AudioKeyREVIEWS! ISSUE 2 - JANUARY 2022 by audiokeyreviews

AudioKey REVIEWS! HIGH FIDELITY PERSONAL AUDIO

STEREO MAGAZINE

JANUARY 2021 2022 12 OCTOBER

STAX SR-X9000 HEADPHONE NIRVANA! PS AUDIO TRANSPORT & DAC COMBO ENLEUM AMP-23R THE ANTICABLESS CABLES MEZE EMPYREAN ELITE SONNET MORPHEUS DAC & HERMES STREAMER ZMF ATTICUS

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Music is art, art is music.

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE…

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HI-FI REVIEWS

TABLE OF CONTENTS PUBLISHER’S LETTER

NORDOST SORT KONES

DEALER PERSPECTIVE 1 - AUDIO ART CABLE

ANTICABLE SUITE

STAX SR-X9000

MUSICAL MUSINGS - EMILY D'ANGELO

INTERVIEW - ANTONIO MEZE OF MEZE AUDIO

MEZE EMPYREAN ELITE

PS AUDIO DIRECTWAVE & DIRECTSTREAM

SIVGA PII

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JOAN OF AUDIO

108

VIDEO PRODUCT REVIEWS

MUSIC Copyright AudioKeyReviews 2022

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INTERVIEWS

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AUDIO DEALER PERSPECTIVE 2 - GTT Audio

116

ZMF ATTICUS

126

ENLEUM AMP-23R

138

SONNET MORPHEUS & HERMES

150

STAX SRM-500T

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VIDEO MUSIC REVIEWS

164

MAGICAL SYNERGIES

168

AUDIO DEALERS

172

COMING NEXT

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REVIEWS ON THE WEB

MUSIC REVIEWS

Front Inside Cover: Vincent Van Gogh Irises; Oil on canvas, c. 1889; Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. Back Inside Cover: Vincent Van Gogh Sunflowers. THE OTHER ART. Well, we decided to keep the art, different art, of course, and it will or may change per issue. We do have our favorites. Thank you all for the kind words and the words of encouragement and the appreciation of the art.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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VIDEO REVIEWS

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE…

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We offer the finest products available anywhere. Where else can you go and hear products like Audionet, YG Acoustics, Kronos, Kii Audio, Mola Mola, Soulution, Tenor and Veloce under one roof? We have been doing business since 1995 and have been into Audio on either the equipment or music side since 1978. We are located in rural New Jersey (yes there is such a thing) approximately 45 minutes from New York City and 1-½ hours from Philadelphia. Drop us a line and schedule your appointment today. Hours: Monday—Friday: 8:30AM–6:30PM | Phone 908.850.3092 356 Naughright Road, Long Valley, NJ 07853 av@gttaudio.com | gttaudio.com

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Air-Tight

Kii Audio

Screen Research

Audionet

KLIPSCH

Stewart Filmscreen

Auralic

Kubala•Sosna

Soulution

Datasat

KLAudio

TAOC

Devialet

Kronos Audio

Tenor Audio

Genelec

Mola Mola

YG Acoustics

JL AUDIO

ROON

Veloce

JVC Projectors

Sony 4K Projectors

Von Schweikert Audio

KEF JANUARY 2022

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EDITOR’s CHAIR

usic, or my love of music and my love of its reproduction came to me in five distinct waves. The first wave came to me as a five-year-old, as I sat with and spent time with my mother, a diehard Jazz fan. We listened to Thelonious Monk,Charlie Parker, Coltrane, Dizzy, Miles, and far too many others to mention here. It was just the two of us, a Garrard record player, a receiver (Technics, I believe), and homemade speakers. It was, all of it, an incredible experience - sharing music, the closeness to my mother, and imbibing almost by osmosis an understanding and love of the music. My second wave came when I was ten from two cousins, a half decade or so older than me, who lived in Santa Barbara, California. One of my favorite things while there was going through their music and then playing album after album on their turntables. I was introduced to Rock and Folk via the music of the Doobie Brothers, Cat Stevens, Carol King, Marshall Tucker, Fleetwood Mac, Joan Baez, and too many others to name. The third wave came upon me as propagated by my aunts - I had six of them, I was thirteen, and the music was Soul. Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, Stylistics, Donny Hathaway, Chaka Khan, War, Curtis Mayfield, etc. It was informative, powerful, compelling social commentary, and along with it came glorious, wonderful dancing. It was a twofer and, no doubt, one of the most formative times of my life. The fourth wave was Classical, Opera, Choral, and it came, singularly, from my high school music teacher, a man head-over-heels with appreciation and love for the Opera singer Beverly Sills and classical music in general. His passion for classical music was enlightening, audiokeyreviews.com

