How This Drum Beat Changed Hip Hop Forever

March 10, 2023 Comments Off on How This Drum Beat Changed Hip Hop Forever

Clearaudio Innovation Professional Power Supply Review

March 9, 2023 Comments Off on Clearaudio Innovation Professional Power Supply Review

Even in original form with stock power supply and round-section drive belt, the Innovation clearly shows the benefit of its advanced engineering and materials. There’s an overarching sense of ease in its timing and pitch stability, playing acoustic piano for example with such authority that you know that any hint of waver in note modulation is a product of the very piano’s tuning, the master tape transcription or the tiniest of non-concentricities from the record.

While settling in with this arrangement, I came to realise that the SMPS has no place on the same mains as the rest of the system. Sharing the Nordost QBase distribution board with the power amp and phono stage always betrayed a mild HF haze and midband muddle that was easily diminished by running from a separate outlet; in this case an IsoTek Sigma on a different wall socket.

That cleaning-up operation was magnified again with the PP24V now powering the deck. Focusing on the frenetic drumming in ‘Slow Yourself Down’ from Camel’s first album, the new supply gave not just more body to the percussive onslaught, showing the shape as well as placement of tom‑toms, it tidied and made sense of the whole backing track. No wonder drummer Andy Ward got a co-writing credit for the number.

REL No. 31 Subwoofer $7,500 Review

March 9, 2023 Comments Off on REL No. 31 Subwoofer $7,500 Review


Pumping the bass way up, the jumpy, funky bass line in the Average White Band’s “Cut The Cake” pushes my chest cavity in as the volume control goes up. Hunter was headed home at 5 p.m, but I was up with a long list of bass-heavy tracks from RUN-D.M.C., The System, K.C. & The Sunshine Band, and some Prince until about 2 a.m. In the world of stuff, there are a few things I never get tired of, Porsche manual transmissions, the gentle click of a Leica rangefinder camera, and the way a REL subwoofer improves a system. It’s never less than extraordinary. 
The following day was reserved for more heavy rock and jazz. Jaco Pastorius, Stanley Clarke, and Charlie Hayden all sound more similar than different on a lesser sub, but with the No.31, you can easily hear the distinct sound their instruments and playing styles make. Rather than bore you with a long playlist of tracks, the REL No. 31 excels at its function. Even when playing arena rock at brain damage levels, the RELs never run out of excursion.
At $7,500 each, these are not inexpensive subwoofers. However, if you’ve invested $30k to crazy money in a pair of main speakers, will you bring up the bottom with an inexpensive pair of subs? Whether you choose one, two, or six – you will be impressed by the added dimension the REL No.31s can deliver to your system.

 Schiit Audio TYR

March 9, 2023 Comments Off on  Schiit Audio TYR

Stage III Concepts Ckahron Ultimate Statement XLR interconnects Review

March 8, 2023 Comments Off on Stage III Concepts Ckahron Ultimate Statement XLR interconnects Review

With the first pair of Ckahorn XLR staying put and adding the second, longer pair of the Ckahron XLR between the Xs Preamp and the XA200.8 monoblocks, alternating with the Bricasti Design M28 monoblocks, there’s a substantial sense of purity in quietness of noise in the Ckahron’s demeanor. In the rarefied space, music takes on the most palpable presence with the signal path laid out by the cable itself from either the Bricasti Design DAC or the Xs Phono to the Xs Preamp, and onwards to the monoblocks.

Playing the Proprius Cantate Domino LP, the Stage III redefined the experience. In speed, the Stage III was expedient and utterly composed. In dynamics, the contrasts between the choir, the brass and the pipe organ were at its most startling and engaging. In tone, it showed the Stage III XLR was every bit as supremely vivid and uncensored as the A.R.T. RCA. I could at once relax and entrust the Stage III in bringing some of the finest music into my life. It was the first time two pairs of balanced cable in my system were showing me how vast the record was in context and emotions. Though featuring a lone trumpet and a pipe organ, the two pairs of Stage III XLR together conveyed unprecedented effectiveness and persuasiveness of palettes of tonal richness, at same time rendering the performance as tonally harmonious and supremely easy on the ear.

Ultimate Guide To The Best Music Streaming Services For Audiophiles! (2023)

March 8, 2023 Comments Off on Ultimate Guide To The Best Music Streaming Services For Audiophiles! (2023)

Acora Acoustics QRC Quartz speakers

March 8, 2023 Comments Off on Acora Acoustics QRC Quartz speakers

SME Model 12 MK2 Turntable Review

March 7, 2023 Comments Off on SME Model 12 MK2 Turntable Review

https://www.hifinews.com/content/sme-model-12-mk2-turntable

Marshall’s higher, quieter organ notes seemed to be floating up in the air, rising behind and between my loudspeakers from an eerily quiet background. As things picked up in both pace and level, however, I could easily pick out the different location of the big organ pipes, as well as the sound bouncing off the cathedral walls. The Model 12 MK2 placed me in the centre of the action – if you took me to the venue itself, I’m pretty sure I could tell you the row, if not the seat, I had been ‘sitting’ in my listening room!

This degree of openness and detail made everything sound crisp, clear and lifelike. The deck cut though the crackles on my old 45rpm copy of Charlie Dore’s ‘Pilot Of The Airwaves’ [Island Records WIP 6526] to pull an unexpected level of detail out of the grooves. Dore’s vocals were proudly centre stage and the music around him bounded cheerily along, just as it should.

AGD Productions Gran Vivace Monoblock Amplifier $18,500 a pair Review

March 7, 2023 Comments Off on AGD Productions Gran Vivace Monoblock Amplifier $18,500 a pair Review

At the other end of the spectrum, in the realm of microdynamics, I find them to be just a bit more reticent in their degree of nuance and expressiveness by way of comparison to the very best performers I’ve heard in this regard. And while they do sacrifice that final gradation of resolution and articulation as we descend closer to the noise floor, I would be remiss to not point out that those amplifiers that are more adroit here are typically considerably pricier. One interesting exception here comes from the nearly identically priced Parasound Halo JC 1+ monos that offer a slight edge in performance over the Grand Vivace in this specific sonic category.

Along with their remarkable power and control, they also excel at conveying the speed of instrumental attack, especially notable with stringed instruments from violins and cellos to pianos and harps. This uninhibited sense of rise speed carries over, exhibiting an equally impressive ability to render decay and trail. Listening to the attack and decay of ride cymbals from intimate jazz performances, or struck triangles buried deep within classical, or even some classic rock or pop, compositions, is a treat with the Gran Vivace.

Rotel S14 Integrated Network Streamer Review

March 7, 2023 Comments Off on Rotel S14 Integrated Network Streamer Review