Reviews
Vertere Acoustics Sabre Moving Magnet Cartridge & PHONO-1 MkII L Preamplifier
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- Written by Mark Busby Mark Busby
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 15 November 2022 15 November 2022
This review covers two award-winning analogue products from UK company Vertere Acoustics. The highly-acclaimed Sabre Moving Magnet cartridge and its mate the equally-celebrated PHONO-1 MkII L phono stage, which also allows for Moving Coil operation.
ZenSati Zorro Cable Loom
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- Written by Edgar Kramer Edgar Kramer
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 15 November 2022 15 November 2022
Epochs ago, at CES Las Vegas, I recall being Pied-Pipered to an exhibit which was bleeding seductive tunes through the Venetian’s corridors. There, I discovered a system made up of top-notch electronics, ginormous speakers and bijou-like cables networked like giant intersecting webs. These cables were the latest products from new Danish company ZenSati which, at the time, hit the high-end market with all wheels screeching. Man, that system sounded super-hot. That’s also where I met ZenSati’s charismatic founder Mark Johansen. Since that time so long ago, the company has carved a deep fissure into the obesely-bulging cable space. As high-end-centric as ZenSati cables are – like the über sILENzIO and #X – the ‘Zorro’ cable loom under examination here is the entry-point. It’s also its newest line and the most cost-effective since ZenSati’s inception. On paper, these cables should provide a tasty portion of its more exotic siblings’ performance. Let’s test the theory with some hands-on and ears-up practice…
Wilson Audio Alexia V Loudspeakers
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- Written by Edgar Kramer Edgar Kramer
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 01 November 2022 01 November 2022
Back in 2017, a few weeks post its launch, I excitedly took delivery of Wilson Audio’s Alexia Series 2. Shortly after, I published my review which, as faithfully as I could, summarised the objective qualities and immense subjective pleasures I derived from that excellent loudspeaker system. I referred to the acute, deep listening the Alexia 2 merited (even demanded), as Dadirri in Ngan’gikurungkurr indigenous language. I felt the word encapsulated my sentiments while reflecting both the wonders of the subject at hand and of Country – my home, in my beloved Blue Mountains. Five blindingly-fast years have passed and it’s now nearing the end of 2022. Another muse has landed… this time in a new home, a little further up the mountains, in sacred land, lining the craggier and even grander natural landscape. Under the shade of Mount Solitary, only steps from the jagged escarpment as it sharply bends down to the valley. Today, a new homage to music… even more transcendent. Alexia V has arrived.
Sonnet Digital Audio Pasithea Digital-to-Analogue Converter
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- Written by Edgar Kramer Edgar Kramer
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 15 October 2022 15 October 2022
At the time when Sonnet, as it’s more commonly referred to, hit the market with its top-end Morpheus digital-to-analogue converter, the company launched what was to become its reputation snow-ball. Its powerful inertia was built around that DAC’s and its stablemates’ highly refined engineering and excellent sonic performance. The momentum now ramps up to an avalanche with the new Pasithea DAC, the usurper to the throne of Sonnet’s top offering.
Pitt & Giblin Superwax Active Loudspeakers
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- Written by Edgar Kramer Edgar Kramer
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 15 October 2022 15 October 2022
We know Van Diemen’s Land as Tasmania. The Apple Isle. A millennia-old separation from the mainland which formed the small island state. It has its own… vibe. And the state capitol is Hobart, home to beautifully-restored heritage buildings along the harbour’s shoreline. They’re remnants from the colonisers and settlers, contrasting the multi-storey newness of Hobart’s downtown. Barring many software and IT enterprises, Tasmania is not known for high tech manufacturing but is reputed for its cottage artisan industry. The isle will now also be known for a remarkable – and I would stretch it to unique – new loudspeaker company. Pitt & Giblin hit the high-end audio market offering a model duet harmoniously blending tradition with modernity. A reflection of Hobart itself. Here, we look at the mammoth Superwax loudspeaker system, Pitt & Giblin’s flagship offering.
Bowers & Wilkins 803 D4 Loudspeakers
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- Written by Tom Waters Tom Waters
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 01 September 2022 01 September 2022
To an audiophile, the name Bowers & Wilkins is as ubiquitous as Stradivarius, Steinway and Elvis Presley. For many, it represents the pinnacle, the ultimate audio product they wish to someday own. In other words, Bowers & Wilkins creates benchmarks against which other brands struggle to compete on a quality, ingenuity and cost basis. Given only audiophiles will likely be reading this, I probably don’t need to say that Bowers & Wilkins, AKA B&W, is a speaker, headphone and lifestyle product designer and manufacturer par excellence. It probably annually spends more dollars on R&D than the GDP of many small countries. And its manufacturing ability and quality is incredible – when you compare the company’s products to other high-end audio manufacturers you have to marvel at how it can keep its prices so reasonable. Economies of scale – Bowers & Wilkins manufactures a lot of products.
