Ken Kessler has posted a review of the Metronome CD8 CD player (£7500) at Hi-Fi News and Record Review. His conclusions: “‘Elegant’ was the first adjective that came to mind when I saw this player, and elegance remained its pre-eminent virtue. At no time did it sound ‘digital’ or harsh, regardless of the origins...
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Frederic Beudot has posted a review of the Zu Audio Event II interconnects ($860-$1000) and speaker cables ($870-$2808) at 6moons. His conclusions: “What I can attest to is that they have created a line of cables that had no issues equaling and at times challenging all of my in-house wires regardless of price. I...
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WL Low has posted a review of the dCS Debussy DAC ($11,499) at av2day.com. His conclusions: “However, viewed on it’s own merits, the dCS still deserves recommendation beyond par excellence, at it’s current retail price of RM49,000/unit. High-end-dom certainly doesn’t come cheap at this point, but if it’s absolute digital audio performance that one...
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Roland Dietl has posted part two of his review of the ZeroUno DAC (€5500) at Positive Feedback. His conclusions: “The ZEROUNO is a rarely-seen symbiosis of thoughtful circuit design in all aspects, using extremely high-quality components, while showing a perfect finish too. The sound quality as well as the ability of this DAC to...
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Clement Perry has posted a review of the Frank Acoustics’ UB25000 power conditioner ($4500) at Stereo Times. His conclusions: “The improvements wrought by the Frank Acoustics device were nothing short of extraordinary. Improved dynamics, ease of flow, natural hues and a lowered noise floor makes the UB25000 perhaps one of the greatest add-on products...
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Mike Girardi has posted a review of the Synergistic Research Tranquility Base UEF ($2250), XOT Carbon ($449/pair), and MIGS 2.0 ($249/set of 3) at Stereo Times. His conclusions: “On both the Synergistic Research Tranquility Base UEF and XOT Carbons products, the employment of Graphene did not add its own flavor to the music but...
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Kal Rubinson has posted a review of the exaSound PlayPoint music server ($1999) in his Music in the Round column at Stereophile. His conclusions: “The sound quality was outstanding in both UPnP and NAA configurations. The PlayPoint lets you have an excellent multichannel digital music player anywhere there is access to the home network…Having...
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Art Dudley has posted a review of the upgrade to the Naim Nait integrated amplifier ($1195) in his Listening column at Stereophile. His conclusions: “With reservations, I would tend to put the vintage-Naim movement in the last category, with perhaps a smidge of the first category mixed in—my reservations pertaining to the notion that...
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Kris Deering has posted a review of the JVC Procision DLA-X750R 3D D-ILA projector ($7000) at Sound and Vision. His conclusions: “While this year’s models aren’t perfect, nearly every area of performance has taken a big step forward. If you’re in the market for a projector that makes the most of the content we...
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Christian Punter has posted a review of the Mad Scientist HAC and HAC Plus interconnects at Hi-Fi Advice. His conclusions: “With superbly transparent sounding cables, oftentimes the price to pay is a less forgiving nature and/or lack of substance or body. Not so with the Mad Scientist cables. Without sounding clinical or deprived of...
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Chrisiaan Punter has posted a review of the Daniël Hertz 2-C interconnects at Hi-Fi Advice. His conclusions: “These are highly revealing speakers that with the wrong cables can become unpleasant in the upper midrange and lower treble. These interlinks don’t detract from the horns’ inherent resolution yet will never provoke them.” You can read...
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Christiaan Punter has posted a review of the Straight Wire Crescendo II interconnects at Hi-Fi Advice. His conclusions: “Like the aforementioned Cardas, this Straight Wire sort of represents the sound as I came to like it in the 90’s, when Krell, Levinson, Wadia et all were popular and although the use of this cable...