powerful and empowering. Centuries of compositions, composers, operas, musicians, represented a journey across a world of music to be explored and discovered. It is a journey and a love that persist to this very day across this expanding world, also through the everyday arrival of new talent—Vilda Frang, Akiko Suwanai, Emily D’Angelo (see Irina’s wonderful review), Randall Goosby, Núria Rial. As for my fifth wave, it came after college and it continues to wash over me. All of these waves, collectively, opened me to that which was new and different, and that spoke to both body and soul in many different ‘languages’. I can honestly say that there have been few genres that have either had little impact or no positive impact on me or that did not engage either body or soul, but they have been the exceptions in a world of music that has. So, it is no accident that I find myself, after entrepreneurial forays into the IT field— software, biotech, bioinformatics, gaming, big data—returned to a ‘first love’—music and its high-fidelity reproduction. It is home, really, and the skills gained from starting things up, writing, designing, editing, developmentally editing, etc., appear to stand me well equipped for this journey home for which I am very grateful. Thank you to those who have welcomed our new digital/interactive magazine— AudioKeyREVIEWS! We are grateful for your wonderful compliments, well wishes, encouragement, support and sponsorships, and your constructive, engaging comments. That the initial issue was received so well has for us validated this “out-on-a-limb” business endeavor. Thank you! K.E. HEARTSONG

OCTOBER 2021

THE CREW Publisher/Editor-in-Chief K. E. Heartsong Managing Editor Dr. Irina Kuzminsky

Columnists Dr. Irina Kuzminsky Roger Skoff Rain Jordan Chris Sommovigo Music Reviewers (Video/Written) My Nguyen Nathan Lathourm Matt Nielsen Emiko Dr. Irina Kuzminsky

MASTHEAD

Associate Editor(s) Andre Marc

Photographer K. E. Heartsong Graphic Design Wabi Sabi Design Group

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NORDOST SORT KONES The Inexpensive Tweak That Was Actually An Expensive, Portable Isolation Shelf! By K. E. Heartsong

here was a time when all manner of “tweaks” were thought to be the modern version of a “snake oil” cure all. Time would, of course, separate the wheat from the chaff. Though often there was less chaff than you might have imagined. Less chaff in the sense that all manner of “tweaks,” from novel cables and wires to various isolation devices to bottled liquids (professing clarity or transparency, etc.) to mats and clamps, would often bring something to the table which would, well, actually improve the sound of one’s music. While the actual “science” in many cases lay beyond a layperson’s understanding, they still worked. So definitive were the claims of a bottled

clearly and consistently identified the tweaked CD. Isolation devices, however, come in a great many forms, material compositions, and with specific purposes. In my experience, some have worked well, some very well, and some not at all, or not that I was able to discern. Those that did not appear to work at all were summarily returned and mental notes were taken to stay away from said vendor of said “snake oil” isolation device. Then there were the other isolation devices that reported good to very good to exceptional performance and completely disabused the snake oil moniker. This brings us to the current review of the Nordost AC SORT KONE. Nordost, the

liquid CD cleaning tweak for instance, that a teenage girl in a blind test, not knowing which CD had been treated and which had not,

developers of the SORT KONE, would actually be loathe to call their SORT KONE an isolation device, as they believe it to be much OCTOBER 2021

