Audiophilia

Loudspeakers, Star Component Award

My introduction to Qln loudspeakers was at the 2019 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest where they played along side Vinnie Rossi’s new L2i-SE Integrated Amplifier ($18,995—review up next month). This room was chosen by all Audiophilia attendees as one of their favourites. For sure, there were other rooms featuring systems approaching a million dollars which sounded like the proverbial ‘million bucks’, but there was an innate musicality to the presentation from Rossi’s integrated design and these Swedish floor standers that improved upon superb every time we returned. Mark Sossa of Well Pleased A/V and distributor of both Qln speakers and Vinnie Rossi gear had the moderately-sized room sounding balanced, dynamic and musically inviting.

Sossa is as pleasant as they come in high end audio. Professional, patient, knowledgeable and kind. In partnership with his high end star roommate, Vinnie Rossi, Sossa’s carefully curated representation (also incl. Swiss Cables and Gigawatt) produced amazing, digitally-sourced sound (Innuos—review forthcoming).

Feb 14

Feb 14 Icon Audio PS1 Mk. II All Valve Phono Stage

UK-based Icon Audio is a maker of ‘Award Winning Valve Amplifiers’. Icon also manufactures valve preamplifiers and phono stages (FYI: ‘valve’ is Brit speak for ‘tube’).

I was contacted by a local Icon Audio dealer followed by the Canadian distributor to gauge interest for a review. I heard the subject of this review, the PS1 Mk. II All Valve Phono Stage, at last year’s Toronto Audio Show. It had impressed, prepping lots of varied vinyl repertoire under show conditions. Sweet. ‘Yes, I’d like one to review’.

Jan 24

Jan 24 MBL N31 CD/DAC

Digital, Star Component Award

The MBL N31 CD/DAC was the second of two pieces from MBL’s midrange Noble Line that was sent from Germany to the island for review. You can read about my musical adventures with the striking and powerful MBL Noble Line N51 Integrated Amplifier here. Much like that glorious looking component, the N31 CD/DAC is cut from the same cloth—a machined beauty of metal and gloss black reflectivity.

Like all MBL components and speakers (MBL calls its loudspeakers ‘Radialstrahlers’—MBL Radialstrahler 120 review forthcoming), the N31 was designed from the smallest circuit up by MBL’s chief designer for over 35 years, Jürgen Reis. Reis is a legend, born from the litany of outstanding equipment he has produced. It seems once you go MBL, you rarely look back. From the ‘entry level ‘ Corona Line’ through MBL’s ‘Reference Line’, all the gear looks expensive and consistently sounds expensive.

Dec 20

Dec 20 MBL N51 Integrated Amplifier

Integrated Amplifier, Star Component Award

It’s been a bumper few years at Audiophilia on the integrated amplifier front. There have always been outstanding examples mating a preamplifier and power amplifier in one chassis and playing nicely together, but more and more high end companies are designing and manufacturing expensive integrated boxes with varying topologies.

In fact, my reference power/pre is the Jeff Rowland Continuum S2 Integrated Amplifier ($10,000) which has served me spectacularly well—it’s a Capri II preamp ($5,500) on top of a 400W Class D power section. It is not only much improved Class D—as seen and heard over the past decade—but Class D as sanctified by Jeff Rowland. Which means it’s a gorgeously transparent, sweet, very powerful solid state component.

Oct 22

Oct 22 Master & Dynamic MW07 True Wireless Earphones: The new GO and PLUS models

Headphones, Star Component Award

About one year ago, New York City based Master & Dynamic debuted the terrific and classy MW07 True Wireless Earphones at $299.

On October 17th, 2019, Master & Dynamic introduced two new versions of the MW07 to replace the original, and I report upon these here: the MW07 True Wireless Go ($199) and the MW07 True Wireless PLUS ($299) pictured above. I am grateful to Jonathan Levine (CEO of Master & Dynamic) and his team for alerting me of this new development and sending me review samples.

