Having owned the original and the anniversary version, the current “XD” series is the best yet – at least for most of us. If you’re the person that always likes the original version of something, claiming all subsequent versions to not only be rubbish, but not “the real example,” you might be a little put off by the extra resolution served up by this model. As they say in business school – “you’re not the right customer.”
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October 5, 2021

GOLD NOTE CD-1000 MKII > Darko Audio review

Gold Note’s IS-1000 streaming amplifier recently spent time here. Comprehensive functionality and a graceful sound, all founded on clarity. Build quality was admirable too, with understated looks that whispered style rather than shouting it.

The CD-1000 MKII is similarly blessed, its discrete fascia giving way to Gold Note’s signature air vents slashed stylishly into the casework. Was this overkill? The thing runs cool as a cucumber – but those vents, they do look good. Build quality is also fine; in both senses of the word.
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September 28, 2021

COPLAND CSA 100 > Hi-Fi News

In what is looking like it might be a trend – tube hybrid integrated amplifiers – Copland joins in with a Danish beauty at a sensible price, the all-singing, all-dancing CSA100

Three thoughts hit me as soon as I switched on the Copland CSA100 integrated amplifier. The first was that it was an all-embracing, do-everything tube/transistor hybrid like the Vinnie Rossi L2i-SE [HFN Jul ’20], rated at a similar 100W/8ohm if at a fraction of the price, at £3498. The second was that I want it to kick off a fashion for cool, fully-loaded integrated hybrids because they are the smartest option for offering the best of the tube/solid-state worlds. The third is the realisation that I need to look deeper into hi-fi system building.

September 21, 2021

NUPRIME AMG STA Power Amplifier and AMG PRA Preamplifier > TAS review

The company was founded back in 2014 by Jason Lim, the former CEO of NuForce, and it specializes in boutique Class D amps, media streamers, and many other products. I was very excited to get a nearly complete system of its AMG STA power amplifier and AMG PRA preamp. The amp and preamp combination have the same form factor and were clearly designed to work in tandem. While I’m a fan of mixing and matching equipment from a wide range of manufacturers, there’s something special about listening to the products from a single line, and getting a sense of how they work in tandem.

September 14, 2021

NOVO > TECHNICS SU-G700M2 integrirani ojačevalnik visokega razreda

Pogon JENO
(odpravljanje trepetanja in optimizacija oblikovanja šuma)

Pogon JENO (odpravljanje trepetanja in optimizacija oblikovanja šuma)
Za verno posredovanje ogromne količine podatkov v zvočnike brez izgub ima jakostni ojačevalec SUG700M2 povsem digitalni ojačevalnik z JENO Engine, ki temelji na konceptu zasnove referenčnih sistemov. Da bi rešili vprašanje poslabšanja kakovosti zvoka zaradi trepetanja, ki povzroča težave za običajne digitalne ojačevalnike, ima SU-G700M2 izvirno vezje za zmanjšanje trepetanja, ki ga odpravlja v celotnem zvočnem frekvenčnem območju. Za kakovost zvoka je pomembno tudi edinstveno visokonatančno vezje za modulacijo širine impulza (PWM). Z optimizacijo elementov, kot so hitrost, pri kateri nastaja šum, stopnjo in kvantizacijsko število, z našim edinstvenim strokovnim znanjem zagotovimo, da se tudi podatki v širokem dinamičnem razponu, ki ga vsebujejo viri zvoka z visoko ločljivostjo, brez izgube pretvorijo v signale PWM. Te tehnologije zagotavljajo reprodukcijo naravnega in podrobnega zvoka, kar omogoča zaznavanje tudi najnežnejših nians glasbe.

