Stenheim Alumine 2 Speakers $11,800 Review
September 7, 2021 Comments Off on Stenheim Alumine 2 Speakers $11,800 Review
The Stenheim Alumine 2 Speakers
The all-aluminum enclosure is beautiful to behold, and the level of execution is terrific. If you are a qualityphile and an audiophile, you will completely geek out on the absence of fasteners and the perfectly seamless assembly of the enclosure. The textures and finsh on both the front baffle and the rest of the case is equally flawless. Stenheim’s Jean-Pascal Panchard tells me that even though it looks like anodizing, they use a fine-structure powder coating process. This is an incredibly durable way to coat aluminum, assuring that these speakers will look like new 30 years from now.
Helius Designs Viridia Turntable and Phaedra Tonearm $7195 Review
September 7, 2021 Comments Off on Helius Designs Viridia Turntable and Phaedra Tonearm $7195 Review
Yet, the Phaedra and Viridia could play with superb finesse when called for—possessing a feathery touch with the most delicate of sounds. When I played “Clair de Lune,” the famed solo piano piece by composer Claude Debussy, its achingly slow tempo, as performed by Ivan Moravec on Debussy (Connoisseur Society 1866), was exquisite. The beautiful chiming of the right-hand melody came like chiffon clouds over a plein-air landscape in progress. Moravec’s notes rose in the soundstage as though from an actual piano, the image of his big, concert grand high as the ceiling and wide as the walls of my listening room. Isolated, individual notes came ghostily, sending teasing chills like soft snowflakes landing on still pond water.
Meze Audio Elite Review And Measurements
September 7, 2021 Comments Off on Meze Audio Elite Review And Measurements
Bluesound Node (2021) review
September 6, 2021 Comments Off on Bluesound Node (2021) review
https://www.whathifi.com/us/reviews/bluesound-node-2021
We play Ludovico Einaudi’s Einaudi: Seven Days Walking / Day 1 – Golden Butterfly from the composer’s newly released Cinema album, and through the Audiolab the piano notes are precise-sounding, plotted in a soundstage that’s not short of space and breadth. We wish the Bluesound displayed a little more of the latter – especially during times we play denser tracks such as Mogwai’s Here We, Here We, Here We Go Forever, which can sound a little messy through the smaller-scale Node.
MARANTZ MODEL 30 INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER REVIEW
September 6, 2021 Comments Off on MARANTZ MODEL 30 INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER REVIEW
Have I found ANY type of music that the Marantz doesn’t excel at? Not yet. But I’m still listening… What makes the Marantz so strait-laced in its proclivities? The bass is tight and very tuneful. The pitch of string bass and cello notes is easily followed whether the instruments are bowed or plucked. The bass extension (subwoofer driven off the Marantz’s preamplifier output jacks in my system) is prodigious. For example, try “Flight of the Cosmic Hippo” by Bela Fleck or “How Great Thou Art” by Valor. The Marantz brings it on in the bass.
The Marantz’s midrange is very dynamic without ever becoming brash (this is a very tight rope to walk). I like to test amps with complicated music like the Seekers’ and the Pentangle’s live performances. If the voices and instruments remain discreet instead of blending into mush, the amplifier is doing its job. The Marantz does. Another test for midrange is Goran Brevogić’s “Maki Maki.” The voice is somewhat recessed at times in relation to the instruments and other general musical mayhem in the background. If the lower-volume comments and asides are clearly audible in this piece, then the amplifier has got exceptional midrange definition. The Marantz does.
HARDPOINT REVIEW
September 5, 2021 Comments Off on HARDPOINT REVIEW
https://www.monoandstereo.com/2021/08/hifstay-hardpoint-trinia-vibration.html
HardPoint was designed with the clear goal of not compromising the sound or altering the tonal balance.
What it does do, as you can read in the review, is help the sound projection achieve more focus, clarity, and better harmonic density.
The decays and delays that are critical to recreating acoustic space are denser, and the perception of higher resolution allows for a more open and naturally relaxed sound that is not dynamically constricted.
BURSON AUDIO FUNK REVIEW
September 5, 2021 Comments Off on BURSON AUDIO FUNK REVIEW
I’m not really a powered speaker kinda bloke – I love the more ‘pure’ experience of a dedicated pair of hifi passive speakers, and having the freedom to be able to mix/match/tinker with upstream source gear and amplification. This brings us back to the clutter conundrum – speaker amps, for the most part, aren’t exactly tiny. I have to stack my monitor on either a vintage NAD 3020e receiver or a custom NCore500 stereo power amp (yes, 400 watts per channel is a little overkill) to play my KEF LS50 speakers in my nearfield setup. This is in addition to having a DAC, a proper headphone amp, and occasionally a CD player (sorry, CD’s are awesome) or a turntable (yes, I’m that guy) also fighting for desktop real estate.
DIY Passive Radiator Subwoofer BUILD
September 5, 2021 Comments Off on DIY Passive Radiator Subwoofer BUILD
SPL Director Mk2 Preamplifier-DAC $3599 Review
September 3, 2021 Comments Off on SPL Director Mk2 Preamplifier-DAC $3599 Review
Well, almost set. First, I familiarized myself with the Director Mk2’s sound when working as a DAC and preamp to drive my Classé Delta Mono power amps. The sound of the Director Mk2 when fed a digital music signal was, in a word, unveiled: highly dynamic, transparent, vivid, and powerful. Andy Newmark’s drums in “True to Life,” from Roxy Music’s Avalon (24/96 FLAC, Virgin), were re-created in my room with tangible impact—and I enjoyed the spaces between those drums, Bryan Ferry’s voice, and Neil Hubbard’s guitar, the image of which appeared at the far left of my room. I’ve listened to this album countless times through more components than I can count, and rarely have instruments, voices, and percussive effects sounded so well layered yet spaced so distinctly apart and individually dynamic. I especially enjoyed the opening seconds of “Take a Chance with Me” as Hubbard and Phil Manzanera fill the soundstage with eerie sounds from their masterfully manipulated electric guitars. Though Ferry’s keyboard filled the center of the soundstage, it was eclipsed by Newmark’s drums, which slammed out with more body and weight than I’ve heard.
Audiophilepure 
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