Although both new models use the same superb custom 10 mm Beryllium drivers, both have significant advantages over the original. For example, both now utilize Bluetooth 5.0 (and support both aptX and SBC) as opposed to Bluetooth 4.2 and now with a connectivity range of 30+ meters up from 20, both pack longer battery life, both charge faster, and both have a higher water resistance level. But there are differences between the two that depend on one’s needs or lifestyle. Think of the GO as a more rustic, smaller and lighter version of the MW07 meant for sports in particular (jogging, biking, going to the gym, etc.), and think of the PLUS as a premium, luxury version.

Sep 26

Sep 26 Alta Audio Alec Loudspeakers

Loudspeakers, Star Component Award

At the recent 2019 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest (RMAF), Alta Audio premiered a new $10,000/pair 2-driver loudspeaker (1 tweeter, 1 woofer) named the Alec. Unlike Alta’s flagship FRM-2 Celesta ($15,000/pair), which also has 2-drivers but is monitor sized and sits on stands, the Alec is a floor standing model, with a larger (8.75” versus 6”) woofer, and 20 more pounds in weight (75 pounds versus 55 pounds). In the showroom at RMAF, Alta’s President, Mike Levy, joined forces with VPI Industries for the source (an HW- 40 direct drive turntable loaded with an Audio Technica cartridge, and VPI phono stage) and Krell Industries for the amplification (amp, preamp). Not only was Levy in the room, but so was Mat Weisfeld, President of VPI, and Walter Schofield, Chief Operating Officer of Krell.

Whenever I entered the room, it was abuzz with crowds of listeners and was widely acclaimed as one of the finest sounding rooms at RMAF. Audiophilia, for example (including yours truly), found the room superb sounding and unanimously placed it in the top two rooms. You can imagine then my surprise and satisfaction when two weeks after RMAF, Levy pulled up to my apartment in a car with a gorgeous pair of the Alec in black Onyx for my perusal (they are also available in Rosewood); hence this review. I add that the Celesta are my reference for speakers for almost 4 years now, and the VPI HW-40 serves as my reference for vinyl.

Aug 30

Aug 30 Allnic Audio L-7000 Preamplifier

Preamplifiers, Star Component Award

David Beetles of Hammertone Audio, the North American distributor for Allnic Audio electronics, gave me a nod that an L-7000 Preamplifier was available for review. The new linestage is the $16,500 replacement of the L-3000 ($13,900). After my continuing musical experiences of the most passionate and intense kind with Allnic’s similarly priced H-7000 Phono Stage, how could I pass up the opportunity to hear Allnic’s linestage equivalent?

The L-7000 is not your grandpappy’s 300B tube linestage preamp. It is a single gain stage unit and is transformer coupled. But, to shake things up completely, designer Kang Su Park uses the much-loved DHT 300B tube, not in the audio chain, but in the power supply chain as a voltage regulator.

Jul 26

Jul 26 Allnic Audio Mu-7R RCA Cable

Cables, Star Component Award

The key technology Allnic Audio’s owner/designer Kang Su Park calls ‘Zero Loss’ is used in all his cables and power cords including the previously reviewed ZL-5000 Power Cable and the subject of this review, the Mu-7R RCA Cable.

Cables can be difficult to nail down in review, specifically their ‘sound’ and the effect on the overall sonic picture. Much like the ZL-5000, which totally exceeded my expectations, I treat cables as a component, nothing less.

Jun 28

Jun 28 Vinnie Rossi L2 Signature Preamplifier (Part 3—The DAC Module)

Preamplifiers, Digital, Star Component Award

Before reading this post, please check back to the full review of the Vinnie Rossi L2 Signature Preamplifier. It’ll give you a better understanding of this DAC module review. It may be fun to read the Phono Stage module review, too. It’s the other plugin available for this fully functional and brilliant preamplifier.

The Phono and DAC modules’ MSRP is $3495 each. They are both plug and play. Unscrew the four screws, remove the plate, install the module. Click, rescrew, done.

Jun 14

Jun 14 Vinnie Rossi L2 Signature Preamplifier (Part 2—The L2 Phonostage Module)

Preamplifiers, Analog, Star Component Award

It would be instructive before reading my thoughts about the L2 phono stage module to read the full line stage review of the Vinnie Rossi L2 Signature Preamplifier.

