Fidata HFAS1-XS20U Music Server Review
October 25, 2021 Comments Off on Fidata HFAS1-XS20U Music Server Review
TheAtrium de Musicae de Madrid’s Tarentule-Tarantelle (aka The Tarantula) [Harmonia Mundi, HMA 190379], is a collection of tarantellas that take you right back to the 15th and 16th centuries on a veritable carousel ride of bells, violin, recorder, guitar, hurdy-gurdy, drums, lute, and harpsichord, to name but a few instruments. The harmonies and melodies on The Tarantula are complex, musically dense, and layered, and the XS20U’s superb tonal exactness and timbral definition kept this sonic palette of instrumental voices finely resolved and accurately reproduced. The Atrium’s director, Gregorio Paniagua, always infuses these recordings with a real sense of fun and frolic, and this playfulness shone through with the Fidata. On La Tarantella, you could hear the “vapor trail” from the castanets as they decayed softly into the background of the recording studio, right before the definitive flamenco handclap that ends the song. This quality of reproducing the decay of notes into space is a particularly noteworthy attribute of the XS20U that really enhances the spatial and three-dimensional quality of the presentation.
The XS20U doesn’t just shine on longhair music, either. Bryan Ferry’s Boys and Girls [Warner Bros. EG 9 25082-1] sounds every bit as sophisticated as The Tarantula, but here it’s a blast from the past, a heavily multi-mic’d studio recording from the mid-80s. “Don’t Stop The Dance” is enthusiastically kicky and energetic, and with the XS20U’s ability to resolve fine detail and reveal all the voices and complex instrumental layers, it was all I could do to keep from getting up and dancing while Ferry’s sultry voice floated ephemerally above the driving background of synth, guitars, drums, and brasses.
Stenheim Alumine Three loudspeaker Review
October 24, 2021 Comments Off on Stenheim Alumine Three loudspeaker Review
https://www.stereophile.com/content/stenheim-alumine-three-loudspeaker
When reviewing audio equipment, I always attempt to elucidate what the reviewed component does different than, or better than, or worse than similar components in its price-performance category. This can be difficult if I’m not in-home familiar with the review component’s competition. But it was easy with the Stenheim Alumine Threes.
What separates the Threes from most other top-tier luxury-class speakers is twofold: First, the Stenheims’ look is living-room, partner, and family-friendly, not audiophile weird. Second, and more importantly, the Alumine Threes are not dreadful-to-drive, low-EPDR speakers that will only work with massive crazy-money monoliths that are capable of driving 2 ohms. While the Stenheims responded extremely well to large amounts of high-quality amplifier power, they were equally exciting when powered by a 25W class-A solid state amp and a 22W single-ended triode. I regard this as proof that a well-engineered speaker need not be difficult to drive.
Boulder 1110/1160 Pre/Power Amplifier Review
October 23, 2021 Comments Off on Boulder 1110/1160 Pre/Power Amplifier Review
https://www.hifinews.com/content/boulder-11101160-prepower-amplifier
Play Iiro Rantala’s take on ‘Caravan’, from My History Of Jazz [ACT 9531-2], and the dense mix is punctuated, illuminated even, by the attack of the violin pushing the instruments forward, sounding large and confident. Stick with jazz and another favourite tester, the Espen Eriksen Trio’s ‘In The Mountains’, from Never Ending January [Rune Grammofon RCD 2173], and the sound is initially slightly claustrophobic, the opening drums deep and ponderous, before Eriksen’s spritely piano brings light to the scene and, once again, the ‘big picture’ is revealed.
Without doubt, what the Boulder 1110/1160 does well, it does very well indeed. Even with orchestral works such as the testing, but superbly recorded and mastered, Britten ‘Young Person’s Guide To The Orchestra’ [Reference Recordings RR-120SACD] there’s just no denying the sense of orchestral scale and weight on offer.
The 1160 is a big amplifier that begs for big loudspeakers. So, yes, in tandem this amplifier combination is insightful almost to the point of being idiosyncratic at times. But if you like the way they do what they do, and have a penchant for playing your music at adventurous levels, chances are you’ll love them.
Probably” the Best HiFi System in the World
October 23, 2021 Comments Off on Probably” the Best HiFi System in the World
Major From the Roof Down Electricity Upgrade Produced Incredible Sonic Benefits!
October 22, 2021 Comments Off on Major From the Roof Down Electricity Upgrade Produced Incredible Sonic Benefits!
The full story along gets told in detail in my Analog Corner column in the November Stereophile. The print edition will soon be out. The online column publishes the week of October 17th on Stereophile’s website. Meanwhile below is the embedded YouTube video that shows you everything that was done, which resulted in an amazing sonic transformation of my system, which is now super quiet and has never sounded better. The amplifiers sound far better plugged directly into the wall than through power conditioners, though I still use an AudioQuest Niagara 7000 in the “front end” to isolate from the the analog components digital noise produced by the dCS Vivaldi streaming DAC/SACD player.
Please read the column and of course watch this video that I’m sure you’ll find interesting and informative.The video and the column let you know who to contact if you are interested in doing this.
And many thanks to PS Audio for lending me P15 and P20 Power regenerators, which allowed me to work for the 8 or so months between the transfer switch installation and the full electrical upgrade. The Power Regenerators were a huge step up in power purity but after the upgrade straight into the wall sounded best. However, If I lived in an apartment building and had no control over the juice reaching my wall sockets I’d try a regenerator for sure.
NAD Previews Compact BluOS Streaming Amplifier
October 22, 2021 Comments Off on NAD Previews Compact BluOS Streaming Amplifier
https://www.soundandvision.com/content/nad-previews-compact-bluos-streaming-amplifier
The latest addition to its “just add speakers” category, the C 700 ($1,499) aims to honor NAD’s founding mission of delivering excellent sound quality at affordable prices through an integrated amp built around the company’s app-based BluOS multiroom music-management platform. BluOS provides ready access hi-res music (up to 24-bit/92kHz) from a personal library or through streaming services including Tidal, Qobuz, Amazon Music HD, Spotify, and Deezer, to name a few.
Power is provided by a “highly efficient” HybridDigital UcD amplifier, rated to deliver 2 x 80 watts of continuous power into 4 or 8 ohms with less than 0.04% noise and distortion across its frequency range. The C 700 supports streaming via aptX HD Bluetooth and AirPlay 2 in addition to MQA decoding, and is compatible with Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri, and Google Assistant voice control.
Everything is housed in a compact, 8.6-inch-wide aluminum chassis featuring a minimalist front panel with a 5-inch color display that shows album artwork, track status, and system settings. Connections include two sets of RCA analog inputs, coaxial and optical digital inputs, a USB Type A port, and an eARC (enhanced Audio Return Channel)-enabled HDMI port for use with a compatible TV, which allows volume to be adjusted from the TV’s remote.
Audiophilepure 
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