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SonicFlare has posted a review of the Analysis Omega floorstanding speakers ($22,000/pair). These are “full range and boxless” ribbon panels (photo) built in Greece and described as two-way dipolar radiators. Reviewer Robert Learner is a fan of ribbons and likes them in the mid and high frequency drivers of his less expensive VMPS RM40, to which he compared the Analysis Omegas. Conclusion? The Omegas are benchmarks of speed, precision, transparency, and spatial layering. I did,
AudioFile, a section within The Star, Malaysia newspaper site, has posted a review of the Paradigm Atom v6 bookshelf speakers (RM 1,380/pair). These are unique in appearance (photo) and described as “Two-way bass-reflex design speakers.” Reviewer Lam Seng Fatt compared them to the much more expensive Focal JM Lab Micro Utopia Be speakers and had this to say: Despite losing out in transparency and detail to the Micro Utopia Be, on the whole, the Atoms’
Hi-Fi Choice has published its February issue and it’s a doozy. Included is an Ultimate Group Test for affordable DACs, as well as a smattering of other reviews. Here’s the rundown: Bryston BDA-1 DAC (GBP 1,950) Apogee Mini-DAC DAC Beresford TC-7510 DAC Cambridge Audio DacMagic DAC Cyrus Audio DAC X DAC Heed Audio Dactilius DAC Lavry Engineering DA10 DAC Cyrus CD Xt SE CD transport and DAC XP DAC/preamp Yamaha CD-S700 CD player and A-S700
Bound for Sound, an ad-free print-only monthly (?) magazine, has published its 190th issue. Included are reviews of the following: Clearaudio Concerto cartridge Dynavector DV XX 2 MK II cartridge Shelter 7000 cartridge Transfiguration Phoenix cartridge DH Labs Power Plus power cord Skywire 1400 interconnects Herron Audio VTPH-2 tube phono preamp LessLoss Firewall AC line filter Eastern Electric M156 tube monoblocks Check out the table of contents of the current issue for more detail, as
HIFICRITIC has published its 12th issue. In addition to several interesting looking articles, the following components are reviewed: Naim SuperLine phono preamp Wadia Digital 170 iTransport digital iPod dock MSB M200 Platinum power amp LFD NCSE integrated amp Conrad-Johnson ACT2 Series 2 preamp Transparent Reference XL MM2 cables Audio Note TT-2 turntable Check out the entire table of contents, then go ahead and subscribe. Looks like they are now publishing four issues per year instead
StereoMojo has published exclusive “World’s First” reviews of the following high-end audiophile speakers: Nola Baby Grand Reference floorstanding speakers ($55,000/pair) Podium .5 floorstanding speakers ($5,995/pair) StereoMojo apparently “redesigned” their site recently. I honestly didn’t think it could get more difficult to use, with all the enormous graphics and multicolored text. Unfortunately, I was wrong.
Affordable$$Audio has published its January issue, which includes several new component reviews as well as their Best of 2008 list. Reviewed components include: Almarro A205A single-ended pentode tube integrated amp ($960) Aperion Audio 4T speakers ($650/pair) and Bravus 8″ subwoofer ($499) Clear Day Audio speaker cables ($150) DIY Project: TNT Audio Stubby speaker stands ($18) 2008 Products of the Year include: Totem Acoustic Forest floorstanding speakers ($3,195/pair) AV123 ELT 525M bookshelf speakers ($299/pair) Audio Space
HomeTheaterReview.com has published (or republished) another set of high-end component reviews, most of which were written by the great Ken Kessler. Among them: Sonus faber Cremona bookshelf speakers Croft Chameleon integrated amp Bowers and Wilkins (B&W) 602 bookshelf speakers McIntosh C2200 tube preamp and MC2102 tube power amp Loth-X Ino Amaze speakers Sim Audio Moon I-5 integrated amp Krell DVD Standard DVD player Red Rose Music Rosette 1 integrated amp Audio Research SP16 tube preamp
Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity has reviewed the Emotiva XPA-1 monoblock power amps ($1,998/pair). These are well-built units (photo) with a “fully differential design that takes full advantage of the balanced inputs.” They are capable of 500w RMS into 8 Ohms and 1000w into 4 Ohms. Reviewer Chris Groppi was amazed at the value the XPA-1s represent: Other manufacturers typically ask at least $3000-$4000 a piece for amps like this. The MSRP is
Stereo Times reviewer Mike Silverton has posted another column focusing exclusively on cables and tweak products from Japanese maker Acoustic Revive. Here are the products: Acoustic Revive XLR-1.5 SPA Single-Core interconnects ($1,200) Acoustic Revive SPC-PA 2.0 Single-Core speaker cables ($1,650) Acoustic Revive RIQ 5010 quartz insulators ($625 per set) Acoustic Revive REM-8 EMF canceller ($550) Check out the entire column, then refresh your memory on the first one, then take a look at the factory