Skinny audio seems to be all the rage these days. Fewer boxes, smaller boxes, fewer cables and a much lighter lifestyle footprint. While this trend can look the part and put a few more dollars in your pocket, the sound trade offs can be quite powerful. It’s why flying cars never took off, pardon the pun. Jacks of all trades and masters of none. I’m much more of a do-one-thing-well kind of guy.

Vinnie Rossi, designer and manufacturer of the tremendous L2 Signature Preamplifier ($16,995) has given the high end community a sub 20K benchmark line stage to propel reference components to the next level. It pushed my Jeff Rowland amplifier, Mytek Manhattan DAC II, Antipodes CORE Music Server and Sutherland Engineering DUO Phono Preamplifier into rarefied air. As such, it was a crying shame when I took it out of my system.

Jun 7

Jun 7 Vinnie Rossi L2 Signature Preamplifier

Preamplifiers, Star Component Award

Oh my, what do we have here? A full featured preamplifier from Holden, Massachusetts’ Vinnie Rossi, replete with live easy modules for digital and vinyl. And it’s not only a standard tube preamp, but one of the few starring the grail of sonic tubes, the 300B. Gold plated and a matched pair, no less.

As a good friend in the industry continues to say to me, ’there’s always room for a full featured preamp’. Full featured, yes, but the L2 Signature is far more than that. It is full figured. And that’s not the half of it with this tank-like, but sexy behemoth from the pen of designer Vinnie Rossi.

May 23

May 23 My new Reference—The Bergmann Audio Magne Turntable

2019 has been a banner year for both Audiophilia and the improvement of my reference system. Audiophilia has added two fine writers and experienced significant growth in worldwide readership and advertising sponsors. I feel we have accomplished this through timely updates and excellence and honesty in audio reportage. There are no shortcuts at the magazine. And through the generosity and kindness of some audio legacy stakeholders we have known and highly respected for a long time, a couple of us here at the magazine have received a few long-term loan components to enhance our daily listening experience. For that, we are transparently grateful.

Reading previous reviews and articles will give you a better insight as to the whys and wherefores of our choices of these wonderful components. Try my 2014 review of the Bergmann Audio Magne Turntable ($14,000 incl. tone arm) and review of Alta Audio’s FRM2 Celesta Loudspeakers ($15,000). A look at Contributing Editor Karl Sigman’s latest VPI and Grado reviews will also offer context.

May 6

May 6 Master & Dynamic MW65 Active Noise-Cancelling Wireless Over-Ear Headphones

Headphones, Star Component Award

If you are an erstwhile reader of Audiophilia, you’ll know we have given highly positive reviews of several headphones from New York based Master & Dynamic. Although not yet adopted by some of the ‘cool kids’ as they have Beats, Master & Dynamic have shunned the bass booming, teenage friendly designs favoured by some and produced gorgeous headphones and earbuds with very refined sound and exquisite fit and finish. And like Beats, the audio educated of the cool kids can buy them at the Apple Store. CEO and Founder Jonathan Levine has also mastered a brilliant online strategy.

Audiophilia began by reviewing the M40 Headphones and following the improvement of Bluetooth and the wireless explosion, we reviewed the equally beautiful M60 Wireless Headphones. Those, and the MW65 ANC Wireless Headphones ($499) under review, project a feeling of refinement both outside the ear and the sound within.

Apr 17

Apr 17 Grado Labs Aeon Phono Cartridge

Two years ago I reviewed the Grado Labs Statement v2 Cartridge ($3500), at that time the highest priced Grado cartridge—the top of their Statement Series. Reviewed using my VPI Industries Prime Turntable, I was so impressed, it has remained as my reference since—it further pulled me into vinyl. After that review, I concluded that besides speakers (which are in general large and heavy), phono cartridges (always tiny and light) are examples of a component that can significantly change the sound quality of an audio system in a way that is immediately noticeable.

The $6,000 Grado Labs Aeon Phono Cartridge debuted this year. The Aeon and its sibling, Epoch ($12,000), are two products in a new, higher-end ‘Lineage Series’. The Epoch, which was the first released, and with a very hefty price tag, has been highly praised. Grado Labs now promotes both these cartridges as their flagship models. On the Grado website it is stated that the Epoch and Aeon feature a unique system that has the lowest effective moving mass of any cartridge.

