Magico S2 Speakers Review
January 3, 2025 Comments Off on Magico S2 Speakers Review
The S2’s three-way Elliptical Symmetry Crossover (ESXO) is a topology of rare distinction. The crossover is implemented with an acoustical-target 24dB-slope using a Linkwitz-Riley filter.
Maximum frequency and phase linearity is accomplished, while keeping intermodulation distortion to vanishing levels. The S2 uses a full complement of state-of-the-art components from Mundorf of Germany, including M-Resist Ultra foil resistors, which deliver greater power handling, increased transparency, and more sonic liquidity than previous components. New is the copper foil paper coil, which improves the noise floor by reducing microphonic effects. The result of the S2’s ESXO crossover is superior coherence from the speaker’s four drive units.
McIntosh C2800 Review
January 3, 2025 Comments Off on McIntosh C2800 Review
https://www.hifinews.com/content/mcintosh-c2800
The more I used the C2800, the more I came to appreciate its blend of clarity and focus. Some might prefer a preamp with a simpler specification, or perhaps the multiband equaliser that’s writ large across the solid-state C55, but I have to admit I didn’t use its subtle tone controls beyond a brief period of experimentation to explore their effect. Frankly, I was more than happy with the basic rightness of the C2800’s sound, and the way so much functionality has been packed in seemingly with no deleterious effect on the performance.
‘Real-world’ isn’t a description many would apply to a product costing the thick end of £12,000, and probably requiring a similar amount to be invested in power amplification. However, I think what McIntosh has got here is an exceptional valve preamp with excellent performance, all the inputs almost anyone could ever want, and no sign of valve quirkiness to frighten the horses.
Red Rose Music ribbon reference 1 towers
January 3, 2025 Comments Off on Red Rose Music ribbon reference 1 towers
Noble Audio Onyx $3200 Review
January 2, 2025 Comments Off on Noble Audio Onyx $3200 Review
Any illusion of a mosh pit-type staging experience due to my characterization of the Onyx as a darker-sounding monitor would be erroneous.
Granted, it is not as sparkling as the Ragnar or Ronin, but there is enough of a lift around 6-8k and decent headroom to ensure it doesn’t sound claustrophobic. Where the Onyx soundstage excels is its excellent level of depth and impressive channel separation with above-average width.
RDacoustic Silentmax 3D Luxury Edition
January 2, 2025 Comments Off on RDacoustic Silentmax 3D Luxury Edition
Developed under a separate brand name, RDacoustic Silentmax® is a 12 mm thick acoustic panel characterized by excellent acoustic energy absorption. It is meant to serve anywhere where reverberation times needs to be reduced: in modern interiors, but also in offices, meeting rooms, classrooms, auditoriums and so on. Made from 100% PET recyclate, it is durable, non-flammable and colour stable. All information about the acoustic properties of this material can be found at its respective webpage, silentmax.eu. The three-dimensional design, which divides the panels into acoustic segments, is a mix of simple cost-effective flat panels and the more advanced series of our hybrid diffusers. Compared to flat panels, it offers the same variability of integration into the interior but its active area is almost 2.4 times larger.
KEF Muon Speakers at the KEF Music Gallery in London
January 2, 2025 Comments Off on KEF Muon Speakers at the KEF Music Gallery in London
Focal Diva Utopia Review
January 1, 2025 Comments Off on Focal Diva Utopia Review
https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/focal-diva-utopia
Elsewhere there isn’t much to complain about. We are getting a wonderfully clean and clear presentation with Florence Welch’s powerful vocals coming through with conviction. Instruments and voices are rendered with convincing texture and a good degree of natural warmth. It’s a tidy and controlled presentation with a decent if not explosive sense of rhythmic drive.
We’re happy to report that the Diva’s performance stays pleasingly consistent whether we use the built-in streaming module, the stereo analogue input or the optical connection. We rarely come across a product where the performance of each of these inputs is so balanced.
Bel Canto Pre5 Preamplifier and REF501S Amplifier Review
January 1, 2025 Comments Off on Bel Canto Pre5 Preamplifier and REF501S Amplifier Review
I had a chance to try briefly the Pre5 headphone feature and found it to be a decent performer, which should delight the headphone users out there. Therefore, without reservation, I could say that the Pre5 and REF501S were competent performers all around. Towards the end of the review, I swapped out the REF501S with its predecessor, the REF500S. The comparison revealed slightly different sonic characteristics between the two amplifiers. It seemed that the REF501S traded a slightly warm and laid-back presentation of the REF500S for better transparency and a slightly more intimate soundstage. To be clear, this comparison did not reveal that one was better than the other. In my opinion, the two amplifiers exhibited about equal level of performance; they are just slightly different in their musical presentations.
Estelon X Diamond Mk II loudspeaker $89,000 Review
December 31, 2024 Comments Off on Estelon X Diamond Mk II loudspeaker $89,000 Review
https://www.stereophile.com/content/estelon-x-diamond-mk-ii-loudspeaker
Balanced, engaging, and multifaceted, the Estelons took me through many moods. I felt not just in sync with the music but blessedly affected by it too. It’s true that sonically, in my room, the X Diamond Mk IIs were a notch past the midpoint between earthy and analytical. They have a slightly more pronounced mid-treble region than my Focal Scalas do. That means that they paired well with the Aurender A20 and the Grimm Audio MU1, and not as successfully with the otherwise excellent Eversolo DMP-A8 (which doesn’t sound sharp or strident per se but can’t boast perfect fluidity either). The A20 and the MU1 are both a touch mellower, less forward, more “analog” perhaps. That suits the Estelons.
In a historic account of a love triangle that I read recently, the femme fatale seduced her lover with a suggestive dance. The sentence that stood out was “When she danced, the concealed was revealed.” That’s also a very fitting description of the X Diamond Mk IIs. For speakers at this price level, you’d expect impeccable beauty inside and out, visually and sonically, and that’s what you get with these comely Estonians. They ooze detail and resolution and naturalness, unveiling what remains hidden—or is sloppily sketched—through lesser contenders. It’s hard to think of higher praise
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