Yamaha WXC-50 streaming preamp with MusicCast
October 29, 2020 Comments Off on Yamaha WXC-50 streaming preamp with MusicCast
Audio Note UK TT3 turntable system $10,795 Review
October 28, 2020 Comments Off on Audio Note UK TT3 turntable system $10,795 Review
“On a subsequent to Soundhounds they demonstrated the Audio Note UK TT2 – I was impressed. This had the tactile speed and lightness of touch of the Voyd – it had the nimble bounce and energy of the Voyd – well – almost. The TT2 sounded more transparent and “locked in” in terms of pace. It had energy and pizzazz where some of the store’s high mass turntables sounded bloodless and overly polite to me in comparison. I was drawn to the sound of the TT2 over some dearer turntables from Linn, Clearaudio, and Oracle.”
EMPIRE EARS HERO $1,349 REVIEW
October 28, 2020 Comments Off on EMPIRE EARS HERO $1,349 REVIEW
“The Hero can be put down in a few sentences as a monitor with impactful, authoritative and extended lows. It has a beautifully smooth mid-range that puts upper mids lightly forward. Vocals
on the Hero stand out the most as its best quality in my opinion. The treble is a bit conflicting, as it can be on the edge of sharpness at times, but generally it has an agile top that delivers a great
sense of air.
Hero reaches deep into the sub-bass and does so with good drive. It has a slightly forward bass presence, that does not overshadow any other frequency range. Hero does keep its lows well”
YG ACOUSTICS VANTAGE FLOORSTANDING LOUDSPEAKER £39,990 REVIEW
October 27, 2020 Comments Off on YG ACOUSTICS VANTAGE FLOORSTANDING LOUDSPEAKER £39,990 REVIEW
“Last, let me reference the track ‘The Town Burns’ from John Williams’ original soundtrack for the film Rosewood [Sony Masterworks, 16/44.1]. ‘The Town Burns’ conveys a dark sense of foreboding conveyed in no small part by deep, very low-pitched percussion that seems, at times, to arise out of nowhere. Here, the powerful, but also tautly controlled and sharply focussed, bass of the Vantages comes into play. One moment the listener is following the track’s vocals and melodic lines and the next one is aware of the deep, potent, but never overblown or boomy, presence of very low-pitched percussion instruments that fairly bristle with ominous portent. Then, just as suddenly as they appeared, the low percussion sounds decay and vanish—as if inviting the listener to wonder is s/he even heard them at all. Great low bass is often this way; it’s not present until the music calls for it, and it doesn’t linger around once its impact has been heard and felt. The Vantages are great low-frequency performers.”
NAD Masters M33 Integrated Amplifier-DAC $4999 Review
October 27, 2020 Comments Off on NAD Masters M33 Integrated Amplifier-DAC $4999 Review
“When the Masters M33 arrived, I connected it to my home network with an Ethernet link, updated its firmware, and from that point on it worked without incident for the entire review process. After moving it back and forth between my two systems a few times, I found it easier to access my network with the Wi-Fi connection. I had no problem setting up and using the Masters M33, so intuitive and simple is its interface.
I used the M33 mainly with Qobuz as a streaming service, with either Roon or BluOS to manage playback. I also used its digital and analog inputs: the MM phono input with my Pro-Ject X1 turntable, and my Oppo Digital UDP-205 4K UHD universal BD player through its balanced (XLR) analog outputs. Although I primarily used a MacBook Pro computer to control the M33, I also installed and used the BluOS app on my Apple iPhone 6S and Samsung Galaxy S9 smartphones.”
Gryphon Audio Designs Essence Stereo Amplifier $22,990 Review
October 26, 2020 Comments Off on Gryphon Audio Designs Essence Stereo Amplifier $22,990 Review
“Having definitely answered, at least for my own purposes, the question “Is 50Wpc enough?,” I moved on to more typical audiophile fare to assess other aspects of the Essence’s sound. I went straight to what I’m sure has appeared in the recent Qobuz playlists of many audiophiles: Lido Pimienta’s Miss Colombia (16/44.1 FLAC, Anti-/Qobuz) and its first track, “Para Transcriber (Sol).” The Gryphon painted this track with vivid colors, impressive depth of soundstage, and with all its minute details intact. There was a magnificent amount of space around Pimienta’s voice at the beginning, with soundstage depth for miles, and enough ambience retrieval to make my listening room completely transform into another acoustic environment. Pimienta’s voice was also smooth and tonally perfect — the Essence reproduced this track with finesse and fidelity.
Focal Diablo Utopia Colour Evo Loudspeakers $16,990 Review
October 26, 2020 Comments Off on Focal Diablo Utopia Colour Evo Loudspeakers $16,990 Review
“No matter how you cut it, $16,990 is a lot of money for a pair of minimonitors. Throw in the matching, semi-obligatory stands and you’re looking at an investment of $19,970 to coax Focal’s Diablo Utopia Colour Evos into your life. Yet there’s no denying that, 12 years after the launch of the original Utopia platform, it remains a hugely competent and satisfying communicator of music. Its fantastic tweeter boasts all the extension and refinement you could ever want, and Focal has voiced the all-important midrange to perfection: it’s vivacious and lifelike, and the speaker imposes on it no colorations of its own. You also get healthy servings of Focal’s signature industrial design and excellent build quality. And while it doesn’t provide much in the way of weight and slam at the lower limits of the audioband, the Diablo Utopia Colour Evo’s frequency response remains linear and composed even at unreasonably high volumes — across the board, this speaker is unflappable.”
Audiophilepure 
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