PAllo’s DigiOne pulls five star sound quality from the Raspberry Pi- Review
September 18, 2017 Comments Off on PAllo’s DigiOne pulls five star sound quality from the Raspberry Pi- Review
“Allo – they are based in Bangalore, India. Their Raspberry Pi HAT is as good an example as any of ‘you get what you pay for’ but also a device that puts the boot into cultural preconceptions about a product’s country of origin being a reliable indicator of quality. British is best? Not ‘ere it ain’t.”
Octave Audio V 80 SE integrated amplifier Review
September 18, 2017 Comments Off on Octave Audio V 80 SE integrated amplifier Review
“The Octave Audio V 80 SE is one unusual integrated amplifier. It packs a wallop, is perhaps the single most transparent and neutral machine ever to grace my Greenwich Village hi-fi rig, and is so acute to the source that I find myself adjusting the volume for every record. The V 80 SE lacked the tonal color, warmth, and shapeliness of textures I’ve come to love from my Shindo separates, and it could sometimes unleash hard upper-register attacks. But the Octave excelled with a different mien, a different style.
REL ACOUSTICS 212/SE SUBWOOFER REVIEW
September 18, 2017 Comments Off on REL ACOUSTICS 212/SE SUBWOOFER REVIEW
“The REL 212/SE is more than just another subwoofer. While it has foundation-threating levels of bass energy on tap, it’s also one of the best upgrades you can do for your system, because it takes everything you like about your existing system and makes more of it: more midrange clarity, more high frequency extension, more soundstaging, and a lot more speed. The downsides are three-fold: it’s a big box, it cuts a relatively big hole in your bank balance, and it’s unlikely to stay on its own for long, as you will start eyeing up the options for a matching pair of 212/SE. These things apply more or less universally, too: if speakers that don’t benefit from the 212/SE exist, they would have to be a pair of extraordinarily meaty loudspeakers that would dwarf the 212/SE both physically and financially. Bass is not just for bass-heads, as the REL 212/SE demonstrates, and as a result comes very highly recommended.
Dynaudio Special Forty $2,999 Review
September 17, 2017 Comments Off on Dynaudio Special Forty $2,999 Review
“The Special Forty is in step with the trend of shrinking high-end speakers size, and this speaker might be the best one yet for its size. Tonally, the Special Forty is smooth and easy, but as I continued to listen it was the speakers’ clarity and resolution that made the biggest impressions.”
AUDEZE ISINE10 & ISINE20 – REVIEW
September 16, 2017 Comments Off on AUDEZE ISINE10 & ISINE20 – REVIEW
“One of my favorite portable amps is the Cypher Labs Picollo but with the iSine20 I most of the time find the iSine a little dark sounding and I’m missing a little bit of the energy and dynamics. The Bakoon HPA-01M has an excellent reputation with planar magnetic headphones so this combination was expected to work wonderfully together. The iSine, especially on the voltage output, sounds precise, lively, energetic and dynamic. Bass is excellent, tight and punchy. The mids are rich and layered and treble is lively and playful. It does get loud very quickly however and with the channel imbalance the Bakoon suffers from, you best have a source that allows adapting the output volume.”
DeVore Fidelity Gibbon X – Review
September 16, 2017 Comments Off on DeVore Fidelity Gibbon X – Review
“I think this new Weapon X from the MonkeyHaus up in Brooklyn, NY, is a show-stopper. Played at volume, it’s literally a stunner. The Gibbon X is room filling, precise, and gloriously immersive in its presentation. You can get inside of your recordings with tools like these, and with the Gibbon X fronting your system, you can safely start investing in the good food they want and need in order for them to fill your heart, mind, body and soul with the music of the spheres. And I’m serious about that, they’re going to sound better and better, the better and better the gear that is feeding them happens to be. And yes, these Gibbons will let you know every time the diet improves.”
MOON AUDIO DRAGON INSPIRE IHA‑1 HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER $1,600 REVIEW
September 15, 2017 Comments Off on MOON AUDIO DRAGON INSPIRE IHA‑1 HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER $1,600 REVIEW
“If I sound impressed by Moon’s Dragon Inspire IHA‑1, that’s because I am. What we have here is in essence a handmade, bespoke-quality headphone amplifier that sells for well under $2,000. Most importantly, it consistently does justice to the music in ways large and small and that make you want to listen and keep on listening. Isn’t that precisely what a top-class headphone amplifier should do”
Magnepan .7 Quasi Ribbon planar speakers $1,395/pair Review
September 13, 2017 Comments Off on Magnepan .7 Quasi Ribbon planar speakers $1,395/pair Review
“If done successfully you will have upgraded the .7 to a very much improved version, the homemade .7 Extreme, let’s say. Everything about the performance improves, and I should not have to spend much time discussing that concept; you will either believe me or not. Let those who trust my system-building instincts consider this upgrade – and the potential risks – and capture a better performance from the .7.”
FIIO X7 MARK II REVIEW
September 11, 2017 Comments Off on FIIO X7 MARK II REVIEW
“Staging wise the X7II combined with the AM3a provides better detail and dynamics at the very low end and superior air and articulation in its brilliance region. The linear response curve in the midbass to lower mids also provides a bit more space and clarity to instrumental passages.”
Lamm LL1.1 Signature Dual-Mono Preamplifier $45,590 Review
September 11, 2017 Comments Off on Lamm LL1.1 Signature Dual-Mono Preamplifier $45,590 Review
” For a long time, I wished audio components would go on a high-calorie diet and put some meat on the bones. High resolution audio is often thin and hard-edged. Well, maybe that is changing. For one thing, the audiophile press is talking non-stop about tonal saturation, fullness, and larger scale in a positive way these days.”
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