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Audiophilia has reviewed the Seymour AV Ice Block 5001 monoblock amplifiers ($2,198/pair). These are Class D amps with 300 watts into 8 ohms. Good looking too (photo). Reviewer Martin Appel loved the affordability and liked the sound. He compared them to his Nuforce 9V2 SE monoblocks: The differences manifest themselves in the midrange and high frequency performance. The Seymours demonstrated a slightly ‘bigger’ voice consistently than the Nuforce. In the area of high frequency performance,
6moons has posted a handful of new reviews in recent days. They include: Miu Audio 503 integrated amp ($499) and 805 bookshelf speakers ($900/pair) Davone Rithm floorstanding speakers (EUR 4,000/pair) Pass Labs INT-150 integrated amp ($7,150) Glow Audio System: tube integrated amp w/ USB DAC ($648), speakers ($348/pair) and subwoofer ($408) Check out the reviews.
TNT-Audio has posted a shootout of USB DACs. Included in the shootout are the following three DACs: DevilSound USB DAC (GBP 210) KingRex UD-01 USB DAC (GBP 150) SuperPro 24/192 USB DAC (GBP 85) Reviewer Nick Whetstone also tested a couple of USB cables. See the entire review for all the details.
What Hi-Fi? posted several new reviews recently: Moon i3.3 integrated amp (GBP 2,450) Jamo R907 floorstanding speakers (GBP 5,500/pair) Dynaudio DM 2/7 bookshelf speakers (GBP 485/pair) JVC SX-WD10 floorstanding speakers (GBP 500/pair) Hey, I think I saw a two-star rating in there…
SonicFlare has reviewed the McIntosh Laboratory MA-7000 integrated amplifier ($8,000). This is a monstrous 250WPC unit (photo), with huge aluminum handles and blue power meters. Reviewer Sean Fowler had this to say on its sound: Straight out of the box, one of the most standout virtues of the MA7000, aside from its power and fine integration of the main frequency bands, is the amount of detail it effortlessly extracts from a recording. Though its rendering
TNT-Audio has reviewed the Ayon Crossfire single-ended tube integrated amp (EUR 8,500). This is a gorgeous design (photo) built in Austria. The amp puts out 30WPC and is based on Ayon’s AA62B power tubes. Reviewer Geoff Husband liked the way Ayon stands behind their tubes: The other thing I like about these valves is that Ayon have great confidence in their longevity. The ’62’s come with a 12 month guarantee, a failed valve being replaced
6moons has posted a whole slew of new reviews in recent days. Among them: Thiel Audio SCS4 bookshelf speakers (EUR 2,200/pair) Scheu Analog Cello turntable (EUR 1,150) Allnic Audio Labs L-4000 ($10,900/pair) and A-6000 ($18,500/pair) tube monoblocks Speaker cables by Acoustic Revive, ASI, Bastanis, Prana, Tel ($1,000-5,250) theLars tube integrated amp (EUR 76,000) TW-Acustic Raven One turntable (EUR 4,800) mhi Evidence bookshelf speakers ($650/pair) NuForce Icon Mobile headphone amp (EUR 114) Denon AH-D7000 headphones (EUR
DAGOGO has published a new issue. It includes reviews of the following high-end components: Abbingdon Music Research LS-77 bookshelf speakers ($14,995/pair) Synergistic Research Tesla PowerCell ($6,875) and power cords ($550-2,600) Von Schweikert Audio UniField 3 floorstanding speakers ($15,000/pair) Read the reviews, then a couple of new articles. Don’t miss Gary Lea’s review of the Von Schweikerts–it is both entertaining and informative. What more can you ask for?
Affordable Audio has published a new (free) issue. It contains reviews of the following audiophile gear: ACI Emerald XL mini-monitor speakers ($700/pair) Cardas Crosslink interconnect cables ($128 per 1 meter pair) Budget DAC Comparison: Zhaolu D2.5 ($249), CityPulse 7.2X ($449), & Musiland MD10 ($399) Audience E Series cables ($391-674) Download the entire issue (13 MB PDF) by going to the Affordable Audio web site and clicking the April 2009 issue link in the left column.
SoundStage! Network has published an update. The following high-end components have been reviewed: JE Audio VS70 tube power amp w/ volume control ($2,200) Bel Canto Design e.One REF500 monoblocks ($4,990/pair) Synergistic Research Tesla Apex cables ($2,600-6,500) Audio Research DAC7 digital-to-analog converter ($3,495) Focus Audio Classic FC 7 floorstanding speakers ($1,400/pair) Read the reviews, then check out a pair of articles on The World’s Best Audio System (1, 2). Also see the newest editorial: Three Reasons