BURSON AUDIO CONDUCTOR VIRTUOSO 2+ HEADPHONE DAC PREAMP REVIEW
October 21, 2018 Comments Off on BURSON AUDIO CONDUCTOR VIRTUOSO 2+ HEADPHONE DAC PREAMP REVIEW
‘There’s so much to like here; from the five-year warranty to the way the detents on the volume control feel under your hand. This is a very well realised headphone amplifier/DAC that shows just how professional Burson Audio has become, and the last round showed the company wasn’t exactly goofing around. The Conductor V2+ is beautifully made, can drive practically everything, sounds powerful and full of bass while staying lithe and detailed, and the only real fault I can find is those damn blue volume settings. The original was a real star; this one’s a supernova! ”
Turntable Cartridge Alignment w/Turntable Lab Alignment Protractor Tool
October 21, 2018 Comments Off on Turntable Cartridge Alignment w/Turntable Lab Alignment Protractor Tool
Hegel Music Systems H590 Integrated Amplifier-DAC $11,000 Review
October 21, 2018 Comments Off on Hegel Music Systems H590 Integrated Amplifier-DAC $11,000 Review
“I was dubious about Hegel Music Systems’ H590 integrated amplifier-DAC. Charging $11,000 for an integrated amp-DAC that looks a lot like your $6000 model is a bold move, especially for a company that’s built its reputation on financially accessible models. Yet the H590 delivers, and then some. Its massive power output makes it an unflappable partner for just about any loudspeaker, past or present, and it has a wealth of digital and analog inputs, including BNC and dual XLR. But most impressive is its magnificent D/A converter. Through its USB input, I enjoyed some of the finest reproduction of music ever to grace my listening room.”
BURMESTER AUDIOSYSTEME 175 TURNTABLE SYSTEM £29,800 REVIEW
October 20, 2018 Comments Off on BURMESTER AUDIOSYSTEME 175 TURNTABLE SYSTEM £29,800 REVIEW
“The Burmester 175 has to be right because of its position in the line. The first ‘headline’ audio product launched after the passing of Dieter Burmester himself, the company’s first ever turntable, the most expensive turnkey turntable ever, and is part of the company’s Reference Line… if it took a wrong turn anywhere, there would be blood! Fortunately, everyone can rest easy and no blood has been spilled in the making of this review. This is just a damn good turntable, more than you might ever expect as a first shot across the vinyl bows from the brand. Its price and position puts it in among the best of the best, and it stands with them on build and sonic terms. If you are interested in those things (and let’s face it who isn’t?), you just got your first turnkey turntable.”
Rogue Audio Stereo 100 power amplifier Review
October 20, 2018 Comments Off on Rogue Audio Stereo 100 power amplifier Review
“The Stereo 100’s rear-panel toggle lets you choose between connecting its KT120 tubes’ screen grids to an Ultralinear (UL) tap on the output transformer’s primary or to the tubes’ anodes, creating faux triodes. Per the owner’s manual, the Stereo 100 is specified to output 100Wpc in UL, but no power rating is given for Triode mode. I assumed it would be about 30Wpc, but it appears I was wrong.”
Constellation Performance Centaur II 500 power amplifier $55,000 Review
October 19, 2018 Comments Off on Constellation Performance Centaur II 500 power amplifier $55,000 Review
“My new torture track for revealing any problems a product might have dealing with low frequencies at high powers is “#thatpower,” featuring Justin Bieber, from Will.i.am’s #willpower (16/44.1 FLAC MQA, Interscope). The Bricasti reproduced the sampled kick drum with more upper bass than did the Lamms or the Constellation. Peak levels reached 98.6dB (measured with the Studio Six Digital SPL Meter app on my iPhone 6S, with C weighting and slow ballistics). When, on the line “I’ll take you higher,” the bass line drops to the subdominant, the Centaur II 500 sounded a little less “phatt” than the M1.2s, and even less so than the M15, to the benefit of the music’s clarity. The sampled snare drum in this track inherently sounds coarse, but the Centaur II 500 had less of a cack-cack quality than either the Bricasti or the Lamms. Winner on points? The Constellation.”
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LINN SELEKT DSM DIGITAL STREAMING PLATFORM
October 19, 2018 Comments Off on LINN SELEKT DSM DIGITAL STREAMING PLATFORM
“The other big punch-pulling was with regard to where Selekt DSM sits in the Linn echelon. In it’s standard guise, it’s better than Majik, but it’s more expensive than Majik. The full-up Aktiv Akurate DSM system is better than Selekt DSM, but it’s also a very narrow, very expensive Linn-related option. But the big issue is that bit in-between, where Selekt DSM takes on an Akurate DSM with Akurate amps in a passive context. Now it gets nuanced. The full Katalyst-enabled Selekt DSM with its brace of on-board Class D amps gets extremely close in performance terms to the Akurate DSM and power amp combination, and in many respects outguns the older platform. And yet, Selekt DSM is cheaper than Akurate in this setting. In fairness, I can’t see many Akurate users side-shifting to Selekt DSM, but I also can’t see many freshly minted passive Akurate users now that Selekt DSM exists. It’s that good.”
Broadway by Eleven XI Audio – Fully Balanced Battery-operated Headphone Amplifier
October 19, 2018 Comments Off on Broadway by Eleven XI Audio – Fully Balanced Battery-operated Headphone Amplifier
Martin Logan Renaissance ESL 15A Review
October 18, 2018 Comments Off on Martin Logan Renaissance ESL 15A Review
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The Renaissance ESL 15A’s are simply the absolute best Martin Logans that I have heard. They have seismic yet superbly articulate and very even-handed bass, coherence to rival the best multi-driver dynamic speakers and incredibly transparent and super-refined, yet smooth and gloriously rich midrange with precise, fluid and airy treble. These speakers combine so many audiophile tricks and weave them together so very well that it becomes a hardship to return to other speakers.”
GIK Acoustics 2A Alpha Diffusor/Absorber Acoustic Panel
October 18, 2018 Comments Off on GIK Acoustics 2A Alpha Diffusor/Absorber Acoustic Panel
“Flipping the 2A Alphas back to their Absorptive sides while leaving them at the back of the sidewalls decreased spaciousness but improved clarity, and removed a thin layer of distortion from the sound. This was likely due to a decrease in flutter echo and/or the reverberation and pinging of soundwaves between the sidewalls. Although I could hear these improvements somewhat when the panels’ Diffusive/Absorptive sides faced outward, they were more audible when the Absorptive sides were exposed.
Lastly, I positioned the 2A Alphas along my room’s rear wall — not easy to do, as that wall is obstructed by a large table on the right, and interrupted by the hallway on the left. Doing so blocked part of the wall and most of the hallway’s entrance. With their Diffusive/Absorptive sides again turned outward, the 2As again increased spaciousness. They also caused the rear wall to seem a bit farther away.
Audiophilepure 
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