Crystal Cable Future Dream 22 Cables
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- Written by Edgar Kramer Edgar Kramer
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 15 August 2022 15 August 2022
The mind’s eye can be a deceptive little psycho-trickster. Rightly or wrongly, and often inaccurately, we often tend to call preconceptions, bestow attributes and make judgements as a result of interpretations based on optic data and casual analysis. It can be a deception. We’re prone to misconstrue observations and often our emotions lead us into jumping to conclusions. It applies to everything. So, upon a casual visual inspection of Crystal Cable’s svelte new Future Dream 22 cables, the trickster’s crafty little voice may start its whispers… “These wiry little cables can’t possibly be bass-full and dynamic…” Man, that conjurer can be so, so wrong.
Phasemation PP-200 Moving Coil Cartridge
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- Written by Mark Busby Mark Busby
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 01 August 2022 01 August 2022
Japanese high end company Phasemation relatively-recently released its “basic” PP-200 Moving Coil cartridge. Sporting a lovely deep metallic blue colour, this low output MC features trickle down technology from the company's top models including a rigid Duralumin alloy mounting base with an aluminium body, boron cantilever and a fine line stylus. Shipped in an oversized padded black case ensures this mini jewel arrives safely… A major emphasis on 'live' sounding products guides the Phasemation design philosophy.
McIntosh Laboratory MA12000 Hybrid Integrated Amplifier
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- Written by Edgar Kramer Edgar Kramer
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 01 August 2022 01 August 2022
Yes, I know, beauty is in the eye of the beholder… but man, McIntosh Laboratory’s MA12000 is a thing of pure splendour. Its style perfectly balances retro-modern industrial design with technical innovation, as dichotomous as that may seem. Plus, the company’s highly-engineered proprietary amplification technologies signal (pun intended) high performance potential. So it’s not just a pretty faceplate. And with ample power on tap, this beast-of-an-integrated forcefully declares, “Hey, I may look hipster-cool but I sure as Hell can pummel with a wall of sound”. Hail The Grateful Dead…
Cables for Music Songbird Cable Loom with OnEarth Grounding System
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- Written by Edgar Kramer Edgar Kramer
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 15 July 2022 15 July 2022
The vast majority of cables are relatively simple constructions combining conductors of varying materials and different levels of purity with, typically, some form of shielding to protect the signal from our RF-rich environment. Then, there’s the dielectric structure and, at the important contact point, the connectors which physically interface with the up/down-stream equipment. Some manufacturers take the concept a step further by introducing additional elements such as impedance-matching in-line networks, battery dielectric bias systems, unusual construction architectures, etc. Hong Kong cable specialist Cables for Music adopts elaborate grounding schemes with a view to reducing noise to ever-lower levels. As the entry-point into the ‘High-End’ series, the Songbird cables offer much of the extreme grounding technology dedicated to the company’s super-high-end offerings at a more affordable price point.
Wilson Audio Lōkē Subwoofer
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- Written by Edgar Kramer Edgar Kramer
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 01 July 2022 01 July 2022
Wilson Audio subwoofers. Yes, envision those… edifices and you’ll be manifesting monoliths worthy of Clarke and Kubrick. In this context, a different influence on the human psyche, an alternate generative force… music can evolve the species. You could say the first Wilson Audio subwoofer was the WAMM companion piece, a monumental supporting pillar for the famed design. More recently, the Subsonic and Thor’s Hammer surpassed even the original’s grandeur. Both are examples of an elevated ambition, the Subsonic hinting at intense energy and Thor’s Hammer at legendary might. If you can call it downsizing, the smaller-scale yet unquestionably powerful WATCH Dog offers a more room-compliant alternative. All are passive designs coupled to bespoke crossovers or controllers and requiring high quality external amplification. Now, Wilson Audio Special Application Engineering, a sub-division responsible for a growing stable of complimentary products, has produced Lōkē, Wilson Audio’s newest low-registers transducer... fully downsized.
ModWright Instruments KWH 225i Hybrid Integrated Amplifier
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- Written by Edgar Kramer Edgar Kramer
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 01 June 2022 01 June 2022
As in any hobby, or an endeavour of any type, there’s an inherent human propensity to form tribes. Those associations can offer a sense of community and a collective understanding of a shared journey with a common destination. I’m taking this explicatory trope to an extreme, I know, but when it comes to amplification, there are two main tribes: those who favour valves and those who prefer solid state amplification. But what about a design which, at least on paper, aims to stamp a firm foothold on both camps? The ModWright Instruments’ latest integrated, the KWH 225i has the potential to satiate the warring impulses of the most ardent of tribal extremists.
