speaker dancing” to find the best position for the Revels. Should any of those conditions not be so, then you’ll probably benefit significantly from some of the room correction software available on most any AVR or HT processor.
Which brings up yet another issue. Although you CAN run the Revel Performa M126Be speakers from an AVR, I wouldn’t generally recommend it. The Revels are Lipizzaner Stallions, not dray horses. They’ll show you the best (and the worst) of the associated electronics. Unless you get very lucky, hooking up a “bargain” receiver, preamp, power amp, or integrated to the Revels will only show you the error of your ways. I consider my Arcam AVR550 an unusual enough uber-performer in the world of AV receivers that I can get away with using it with the Revels, but only barely.”
Astell&Kern SP1000 SS Ultima: A Brief Review
September 11, 2018 Comments Off on Astell&Kern SP1000 SS Ultima: A Brief Review
“SP1000 has a bigger body as well as a bigger screen compared to AK380. Its design is straighter and rectangular. In this unit, there is a double digital to analogue converter named AKM AK4497EQ. As AK380 maintains, there are one 3.5mm single ended and 2.5mm balanced outputs. The main difference between two flagships is the USB 3.0 port of the SP1000. The USB 3.0 offers a faster file transfer, but the 3.0 cable isn’t still widespread. So, if we own an old android phone, we may need to carry an extra cable to charge SP1000.”
Cyrus ONE HD Integrated amplifier review
September 11, 2018 Comments Off on Cyrus ONE HD Integrated amplifier review
“The most interesting aspect of this performance is that – even more so than is usually the case – speaker choice makes an enormous difference to how you’ll perceive the Cyrus. With the Spendor attached, you get a balanced, considered and accurate performance that might, depending on your preferences – be considered fractionally dull. Switch to the Acoustic Energy AE1 Classic and the result is far more invigorating. Some of the top end refinement is lost but the result is more propulsive, energetic and all round exciting. The Cyrus is sufficiently powerful and sufficiently transparent that it will largely reflect the behaviour of the speaker rather than imparting much of itself. This is fairly unusual in an amplifier at this price point – particularly one with decoding on board – and also a little different from how Cyrus equipment is often perceived. ”
AVM EVOLUTION CS 5.2 STREAMING CD RECEIVER REVIEW
September 10, 2018 Comments Off on AVM EVOLUTION CS 5.2 STREAMING CD RECEIVER REVIEW
As a complete system, the AVM CS 5.2 is a remarkably versatile unit, providing access to internet radio, streaming services (TIDAL and Qobuz are supported) and USB digital, together with the conventional gamut of hi-fi sources. As a one-box solution for a minimalist, the AVM CS 5.2 has few peers, and the flexibility of its back panel connections makes it equally valid as a core component in a separates system, where its DAC and amplifier performance cede little to rivals at the likely price points. Add in the cool, understated good looks and impeccable build quality and it’s hardly surprising that AVM have a winner on their hands.”
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