September 7, 2021

TECHNICS SU-R1000 Integrated Amplifier > TAS review

Let me begin this review with my conclusion: The new Technics SU-R1000 integrated amplifier is one of the most innovative and best-sounding pieces of electronics I’ve had the opportunity to audition in recent years. It shows how quickly digital sound is evolving and provides an exceptional mix of well-engineered features in a single integrated unit—drawing on much of the technology used in the Technics SU-R1 reference system that Alan Taffel review in the October 2016 issue of TAS.
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August 31, 2021

NEW – SHUNYATA RESEARCH VENOM V6 EU > power distributor

Shunyata Research’s Venom Series V6 is the beneficiary of more than 20 years of scientific innovation and performance based engineering. The measurement and testing protocols Shunyata Research developed for its medical division products are now available in the Venom V6. As a result, the V6 delivers high-current capacity (DTCD™) and exceptional noise reduction (CCI™) abilities. The Venom V6 allows music and film enthusiasts to truly experience their favorite music as never before.The Venom V6, similar to Shunyata Research’s reference model power distributors provides a full sixteen amps of current, allowing it to power high-end systems including high powered amplifiers. Additionally, the V6 offers Shunyata Research’s proprietary CCI™ noise reduction filters along with its Trident Defense transient protection system. Vibration control is addressed with internal dampening and Shunyata’s own proprietary stainless steel vibration dampening feet. As a finishing touch, the Venom V6 receives four-days of Shunyata Research’s proprietary KPIP™ processing which significantly reduces burn-in time.True to form, Shunyata Research over-engineers its most affordable products to over-deliver on value and performance at prices every serious music and mover lover can afford. There is no better example of Shunyata Research’s meteoric achievements in performance and value than that provided by the Venom Series V6 power distributor.

August 24, 2021

ATC SCM40 > Applause Award, Stereonet

In the wonderful world of loudspeakers, you don’t get more hardcore than ATC. The company has ploughed its own furrow imperiously since 1974, largely avoiding the fashion-conscious world of consumer audio and focusing instead on its growing number of pro clients around the world. Unlike many speaker makers, the company doesn’t update its model range every year. Indeed, its apparent disdain for stylistic trends seems to endear it to many customers – something that’s buttressed by the unusually long product life of its designs.

The SCM40 floorstander doesn’t look or feel like any other loudspeaker in its price class for two reasons. First, it’s a true, old school 3-way design with ATC’s iconic (to speaker geeks like me, at least) 75mm dome midrange driver. Second, the cabinet is an infinite baffle type which is rare in any modern speaker these days, and last commonly seen back in the nineteen seventies!
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August 17, 2021

GOLD NOTE DS-10, PA-10 & PSU-10 EVO > recenzija v Suono

Gold Note systems serve sound and beauty. From turntables to digital sources and amplifications, we offer a complete audio chain to bring your music to life in front of you.

DS-10 > A MODERN AUDIO SOURCE FOR THE CONTEMPORARY AUDIOPHILE

The DS-10 is a versatile state-of-the-art streaming DAC, designed for the contemporary audiophile: it features a new generation D/A Converter, UPnP-DLNA Streamer, Line Preamplifier and Headphone Amplifier.
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August 10, 2021

AURENDER N100SC caching music server and streamer > Dagogo review

The immediate advantage of the Aurender was the startlingly pristine state of CD music that emerged on the first note, prompting the realization of the crudeness of sound from my Apple MacBook Pro and Oppo UDP-205, pre-Aurender days. Tonal definition and spatial projection of instruments by the Aurender approached the Esoteric K-01XD physical disk playback level, conceding in ultimate textural and tonal differentiation.

The Aurender would be a highly qualified transport for the $153,000 Audio Note UK Fifth Element/Fifth Force DAC system for the tone-philes who, after purchasing the DAC, could no longer afford Audio Note UK’s own matching, $100,000 CDT-Six CD transport. Music with resolutions up to 24 Bit 96KHz, the upper limit of the ANUK DAC system, was reproduced with such beauty of tone, especially with solo instruments and the human voice, and yet with such degree of care that there was simply no likeness of it that I know of. The operational stability and sound quality of the Aurender was first-class in serving the Audio Note UK super DAC.
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TRENDING

HARBETH C7ES-3 XD > Tone Audio review