NORDOST ODIN 2 CABLES £43,399/4m terminated REVIEW
December 6, 2015 Comments Off on NORDOST ODIN 2 CABLES £43,399/4m terminated REVIEW
” In short, Nordost’s Odin 2 doesn’t just push the envelope of how unforced audio can sound through a cable; it breaks the sound barrier. Nordost’s original Odin set high standards for cables, whether viewed individually, or in ideal circumstances taken as a complete system. And Odin 2 takes that to another level. The best that became ‘one of the best’ has just returned to its place at the head of the table. Wow!”
Artison RCC Nano 1 Subwoofer Review
December 6, 2015 Comments Off on Artison RCC Nano 1 Subwoofer Review
” This clearly went lower and sounded tighter, with considerably less boom, at the sacrifice of perhaps 4 or 5 dB of max level. Multiple Nanos might be a viable option for bigger spaces: The manual states that up to three can be driven from a single wireless link, and while there’s no wired daisy-chain output, a Y-cable or two could accomplish the same end.”
SONUS FABER CHAMELEON B STANDMOUNT LOUDSPEAKER – REVIEW
December 6, 2015 Comments Off on SONUS FABER CHAMELEON B STANDMOUNT LOUDSPEAKER – REVIEW
” It’s very clear, very quickly, that you are in the presence of good quality audiophile fare when you sit between the Chameleon B. The soundstaging in particular is open and expressive, with excellent width and depth, and even some height. The one thing small standmount speakers like the Sonus faber do exceptionally well, is they act like an effective point source. Play ‘Mi Buenos Aires Querido’ from the album of the same name by Daniel Barenboim, Rodolfo Mederos, and Héctor Console [Teldec], and you get the sense of a classically inspired Tango trio physically occupying your own room. Coupled with an overarching sense of refinement, and you have the sort of insightful and deeply enjoyable presentation you get from the best high-end audio. But with one reservation: bass.”
AMBIENT ACOUSTICS AM-6 HIREZ REVIEW
December 5, 2015 Comments Off on AMBIENT ACOUSTICS AM-6 HIREZ REVIEW
” The bass seems to advance towards the sub bass, probably maxing its presence just under 100Hz and holding itself from a steep roll off well. Because of that the deep bass is dynamic and textured and shows its emphasis with it extracting any bass frequencies it can find an driving them a lingering reproduction that can be felt and heard. The bass does have a lack of speed but it certainly seems on purpose and while I think it creates an exaggerated timbre that is certainly richer and bolder than life. That feeling continues into a very baritone midrange that loves Michael Bublé and some mellow blues. It is almost seductive.”
PERLA AUDIO SIGNATURE 50 INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER Review $9000
December 5, 2015 Comments Off on PERLA AUDIO SIGNATURE 50 INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER Review $9000
” The S50 was capable of generating slightly warm, sweet, and liquid harmonic textures, though it could never be mistaken for a tube amp simply because of its superior transient speed and the lack of a euphonic harmonic signature. In this respect it bettered even the much more expensive Lamm Audio M1.2 Reference monoblocks. However, the voicing of these two amps was significantly different. While the M1.2 was a master of tonal neutrality, the S50 consistently dished out darkish harmonic hues. Consequently, harmonic colors appeared less saturated relative to the M1.2 and a tad paler than the real thing. I found the M1.2’s sunnier disposition much easier to live with over the long haul, though I suspect that a slightly bright speaker would provide the S50 with a perfect tonal antidote. In compensation for its closed-in treble range, the S50 served up amazing soundstage transparency and image resolution.
PS Audio NuWave DSD DAC review
December 4, 2015 Comments Off on PS Audio NuWave DSD DAC review
” A week was all that was required for break-in/warm-up. For listening proper, I placed the NuWave DSD DAC on four Isoblocks to rigidly decouple it from the dullard MDF shelves of my Salamander four-tier rack. A Mytek USB cable connected the NuWave to a MacBook running Audirvana+. A one-meter pair of Analysis Plus Copper Oval RCA cables connected the NuWave to a Shindo Allegro preamp. All review cuts (unless otherwise noted) were AIFF files, ripped from CD.”
HIFIMAN HE1000 $3,000 REVIEW
December 3, 2015 Comments Off on HIFIMAN HE1000 $3,000 REVIEW
” This is perhaps the most impressive aspect of the HE1000 for me. The HE1k’s bass extends incredibly deep. I remember the first time when I popped on the LCD-2 v1 in 2011 and listening to Mediæval Bæbes out of a Lehmann amp and my jaw dropped at how authoritative the sub-bass was and until now that has been my benchmark on sub-bass performance. The HE1000 eclipses the Audeze sub-bass reach by some margin and extends way beyond the HE6 also for that matter.”
SME Model 15/A Turntable Review
December 3, 2015 Comments Off on SME Model 15/A Turntable Review
” The soundstage is created in front of the listener, between speakers. Within this “window” everything is presented in a particularly orderly, clean, well defined way. It’s not only about exact placement of each instrument on the stage, but also about well differentiated timbre of each of them. The latter is particularly important for this type of presentation. This slightly detached performance is compensated or complemented with a particularly good timbre differentiation. And this creates impression of a very rich presentation. The soundstage is quite deep, but it doesn’t excel. It can also move closer to listener, even surround him – that’s what happens on Jarre’s maxi-single, or the new re-issue of Roger Waters’ Amused to Death. I can hardly imagine someone who wouldn’t be fully satisfied here.”
Marantz HD-DAC1 Digital-to-Analog Converter $799
December 3, 2015 Comments Off on Marantz HD-DAC1 Digital-to-Analog Converter $799
“After hearing the Marantz DAC in two very different systems, I was eager to find out how it would fare in a more expensive and highly resolving system — my own. My Thiel CS3.7s are known for their accuracy, the PS Audio DirectStream is famous for its analog-like presentation and the new CAT SL1 Black Path Edition preamp sets a very high bar for transparency. Whatever the flaws of the HD DAC-1 might be, I would have no trouble identifying them.”
Emerald Physics 4.7 Loudspeakers Review
December 1, 2015 Comments Off on Emerald Physics 4.7 Loudspeakers Review
” Apparently, soundstage height is not as simple as how tall the speakers are. Remember Silly Putty? You could flatten it and press it on a newspaper picture to copy the picture. The fun part was to pull the edges and stretch the image, making it elongated and skewed. This is what the Magnepans seem to do: stretch the image. The EP4.7 sonic image is as tall when the recording includes it, but is entirely better focused and more correct. Singers do not appear as a point in space: the EP4.7 is too competent to make the mistake of presenting performers without size and dimensions. Voices are presented as emanating from a human-size head and body, proportional to the recording space.
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