Audiophilepure

https://www.hifichoice.com/content/furutech-demag-alpha

o test the DeMag alpha, we select a rather bright recording of Simon & Garfunkel’s The Boxer. We first listen to the track before demagnetisation and there is the expected slight harshness to the vocals. Next we demagnetise the LP and play the track again. We are not expecting what we hear – it isn’t a subtle change, but a significant refinement of the entire sound with the vocals in particular enjoying a greater presence in the room. The accompanying guitar is clear with additional tunefulness and, when the rhythmic patting on the drums begins, the sound is much more musical and punchier.

We next select a CD of Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier played on piano by Friedrich Gulda. Following on from demagnetisation, the piano sounds more convincing as if there is a real instrument in the room. The vast complexities of the performance appear to be better recorded and give a more accurate rendition of the piano and the acoustics of the room where the recording was made.

https://www.audiophilia.com/reviews/2025/3/3/canor-asterion-v2-tube-phono-preamplifier

In collaboration with the wonderful and relatively inexpensive Synthesis Roma 96DC + 25W Pure Class A Integrated Amplifier (reviewed next month ), its Class A tube topology only added to the smoothness of the Canor’s sound, almost luxurious. With both pieces of kit using tubes, they did not “gild the lily”. There was power and detail aplenty. High-end tube pre, power and phono for about CAD 8000.

One recording where this tube pair shone very brightly was the 2011 Speakers Corner double album reissue of the 1963 Philips original of the Sonatas for Piano and Cello by Beethoven with Mstislav Rostropovich and Sviatoslav Richter. Notice the piano receiving top billing. It’s the same with the Beethoven Violin Sonatas. The piano part, often just an accompaniment, is an equal musical partner to the melodic line of the cello. And the performance, with two artists of equal stature, bears that out. The superior imaging and soundstage of this remastering puts the listener in an expensive stalls seat—my wife and I during late-night listening were enthralled with Rostropovich’s beautiful tone highlighted by the Canor’s ability to replicate natural timbres.