SORT KONES more than that. While many if not most isolation device manufacturers stake their claims or their reason for existence on the taming of external vibrations, Nordost goes a step further. Nordost posits that, “yes, there are external vibrations to deal with and for those using all manner of makeshift ‘equipment stands’— nightstands, wicker tables, suitcases, speakers(!), sloping table tops, etc.—this is especially true.” However, and I paraphrase, “Do you have any idea how noisy it can get inside a component which is a lot closer to the actual signal than any external vibration? And heaven forbid that there are moving parts inside.” The various Nordost SORT KONES are thus developed to handle these internal vibrations and drain away the noise entirely from any given product. And this, in truth, appears to represent a more conscious, wholistic, outside-inside approach. The results of this dual-purpose approach have done something that in my experience has yet to be matched, and that stands ready to usher in an entirely new subcategory of audio componentry altogether. What is that you ask? REFRAIN: Unlike most reviews, this review will be non-sequential, as it will start with how the equipment actually sounds and not the process of physically “undressing” it and/or laying out its various accoutrement, specifications, etc. Think of this review then, as a non-linear movie—Memento, Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Queen’s Gambit, In the Shadow of

the Moon, etc—that, likewise, starts at the end and winds its way to the beginning. THE SOUND Perhaps the better title for this section is the “Freed Sound,” as SORT KONES have no sound of their own, but work with various components from streamers, to DACs, to preamps and integrated, to amps, to power conditioners to allow them to perform and deliver the music at their highest potential, free from the challenges of the environment and ALL noise. Nordost describes the resulting sound from the implementation of its SORT KONES in the following manner: “Sort Kones provide a “blacker” background to your music. With it comes greater focus, instrumental color, depth, transparency and dynamic range. Your system will sound more natural and more lifelike, your

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SORT KONES music more lively and engaging, the musicians like better musicians – simply because you’ll finally be able to hear the notes they’re playing, the way they play them and precisely when.” Suffice to say that this was true without question, without meticulous investigation, without much, if any, back and forth comparison, as the results were ever and always easily perceptible. Easily perceptible across various components and, collectively, across the various systems where the SORT KONES were in full implementation. An analogous way of looking at SORT KONES would be to see a TV screen with a fuzzy image or, at the very least, the outlines of the images themselves would be fuzzy, but once the SORT KONES were applied, the image resolution would snap together clearly and the fuzziness would be gone. Banished! Other benefits noticed as I used the SORT KONES, across a number of systems, were the fleshing out of texture, the freeing of microdynamic and ambient cues, which together solidified positioning and layering.

Overall the music became move involving, enjoyable, and would often trigger chair-dancing. I can wholeheartedly guarantee that if one’s hearing is intact it will be quite easy to get the differences with and without the Nordost AC SORT KONES, whether under a single component or across an entire system. In this respect they are impossible to remove. I would postulate, as I do not currently have a TOTL equipment rack, that even in the case of employing the SORT KONE in conjunction with such a rack, the results would again be easily discernible, and there would be an increased sense of spaciousness! CONCLUSION The SORT KONES represent a potent, two-inone upgrade that, relative to its three-piecepricing ($267), is rather astounding when one compares them to the TOTL racks which cost thousands of dollars and are premised on the same or lesser functional implementations! First, you get an exceptional, highly portable, component rack at a fraction of the

SORT KONES cost of traditional, full-fledged, quite big component racks. Secondly, you get, based upon what the AC SORT KONES provide, a literal upgrade to your equipment, or each piece of equipment that rests upon at least a triplet of SORT KONES. This, for most, will be easily and immediately discernible. It certainly was for me over the course of five minutes! Now, if you’re using a high end component stand and employing the AC SORT KONES

portable, high-end component rack, at a fraction of a fraction of a traditional component rack’s cost! The Nordost AC SORT KONES represent the first ‘tweak’ to have ever received one of our awards. Bravo!

the difference may still well be easily and readily apparent. However, should you have kludged together component stands/racks from a motley collection of benches, chairs, side tables, the floor, you will find that the alchemy of the AC SORT KONES will transform those disparate pieces into a decidedly high-end component rack on the cheap. And this was both true and incredible time after time, as I experimented with all manner of possible component stands. In the end, the music was always served on a level that it had not been prior to the introduction of the AC SORT KONES. Easy. The Nordost AC SORT KONES are far more than a tweak, and that to even consider them tweaks denies their stunning musicfreeing abilities. We very highly recommend the Nordost SORT KONES as an amazing, stand-alone, portable rack system, that will allow one’s music to sing at a level above. We award the Nordost AC SORT KONES our High Nines Award for exceptional price to performance ratio, and for its astonishing alchemical transformation into a small,

I dare you to place a set of three SORT KONES under each component in your system and then try to take them away. Hint. Once you have heard the change, you’re going to need the help of Hercules or some troubled modern-day superhero to help you take them away.

