Analog

Marek Dyba has posted a review of The Funk Firm Saffire II turntable + FXR II tonearm (together, €3800) at High Fidelity. His conclusions: In spite of its quite avant-garde look Funk Saffire II is a “heavy weight” contender, that is capable of creating involving and enjoyable spectacles when playing our favorite records plus...
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Wojciech Pacuła has posted a review of the Gato Audio AMP-150 integrated amplifier (€5590) at High Fidelity. His conclusions: AMP-150 is a beautiful amplifier, with uncompromised sound. We have to try it out with our speakers, because this is not a plug & play solution. Beside the loudspeakers I mentioned, you should try it...
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Wojciech Pacuła has posted a review of the Miyajima Laboratory Shilabe phone cartridge (€2975) at High Fidelity. His conclusions: Shilabe is a remarkable cartridge. It seems warm, but is at the same time resolved. There is beautiful, deep bas and a strong, slightly warm midrange. Noting else to add or to subtract. Unless… Did...
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Martin Taylor has posted a review of the Dynavector DV20X2L phono cartridge (£499) at Adventures in High Fidelity Audio. His conclusions: The 20X2L is a dark sounding cartridge. That is to say, music rises from a deep blackness with very low levels of surface noise. So pronounced is this effect that at first I...
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has posted a review of the Sota Comet 3 turntable with S301 tonearm (together, $1200) at Stereo Mojo. His conclusions: Who might be interested in the Sota Comet III? Well, it is an entry level table; 8th model from the top and one from the bottom of the Sota line. (The Moonbeam is one...
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Martin Taylor has posted a review of the Dynavector DV507MkII tonearm ($4250) at Adventures in High Fidelity Audio. His conclusions: My overall impression of the Dynavector DV507-II is of an arm that has been designed from the ground up to answer questions of rigidity, damping and a stable cartridge platform by utilising novel ideas...
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Wojciech Pacuła has posted a review of the TW-Acustic Raven One turntable and 10.5" tonearm () at 6moons. His conclusions: The TW-Acustic turntable struck me as a very good compromise between the intellectual and emotional aspects of music…Backgrounds were not as black as with my personal reference in this regard, the Transrotor Argos. I...
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Steve Marsh has posted a review of the Benz LP-S phono cartridge ($5000) at 6moons. His conclusions: In the past couple of years I’ve actually been thinking of selling off the rock portion of my record collection. The Benz LP-S has disabused me of that notion. To be fair the Roksan Shiraz did a...
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Rich Colburn has posted a review of the McIntosh MR88 FM/XM/Internet tuner ($4000) at TONEAudio. His conclusions: Can streaming audio on the Internet replicate what the MR88 accomplishes? Some might be tempted to think so. But the MR88 is a different animal. From the comfort of a sofa, you can enjoy favorite FM broadcasts,...
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Michael Fremer has posted a reviw of the Oracle Delphi Mk.VI turntable ($8500 without tonearm) at Stereophile. His conclusions: With the improvements in the bearing, and especially with the addition of the silicone damping system, the Mk.VI edition not only retains the Oracle Delphi's position as one of the most beautiful turntables in the...
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Paul Candy has posted a review of the Well Tempered Lab Amadeus turntable ($3135) at 6moons. His conclusions: What did the $3,135 Amadeus have that my $1,000 Pro-Ject RM-5 didn't? Apart from the more realistic timbre, more apparent musical detail and greater scale and drama, the Amadeus offered a more natural sense of flow,...
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Robert E. Greene has posted a review of the Townshend Audio Rock 7 turntable ($3000) at AVGuide. His conclusions: There is a certain perception that turntable design can be pushed on and on, into ever more stratospheric heights by making things larger and more expensive. And I suppose one could imagine pushing the ideas...
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has posted a review of the Brinkmann Audio Bardo turntable ($8000) at The Audio Beat. His conclusions: The Bardo came across as a fast and muscular record-playing engine. There was a sense of propulsion and accuracy. Perhaps some of this comes from the Brinkmann’s Teutonic character, but I suspect that direct drive grips the...
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Andy Schaub has posted a review of the DaVinci Grand Reference Grandezza phono cartridge ($) at Positive Feedback Online. His conclusions. So, how do I begin to describe the sound of the DaVinci cartridge (I think we'll leave out "Grand Reference Grandezza" from now; but that IS the one we're talking about). Well, I...
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Dick Olsher has posted a review of the Kuzma Stogi Reference 313 VTA tonearm ($3800) at Superior Audio. His conclusions: The Kuzma did everything I could possibly ask of it, happily accommodating every MC cartridge in my collection. An extremely low arm noise-floor is an essential prerequisite for achieving optimal performance from any partnering...
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Jack Roberts has posted a review of the Shindo 301 Vinyl Playback System ($25,000), a highly modified Garrard 301 with custom tonearm and cartridge, at Dagogo. His conclusions: Garrard 301s are known for their solidity, body, power, dynamics, and drive. The Shindo does all this and at the same time something fundamentally different from...
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Anthony Kershaw has posted a review of the Clearaudio Concept turntable with Aurum MM cartidge ($1500) at Audiophilia. His conclusions: Analogue has been buried, creamated, decimated many times over the past fifty years. All, premature. Yet, the iPod generation is now getting grey hair and that scares me a little. I’m not sure that...
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