SME Synergy All-In-One Turntable Review
May 25, 2019 Comments Off on SME Synergy All-In-One Turntable Review
“That’s probably down to its precision yoke housing with 10mm ABEC 3 ball-bearing races. The yoke is mounted to the 23mm-diameter heat-treated, ground and honed steel pillar, with a pair of 17mm ABEC 7 ball bearing races widely spaced to resist tilt.
SME’s partnering cartridge of choice is the highly regarded MC Ortofon Windfeld Ti [HFN Jan ’18]. It too is beautifully engineered using the company’s Selective Laser Melting technology where fine particles of titanium are welded together to create a body core optimised for rigidity and low weight. It is fitted with gold-plated 6N oxygen-free copper coils, coupled to a cantilever tipped by Ortofon’s Replicant 100 diamond. Its low-ish 0.2mV output is certainly suited to the integral Nagra phono stage.
Most will enlist the services of their friendly local SME dealer to set up the Synergy, but if that’s not possible then it’s actually fairly straightforward to get going.
KEF NEW R11 HiFi Speakers Apple Airplay 2
May 25, 2019 Comments Off on KEF NEW R11 HiFi Speakers Apple Airplay 2
STAX SRM-D50 ELECTROSTATIC DRIVER AND DAC REVIEW
May 24, 2019 Comments Off on STAX SRM-D50 ELECTROSTATIC DRIVER AND DAC REVIEW
“In all my years as a headphone listening enthusiast, one thing has remained clear from the very start – there is nothing quite like listening to a Stax system. There’s a certain charm to it; the retro and unashamedly bulky styling of the earspeakers and the proprietary energiser system combine to create an unusual and very untraditional (in the modern world) Head-Fi encounter.
Listening to a Stax system always leads me on a listening journey. I start with my familiar test tracks and end up winding down an experimental path of music and genres I’ve never listened to before… just to experience it.”
Parasound Halo Hint 6 integrated amplifier $2995 Review
May 24, 2019 Comments Off on Parasound Halo Hint 6 integrated amplifier $2995 Review
”
Is Parasound’s Halo Hint 6 Integrated Amplifier a party amp? A hard-rock enabler? A suave, swinging jazz proselytizer? It’s all these things. The Hint 6 worked well with every speaker I threw at it, delivering an upfront, slightly cool, dynamic sound, LP after LP. Even at its higher price of $2995, the Halo Hint 6 offers good value in true Swiss Army knife fashion. I can’t think of another integrated amplifier that offers so many options and has such solid, generous sound. Recommended.
Benchmark Media Systems HPA4 Headphone Amplifier $2995 Review
May 23, 2019 Comments Off on Benchmark Media Systems HPA4 Headphone Amplifier $2995 Review
“It would be nice to say that the sound of the HPA4 is the sound of nothing getting in the way of the music. However, I think some listeners would say that it has a certain, albeit subtle, character with tight bass and a very slight treble dryness. I’d comment that the bass is a feature, not a bug, but you need the right headphones. And the more I listened, the more I concluded that the dryness was actually the HPA4 revealing a character of the recording chain.
This adds up to a super-revealing amp that isn’t going to correct the mistakes of the rest of your system. I thought top-flight headphones sounded great as a result, but that doesn’t necessarily make it the amp for you. I, however, wish the review sample didn’t have to go back.”
Conrad-Johnson Announces Reference Headphone Amplifier
May 23, 2019 Comments Off on Conrad-Johnson Announces Reference Headphone Amplifier
“The conrad-johnson design team is particularly excited to announce the release of our latest product, a headphone amplifier that just sounds right. The HVA1 is a reference quality single-ended class A triode amplifier designed to power low-impedance headphones (around 20 to 32 Ohms). The HVA1 accommodates two line-level inputs. Power output is 3 Watts into 20 Ohms. The enhanced triode circuit (similar to that introduced in our flagship GAT preamplifier) employs two 6922 vacuum-tubes (one for each channel) for voltage gain coupled to a high-current FET buffer stage (source follower). Each of the two channels is powered by its own independent DC regulator. CJD Teflon capacitors and Vishay resistors are featured in the circuits. The level control is a discrete stepped attenuator constructed entirely with Vishay resistors. The circuitry is housed in a heavy, elegant aluminum chassis dressed with anodized brushed aluminum panels on front, sides, and top”
Unisinger UIA – 2 Series Platinum loudspeakers $28,990 Review
May 22, 2019 Comments Off on Unisinger UIA – 2 Series Platinum loudspeakers $28,990 Review
“In actuality, the integration of the drivers was such that it was impressively conducive toward piano music listening. The Unisinger’s portrayal of the slowing aging Murray Perahia’s Chopin 24 Etudes was first-class in dynamic contrast and tonal integrity. The reproduction of harmonics was ethereal and surreal. This level of integration makes listening to solo classical piano fun, because their way of reproducing music was complete and completely spectacular.
It’s not unconventionally long in development history for a speaker to be created in nineteen months, and now in hindsight, seeing what Dr. Zhang and his team can do, I wish they had taken a bit longer to amaze us with something even more extraordinary.”
Air Tight ATC-1 and ATM-1 f Review
May 22, 2019 Comments Off on Air Tight ATC-1 and ATM-1 f Review
“Actually, that’s unfair, because the preamp sounds ‘younger’ than the power amplifier, most of the Mills & Boon effects coming from the ATM-1. What both share sonically are ghostly silences by both valve and solid-state standards, phenomenally wide and open soundstages and absolute freedom from edginess. But while the preamplifier is detailed and precise enough to be regarded as modern, the power amp has a softness – however enticing – that might be too romantic for those weaned on transistor equipment or current era valve powerhouses such as the big EAR, Audio Research or Beard amplifiers. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to apologise for the Air Tight duo because I loved the lushness.
Playing both modern, glassy recordings and sonic masterpieces of the era of the Air Tight amps’ inspiration, I noted an unerring facility these products have for sweetening whatever sounds they are fed. Is it accurate? Hell, no. But neither is it offensive in the way that identifiable distortions or wild colorations are. The Air Tight combination doesn’t really add anything which would annoy, it merely shaves off the edges which could become nasty.
Audiophilepure 
You must be logged in to post a comment.