Reviews
Yamaha NS-5000 Loudspeakers
- Details
- Written by Josh Givorshner Josh Givorshner
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 01 February 2018 01 February 2018
Japanese conglomerate Yamaha is a company that to most would need no introduction. Now with over 20,000 employees and holding the position of the world’s largest manufacturer of musical instruments, it is a far cry from its relatively humble beginnings. If it wasn’t at first obvious, the three interlocking tuning forks encapsulated in its logo are an obvious reference to the musical beginnings that have subsequently followed the company from its inception as a piano and reed organ company dating back to 1887.
Nordost Sort Kone BC Resonance Control System
- Details
- Written by Edgar Kramer Edgar Kramer
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 01 February 2018 01 February 2018
While I've been a music lover for as long as I can remember, I've also been into audio equipment for many moons, from an over-zealous enthusiast in teenage years, to subsequently morphing into an ardent audiophile to, for over 15 years, the ever-passionate professional reviewer for a number of publications. In that time, I’ve come across all-manner of audio accessory. From the tweaky to the freaky. Some made noteworthy differences and others were… well, either ineffectual or just not copacetic with my system or biases at the time. But I’ve never held staunch close-mindedness about ‘tweaky’ accessories – I was always prepared to give stuff a go despite snake-oil-ish claims made about what are sometimes near-whacky products. But then other products are based on science, despite their seemingly tweaky nature, and promise worthwhile gains within the context of a revealing audio system. Enter the Nordost Sort Kone Resonance Control System.
Vinnie Rossi LIO Modular Integrated Amplifier
- Details
- Written by Edgar Kramer Edgar Kramer
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 15 January 2018 15 January 2018
As audio system complexity grows in relation to our rising demands for a wider choice of music listening alternatives, manufacturers have had to make product development decisions based on either product integration, additional stand-alone offerings or a mixture of both. As an example, you may have an integrated amplifier – itself, an amalgamation solution – which may present the option of a factory-fitted in-built phono stage or an independent unit which could be acquired when convenient when funds allow. Another method of providing multiple functionality, added features and diverse playback options is by way of modular design. This method requires particular design attention and presents its own engineering challenges but, when done right, a modular design can provide extended functionality, simplicity in terms of component count and, importantly, potential performance benefits by way of eliminating added componentry and interconnecting cables. Vinnie Rossi’s LIO integrated amplifier takes this extremely clever and challenging-to-implement concept to its full potential.
Sennheiser HDV 820 Headphone Amplifier
- Details
- Written by Peter Katsoolis Peter Katsoolis
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 15 December 2017 15 December 2017
Recently, under guarded supervision (actually I’m often under guarded supervision but that’s another story…) this reprobate listener had the privilege of experiencing the distinctly esoteric and musically liberating Sennheiser statement headphone system, the HE-1. The music selection was limited but that serene aggregation of valves and marble and electrostatic drivers brought me ecstatic peace in an instant.
Bowers & Wilkins 705 S2 Loudspeakers
- Details
- Written by Scott Campbell Scott Campbell
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 15 December 2017 15 December 2017
Bowers and Wilkins. Yes, B&W... A name familiar to almost every audiophile that ever obsessed over their bits, bytes or tonearm balance. From the almighty Nautilus, an absolute landmark of a speaker, the DM6 and its unusual shape, the mighty 801 and 808 which are coveted, collected and admired to this day.
Vermouth Audio Black Pearl Mk.II Interconnect, Speaker & AC Power Cables
- Details
- Written by Edgar Kramer Edgar Kramer
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 01 December 2017 01 December 2017
Back in August 2017 I had the pleasure of living with the Vermouth Audio Little Luccas Mk.II Limited Edition loudspeakers in order to assess them and, subsequently, formally review them on SoundStage! Australia here. I was thoroughly taken by these Indonesian speakers’ engaging sound based on the superb RAAL ribbon tweeter, SB Acoustics mid-bass driver, high quality crossover componentry and solidly-built solid timber enclosure. I also admired the pleasing aesthetics, the world-class finish and a number of other design choices which served as evidence of a passionate and dedicated designer capable of thorough attention to detail. Move forward some time to the present and here, in situ for review, is the company’s Black Pearl Mk.II loom which sits at the top of Vermouth Audio’s cable line-up.