Apr 5

Apr 5 ModWright Instruments PH 9.0 Tube Phono Stage

Quality phono stages are all the rage. Records are now so popular with audiophiles, vinyl returners and the general population, a quality phono stage is aspirational in any fine analog set up. Dealers and vinylphiles have been shouting this from the rooftops for years. Audiophilia has reviewed five in the past twelve months. All first class, with outstanding fit and finish, varying designs, and with quality sounds unique to themselves. A wide array of prices but all significant investments. Ah, the cost, always the elephant in the listening room.

Dan Wright of Modwright Instruments took all this to heart when designing his new PH 9.0 Tube Phono Stage ($2900). Modwright is known for the beauty of its design aesthetic and the quality its parts. So, producing a quality phono stage, especially based upon the Modwright Instruments $7900 PH 150 Phono Stage may not seem too much of a stretch. But competing with excellent phono stages $4000 and up with one priced at $2900 is a more difficult proposition.

Mar 28

Mar 28 Pure Fidelity Harmony Turntable

John Stratton is the hardworking owner/designer of Vancouver High End analogue start up, Pure Fidelity (PF). He made a splash last year with his very well received initial opus, the Eclipse Turntable. It takes guts to dive into audiophile waters as a start up. If you are not in for the long haul with creative ideas, solid engineering and tireless work energy, don’t bother.

Stratton had a busy winter. The Harmony Turntable is the result of eight months of research with a new design; the Harmony has a larger plinth than his Eclipse with a larger sub platter, sitting within an 18lb machined, 6061 aluminum isolation platform and retaining the exquisite finishes. The aluminum platform is a very clever, effective idea and has the same profile as the ‘table.

Mar 14

Mar 14 VPI Industries HW-40 Direct Drive Turntable

In October 2018, I was invited by Mat Weisfeld (President, VPI) to attend a party at the VPI Industries Listening House to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the company. The main event was the debut of a new and remarkable item that is the basis of this review: the VPI Industries 40th Anniversary Turntable, HW-40, named after VPI founder Harry Weisfeld (HW), who attended the event and even swapped out various high-end cartridges on the fly throughout.

Although from a distance the HW-40 ($15,000 incl. arm) appears to be a $30,000 VPI Classic Direct Drive Turntable (to be discontinued), closer inspection reveals an extraordinary revision chock full of newer technology including an updated and upgraded version of their Direct Drive Motor that now incorporates motion control software, an internal linear power supply, a JMW-12-Fatboy Gimbal tonearm (not pivot), a whopping removable 25 pound platter, a high-grade removable acrylic dust cover and exceptional new footing/isolation that defies belief in the ability to ward off resonance and vibration: You can pound your fist on the shelf top where the table is sitting and playing music and the needle does not dance; the sound is not disturbed. This is accomplished by a mix of reinforced composite absorption pads and the construction of the chassis. And to top it off, it comes with both a Stainless Steel Outer Periphery Ring (to flatten the record onto the platter, eliminating edge warps and more completely coupling the record to the platter), and a ‘Signature’ stainless steel clamp. Only 400 units are to be manufactured for sale, so this anniversary version is a Limited Edition—for now.

Mar 8

Mar 8 T+A Elektroakustik DAC 8 DSD High End D/A Converter

Digital, Star Component Award

The grandly named T+A Elektroakustik GmbH was a company hitherto unknown to me. After years in the business, many reviews, shows, events and store visits, I was surprised such a highly regarded company had escaped my notice. I’m going to set that straight with an in depth look at one of the company’s DACs, the DAC 8 DSD High End D/A Converter.

T+A is a German company founded in 1978 and produces a full range of electronics and loudspeakers. The company is based in Herford, very close to my old stomping grounds in Westphalia.

The DAC 8 is from its ‘entry level’ Series 8. Let’s hope the 8 gets some trickle down love from the top DAC in T+A’s HV Series, the $37,500 SD 3100 HV Reference Streaming DAC. Our unit under review has an MSRP of $4450, a slightly easier digital pill to swallow.

Mar 4

Mar 4 Wireworld Platinum Starlight Ethernet Cable