SHANLING M5S $429 Review
January 26, 2019 Comments Off on SHANLING M5S $429 Review
“Shanling did an excellent job with this DAP! The pricing is fantastic for the quality received and it is punching way above the list price. The battery life is very good and the UI is not problematic at all for me. It offers slight customization in what icon folders will be front and center on the home page and also feels fantastic in the hand in terms of build quality.
The only lacking aspect is the relatively basic EQ system which is just not good enough for the very good fidelity offered from the system’s hardware. I hope they can improve that in future products. Beyond that, the M5s is a fantastic midtier DAP. I will certainly be recommending it to enthusiasts looking for something in the $500 range.”
CH Precision I1 Universal Integrated Amplifier $38,000 Review
January 26, 2019 Comments Off on CH Precision I1 Universal Integrated Amplifier $38,000 Review
“Even if the two phono- stages had sounded identical, there’d be strong advantages to using the I1’s phono card. I’ve already described the support for a variety of EQ curves, but since even the standard RIAA EQ takes place in the digital domain, it is far more accurate than the analog implementations of other phonostages. You’ll also spend far less for this $4500 board than for an external phonostage of equal caliber, and you’ll save the cost—both monetary and sonic—of yet another set of interconnects. Lastly, the I1 board has tons of gain. This is a phonostage that allows you to take full advantage of low-output MC cartridges, such as the Lyra Etna SL that Jacob Heilbrunn has raved about (see his review in Issue 266). The conclusion is that unless you’re willing to shell out for a truly extraordinary stand-alone phonostage, there are solid sonic and functional reasons to use the I1’s board.”
New! Sony DMP-Z1, 2019 Flagship Digital Music Player
January 26, 2019 Comments Off on New! Sony DMP-Z1, 2019 Flagship Digital Music Player
EgglestonWorks Kiva Loudspeakers $15,500 Reviews
January 25, 2019 Comments Off on EgglestonWorks Kiva Loudspeakers $15,500 Reviews
“I didn’t have that problem with the EgglestonWorks Kivas. To begin with, I found these speakers just plain listenable. Although Jim Thompson moved them around a bit in my room to optimize their sound, the Kivas never actually sounded bad anywhere. Yes, things got better as we dialed them in, but we never experienced an “Oh, no” moment when we wondered if these speakers would ever work in my room. Contrary to what some audiophiles would have you believe, a pair of good speakers doesn’t typically sound downright bad everywhere in your room except in one pair of spots, where they sound good only if your head is locked in one point-size sweet spot in aural space.
The Kiva’s listenability began with its tweeter. As I listened to “Little Paradise,” from Eliane Elias’s Dance of Time (16-bit/44.1kHz FLAC, Concord Jazz/Tidal), I immediately concluded that the Kivas’ big soft-dome tweeter were striking a nice balance of detail and tonal friendliness. The piano had enough sparkle to tickle the ear, but it never sounded strident or too hot — at all. This recording is slightly warm sounding to begin with, so perhaps this wasn’t the best test of upper-frequency balance, but still — the sound was just beautiful in my room, and required no effort on my part to enjoy it.”
Roon 1.6: Qobuz, improved Radio and new screens
January 25, 2019 Comments Off on Roon 1.6: Qobuz, improved Radio and new screens
Revel Performa F228Be loudspeaker $10,000 Review
January 24, 2019 Comments Off on Revel Performa F228Be loudspeaker $10,000 Review
As for comparisons with other loudspeakers, the one I recall sounding most similar to the F228Be is the Kii Audio Three, which offered comparably transparent and nonresonant sound. With the stand-mounted Kii’s I couldn’t load the room with bass as I could with the floorstanding Revels, but that shouldn’t surprise. Fading memory prevents me from comparing the Performa F228Be to the Ultima Studio2; I refer you to the article, “Blind Listening at Harman International,” for some relevant insight. On hand, of course, were my reference B&W 802 D3s, which at $22,000/pair cost far more than the Performa F228Be’s. The B&W’s bass is bigger and equally as tight, and its upper bass endows it with a bit of authority the F228Be lacked. On the other hand, the Revel seemed notably more smooth and linear throughout the rest of the audioband, and didn’t suffer from the B&W’s upper-midrange reticence. And when I put ear to tweeter, the hiss I heard through the B&W was louder, and tipped more to the upper treble.
Conclusions
Overall, I’m thrilled with the sound of Revel’s Performa F228Be’s in my listening room. Across the audioband and at any listening level, they offered remarkably transparent reproduction of music in the tonal, time, and spatial domains, and my ears, brain, and mind simply loved them. I haven’t heard every speaker in the world, but I think that with the Performa F228Be Revel has planted a flag in the ground at the $10,000/pair meridian that challenges all other manufacturers—and themselves—to justify charging any significantly higher price for a domestic loudspeaker.”
AURALIC VEGA G2 STREAMING DAC WITH LEO GX CLOCK
January 24, 2019 Comments Off on AURALIC VEGA G2 STREAMING DAC WITH LEO GX CLOCK
”
Lightning DS is one of AURALiC’s USPs; it looks great thanks to clear graphics and decently sized album art and, so long as your iPad isn’t an antique, works really nicely as well. This is where you set up the VEGA G2; you can do pretty much everything you need to, which is handy because there’s slightly more set up required than with a Naim or Linn. The data from your music library needs to be imported into the streamer, which a case of picking the server or NAS that it’s stored on from the list that appears and Lightning DS then goes through the titles so it can display them properly. You can also access Tidal and Qobuz from Lightning DS, the latter being a relatively rare but welcome feature especially if your musical tastes are broader than those catered for by Tidal. The only drawback with Lightning DS is that it’s iOS only; there are third party apps for Android, however.
While everything is shown on the app, a lot of information is also displayed on the four inch high resolution screen, including album artwork, volume level, and track title… but there is no way of pausing playback without the app, unless you use the ‘any remote control’ option with the smart-IR control function in the system menu. ”
Zu speakers, a PrimaLuna pre, First Watt J2 amp
January 23, 2019 Comments Off on Zu speakers, a PrimaLuna pre, First Watt J2 amp
Audiophilepure 
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