Blog draft

AudioEnz, “New Zealand’s hi-fi magazine,” has published its December issue. Included are reviews of the following audiophile components: Logitech Transporter wireless network music player (NZD 3,999) Perreaux Silhouette SXP2 passive preamp (NZD 699) and SX60m monoblocks (NZD 1,998/pair) Well Tempered Amadeus turntable (NZD 4,400-5,700) Opera Audio Consonance Orfeo CD player (NZD 2,999) Check out the entire new issue. See a quick survey of phono preamps in Marc Phillips’ column, The Vinyl Anachronist: The State of

Home Entertainment Magazine has published a review of the Loiminchay Audio Chagall floorstanding loudspeaker ($48,500/pair). These are striking in appearance (photo) and specs. Reviewer Steve Guttenberg notes: …the ultra-lightweight, yet super-hard 1-inch diamond tweeter’s response reaches 40 kilohertz to produce unrivaled texture and nuance in the upper frequencies. … All internal wiring is pure silver. The cabinet’s insides are stuffed with lamb’s wool from Australia. Lambs wool? OK. On the sound, he liked them on

DAGOGO has published its December issue, which includes the most expensive pair of speakers I’ve ever heard of, as well as a couple of other components with cost-no-object price tags: Acapella Triolon Excalibur loudspeaker system ($192,000/pair) AcousticPlan Veena semi-active loudspeaker system ($28,000/pair) Audio Note DAC 5 Special Edition tube DAC ($38,000) Read the reviews, then answer this question: Is it possible to assemble a system that costs over half a million US dollars? If so,

SoundStage! Network, a collection of audio! web! sites!, has published a flurry of new reviews. Among them: Classé Audio Delta CA-2100 Stereo Amplifier ($4,000) Esoteric C-03 Preamplifier ($10,000) Wadia Digital 581ise CD/SACD Player ($11,450) Raidho Ayra C3.0 Loudspeakers ($35,000/pair) Xindak Muse Deluxe 1.0 CD Player ($1,250) Reimyo CDT-777 CD Transport ($11,0000) and DAP-999EX DAC ($9,000) There are more but they weren’t given permanent URLs, so I can’t link to them here. If you are the

Audio Video Revolution, aka AVRev.com, has reviewed the Acoustic Zen Adagio floorstanding loudspeakers ($4,300). After 200+ hours of break-in, reviewer Brian Kahn concluded: The Adagio speakers are very revealing yet musical speakers.  I found them to be only ribbon tweeter-based speakers under $10,000 that I really enjoyed.  Unless your listening habits tend towards bass-heavy music at loud volumes, these speakers deserve a close listen for anyone shopping in the $4,000 to$10,000 price range. Read the

Audiophile Audition, a site that focuses primarily on hi-res music, has reviewed the Marantz TT-15S1 turntable ($1,600). This is a nice looking unit (photo) featuring an “acrylic turntable including arm and cartridge (manufactured by Clearaudio for Marantz).” Once he got it assembled, reviewer Brian Bloom thought the turntable sounded quite good: The sound of this turntable leans toward clarity rather than warmth.  Background noise was low and imaging and focus was as good as you’d

TNT-Audio has published a review of the positively German Abacus Rieder 60-120B power amp (EUR 790) and 6-2RC preamp (EUR 660). Reviewer Maarten van Casteren thought the power amp was a good value but exhibited a certain amount of listener fatigue: This is not to say that it is without flaws, and the most serious problem is a slight tendency to induce fatigue after a few hours of listening. Some people are more concerned with

Positive Feedback Online has published three new equipment reviews: Von Schweikert VR-5 Anniversary floorstanding speakers ($27,000) Argentum Acoustics Mythos interconnects ($400/pair) Grand Prix Audio Formula Shelf ($1,100) and Apex Footers ($550) The Argentum review is by Robert H. Levi, who must have both the best luck in the world (to get so many REVOLUTIONARY BREAKTHROUGH products to review) and the best ears in the world (to hear such dramatic differences between them). Wow!

Hi-Fi World has published its January issue, which includes a “Supertest” of standmount loudspeakers. Nine bookshelf speakers were included in the shootout, including models from: Q-Acoustics Wharfedale Monitor Audio Quad Kef Usher Mordaunt Short B&W The new issue also includes reviews of the following electronics: Icon Audio MB845 tube monoblock power amps Roksan K2 integrated amplifier World Design WD Pre3 tube preamplifier Unfortunately, Hi-Fi World doesn’t publish its content on web pages, so you have

Enjoy the Music.com has published new editions of its audiophile reviews and superior audio sub-sites. New equipment reviews include: Coincident Speaker Technology Total Victory IV speakers ($14,999/pair) Harmonic Resolution Systems SXR rack w/ M3 bases ($13,195-$14,575) Moscode 402 Au stereo tube power amplifier ($6,495) PSB Imagine B bookshelf speakers ($1,000/pair) Headroom Bi-Amped Audiophile Desktop Package ($5,860) [scroll down] Dynaudio Focus 110 monitor loudspeaker ($1,500/pair) MHDT Labs Havana non-oversampling tube DAC with USB input ($872) Scheu