Focal Utopia audiophile headphone $3,000 Review
June 29, 2016 Comments Off on Focal Utopia audiophile headphone $3,000 Review
” If one headphone tops the Utopia it’s the Abyss AB-1266. In head-to-head comparisons the AB-1266 was even more vivid, with a more spacious, precisely focused soundstage. Returning to the Utopia the sound lost some immediacy, but I’d readily concede that most people, including a lot of audiophiles, would choose the Utopia over the heavier and bulkier AB-1266. The Utopia is a lot more comfortable, and since it’s easier to drive, it’s a lot less finicky about amplifiers. Oh, and the AB-1266 ($5,495, which is about £3,800 or AU$7,400) is more expensive than the Utopia.”
Zu Audio Soul Supreme loudspeaker Review
June 29, 2016 Comments Off on Zu Audio Soul Supreme loudspeaker Review
” When I’m not listening to Scott Walker or Miles Davis, I’m dreaming back to those times before our colonies rejected British rule. I’m especially fond of the music of Henry Purcell (1659–1695). I wish, dear reader, that you could have been here with me, sitting on my couch, as my beloved Deller Consort played and sang extracts from Purcell’s King Arthur, sung to a text by John Dryden (LP, Harmonia Mundi HMC E200). Oh solemn joy and mild voices! Act I,ii opens with pomp and pageantry that gradually develops into restrained foreboding: even the choruses and solos that follow are less than joyful. My joy was in the listening. The Soul Supremes and LM-518IA played this semi-opera in a most enlightening way. The textures and spaces were revealed with a clarity and tangible realism that made for an enjoyable intimacy with the performers. Images were well drawn, in a way that enhanced my understanding of Deller’s and Purcell’s intentions. These American speakers responded supremely to the British Dryden-Purcell-Deller consortium. Joy and odes!”
1More Mk801 headphone Review
June 28, 2016 Comments Off on 1More Mk801 headphone Review
“Summing up: The 1More Mk801 won’t be the first choice for buyers craving maximum detail, but this headphone won’t make you cringe with harsh or glaringly bright recordings. The Mk801 has above-average build and sound quality for the money; it’s highly recommended.”
FIIO A1 AMP REVIEW
June 28, 2016 Comments Off on FIIO A1 AMP REVIEW
” You immediately hear the elevated bass kick in on the first bass boost setting (+2.7dB). Besides changing the bass level, it doesn’t really impact the sound apart from the slightly more forward vocals. Bass body now is bigger and it still isn’t the tightest. It doesn’t really run over in to the mids yet but it’s close. If you need more bass than on the normal setting, the EQ1 setting most likely is the one you’re looking for as is most dynamic and “correct”. With bass heavy head/earphones such as the Urban Vinyl Classic, bass even on Bass 1 setting is too much already, but that’s personal preference.”
Focal Sopra N°1 Bookshelf Speakers Reviewed
June 27, 2016 Comments Off on Focal Sopra N°1 Bookshelf Speakers Reviewed
” The Sopra N°1s are serious eye-candy. As Prince would’ve said, “you sexy mother F**KER!” Beyond aesthetics, the Sopras easily exceeded my expectations for serious sit-down listening. The more time I spent with the Sopra N°1s, the more eager I became to re-explore my music collection–late nights, eyes closed, remote in one hand, a few fingers of Oban 14 in the other. There are many speakers on the market up to the task of high-resolution listening. With its horn-loaded beryllium tweeters revealing every detail with insanely low distortion, the Sopra N°1s are one of them”
Magico S1 Mk.II Loudspeakers Review
June 26, 2016 Comments Off on Magico S1 Mk.II Loudspeakers Review
” However, the treble was slightly prominent. I doubt that anyone would describe the S1 Mk.II’s sound as “polite.” Yet it would be unfair to characterize the S1’s high-frequency performance as bright or edgy. It was merely . . . prominent. With “No Son of Mine,” this manifested itself in the drums and hi-hats that fill in behind Collins’s voice as the song continues; they took on a brasher, more vibrant sheen than I’m used to hearing. With Max Richter’s “recompositions” of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons (16/44.1 FLAC, Deutsche Grammophon), as performed by the Berlin Concert House Chamber Orchestra conducted by André de Ridder, this treble prominence revealed itself in a different way via the violin of soloist Daniel Hope. Hope’s instrument sounded positively electric through the S1, with soaring extension, liquidity, and a wicked turn of pace. Despite pushing his instrument harder and harder as the piece progresses and the high-frequency transients become increasingly frenetic, the Magico’s diamond-coated beryllium dome never sounded hard or brittle.”
ELAC Debut B5 Loudspeaker Review
June 26, 2016 Comments Off on ELAC Debut B5 Loudspeaker Review
” Bass was emphasized on the B5 in a fairly benign, mid bass way — no low bass at this size. But what remained was effective adding to the coherence we spoke about. There’s no criticism meant in suggesting this. When some oomph was required, the B5s complied. But they complied in my smaller reference music room.”
BURMESTER PHASE 3 SYSTEM £23,800
June 26, 2016 Comments Off on BURMESTER PHASE 3 SYSTEM £23,800
” They need not apply because Phase 3’s only real weakness is a lack of upgradability. This system does not lend itself toward adding separate preamplifiers or power amplifiers, and neither is the amplifier open-ended enough to form the basis of an upgradable system. Whether this is a problem or not comes down to the listener. If you view an audio system in terms of future audio systems, Phase 3 is not for you. If you are done with all of that, and simply want a good sounding system with no eye toward future changes, then Phase 3 is ideal. Personally, I think Phase 3 represents a significant part of audio’s future, as people move away from multiple boxes and toward simpler, uncompromised solutions.”
Dunu dn-2002 Review
June 26, 2016 Comments Off on Dunu dn-2002 Review
” Onto the overall built quality and we have housings that are also a hybrid of sorts, with a plastic ring around a metal barrel. Being a majority share of metal I can’t find any faults and obviously I have said enough when it comes to the cable connectors. As for the actual cable it is what we have seen time and time again on the last haul of Dunu products which is a solid enough cable with the fancy little cable wind up. The only worry I have is where the cable goes into the MMCX housings it seems to be quite pinched. I am excited for the next two models as I have seen some pictures of them with some fancier looking braided cables!”
HiFiMan Edition X Headphones $1,800 Review
June 25, 2016 Comments Off on HiFiMan Edition X Headphones $1,800 Review
“I never tire of putting the first movement of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony to work. For the HiFiMan, I trotted out two very different versions. Bernard Haitink’s recording with the London Symphony Orchestra (48/24) has an uneven distribution of frequencies across the stage with much of the lighter-textured instruments at far right, requiring high resolution, precise imaging, and a certain amount of treble prominence to balance out the darker-toned instruments at the left. The HiFiMan maintained the recording’s idiosyncratic equilibrium. Carlos Kleiber’s historic recording with the Vienna Philharmonic (FLAC, 88.2/24) is my go-to version for texture, layering, blastability, and emotional connection.”
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