KEF LS60 Wireless Floorstanding Speakers
July 14, 2022 Comments Off on KEF LS60 Wireless Floorstanding Speakers
Audio Note single-ended triode monoblock amplifiers $12,181 Review
July 13, 2022 Comments Off on Audio Note single-ended triode monoblock amplifiers $12,181 Review
My impression is that the Empress is the best all-round amplifier, giving you much of what is desirable about the Paladin, Vindicator and Quest while also bringing the verve and drive of more powerful solid state amplifiers. When I was auditioning the amplifiers, the note I made to myself was that if I could only have one, based on the music I listen to — which does include rock and pop —then the Empress Silver made the most sense to me. It sounds more neutral and offers the tight, fast bass response for modern electronic music that I enjoy. But as I noted, you do give up some of the beauty and richness of some of the other AN amplifiers; you may feel that the whole point of buying an SET amplifier is to get as much of that beauty and richness as humanly possible. Indeed, you might consider a Vindicator at about half the price of the Empress if cost is an issue.
Monitor Audio Bronze 100 Loudspeakers Review
July 13, 2022 Comments Off on Monitor Audio Bronze 100 Loudspeakers Review
In the book, Callait described how, at about the 2:40 mark of “Go Your Own Way,” he pushed Lindsey Buckingham’s searing guitar louder and louder as they mixed it. Even before I’d read this book, I’d noticed how prominent the guitar was getting at this point and how exciting it made the end of the song sound. I would also notice how this passage challenged some speakers at high volume levels because of the amount of energy that high-level guitar sound puts into the upper midrange—so much so it can cause speakers to distort. But the 100s weren’t troubled by it, even when I pushed the volume up as loud as I could stand—they reproduced Buckingham’s guitar sound as cleanly as speakers priced many times higher.
Caillat’s book also turned me on to John McVie’s bass-guitar segment in “The Chain” (from about 3:05 to 3:20) that acts as a bridge between the first and final parts of the song. It’s a necessary ingredient, because the part of the song that follows McVie’s 15 seconds was apparently recorded long before what precedes the bridge, so they needed what he created to tie it all together. McVie’s bass guitar isn’t particularly deep in this part—I’m guessing most of the energy is in the 60–100Hz range—but I was seriously impressed by the definition of the sounds that were coming from the 100s. That big woofer on the 100 doesn’t just pump out big, floppy bass—it always sounded well-controlled on this and other songs.
Audio Note TT3 Turntable, AN-S4L-MC STEP UP Transformer
July 13, 2022 Comments Off on Audio Note TT3 Turntable, AN-S4L-MC STEP UP Transformer
ZMF Atrium Headphone Review
July 12, 2022 Comments Off on ZMF Atrium Headphone Review
The perfect ZMF sound may lie somewhere in between the imaginary combination of the Atrium and the Verite, but the two share far more similarities than they do differences. For those looking for their first $2k+ headphone, make sure you check out Atrium if you have the opportunity. For those looking to add to their collection of high end headphones, the Atrium is a must have. It brings something different to the fold. Maybe a little something more than a dynamic driver is willing to give, and definitely something different than a planar can. In the end, it’s not attempting to be either, and why should it? The bespoke nature of the exterior echoes the subtlety of the sound quality. Natural, well constructed and reliable. An outstanding fit for a wide variety of listening rigs. Well done.
Consonance Wax Engine and Charisma Eco £1,895 Review
July 12, 2022 Comments Off on Consonance Wax Engine and Charisma Eco £1,895 Review
Consonance Wax Engine and Charisma Eco
For the money, this package is a bargain. While it offers a modest discount on the individual elements if bought separately, the overall end product is one whose performance far outweighs the sum of the separate parts. There’s a synergy which not only retrieves an awful lot of information from the groove in terms of sound quality, but it also does that indefinable thing of engaging with the listener and really ‘making music’.
Think about it. A more than half-decent MC cartridge, a superbly capable finely engineered pick-up arm, and a turntable which has the pedigree of an exceptionally fine centre bearing coupled with a high quality motor on a robust non-resonant chassis.
It really is punching above its weight in terms of ‘bang for buck’, and quite honestly, there are a few other arm/deck/cartridge combinations out there which might need to look nervously at their own price points because this pairing is a serious contender in the sub-£2,000 stakes. Performance-wise, it really should be priced a fair bit higher. From my experience it deserves a hearty recommendation, and I encourage you all to seek one out and really give it a fair test; I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.
JBL HDI-3800 Review
July 11, 2022 Comments Off on JBL HDI-3800 Review
JBL HDI-3800
I also played a lot of vinyl through these speakers and that always worked well, Lou Donaldson on Blue Note was full of energy and groove, the JBLs revealing the character of the recording as well as the brilliance of the performance with ease. The Enleum AMP-23R amplifier that I enjoyed so much last year happened to be in the system at the same time and while it doesn’t have enough power to deliver the full bass potential of the JBLs it did deliver some inspiring tunes. The emphasis on the musical message came through as well as it did on smaller speakers and voices sounded superb, the combo proving very good for exploring new music by bringing out the best in a wide variety of material. Even dub sounded good with this amp, the emphasis on tunefulness over power making even the heaviest mixes easy to enjoy at sensible levels.
Aavik U180, U280, and U580 integrated amplifiers Review
July 11, 2022 Comments Off on Aavik U180, U280, and U580 integrated amplifiers Review
The Pascal UMAC power amp module was easy to spot and I was pleased to see such a neatly laid-out preamplifier board. There’s an XMOS input receiver and a PCM1792 DAC chip. Mounted on the power amp module’s heatsink are three full-width PCBs full of Tesla coils that together take up roughly a third of the U-580’s internal volume, and as we will see, not without reason. What I could not find, at first glance, was the preamp’s power supply. I assumed that it could be powered from the Pascal module’s integrated power supply but that was not the case. Then, I noticed that the incoming mains power cable led to the preamp/DAC PCB where it was split off to the power amp module. And then I saw it: underneath a wide flex cable was a positively tiny switched power supply brick. It’s common practice to use either a linear power supply or a custom-built switched supply for analog sections but Aavik does not tend to do things in a conventional manner.
Audiophilepure 
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