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.”
NAD C 338 Hybrid Digital Wireless Streaming DAC-Integrated Amplifier $649 Review
October 5, 2017 Comments Off on NAD C 338 Hybrid Digital Wireless Streaming DAC-Integrated Amplifier $649 Review
“Going in, I wondered if the Google Chromecast built into NAD’s C 338 would provide no more than a more seamless variant of the $35 Chromecast dongle Google sells. It was indeed seamless — and more. NAD has made Chromecast easier to use, more flexible, and sound better. In fact, so remarkable is NAD’s implementation that I wish they’d sell a Chromecast box as a separate source. The C 338 is filled out with an impressive, natural-sounding DAC, and an amplifier section that should easily fill most rooms. The NAD C 338 is an excellent value, especially for those interested in using Chromecast.”
KR Audio • VA910 Mono Amplifiers $16,500 Review
October 4, 2017 Comments Off on KR Audio • VA910 Mono Amplifiers $16,500 Review
“The VA910 midrange had lovely, emotionally significant accuracy, but it was not as magical as that of a a SET amp, nor did the VA910s bring out the inner harmonic structure of music in the way triodes or OTL amplifiers can. I had no complaints with their bass, which was full and nimble. The upper end of the frequency spectrum, however, was not quite as extended as it could be, with a little less airiness or openness in the upper reaches than I would preferred.”
NOBLE AUDIO KAISER ENCORE UNIVERSAL-FIT EARPHONES REVIEW
October 4, 2017 Comments Off on NOBLE AUDIO KAISER ENCORE UNIVERSAL-FIT EARPHONES REVIEW
“As advertised, the Kaiser Encore does offer enhanced midrange response as compared to the K10, with a somewhat more midrange forward sound. But what the press release doesn’t say is that the Kaiser Encore also offers substantially different voicing from top to bottom, with tighter, better controlled, and more accurately balanced bass, wonderfully revealing and wide-open mids, and more focussed, more delicate, and more extended highs. In short, the Kaiser Encore has been transformed to become arguably the most neutral sounding, most accurately balanced, and most revealing of all Noble earphones I have yet heard. Does this represent a fairly big departure from the sound of the K10? Yes. Is that a good thing? Emphatically yes!”
SHANGRI-LA HIFIMAN $50,000 REVIEW
October 3, 2017 Comments Off on SHANGRI-LA HIFIMAN $50,000 REVIEW
“The dynamics and speed of this system is unlike anything else I have auditioned. The cost of this product reflects the years of research and development that went into designing one of the best personal audio systems in the world. If your looking for ultimate dynamics with musicality and a product that is truly one of a kind this is the system that makes dreams come true. Live performers in your listening room comes at a steep price but for the fortunate who could afford to buy this system it will provide years of ultimate enjoyment. ”
KEF Reference 5 loudspeaker Review
October 3, 2017 Comments Off on KEF Reference 5 loudspeaker Review
“I very much enjoyed my time with the KEF Reference 5. It may not be a more affordable, less visually idiosyncratic Blade Two—that speaker stands alone in KEF’s line—but it offers its own balance of strengths: a neutral, uncolored midrange; weighty but well-defined lows; sweet, smooth highs; and superbly secure, stable soundstaging. The Reference 5s might sound too mellow in a large, overdamped space, but in my somewhat irregularly shaped room (18.5′ long by 14′ wide by 8′ high), the immaculately finished KEFs gave me all I need for musical and sonic satisfaction.”
Read more at https://www.stereophile.com/content/kef-reference-5-loudspeaker-page-2#XJw6o68LI3H2ErHD.99
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