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THE COMPANY Nordost Nordost AC SORT KONES ($88.99/each) info@nordost.com nordost.com

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OCTOBER 2021

ANTICABLES SUITE REVIEW A Clear Step Up in Cable Design! By K. E. Heartsong

good many years ago a friend of mine introduced me to the AntiCables speaker wires. “Who were they,” I thought as I had never heard of them. So, as a new audio store owner, I was reluctant to give them a “real” try and only employed them for a short time in my system. When my friend returned, he asked, “Well, how did you like them?” I told him that they were, “Okay.” He smiled and said, “Give them a bit more time.” So, I did. After about a week of listening, they had already been burned in, and it was hard, no, impossible, not to like the AntiCables

value they provided over the very expensive speaker cables that I had in store at the time. At the time, it was difficult to sell the cables, as other people didn’t know who AntiCables were and the prices seemed, well, too cheap. Many were reluctant to buy them on that basis alone! They had by that time become my personal speaker cables for my various systems from budget system to reference system, and they performed beautifully. A short time later AntiCables began introducing a suite of cable products ranging from analog or singled-ended interconnects to XLR or balanced interconnects to power cords and ultimately digital cables as well. And the

speaker wires and not to see the tremendous

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latest iteration of these various cables is the topic of this review. AntiCables is based in Lake Elmo, Minnesota, a small town of roughly ten thousand folks, about 20 minutes from Minneapolis/St Paul. Lake Elmo sits amid a beautiful community, festooned with a good share of the 10,000 lakes of which Minnesota and Minnesotans proudly boast. It has fought growth both tooth and nail to maintain its small town identity and feel, until recently, when Lake Elmo was, literally, forced to grow! The horror, but these things, unfortunately, happen. The owner of AntiCables—Paul Speltz— is a kind man with a friendly smile, who presents as much younger than his apparent age and is more active than, literally, any person I know, regardless of age! Paul embodies what I have come to find as a truism of the Midwest: in general, people tend to be more active, fit, and madly in love with nature. And of course there is what’s referred to as “Minnesota Nice.” Okay, back to the review. The questions at the forefront of my mind prior to putting the latest iterations of AntiCables to the test were, have they progressed? Are they still competitive with cables multiples of their price point? And, given that, do they still offer exceptional value? REFRAIN: Unlike most reviews, this review will be non-sequential, as it will start with how the equipment actually sounds and not

the process of physically “undressing” it and/or laying out its various accoutrement, specifications, etc. Think of this review then, as a non-linear movie—Memento, Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction, The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, etc—that, likewise, starts at the end and winds its way to the beginning. THE SOUND & SUCH Burn-in. There are some out there who do not believe in this concept. After several decades of empirical observation, I’ve come to the conclusion that it is an observable and practical phenomenon. Cars burn-in and reach an optimal point of performance. So say car manufacturers, which is why they urge relative caution in the “young” miles of a given car. Baseball gloves do something similar in that they break-in, much like shoes and new jeans, etc. And the excursion—a movement outward and back from a mean position—of speaker cones suggests that there is an optimum ‘elasticity’ needed for them to be at their best. Too stiff and perhaps dynamics, transients, resolution suffers. But enough about this. Paul Speltz, the Wizard at AntiCables, suggests at least 100 hours of burn-in prior to listening. Seconded. I have heard, prior to break-in, on most cables, sibilance, murkiness or a lack of resolution and clarity, that in time, though not all the time, clear up rather nicely. Often there can be immediate positive results, which simply improve over time. Suffice to say, that this was true with the various AntiCables.

