Marten Mingus Septet Statement Edition loudspeaker $199,000 Review
June 7, 2026 § Leave a comment
https://www.stereophile.com/content/marten-mingus-septet-statement-edition-loudspeaker
ome weeks after I set up the Martens, I paid a visit to Rockport Technologies’ new industrial facility in Westbrook, Maine. Rockport has been moving in slowly, and they recently set up a listening space. It was largish, rectangular, with walls of—I think—PVC cladding, which is somewhat sound-absorbing. Speaker positions were still being fine-tuned, but the speakers were well out into the room, perhaps 10′. After a quick tour of the factory-to-be, we sat down to listen.I noticed the soundstage right way. It extended a few feet beyond the sidewalls and very far back—it was deep—but it ended precisely at the front wall. I already knew that moving speakers out from the wall would expand image depth, but the precise correlation with the position of the front wall was new.Inspired, back in New York, I moved the Martens a couple of feet farther out from the front wall. I moved the listening seat back by about the same amount. After some fine-tuning, the speakers ended up just under 11′ apart and 10.5′ from my ears, precisely level, and toed in toward my ears. I’d never listened with speakers so far out into the room before, with any speakers—mainly because it was now impossible to sit at one of the places at the dining table.The sound, though, was transformed. Yes, the transformation was mainly in soundstage depth, but this had corollary payoffs, which I’ll discuss below in more detail. Well-recorded jazz combos now seemed more or less natural-sized, as if filling a stage at a jazz club from a seat perhaps 10′ from the stage—about the distance from the speaker plane to my listening seat.
Auribus Acoustics Sierra Review
June 7, 2026 § Leave a comment
https://www.headfonia.com/auribus-acoustics-sierra-review
According to cma.audio you also get a cable clip for attaching the cable to your shirt collar, but I’ve never seen that myself. I’ve been using the Sierra with Meze Audio’s Dual Mono 3.5mm Copper PCUHD Premium Cable, as the stock one wasn’t supplied.
The Auribus Acoustics Sierra is selling for $1,200 USD or €1.399 EURO, which puts in the medium to high-end range. Purely looking at the delivery, accessories and 3D-print/build quality, that’s perhaps a bit steep, but let’s see how we feel about that after we’ve looked at how it performs and sounds.
Audeze LCD-5s Headphones $4500 Review
June 5, 2026 § Leave a comment
I believe the Audeze LCD-5s are the finest planar headphones I have ever heard. They are comfortable to wear for the long haul and efficient for any headphone source. The better the headphone amplifier the better they sound. I am mightily impressed. The award winning Dr. C has done it again. He has pushed the envelope and redefined the state of the art. I did try a couple of different cables from other manufacturers, but I could not match the clarity and sense of realism of the supplied Audeze cables. Whether you listen to them single-ended or balanced you will enjoy the headphone listening experience to the max.
The Pass XS Preamplifier Review
June 5, 2026 § Leave a comment
We’ve had the opportunity to use the XS Preamplifier together with the matching XS300 monoblock amplifiers to excellent result, paired with the XS Phono, making for an unbeatable combination of dynamics, tonality, and ease of use. There truly is nothing I can find fault with this trio. Ok, it’s all pretty heavy. That’s it. Fortunately, the XS Pre only weighs 80 pounds, and it is distributed between two chassis, the power supply, and the actual preamplifier circuitry. The two are connected by the same massive umbilical cords used in the XS Phono and the XS 150/300 power amplifiers. Terminated with Neutrik connectors, these are beefy cables indeed. 100,000µƒ of power supply capacitance per channel only hints at the power reserves available.
NAD C 3030 Review
June 4, 2026 § Leave a comment
https://www.hifichoice.com/content/nad-c-3030
This new NAD amplifier is an interesting purchasing proposition. It is not – out and out – the finest-sounding design at its price point, yet it’s probably the best all-round package. Obviously many audiophiles will love the retro styling, but this isn’t a gimmick because the user interface is excellent. With no messing around with touchscreens and menus, you can get whatever you want done with it instantly.
There are enough inputs for modern audiophiles, although a coaxial input would have been nice. Its phono stage and Bluetooth features are well implemented and its audio engineering delivers a smooth and engaging sound that’s hard to fault at the price. All this means the C 3030 makes a great case for itself to budget-conscious buyers. Rather than being just a gimmick, its retro styling really adds to the overall experience.
Audiophilepure 
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