THE REVIEWS
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BRICASTI DESIGN M1SE - REVIEW
The Bricasti Design M1SE has proven itself even beyond what the research had led me to believe. Perhaps it was the synergy conjured up by so many exceptional reference components at the time of its review. And, no doubt, the M1SE’s prodigious ability as a high fidelity DAC with a host of options—15(!)—so as to be tailored for most, if not all listening preferences, is but another star for its abilities.
GRIMM AUDIO MU1 - REVIEW
The Grimm Audio MU1 streamer is easily at the forefront of technological progress and stands as testament to the fact that high-fidelity musical reproduction is light years ahead of where it was just a few short years ago, let alone the days of my youth. But that is only half of the picture!
BLUE HAWAII SPECIAL EDITION - REVIEW
The first thing one notices about the Blue Hawaii SE is its naturalness, its ease, and its gravitas—or its ability to put flesh on the bones of real performers/performances across the frequency spectrum—its palpability. There is no thinness, nor ghost-like apparitions wafting about the stage with hollow voices. There is instead the solidity of female and male vocalists, a strummed viola-de-gamba, a plucked upright bass, a raging Steinway, etc.
ACCUSTIC ARTS PLAYER II - REVIEW
Formidable. The Accustic Arts Player II rendering of CDs bested its streaming counterparts and even higher resolution versions of the same CDs(!) time and time again, regardless of genre. And this came as quite the surprise. It is also preternaturally engaging and immersive, alive, dynamic, incredibly resolving, and, at the same time, the doppelgänger of analog.
VIVA EGOISTA STX HPA\E - REVIEW
“You-are-there” describes succinctly my experience with the Viva Egoista STX electrostatic headphone amplifier. And it is an experience that will not soon be forgotten. As mentioned, the Top-Of-the-Line STAX SRM-T8000 is not a contender, though at approximately one third the price, it shouldn’t be. It isn’t. As I write this, there is no competition for the Viva Egoista STX electrostatic headphone amplifier. Where that contender may come from has yet to be discovered, but then competition is good, especially when the competition provides a different yet compelling perspective.
ASTELL&KERN SE180 - REVIEW
A DAP that travels and that does not leave one yearning for one’s home-based desktop or even one’s HiFi system! I would have thought the SE180 the Astell&Kern TOTL DAP when judged by its abilities, but it is not. Are those above it that good? Or does the employment of new technologies in the SE180—TERATON ALPHA Audio Technology and Astell&Kern’s Next Generation AMP Technology—push it beyond them?
FERRUM OOR & HYPSOS - REVIEW
The Ferrum OOR and HYPSOS are two beautifully designed components that together render a truly transparent, highly resolving, neutral, though engaging platform that lets one’s music be. There is exceedingly little to no editorializing, though the combo offers a wealth of options should one seek to ‘editorialize’ one’s music.