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Superb Music Made Here

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ANTICABLES I received a suite of AntiCables that included USB digital cables, singled-ended interconnects, balanced interconnects, and power cords. I anticipate the need for speaker cables, at some time in the near future, as I settle on the appropriate speaker for reference/review purposes. This, of course, takes time, as it must be well thought out in full consideration of evaluating a chain of preceding or ‘upstream’ equipment. Where to begin? At the beginning, of course. If there is no power to one’s system, then there is nothing. Power cords then. ANTICABLES LEVEL 3 POWER CORDS

background which we music lovers so adore as this allows us to hear more of the actual music on our various media. Though another interesting thing that happened with the addition and subsequent, serial replacement of the power cords (4 of them) in Reference System 1 (see below) was that the simple addition of the AntiCables power cables increased the gain! How is this possible? I asked Paul. His answer: "It's due to both the acoustical noise floor being lowered and the reduction of noise generating jitter on digital circuitry. Jitter is a time domain distortion that blurs pitch and reduces amplitude. In addition to our power cord being an excellent last 5 feet of current delivery, they also provide a highly conductive first 5 feet for the component's own power supply to dump its own noise, keeping it out of the music."

The Level 3 Power Cords were the exception to the rule and they came out singing! That is to say, that the level of quiet increased and, interestingly, if there had been noise in the system it had now vanished completely!

Okay. So while the Level 3 power cables were ‘ready’ out of the gates, I still gave them some time to burn-in. Well, kind of. There were some other immediate observations that were noted. The bass, from sub-bass on up, was tighter, better resolved, the transient response quicker off the blocks, and a weight extended up the frequency range, that did not obscure detail. With the recommended 100 hours of burnin there was more to report and all of it good! The Level 3 power cables provided greater transparency and resolution and detail. Timbre

What remained was that black-quiet

and texture were better fleshed out and

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ANTICABLES tonality was superb and free of any harshness or glare or stridency. They had, indeed, lifted the system over the previous, quite expensive, power cords that they had replaced. The foundation, the power to the system, was thus improved and stable, and the AntiCables power cords would from there onwards report either positive things about their fellow AntiCables or not so positive things. ANTICABLES LEVEL 3.3 USB DIGITAL INTERCONNECT

red, spiral, ground/shield wire, with a very thin, red, 5-volt wire that ran its length. This last wire which stands in for a computer’s 5-V interface is said to reduce both jitter and noise, both of which run rampant within a computer’s architecture. The Level 3.3 USB at approximately the same price as the cable that it had replaced brought forward a wealth of new information and transparency and resolution far above that particular cable, one well known among the cognoscenti of the audiophile and music lover communities. And it did so in a manner that was very musical. There was simply no contest between the two USB cables. ANTICABLES LEVEL 6.3 RCA INTERCONNECT

With the power foundation established, the next task of a system that is primarily designed to stream is, of course, to evaluate the digital cable, as connected to the Roon Nucleus Plus Streamer, in our case. The Level 3.3 USB cable bore the same uniform as its various siblings—a thin, white layer of low dielectric Teflon that wrapped an ACElectrum™ core—Silver/Gold alloy. And

The next cable evaluated in the AntiCables suite—the Level 6.3 RCA Interconnect—

this configuration was, in turn, bounded by a

donning the selfsame uniform and materials

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joined the DENAFRIPS Pontus II DAC to the Enleum AMP-23R Integrated/Headphone Amplifier. The Level 6.3 RCA Interconnect, again, at a fraction of the pricing of the cable that it had replaced, again, one well known to the cognoscenti, introduced similar improvements over the previous cable in the selfsame manner as its digital sibling. The music was immediately more transparent and better resolved, which made available a wealth of microdynamics and spatial cues, while fleshing out instrumental timbres. The improvements were not, at all, subtle. And the ACElectrum™’s blending of the precious metals provided, in addition to greater transparency and resolution, a beguiling, immersive tonality. No contest. ANTICABLES LEVEL 5.3 XLR INTERCONNECT (NEW!)

