D’Agostino MxV Integrated Integrated Amplifier £73,998 Review
March 4, 2024 Comments Off on D’Agostino MxV Integrated Integrated Amplifier £73,998 Review
https://www.hifinews.com/content/dagostino-mxv-integrated-integrated-amplifier
How could I not know that this amplifier’s lower registers would have reach and mass tailor-made for head-banging? Whitesnake shows greater finesse, or rather employs a lighter touch than, say, Motörhead, so it wasn’t all screaming and buried meter needles. What iced this (bottom octaves) cake was the layering which gave the drums and bass their own sonic strata.
If that sounds like the flat images of Viewmaster 3D or the antithesis of soundstage or imaging cohesion, forgive my failure to communicate precisely how these layers of sound complement each other. You just know by the way it all comes together that the art of creating a flawless wall of sound isn’t solely a skill belonging to Phil Spector. This amplifier rocks.
Arendal Sound 1723 Tower S Loudspeaker Review
March 4, 2024 Comments Off on Arendal Sound 1723 Tower S Loudspeaker Review
My first impression of the Tower S was that it’s built like a tank. As I mentioned, this instilled some unfounded notions in my mind about how it must sound. Those preconceptions, it turned out, were in fact correct. The bombastic “War Dance,” from Respighi: Belkis, Queen of Sheba Suite (CD, Reference Recordings RR-95CD), with the Minnesota Orchestra, was delivered with ease by the Arendals in all its power and drive. During my time with the Arendals, I also had an SVS SB-4000 subwoofer at my disposal and could have added it to the mix. But the Arendals generated such tight, solid bass, there was no need for a subwoofer (at least not for music).
Within the bounds of volume level I could tolerate, the sonic character of the Tower S remained the same. If you enjoy loud playback, the Arendals will oblige. As all other speakers, they too have their limits, but I never approached them. A shortcoming I did notice occurred midway through “War Dance,” when a solo clarinet enters. On some speakers, this clarinet passage captivates your attention as it gracefully floats in space. Not so much with the Arendals. The clarinet was reproduced clearly enough; it just didn’t have the presence to command the spotlight.
Top 5 Turntables for Under $2000 for 2024
March 4, 2024 Comments Off on Top 5 Turntables for Under $2000 for 2024
Feliks Envy headphone amplifier Review
March 3, 2024 Comments Off on Feliks Envy headphone amplifier Review
https://www.stereophile.com/content/gramophone-dreams-81-feliks-envy-headphone-amplifier
I’ve worshipped at the altar of David Lindley, singer-songwriter and master of all stringed instruments. His 1981 debut album with his band El Rayo-X (Asylum LP 5E-524) is spectacular on black disc, but the digital streaming version (16/44.1 FLAC Electra Asylum/Qobuz) has never grabbed me; I never listened all the way through until I listened with the ZMF Verité–Feliks Envy combo. With that, “Mercury Blues” came all the way alive, and my feet weren’t tapping the floor; they were pounding it. My head was bouncing, and I was cruising on down the road. Plus! I can’t mention this album of full-tilt rhythms without a shout-out declaring Ian Wallace, once a member of King Crimson, the alpha dog of funky drummers. On “Mercury Blues,” Wallace was so good and having so much fun, he made me laugh out loud in the middle of a song.
After parking my new Mercury, I entered a seaside tango bar, and there she was: the beautiful Argentinian chanteuse Susana Natividad Rinaldi, sounding like Edith Piaf and looking like a singer in a David Lynch film. The seductive tones of Rinaldi’s voice forced me to adore her. The dense reverb that framed her voice and made the band’s instruments vibrant did not fog the recording’s transparency or soften its focus. The album that supplied that vision is called A Homero Manzi (16/44.1 FLAC RP Music/Qobuz), and I swear that every instrument and player in her small orchestra was delineated clearly enough to watch and follow what they were doing on the stage.
MBL System By 3mA Audio
March 3, 2024 Comments Off on MBL System By 3mA Audio
“When Tron is your favorite movie franchise you build your listening/theater room accordingly. And not a more fitting speaker to recreate the sounds of Tron Legacy.
Five power supplies for the WiiM Pro+
March 3, 2024 Comments Off on Five power supplies for the WiiM Pro+
Børresen’s X1 Stand-mount Loudspeaker $5,500
March 2, 2024 Comments Off on Børresen’s X1 Stand-mount Loudspeaker $5,500
The tweeter used in the Børresen X-series has the same design used in all other Børresen loudspeaker series but with a reduction in magnet and iron mass. As a result, the efficiency has dropped only slightly from 94 dB to 90 dB, but this is still good efficiency for a tweeter.
The tweeter operates from about 2.5 kHz upwards. The moving mass is extremely low at 0.01 grams. The fully concealed tweeter can operate at a high speed and the robustness of the tweeter allows it to handle high transients without causing any deafening dips.
Audio Hungary Qualiton A75 Integrated Amplifier $9250 Review
March 2, 2024 Comments Off on Audio Hungary Qualiton A75 Integrated Amplifier $9250 Review
The further upshot of time with Audio Hungary’s Qualiton A75 was making plain to me, again, that music is about enjoyment not extraction of every iota of sound. More information is more information it is not necessarily more joy. As an audiophile, my musical interests have blossomed and include far more genres of music than when I started. I’m not going into a hermit state. I’ve poked into a lot of corners of music that I was never interested in. Some proved just interesting and some really enjoyable. So it goes.
The Qualiton A75 is a compelling offer to buy, simplify, and just enjoy. Have great sound without having to give up so much real estate while retaining some visual beauty. It’s an opportunity to bask in the joy of an evolved system. Instead of studying reviews of amplifiers to determine what your next audio purchase should be. Maybe what’s next is to continue exploring new music or it’s immersing yourself more deeply into your record collection or taking friends to your desert island system and basking in the full glory of what you’ve constructed. Audio Hungary’s Qualiton A75 could be that. Highly recommended.
Tannoy Stirling III LZ Special Edition $12,500 review
March 1, 2024 Comments Off on Tannoy Stirling III LZ Special Edition $12,500 review
https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/tannoy-stirling-iii-lz-special-edition
Tonally, these Tannoys sound lean and short of natural warmth through the midrange, leaving voices and instruments sounding thinner and harder than they should, which also contributes to a cluttered feel to the sound. We play around with the front panel settings for tweeter energy and roll-off but none of it helps as the issues have to do with quality rather than level.
Bass performance is also flawed. Tannoy’s engineers have worked hard on the porting arrangement in the cabinet, but the results aren’t great. The Stirling can dig relatively deeply, but compared to the ATC SCM50 speakers when playing bass fests like Hans Zimmer’s Interstellar OST or Massive Attack’s Heligoland set, there is a notable shortfall of grip and definition. A better grasp of rhythmic drive and greater timing precision in general would be nice too.
Audiophilepure 
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