MUSICAL FIDELITY NU-VISTA 800 INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER REVIEW
May 6, 2016 Comments Off on MUSICAL FIDELITY NU-VISTA 800 INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER REVIEW
” The use of Nu-Vista tubes might impart a certain sweetness and liquidity, but there’s nothing falsely euphonic or rose-tinted about the overall presentation. The Nu-Vista 800 can sound lean and mean when it needs to, and doesn’t pull its sonic punches. In comparison, my own regular Classé/Musical Fidelity combination proved kinder and more accommodating.”
LG G5 with Hi-Fi Plus DAC Review
May 6, 2016 Comments Off on LG G5 with Hi-Fi Plus DAC Review
” he sound through headphones is good, but not amazing. You get a good tonal balance and plenty of detail whether you listen to Spotify or CD-quality WAVs, and there’s a lovely delicacy to hi-res tracks.”
DALI EPICON 8 FLOORSTANDING LOUDSPEAKER REVIEW
May 6, 2016 Comments Off on DALI EPICON 8 FLOORSTANDING LOUDSPEAKER REVIEW
“Going back to the Townshend/Naim pairing, I also tried the CAD CAT transport and 1543 MkII DAC as a front end, which readers of issue 132 may recall is a pretty special digital source. It’s also a sound that perfectly matches the DALIs’ finesse and detail retrieval, so the system created a truly ‘reach out and touch’, super deluxe sound. A close miked piece by Sarabeth Tucek [Get Well Soon, Echo], where the recording level is clearly on the hot side, is nonetheless capable of raising the hairs on your neck when delivered with the degree of transparency presented by the Epicon 8. You can hear the effects that have been used in the studio, but there is nonetheless a ghostly presence to this performance that perhaps relates to the subject matter; the death of the artist’s father.”
MicroZOTL 2 Headphone Amp Review
May 6, 2016 Comments Off on MicroZOTL 2 Headphone Amp Review
“The lightweight switching power supply was upgradeable and folks substituted various LPS units. LTA just released it’s own LPS, while the stock ZOTL is fine sounding, adding the LTA LPS does improve things. I put on the Henry Butler/Steven Bernstein track again…the switching supply sounds fine, but the LPS tightens and deepens the bass, and the stage becomes bit more open, deep, and clean. Perspective drops back a few rows. A barely perceptible edge is tamed with the LPS. All Time Low became even clearer, the stage deepened and instruments got more defined, with deeper bass and convincing cymbals.”
SONUS FABER PRYMA REVIEW
May 5, 2016 Comments Off on SONUS FABER PRYMA REVIEW
” This is a solid performer down below, but this headphone was clearly not intended for bassy genre usage and those who might enjoy Dubstep, Deep Minstep or really anything with exceptionally plentiful bass levels should be shopping elsewhere. Instead, those who want a good, middle ground performer for most genres will be relatively happy here with the Pryma.”
Marantz NA6005 Review
May 5, 2016 Comments Off on Marantz NA6005 Review
“Even if the Marantz NA6005, with its operational app-based upsets, sometimes tests our patience more than our analytical ears, it proves itself a decent and solid – if a little safe – sounding introduction into streaming for anyone on a budget looking to finally embrace digital and introduce network features into their system.”
Vandersteen Model Seven Mk.II loudspeaker $62,000 Review
May 5, 2016 Comments Off on Vandersteen Model Seven Mk.II loudspeaker $62,000 Review
“The Seven Mk.II’s excellent low-frequency extension could be appreciated not only with pipe-organ recordings—such as my as-yet-unreleased recording of Jonas Nordwall performing the Toccata of Widor’s Organ Symphony 5 in Portland’s First United Methodist Church (24/88.2 AIFF)—but also with the awesome synth bass line of “Royals,” from Lorde’s Pure Heroine (Republic/Tidal stream). Some years ago, I recorded erstwhile Stereophile staffer Ariel Bitran’s band; in the mixes of those songs, I tried to re-create the low-frequency magnificence of live rock. The Vandersteen system was sufficiently transparent in the bass that I could readily hear how the dCS Vivaldi kept the intentionally phat bass-guitar lines better differentiated from the kick drum than did the PS Audio DirectStream DAC, especially when the bassist drops an octave at the start of a phrase.”
PARADIGM PRESTIGE 2000SW SUBWOOFER REVIEW
May 4, 2016 Comments Off on PARADIGM PRESTIGE 2000SW SUBWOOFER REVIEW
” On movies there was decent authority and punch to all the material I ran through it. While I felt that I was occasionally missing some of the deeper sounds that you tend to feel more than hear, the 2000SW’s clean and consistent bass reproduction across my entire room was an acceptable compromise to have. In fact, with PBK, when it came time to having both subwoofers running, really was “gilding the lily” so to speak. The biggest benefit with duals in this case was the added headroom so the subs didn’t have to stress so much with challenging material. Although with either single or dual subwoofers in use I never got the sense that I was pushing the 2000SW into uncomfortable territory. I did at times witness some impressive driver cone movement so that scalloped driver surround looks like it is doing its job quite well.”
Gold Note Meditteranneo Turntable Review
May 4, 2016 Comments Off on Gold Note Meditteranneo Turntable Review
“When I started listening to the Meditteraneo I tried not to judge its sound quality too harshly, as I was aware that this equipment needed to break-in a while before it was sonically up to speed (pun not intended). So I listened to music as I regularly do – as I tried my best to listen to the music, rather than the sound quality of the music. Still, these initial impressions were good. But to be honest, I wasn’t quite sure how many of the sonic characteristics I was hearing were due to the turntable, tonearm or cartridge. Many seasoned audiophiles are well aware that the when judging an analog set up, it is the turntable that determines the sound the most, and by a large margin. This is followed by the tonearm, then the cartridge. Think about it: no one with any sense is likely to mount a $10,000 cartridge on a department store turntable and expect it to sound any better than a department store turntable. After some long listening sessions with the Meditteraneo I switched out the Gold Note phono cartridge for my current reference Kesiki Purple Heart. I also listened to the Tuscany Gold mounted on the Tri-Planar tonearm/Basis turntable combination, as well as spending some time going back to my usual set up of the Basis / Tri-Planar / Kesiki.”
Marantz HD-AMP1 Integrated Amplifier & DSD DAC Review
May 4, 2016 Comments Off on Marantz HD-AMP1 Integrated Amplifier & DSD DAC Review
” The ergonomics of an integrated amplifier is especially important, and the HD-AMP1 was flawless in that regard. The volume knob and remote offered plenty of sweep, and navigating the menu via the source selector was very easy. The amplifier, left on 24/7, was slightly warm to the touch. It did perform at its best when left powered up. All in all, a very tidy, elegant package.”
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