And now to the final cable in the AntiCables suite—the Level 5.3 XLR—a brand new balanced cable, which debuts via this review (see pictures below). And while it also sports the uniform— a white layer of low dielectric Teflon wrapped the ACElectrum™ cable— Silver/Gold alloy— and bounded by a red, spiral, ground wire, its male/female terminations—KRYO—are, perhaps, the most robust that I have ever seen employed in an XLR design! The new Level 5.3 XLR Interconnect was used between the Mola Mola Tambaqui and the STAX SRM-T8000. The Level 5.3 XLR Interconnect, possibly at a fraction of the pricing of the cable that it had replaced, given its TBD pricing and AntiCables’s standard pricing structure, raised the bar far above its expensive, well-known opponent. The Level 5.3 XLR made its opponent’s rendering of the music seem flat, dull, bereft of the level of detail or of the excitement or engagement this new cable provided. In truth, the music, buoyed by a black-quiet background, was more transparent, alive, and palpable, and the cable, via the timbre and the richness of tonality it enabled, served as an incredibly engaging and resolving balanced interconnect. It would seem that the New Level 5.3 XLR Interconnect represents a home run for AntiCables and once its pricing is determined, this will provide a very definitive price to performance ratio relative to competing XLR Interconnects.

ANTICABLES CONCLUSION AntiCables has long touted its cables as giant killers and so it appears that they are, as was demonstrated throughout this review from cable type to cable type against a very expensive competitor and a competitor of

but be grateful for both, as they have all truly informed my listening experience. The above said, I highly recommend the AntiCables suite, as reviewed above, and award to it our HIGH NINES award for its overall transparency, resolving abilities, and its facility at providing, via its power cords, a black-quiet universe as backdrop to the music, from which detail can be easily resolved and rescued, in service of the music. THE COMPANY AntiCables AntiCables Level 3.3 USB Digital Interconnect ($290/1.44m)

equal pricing, both well known to the audiophile cognoscenti. It was quite the impressive showdown, I must say, after having listened to and lived with the various cables involved over a period of several months. Though one imagines that there are giants afoot that would not so easily fall if they were to fall at all. But what then would the price/ performance ratio be? Should that giant in giant priced garments and abilities come along and unseat this AntiCables giant killer, I shall give it its due. This, at least, is only fair. Over my many decades as both a music lover and an audiophile, I have auditioned and lived with numerous cable types and brands, some that have long since retired their banner, others that have continued on, and I cannot

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AntiCables Level 6.3 RCA Newly Improved Interconnects ($720/1.5m pair) AntiCables Level 5.3 XLR Interconnects ($900/1m pair) AntiCables Level 3 Power Cords ($410/7ft)

AntiCables Audio Co., Inc. 11200 Stillwater Blvd. N. Suite 104B Lake Elmo, MN 55042 USA paul@AntiCables.com Phone: 651-735-0534

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QUITE SIMPLY...THE WORLD'S BEST AUDIO ELECTRONICS JANUARY 2022

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THE STAX SR-X9000 Electrostatic Musical Nirvana (Full Stop)!

By K. E. Heartsong

JANUARY 2022

STAX SR-X9000

entered the world of electrostatic headphones and headphone amplifiers a little over a year ago and was surprised to discover that that which I thought an impossibility—incredible “you-are-there” transparency, deep detail retrieval, and captivating musicality—was a truth. This revelation came with the award-winning electrostatic headphone amplifier and electrostatic headphones—the Linear Tube Audio (LTA) Z10e and the STAX SRL700MkII, respectively. The reviews clearly paint the picture of their performance and my experience with both components. Since that time I have reviewed a number of electrostatic headphones and headphone amplifiers, which derive from a technology established over 80 years ago that, in my opinion, has not been surpassed to date. As I wrote of my observations after reviewing several electrostatic headphones: “I can now attest to having had the pleasure of several electrostatic headphones— STAX SR-009S, STAX SR-007MkII, STAX SR-L700MkII, and the Dan Clark VOCE, —in house, at the same time, to take me on my very first electrostatic listening journey. One electrostatic earspeaker [headphone] would, no doubt, have given me a point of reference on a map of electrostatic sound; the combination, however, has laid out a state of sound replete with terrain and points of interest and a rather sublime beauty! It has been an incredible experience.”