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Christiaan Punter has posted a review of the Meridian 818v3 digital preamplifier, MC200 music server, and DSP5200 SE loudspeakers at Hi-Fi Advice. His conclusions: “he Meridian 818v3 is a superb machine. Even in plain DAC-guise it is up there with the best DACs I have heard. But add in its preamp facilities, Sooloos/Roon compatibility,...
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Rene van Es has posted a review of the Excite X18 loudspeakers (£1195/pair) at The Ear. His conclusions: “This may come as a shock to long time Dynaudio users, for the new standard has more emphasis on the midrange and less on the amount of bass energy, but the higher notes are still detailed...
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Roy Gregory has posted a review of the Fono Acustica Virtuoso interconnects (€14,000), speaker cables (€43,900), and power cords (€12,000) at The Audio Beat. His conclusions: “For those of a more artistic bent, who want to engage with music rather than analyze it, Fono Acustica’s Virtuoso cables’ combination of musical and emotional drama, weight,...
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Keith Howard has posted a review of the Sonus Faber Pryma headphones (£410) at Hi-Fi News and Record Review. His conclusions: “Would Gok Wan be seen wearing the Pryma? I imagine he would because it is, undeniably, a fashion icon in the making – one which makes other ‘designer’ ’phones look crass or plain...
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Nick Tate has posted a review of the Crystal Cable Arabesque Minissimo Diamond loudspeakers (£17,000/pair) at Hi-Fi News and Record Review. His conclusions: “I have never heard ‘the best small speaker’, and don’t ever expect to. Yet this is certainly one of the most interesting and appealing in its own special way. It’s exceptionally...
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Ken Kessler has posted a review of the Audio Research Reference 6 preamplifier (£12,000) at Hi-Fi News and Record Review. His conclusions: Audio Research has never put a foot wrong with its Reference models. I’ve played with most, and must admit that some stand out more than others. The REF 6, I believe, will...
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Graeme Budd has posted a review of the Ortofon 2M Black phono cartridge (€600) at TNT Audio. His conclusions: “At this price the direct MM competitors have to be the Reson Reca and Audio Note IQ2 (both Goldring 1000 series based and 600€). Having lived with and enjoyed the Reca for many years I’d...
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Michael Piskor has posted a review of the Sonus Faber Pryma headphones ($499-$599) at Headfonics. His conclusions: “The Pryma looks very posh and upper class and for the first time, I can recommend a flashy looking headphone to people interested in something that also sounds good too. This is an almost unheard of combination...
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Steve Guttenberg has posted a review of the KEF M400 headphones ($250) at Sound and Vision. His conclusions: “All in all, the M400 sounds refined and clear, with bass that is definitely goosed up just a tad. I’m not normally a fan of overemphasized bass, but it’s done tastefully here on the M400, and...
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Angelo Jasparro has posted a review of the Aerial Acoustics 7T loudspeakers ($9850/pair) at Audio Activity. His conclusions: “The Aerials are great when they reproduce the low range, that results deep and exact and the stated frequency response is easily reached. The sound pressure is now very high but these T7s are not in...
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Venoth Nair has posted a review of the TEAC PD-501HR digital player ($850) at av2day.com. His conclusions: “Great looks and a balanced sound output that’s fun to listen to make this DSD CD spinner a great player to invest in when building either a humble high end desktop rig or even a full blown...
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Mark Fleischmann has posted a review of the Simaudio Moon Neo 230HAD headphone amplifier-DAC ($1500) at Sound and Vision. His conclusions: “The Moon by Simaudio Neo 230HAD is a state-of-the-art headphone amplifier/DAC that has a healthy, and sometimes transformative, effect on whatever headphones you plug into it. The Moon by Simaudio Neo 230HAD is...
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Matej Isak has posted a review of the Goldmund Telos 360 universal monoblock amplifier (€36,300) at Mono and Stereo. His conclusions: “Final judgment falls into the domain of people in search of proper balance of performance, luxury and specific sonic virtues. The Goldmund Telos 360 Universal Mono Amplifiers sums up with the self contained...
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