AUDIOVECTOR QR5 FLOORSTANDING LOUDSPEAKERS REVIEW
June 14, 2019 Comments Off on AUDIOVECTOR QR5 FLOORSTANDING LOUDSPEAKERS REVIEW
“It’s one of those speakers that lets you relax with the music and that’s clearly not a bad thing, I like the way that it is pretty well unflappable even at higher levels and that the bass is so fulsome. This could overawe smaller rooms but with only about 40cm behind them the balance was very even in my medium sized space. I tried a track that is notorious for its sibilants, another Patricia Barber number called ‘A Touch of Trash’ [Modern Cool, Premonition]. On this the vocals did seem a little cleaner than usual, the emphasis on S sounds didn’t disappear, but they were reduced enough to stop it being a distraction. Lou Reed’s classic ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ [Transformer, RCA Victor] sounded appealingly open and his voice projected well over the fabulous tone of the double bass. It lacked a little of its edge perhaps, but none of its innate charm. Another bass heavy track, Hadouk Trio’s ‘Vol De Nuit’ [Live à FIP, Mélodie], showed how well the Audiovector can produce deep clean lows while giving the ‘voice’ in the piece, an oud, the space to express itself in a clear fashion.”
WOO AUDIO WA33 HEADPHONE AMP/PREAMPLIFIER REVIEW
June 13, 2019 Comments Off on WOO AUDIO WA33 HEADPHONE AMP/PREAMPLIFIER REVIEW
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The Woo Audio WA33 is a terrific headphone amplifier, as well as a balanced linestage preamplifier suitable for use in the finest audio systems. It should drive any dynamic or planar magnetic headphone without a problem and the overall sound is glorious with a rich, but naturally detailed, tonal balance, explosive dynamics, and powerful and extended bass. Better still, its superb performance will keep you listening late into the night.”
Sennheiser PXC 550 Wireless Review
June 13, 2019 Comments Off on Sennheiser PXC 550 Wireless Review
“I settled on the ‘Movie’ setting in the equalization on the SSC app. It gave me the open, clean sound I like from headphones where the music seems under the greatest scrutiny. The other settings (Club, Speech or Custom) are varied enough to offer every purchaser their favourite sound design—and these are switchable via a small button on the right earpiece.
Many of the headphone functions are ingeniously accessed via touching/sliding/tapping the right earpiece. Phone calls and Google Assistant support both functioned well. Phone calls, especially, had a pleasant, open character to the sound. Ambient filtering was first class. Many times, phone call support is a weak point with this type of headphone.”
GoldenEar Dolby Atmos System Review
June 13, 2019 Comments Off on GoldenEar Dolby Atmos System Review
AURALIC VEGA G1 NETWORK STREAMING DAC £3,299 REVIEW
June 12, 2019 Comments Off on AURALIC VEGA G1 NETWORK STREAMING DAC £3,299 REVIEW
“The G1 not being a G2 only manifests in comparison. In day-to-day use, the VEGA G1 is an ideal network streaming device that puts many really good rival products to shame. It’s extremely well built, sounds exceptionally good, and plays nice with most products it’s likely to be hooked to. I started this investigation to see what all the fuss was about, and now I’m reading from the AURALiC Fanatic’s Handbook. The company really does live up to the hype, as anyone who gives the VEGA (G2 or G1) a serious listen will attest. In fact, they might well say one of the notes I made while listening to the AURALiC VEGA G1 – Bloody hell… this thing’s good!”
LIQUID SPARK BY MONOPRICE REVIEW
June 12, 2019 Comments Off on LIQUID SPARK BY MONOPRICE REVIEW
“The Spark has power to spare on even planar magnetic headphones. On High gain, I rarely would push it past halfway on the knob. On the other end of the spectrum, with low impedance less than 16 Ohm CIEMs and Low gain, I experienced no audible buzzing or hissing with the Liquid Spark; everything was dead quiet. Since this is an analog design, there is a channel mismatch at the lowest end of the volume spectrum which is detectable on my CIEMs; this is to be expected and not something to ding the Liquid Spark points on. The volume level discrepancy is only noticeable at volumes too low for anyone to ever listen to music at. The Spark has proven itself to be very adaptable and shocked even me at how wide a range of headphones it could take. The other two amps on my desk, that were much more expensive, were geared towards high impedance headphones and had obvious background hissing with the CIEMs.”
Vinnie Rossi L2 Signature Preamplifier Review
June 12, 2019 Comments Off on Vinnie Rossi L2 Signature Preamplifier Review
“The L2 enhanced my very fine digital setup, and considering the preamplifier section of the Continuum S2 (basically, a Jeff Rowland Capri II preamplifier) is outstanding and an obvious match for its connected amplifier section, it couldn’t better the gorgeous sounds the 300Bs were portraying. For sure, a completely different topology, but the way Rossi has his tubes singing is very persuasive.
It’s been my experience that some tube preamps let the side down during thunderous piano performances. No fears, here. Martha Argerich’s famous Berlin/Abbado/DG (vinyl reissue) of Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 was overwhelming at times. She’s a powerhouse; a force of nature. And all her power was unsullied and heard to astounding effect. Piano fans will love this preamplifier. Yet, at the other end of the dynamic spectrum, the Rossi retrieved even more subtlety from John Bingham’s playing of Schubert Songs arr. Liszt on Meridian vinyl than I’m used to. I use my late friend’s playing as a test for quiet pianism; pedal, bell tones, touch, ppp voicing, etc. This was pretty miraculous as a musical experience. The LP is available on Discogs. ”
ABYSS HEADPHONES DIANA PHI $2,000 REVIEW
June 11, 2019 Comments Off on ABYSS HEADPHONES DIANA PHI $2,000 REVIEW
“The Diana Phi, to my ears, is probably one of the truest sounds signatures I have ever heard from a planar magnetic headphone. What I mean by that is both the tuning in terms of its neutral timbre as well as its insane levels of clarity and detail retrieval. Together, they combine to make the Diana Phi sound incredibly revealing, coherent, and very reference-like in its overall presentation.
The quality is very unique in some ways to the competition. The Diana Phi has neither the aplomb or power of the D8000 low-end nor the warmth and intimacy of the MrSpeakers Ether 2. This is an altogether different sound to these competing flagships and one which I find to be an almost perfect complement to the Meze Empyrean’s rich and refined but more languid signature.
The Diana Phi is supremely fast and accurate for a planar magnetic headphone. It has a pace akin to the more expansive, (and expensive), Hifiman Susvara but possessing a neutral timbre and note control closer to electrostatic quality save for that very pure and well extended distortion-free planar low-end. A low-end, I might add, which copes remarkably well with just about any amp you can throw at it, even 100W power amps.”
KZ AS16 $125 REVIEW
June 11, 2019 Comments Off on KZ AS16 $125 REVIEW
“The KZ AS16 are exactly what you expect them to be: the finest offer from KZ and a great performer sold at a very low price. For 125$, this IEM is definitely one of the best options you could get. No, this is one of the best sub-300$ options, just under the BGVP DM7.
The build quality is very good, but comfort could be better. The sheer size of the shell remains too big in my opinion, which makes the comfort sub-optimal. But apart from that, there isn’t much I could complain about. If you want to try a TOTL IEM, but can’t afford the 1k+ model we usually review, maybe you should check out the KZ AS16.
Yes, it’s that good.”
Audiophilepure 
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