Electrostatic headphones not only provide a “you-are-there” experience, but they draw you in as you listen to music which you believed you knew, but did not. You see, so much information is actually missing or, more accurately, buried beneath a ‘floor of noise’ that, in general, headphones and headphone amplifiers simply cannot penetrate. Certainly there are some headphones that can do a relatively good job in their attempts to pierce the noise floor. Electrostatics, on the other hand, pass through noise floors as if they are made of air. And once beyond them electrostatics bring resolution and clarity to that which may have been ‘fuzzy,’ ‘out of focus,’ or ‘hidden.’ Further, they ‘unearth’ volumes of detail that give insight to certain vocal inflections connected to emotion, as well as ambient cues which help to map the inner volume of a given venue—cathedral, night club, hall, etc.—for better three-dimensionality and air and space. Other commonalities among the electrostatic headphones are their tachyon like transient speed which further increases the feeling and sensations of a “you-are-there” experience. For instance, lightning fast drummers deserve lightning fast transient responses, as well as blistering dynamic swings —soft and easy to loud and busting! Electrostatic headphones are better equipped to do this than other types of headphones because their construction allows them to shed weight—magnets, voice coils, heavy driver assemblies, etc. An apt metaphor would see

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electrostatics as Peregrine Falcons (200mph dives) to other types of headphones as Cheetahs (61 mph). Yes, a few too many Wild Kingdom shows. So given this fact, electrostatics, in general, thrive on transient quick recorded live music, and spacious venues with lots going on, across numerous genres—choral, classical, jazz, rock, folk, soul, EDM, etc. If you live in or often visit these genres, well, jackpot with an electrostatic headphone! And, again, all that it will take to understand this very clearly, is a listen to the music that you believed you knew with an electrostatic headphone. Done. However, after reentering the worlds of dynamic and planar headphones via two recent reviews—Meze Empyrean Elite and the ZMF Atticus—each of which showed some consistency or momentary flashes of electrostatic reproduction, respectively, it was clear that the gap may well be closing between the worlds, after 80 years. The company currently at the forefront of electrostatic headphone and headphone amplification technology is STAX. STAX, which began operations in 1938, has held forth for over 80 years, creating, improving, and

which continually find high praise across the wide world. Its fans remain loyal, while its products, having withstood the test of time, are often considered heirlooms and passed across generations. I have referred to the abilities of electrostatics, when paired with exceptional upstream components—DACs, streamers, CD players, etc.—as time machines. Time machines not unlike Dr. Who’s tardis that travels across time and space, delivering the Doctor and his companion(s) to this venue then that. In this respect, electrostatics can often render a compelling semblance of being in the actual recording venue. Well, the subject of this review— STAX SR-X9000—amazingly, takes things even further. REFRAIN: Unlike most reviews, this review will be non-sequential, as it will start with how the headphones actually sound and not the process of physically “undressing” them and/or laying out their various parts, specifications, etc. Think of this review then, as a non-linear movie— In the Shadow of the Moon, Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction, The Queen’s Gambit, etc—that,

introducing its various electrostatic products,

OCTOBER 2021

STAX SR-X9000 likewise, starts at the end and winds its way to the beginning. THE SOUND Let me start by saying that the STAX SRX9000 is, without a doubt, the synthesis of over 80 years of experience and insight gained from success and failure, perpetual research and refinement of brand, and the distillation of this wealth of knowledge into this one singular headphone. How then does STAX’s latest flagship compare to its previous flagship the SR-009S? The STAX SR-X9000 sits on a quantum shelf above all of its related and near-related brethren—headphones. It is both extraordinary and compelling. You’ll not want to take these headphones off, I certainly didn’t. If there is no STAX SR-X9000 in my daily listening mix, then I am asleep a few hours earlier, each night. The SR-X9000 is highly immersive, in that it will engage you via your very own music, perhaps like no system, no components, regardless of price, has ever been able to do before. Hyperbole? One listen should do the trick. The SR-X9000 is spacious in the sense that ‘spacious’ would be just the beginning of the description with holographic its ending or punctuation mark. Perhaps it is the larger surface area of its drivers/diaphragms and their configuration (in a nonparallel enclosure) that allows for more spatial/ambient cues, more resulting air, more nuance, and a bass response, which easily sets it apart from its

brethren. It is a bass response that travels regularly to the stygian depths of the HolyBass-Head-Grail and does so without obscuring up-frequency information/detail at all. This, taken together, was $#@*&%!

incredible. And I don’t curse in reviews. The SR-X9000 is outstandingly transparent and resolving, in a way that will truly show recordings naked in their composition with detail laying about for the having. And yet, despite its prodigious ability to retrieve this detail, the music rendered is always natural, organic, imminently musical, and immersive. Its former multi-award-winning sibling— STAX SR-009S—simply could not keep up. Amazing!

