Grand Prix Audio Monaco 2.0 Turntable $37,000 Review
August 6, 2017 Comments Off on Grand Prix Audio Monaco 2.0 Turntable $37,000 Review
“I can’t tell you how impressed I was that GPA’s Jesse Luna had the Monaco 2.0 up and rocking in about 15 minutes. When I swapped tonearms from the longer Tri-Planar arm to the standard length one of mine, it only took me about 20 minutes to get things dialed in. Being that this is such a high-performance table, I still suggest having your dealer do it or getting one of the Jedi’s to make sure you are getting all of the performance you are paying for. You don’t take your Ferarri to the corner tire store for an alignment, do you?”
Wilson Audio Alexx Loudspeakers $109,000 Review
March 2, 2017 Comments Off on Wilson Audio Alexx Loudspeakers $109,000 Review
“At $109k a pair, you’d most certainly expect any speaker to reproduce all these attributes and then some; and rightfully so. That’s a whole lot of dough. Cough, rasp, cough. To the initiated—i.e. those who already drink from HiFi’s Kool Aid—the speaker’s price point has today become quasi accepted. To the uninitiated, the price point seems absurdly ludicrous. That is of course, until they are educated on the “Why” question. No more could your average weekend warrior speaker “guy” create a transducer like Alexx than violently shaking the pieces of a Daytona hoping for the final product to magically materialize in your mystical box of trickery. A quick review of the facts, a visit to the Wilson factory, would reveal the resoluteness and sanity of Alexx’s asking price.”
AAVIK U-300 UNITY INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER £20,000 REVIEW
December 8, 2016 Comments Off on AAVIK U-300 UNITY INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER £20,000 REVIEW
” There are few downsides, although they are more niggles and observations. Sonically, the dynamic range of the Aavik, although wide, is not quite as authentic and edge-of-the-seat as some of the best valve amplifiers out there. However, in terms of solid-state designs, the U-300 Unity is hard to beat. Trivially, a balance control would be nice, but might undermine the minimalism of the overall project as it might require its own button. The ability to process high-resolution to 24/192 might prove limiting in an audiophile world obsessed by 32/384 and DSD files – I hope this is not the case, because I’d rather choose an amp that sounded this good over the (often undefined) promise of superior sound quality from ever higher resolutions.”
FOCAL UTOPIA $4,000 REVIEW
September 2, 2016 Comments Off on FOCAL UTOPIA $4,000 REVIEW
” Put them on, and and you’ll find it hard to believe the Utopias weigh nearly 500 grams. Due to careful design of the headband, they really don’t feel heavy once they’re on. There’s no pressure on the top of your head or over the ears, with no uncomfortable “hanging.” Instead, they almost feel part of your skull.
PASS LABS INT-250 INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER $12,000 REVIEW
August 1, 2016 Comments Off on PASS LABS INT-250 INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER $12,000 REVIEW
“A true reference integrated such as the 180Wpc MBL C51 made it a contest throughout most of the audio spectrum, but the difference in the Pass Labs’ raw power was telling in midrange dynamics and mid/upper-bass grip. In my experience only the Vitus Audio SIA-25 (Issue 218), a pure 25Wpc Class A integrated, has exhibited a more transparent top-end but its relatively low power removes it from the equation with lower-sensitivity loudspeakers.”
ASTELL&KERN AK500N – FULL NETWORK AUDIO SYSTEM $12,000 Review
May 19, 2016 Comments Off on ASTELL&KERN AK500N – FULL NETWORK AUDIO SYSTEM $12,000 Review
” Of course, all those features would be moot if the AK500N sounded mediocre, or even merely very good. But in fact, it sounds spectacular; in many ways, the best player I’ve heard. In particular, the bass, from all digital inputs, is positively earth-shaking, with lots of detail and impact. Treble was smooth and harmonically rich, with realistic detail. Dynamics—micro and macro—were right up there with the best I’ve heard. Soundstaging is at least as good as anything I’ve heard in my system.”
Crystal Cable Arabesque Minissimo Diamond Loudspeakers $25,000 Review
April 17, 2016 Comments Off on Crystal Cable Arabesque Minissimo Diamond Loudspeakers $25,000 Review
” The harmonic and dynamic accuracy that serves piano so brilliantly was just as apparent with strings, which can be intoxicating. On everything from demanding showstoppers like Paganini’s La Risata del Diavolo (Salvatore Accardo, Diabolus In Musica [Deutsche Grammophon 477 6492]) to immersive string quartet music (The Suske Quartet, Beethoven String Quartet Op.130 [Eterna 8 27 454]), the diamond tweeter’s extension brought air and texture, without ever sounding stressed or fatiguing. Although it can be ruthless in revealing detail, it never sounded harsh unless the playing or the recording called for it. The additional resolution revealed more harmonic information, saturating and filling out the image with tonal structure, resulting in an effortlessly realistic sound.”
Picture 1751
D’AGOSTINO CLASSIC STEREO AMPLIFIER $12,000 REVIEW
March 3, 2016 Comments Off on D’AGOSTINO CLASSIC STEREO AMPLIFIER $12,000 REVIEW
“So much, in fact, that some listeners may initially be taken aback by how much energy the Classic Stereo delivers in the 60–200Hz region, where most of the sense of bass performance really resides. On Leonard Cohen’s Old Ideas [Sony], it offered the richest and gruffest rendition of his voice that I’ve ever heard. Some may find this a little over the top, but I think D’Agostino’s amp is fleshing out what’s already present in the recording without supplying much of an additive flavor. All of this is a way of saying that this isn’t a sterile and bleached-sounding amplifier. Rather, it lands on the warm and full side but without sacrificing detail or transparency. It’s not necessary to play it loud, for the Classic Stereo will reproduce fine detail at lower volumes, once again as a function of its power.”
Soundkaos Wave 40 speakers $20,000 REVIEW
January 26, 2016 Comments Off on Soundkaos Wave 40 speakers $20,000 REVIEW
“The speaker has a beautifully carved interior and the speaker body’s two halves lined with Aramid honeycomb and joined by four invisible bolts. As a speaker generates sound, it does so in two directions, out to the listener and into the enclosure. The pressure inside the speaker box activates the walls of the enclosure and, by the time these waves escape, they arrive to your ears delayed in time, which causes ‘an audible smear and fuzziness – often mistaken for warmth,’ according to soundkaos. When these vibrations are addressed properly, they arrive to your ear with a greater clarity. As light and delicate as this speaker appears, it is carefully designed to handle and release the sound pressure generated within.”
HIFIMAN HE1000 $3,000 REVIEW
December 3, 2015 Comments Off on HIFIMAN HE1000 $3,000 REVIEW
” This is perhaps the most impressive aspect of the HE1000 for me. The HE1k’s bass extends incredibly deep. I remember the first time when I popped on the LCD-2 v1 in 2011 and listening to Mediæval Bæbes out of a Lehmann amp and my jaw dropped at how authoritative the sub-bass was and until now that has been my benchmark on sub-bass performance. The HE1000 eclipses the Audeze sub-bass reach by some margin and extends way beyond the HE6 also for that matter.”
Audiophilepure 
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