Hegel Music Systems Röst DAC-Integrated Amplifier Review
October 10, 2017 Comments Off on Hegel Music Systems Röst DAC-Integrated Amplifier Review
“Comparative listening also highlighted how the Hegel Röst couldn’t match the Audio Note in fluidity and palpable presence. Through the tubed amp, harmonically rich and complex instruments, such as John Roney’s piano, or Bobby Hutcherson’s vibraphone on Eric Dolphy’s “Out to Lunch (LP, Blue Note/Music Matters MMBST-84163), sounded organically smooth, liquid, and whole, with full harmonic development and believable attack, sustain, and decay. The Hegel’s harmonic envelope seemed smaller in comparison, particularly in terms of sustain and decay, which resulted in a mildly coarser sound. But again, this was audible only in a head-to-head comparison with the twice-the-price Audio Note; the Hegel outdid many other good solid-state amps in listenability, tone, and texture.”
SONY NW-WM1Z, MDR-Z1R, TA-ZH1ES REVIEW
October 9, 2017 Comments Off on SONY NW-WM1Z, MDR-Z1R, TA-ZH1ES REVIEW
“he overall balance is more liquid than typical for a modern DAP whose chips hedge toward state of the art rather than NOS. But it’s not as chalky or warm as a first-gen AK100 or iPhone 4. Listen, I have no idea where the liquidy sound comes from. But it’s there. And it nails every music I throw at it. In single ended, the WM1Z can spit out a damn detailed stereo image, topping out somewhere around 90dB, or bottoming out around 80dB, load dependent. This surpasses the great bulk of my favourite DAPs and a few good amps, the Vorzüge PURE/DUO among them. Move on up to balanced, and 90dB becomes closer to 110dB.
Yamaha NS-5000 speakers – surpassing a legend $15,000 Review
October 9, 2017 Comments Off on Yamaha NS-5000 speakers – surpassing a legend $15,000 Review
“Fortunately, I had recently been to a live performance by Patricia Barber and so the first point of reference was Patricia Barber’s Companion, a live recording in a small club similar to my live experience. In particular, the second track, Use Me, featuring an extended double bass solo, was most telling. I have never ever experienced a more natural and realistic reproduction of double bass in my listening room. Every nuance and resonance of the instrument, which is notoriously difficult to reproduce, was laid out with full-bodied naturalness and clarity.”
Clearwave Loudspeaker Design Duet 6 $2,995/ Review
October 9, 2017 Comments Off on Clearwave Loudspeaker Design Duet 6 $2,995/ Review
“Enough, back to the music. Listening to “Say Uncle”, the piano at the start is clear and dynamic, then as Vienna chimes in there is a seamless transition between instrument and voice. There is a certain sweetness to her honest intonations and phrasings that brings tears to your eyes. The speakers are able to convey emotion, a quality that surprisingly is often missing, but one that speaks to the soul of this gift we call music. Without it, you might as well be listening to female robots.”
MartinLogan Illusion ESL C34A Center-Channel Speaker Review
October 8, 2017 Comments Off on MartinLogan Illusion ESL C34A Center-Channel Speaker Review
“Over the past few years, I’ve used both MartinLogan’s Stage and B&W’s top-of-the-line HTM1 D2 for center-channel duty, as well as other models. As I said above, the ESL C34A is noticeably better than the Stage, with better definition and tauter bass. The HTM1 is the only other center channel I’ve had in my system that compares in terms of vocal clarity and dynamic capabilities. When I first installed the ESL C34A, I was concerned that its position on the floor would cause the center image to be lower and perhaps cause issues when sounds panned across the front, but this did not occur when watching movies. Every once in a while, I thought, “Gee, was that bit lower in the center?” But I think that was mostly because I was looking at a speaker sitting on the floor.”
VAC Signature 200iQ Stereo Amplifier Review
October 8, 2017 Comments Off on VAC Signature 200iQ Stereo Amplifier Review
“Perhaps the most startling sound I heard was that of the immortal Miles Davis’s Harmon-muted trumpet in “Basin Street Blues” from his Seven Steps to Heaven (CD, Columbia/Legacy CK 48827). It was explosive and piercing in a pleasant way, the notes lingering a bit in the air, a ghostly presence in my listening room. Every note was clear, tactile, evolving in time, plaintive and dynamic. The detail was such that notes bloomed as Davis played them, from attack impact to a subtle gathering in volume or a fading in aching diminuendo in long, sustained legatos and portamentos. There was a fabulous sense of touch and liveliness, the trumpet’s aural image solid and center-forward. It was as if Davis were there in front of me. The other players of his quartet were spread across the soundstage: Frank Butler’s drums deep at left, Ron Carter’s double bass near the center and noticeably behind Davis, and Victor Feldman’s piano at right. ”
Wyred 4 Sound DAC-2v2 SE REVIEW
October 8, 2017 § 2 Comments
“Some of you are going to feel that a good DAC’s USB input should be totally immune to the degrading effects of a computer connection. Wyred 4 Sound states that “the DAC-2v2 SE’s USB connection utilizes galvanic isolation to eliminate computer noise from the audio signal completely.” I have yet to find a USB DAC that is totally immune to computer noise from the output signal; this includes my reference DAC, the Ayre QX-5 Twenty.”
PureAudioProject Trio15 Horn1 Speaker Review
October 7, 2017 Comments Off on PureAudioProject Trio15 Horn1 Speaker Review
“The smallish risk on this wire I took nearly a decade ago has paid off most handsomely! Measuring the lengths of wire to size was easy, as I had the stock wiring from the speaker for comparison (copper braided wire with somewhat larger strands). Cutting them was another story. The square clear jacket was incredibly tough and I had to apply serious pressure with a sharp blade to penetrate it. I also had to watch that I didn’t cut too deeply because the individual conductors seemed thin enough to be traces on a circuit board. If I cut too deeply dozens of them would be shorn.”
Klipsch Forte III speakers Review
October 6, 2017 Comments Off on Klipsch Forte III speakers Review
“Movies typically have bigger soft-to-loud dynamic swings than music recordings, so I popped on the “House of Flying Daggers” circle of drums scene, and the Forte IIIs unleashed the sound of the big drums with explosive power I’ve never heard from any other speaker in the CNET listening room. When Mei (Zhang Ziyi) kicks the drums I not only heard the impact, I felt it. When I played the scene louder and louder, the Forte III never faltered. Bass was deep, definition was good, but hardly stellar. ”
Astell & Kern AK T1p Headphones Review
October 6, 2017 Comments Off on Astell & Kern AK T1p Headphones Review
” I heard textural changes and some shifts in coloration, but the T1p had more clarity. Shifts in sonics were due more to use of different wires, I think, than to the connectors. Overall ranking did not change. All other cans I tried had the 3.5 connectors or adapters, and demonstrated varying degrees of less clarity or linearity when compared to the T1p. The only cans on hand that fully achieved superior definition and imaging while maintaining the clarity of the Tesla drivers were the Grado PS 2000e, at a cost of $2695, using the 3.5 mm adapter.”
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