Reviews
Innuos Pulsar Network Music Player
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- Written by Barry Jones Barry Jones
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 15 December 2023 15 December 2023
In an age where music streaming now accounts for around 65% of total music revenues [source: The global music market was worth $26bn in 2021 - BBC News], the link to the internet has become critically important. Much like the move to separate the input stage and output stage of the integrated amplifier in our parent’s generation, the last decade has seen the emergence of high-quality music streaming devices designed to complement high-end stand-alone DACs. Products like Innuos’ Pulsar, an upper tier music server/player, allow for the optimal retrieval, decoding and signal preservation of today’s high-resolution recorded music.
Ideon Audio eos DAC, eos Stream, eos Time
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- Written by Edgar Kramer Edgar Kramer
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 01 December 2023 01 December 2023
As the choices for digital music consumption expand and content providers continue to proliferate, as does high-resolution music availability, hardware makers have had to evolve in synchronicity. The net result has seen a maturing of streaming, clock and digital conversion technologies, with many brands offering multi-box solutions which have elevated the sonic outcome. A native of Greece, relatively new company Ideon Audio is rightfully earning a reputation for excellence via products which provide innovative proprietary technologies, comprehensive functionality and solid build. Importantly, of course, Ideon Audio’s products have also been widely hailed for their excellent sound quality. Here, I’m looking at the company’s entry point 3-box combo featuring eos Stream streamer/server, eos Time (a dedicated USB clock regenerator) and eos DAC digital-to-analogue converter.
Stenheim Alumine Two SE Loudspeakers
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- Written by Barry James Johnston Barry James Johnston
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 15 November 2023 15 November 2023
Stenheim was founded in 2010 in Switzerland by five founders, all of whom were intensely passionate about music and its reproduction in the best possible quality at home. Now, and for around a decade in fact since Stenheim's first years, the company's helm is guided by CEO and owner Jean-Pascal Panchard. Music, of course, is where you may find yourself intimately connected to each of the emotional components which curate the soundtrack to your life. Stenheim’s motivations are based around principles of a love for music and a deep and well-practiced knowledge of the engineering ideologies required to bring such aspirations to fruition, and give a voice to the imagination, also a company of which I had very little knowledge prior to this review sample being sent to me.
Sonus faber Serafino G2 Homage Loudspeakers
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- Written by Edgar Kramer Edgar Kramer
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 01 November 2023 01 November 2023
Oh. My. Goodness! That was my primal auto-response. It was an instinctive reaction for the intro to this review of Sonus faber’s insanely beautiful Serafino G2 Homage. Man these things are jaw-dropping, eye-popping, stunning. Master violin artisan Santo Serafino would be like “Now that, is a tribute…” In its newest iteration, Serafino is perfectly proportioned, exquisitely built and masterly styled. As part of the Homage series, it stands as the penultimate offering topped by the larger Amati Generation 5. Yet, Santo Serafino would also be asking “like my instruments, does its beauty also allure with irresistibly seductive sound?”. Well, let me tell you the Serafino G2 story…
Aqua Acoustic Quality La Diva M2 CD Transport
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- Written by Edgar Kramer Edgar Kramer
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 01 November 2023 01 November 2023
“A pure CD machine”. That’s the headline grab Italian digital specialist Aqua Acoustic Quality uses for La Diva M2. The CD transport thoroughly expresses the company’s digital engineering chops; it’s a no-holds-barred disc spinner aimed at uncompromisingly extracting the best possible performance from the polycarbonate pits. It has also been made to couple to the company’s acclaimed resistor ladder-based digital-to-analogue converters. The silver disc is at the cycling point of ‘old-is-new-again’. Much like the gloriously sounding yet cumbersome reel-to-reel tape, and the nostalgic yet tragically flawed cassette (really?). Let’s not even mention the ongoing and celebrated vinyl renaissance. CD’s popular resuscitation? Yep, vibing that way. How timely then, that La Diva M2 CD Transport is here for a spin. It may be a convincing rejuvenation of the still excellent four-decade old laser reading technology.
Titanic Audio Model A Moving Coil Cartridge
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- Written by Mark Busby Mark Busby
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 15 October 2023 15 October 2023
One of the more recent arrivals to Australian shores in the analogue space is the Titanic Audio’s line of cartridges and analogue accessories from Ireland. The company’s main core products are a new range of Moving Coil cartridges which have been a welcomed addition to the product selection available to Australian vinyl lovers. With a nod to the rich history of ship construction in Belfast, Titanic Audio have produced cartridges with ship-like profiles, complete with portholes, lines and machine cut body art. This review explores the sound and construction of the Titanic Audio Model A Moving Coil (MC) cartridge which has a medium voltage output, features cutting edge construction and an unusual conical shaped stylus.