Sonus faber Amati Tradition Loudspeakers
- Details
- Written by Josh Givorshner Josh Givorshner
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 01 December 2017 01 December 2017
From the Editor – Sometimes the convergence of worlds results in events that flout with the laws of the universe. While SoundStage! Ultra’s Aron Garrecht was thoroughly putting the Amati Tradition through its paces, SoundStage! Australia’s own Joshua Givorshner was tenaciously penning his own views on this important speaker from Sonus faber. Garrecht’s excellent review published on November 15 can be read here, while below, as an independently reinforcing viewpoint from the other side of the world, is Givorshner’s thoughtful take on this remarkable design… Edgar Kramer
HiDiamond D3 Balanced & D7 Single-Ended Interconnect & D7 Speaker Cables
- Details
- Written by Peter Katsoolis Peter Katsoolis
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 15 November 2017 15 November 2017
Audio cable prices continue to sky rocket with statement pieces often costing as much, if not more, than the rest of a music system combined. Competing technologies continue to proliferate at a rate matched only by often garish advertising and boastful claims of patent (-ed) superiority. Cables are, of course, a crucial means of transferring those precious signals from your source to your speakers but are so system dependent that reviewing them causes me some trepidation in seeking to do so.
SPEC Corporation RSA-M3EX Integrated Amplifier
- Details
- Written by Peter Katsoolis Peter Katsoolis
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 01 November 2017 01 November 2017
The first time I was called an “audio-maniac” was as I was trying to put my left shoe on my right foot at a sake restaurant after a night out in Tokyo with Junji Kimura, the master craftsman of then underground Japanese brand 47 Laboratory. It was the mid-1990s and this then student had travelled to Berlin to study, of all things, Japanese law. But yours truly had an ulterior motive: to stop over in Tokyo on the way home and, with the help of Yoshi Segoshi, the US distributor for 47 Labs, go hang out with Kimura-san and convince him to sell me a Gaincard amplifier and a Flatfish CD transport and Progression DAC at a ‘student’ discount price.
Wilson Audio Specialties Alexia Series 2 Loudspeakers
- Details
- Written by Edgar Kramer Edgar Kramer
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 01 November 2017 01 November 2017
Suddenly, as the large Advance Audio van edges up the driveway, I’m shrouded in a heavy blanket of déjà vu, my subconscious harking back to four years ago, when the same scene quenched my anxious anticipation as the Alexia speakers, then a totally new model in the Wilson Audio Specialties line up, were delivered. Subsequently, these most revealing instruments heightened this writer’s reviewing exactness while increasing my listening pleasure and enjoyment of music to levels previously unattained. Alexia plugged the gap between the Sasha W/P (the splendid reinvention of the classic WATT/Puppy) and the large scale MAXX and, as befitting its stature within the line, it employed a number of technologies, drivers and time-alignment techniques trickled down from MAXX and Alexandria XLF. Alexia became an instant hit and, even back then, challenged the market penetration of the high-selling Sasha W/P despite the considerably higher ownership cost. In fact, in the conclusion of my Alexia review for Audio Esoterica magazine I wrote “Alexia will be a landmark product for Wilson Audio, of that I have little doubt, and may even outsell the smaller and less expensive Sasha.” So, a pertinent question can understandably be posed; How to improve on such an advanced and philosophically-extended concept?
Chord Electronics Hugo 2 Transportable DAC/Headphone Amplifier – Digital Playback at the Cutting Edge
- Details
- Written by Edgar Kramer Edgar Kramer
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 15 October 2017 15 October 2017
The two main growth areas of audio playback right now are digital-to-analogue converters and the headphone/headphone amplifier space. For those wanting a better, higher fidelity experience, headphone sound quality can be dramatically improved by combining the two. And a DAC can also have anything from a mundane to a revelatory influence on a high-end audio system. So what is the result of an undertaking to combine both ‘disciplines’ when the company involved is Chord Electronics, a leader in high-tech engineering and pioneer of several proprietary technologies which place it at the cutting edge of digital playback?
Bowers & Wilkins 702 S2 Speakers
- Details
- Written by Edgar Kramer Edgar Kramer
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 15 October 2017 15 October 2017
Bowers & Wilkins produces some of the most desirable audio products in the industry. The company spans its considerable engineering and marketing prowess across a wide range of speaker lines encompassing all major price points while applying the same ideal to its evolving personal audio/headphone and ‘life style’ wireless speaker products (an expanding high-end car audio line specialises in systems for luxury models for BMW, Maserati, Volvo and more). But to this writer, it’s especially gratifying to know that the company has a tremendous impetus in its model for nurturing musicians and their art. Bowers & Wilkins’ Society of Sound is a platform for many international artists to showcase their talent and creativity to music lovers across the globe.