Weiss Engineering HELIOS Digital-to-Analogue Converter
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- Written by Tom Waters Tom Waters
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 15 October 2023 15 October 2023
Switzerland’s Weiss Engineering is renowned for its no compromise approach to gear for professional mastering studios around the world. For years Weiss has been at the forefront of digital engineering, and each generation of its products has raised the bar even further. The new HELIOS digital-to-analogue converter is the company’s latest high-end Hi-Fi flagship product.
Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista PAS Power Amplifier
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- Written by Edgar Kramer Edgar Kramer
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 01 October 2023 01 October 2023
“The most important invention of the 20th century”. That was said of the semiconductor after its introduction in 1947. The device then went on to ubiquitous application in transistor radios through the 1950s. Then, in the late 1960s, very early 1970s, the transistor saw increasing implementation in Hi-Fi. Valve audio amplifiers’ decades-long reign was now being challenged. Soon after, the new technology became all-pervading, promising longevity, reliability, higher output power and improved sonic accuracy. Yeah, well… in early designs, that last one was mostly… so, so. It wasn’t until well into the 1970s, that skilled engineers procured the transistor’s potential for high-end audio. Those transformative events actually overshadowed the development of the Nuvistor tube in the late 1950s. The promising device came… and went. Forward to 1997 when British audio specialist Musical Fidelity unearthed the Nuvistor and harnessed that missed opportunity. The aim? To marry the best traits of both valve and solid state amplification. In the Nu-Vista PAS power amplifier, will the two worlds coalesce into a new powerhouse fusion?
Crystal Cable Diamond Series 2 Reference Loom
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- Written by Steven JM Polley Steven JM Polley
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 15 September 2023 15 September 2023
When it comes to cables, we’ve all seen products with gregarious designs, from ones approximating ornamental garden hoses to those resembling a python that has just devoured its prey. Bulky cables with a "bigger is better" mentality are often perceived as superior or essential for greater dynamics and powerful bass. Among other desires, having more bulbous-looking cables would be on most audiophiles' wish lists. Anything less might diminish their pride, with most believing diminutive cables would not suffice. In that case, they’re disregarding the significance of substance over appearance, with the most critical factor being how cables sound and integrate within our systems.
Electrocompaniet AW 800 M Power Amplifier
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- Written by Tom Waters Tom Waters
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 15 September 2023 15 September 2023
Electrocompaniet has a legacy of nearly 50 years in the industry producing world-class Hi-Fi products. All its products are designed and manufactured in Norway – they are the leading Norwegian manufacturer of high-end audio products. Electrocompaniet products are used by audiophiles, industry professionals and world-class recording studios in 50 countries around the world. In fact, the company’s original AW 600 Nemo amplifier was reputedly designed and built to power the “hard to drive” Bowers & Wilkins Nautilus and 801 speakers back in the 90s. The focus of this review is the evolution of that venerable AW 600 Nemo, the brand new AW 800 M power amplifier.
Wilson Audio Sasha V Loudspeakers
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- Written by Edgar Kramer Edgar Kramer
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 01 September 2023 01 September 2023
Within the development of a research-based company timeline, how does such an entity express its philosophies within the context of a product’s identity and long-sustained lineage? Well, while some branch-off by introducing entirely new classifications bearing the company’s latest technologies, others continue on the engineering path of refining proprietary advancements to enduring platforms. The Wilson Audio Sasha concept is an example of the latter. The company has faithfully managed the development of its iconic WATT/Puppy, with each generation perfected via exclusive technologies culminating in the Sasha platform. Sasha was itself an anagenesis devotedly progressed to a second-gen and then on to the commemorative Sasha DAW, a tribute to company Founder David A. Wilson. Now, the DNA is further refined with the introduction of the next generation: the striking Sasha V.
Bowers & Wilkins 702 S3 Loudspeakers
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- Written by Edgar Kramer Edgar Kramer
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 15 August 2023 15 August 2023
It was back in late 2020. I recall, quite vividly, several weeks of bliss with Bowers & Wilkins’ 702 Signature Edition speakers (review here). Joy, joy. Over and above the excellent 702 S2 standard version (reviewed back in 2017), the ‘SE’ was the ultimate expression of the company’s highly popular 700 series. Its sonic skills were so sharply refined that it could cheekily face-slap with a challenging glove its 800 series entry points compadres. And then there was that insane ‘Datuk Gloss’ finish. Knock-out. Time-jump to Q2 2023 and I receive a call from Australian distributor Masimo Consumer’s John Martin offering to renew my acquaintance with the 702 flagship, now, in its latest-gen 702 S3 generational evolvement. “How about a review?” Umm… like, yeah!