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STAX SR-X9000 And timbre, texture, tone? Well, they too are exceptional. Instrumental timbres and tones are superbly parsed within a generous and dense mix of instruments, orchestras, large bands, etc. And tone is addictive, compelling, liquid and seemingly edible. The STAX SRX9000 sports a soundstage that in true STAX fashion encompasses, swallows, envelops, if you will, its predecessor’s! Its landscape of sound is beautifully layered, imaging/positioning exceptional, and there is a spaciousness and air that gives domain— separation—to

suite (review coming) was tasked with all wire/ cable responsibilities, while a TORUS RM20 provided the power conditioning/regeneration. Again, great bandmates, and you’re traveling across time and space. Eames-Chair-Tardis anyone? BASS Foundational. Taut. Lightningfast.Transparent. Palpable. Eiji Oue’s V. Infernal Dance of King Kashchey (Stravinsky,

Reference Recording) thunders in as massed tympani strike a propulsive and foreboding blow, and another, and then several more. The force and weight displayed here its kin electrostatic could not match. And as the orchestra engages, performers, and what is immediately noted is that the volume to venues. The STAX SR-X9000 was paired with the Minnesota Orchestral Hall has grown in volume, or so it appears via the STAX SRSTAX SRM-T8000 flagship headphone X9000. In the STAX SR-009S review, the prior amplifier (award winner), the LTA Z10e flagship of the STAX lineup, I wrote that the integrated/headphone amplifier (award winner), the Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC (award SR-009S is as “transparent as a summer’s day is long—unrivaled transparency,” and that the winner), the DENAFRIPS Pontus II DAC SR-009S “is without analog—peer.” Scratch (award winner), and the Roon Nucleus Plus (award winner). An Audience Front Row Cable both statements. The STAX SR-009S now

OCTOBER 2021

STAX SR-X9000 stands both rivaled and surpassed, by its younger sibling—SR-X9000. Change is, indeed, constant. In this movement from Stravinsky’s Firebird, instruments are given their own individual spatial domains among an orchestra of competing instruments, and this in itself bears the quite distinct hallmark of exceptional positioning, layering, and separation. And as the crescendo approaches, there is a deep, foreboding rumble and then an explosion(!) via the concurrent strikes landed upon massed tympani! An electrostatic headphone that does sub-bass with no apologies or excuses or dithering! The STAX SR-X9000 just does it. Wow! And yet, in the quietest of passages it creates an extravagant tranquility, much like its older sibling, but it is even more immersive, nuanced, refined. Now for something that is completely different. David Holland’s “B-40/ M23-6K/RS-W” (Emerald Tears, ECM), bass-

resolving, and combined with an astute rendering of tone, this track is revealed as something new. New, despite countless hearings! Did I mention the SR-X9000’s transient speed and how it leaves its multiaward-winning sibling—SR-009S—behind and how immersive it is? Yeah, I guess I did. Well, brilliant! I was only going to do two tracks, but then Marcus Miller’s Power (M2, Concord)

notes all taut and fast, transparent and

Headphone Amp and DAC and wires, etc. are

slammed in and, I believe, “$ %#@#*-*&%$##!,” was my response. No more nuance here just raw, throbbing, chair-dancing, Holy-BassHead-Grail grabbing, and I could have sworn that the SRX9000 gave a sly, sideways smile and a wink. “I can do bass, thank you.” MIDRANGE Olafur Arnalds’ “Árbakkinn” (Island Songs, Mercury (Universal France)) opens and there is no artifice, no noise, no distraction, only silence and stillness. From this stillness rises intimacy and emotion and a palpability that conspire to transcend recorded music and transport one to the venue. The SR-X9000 has provided the most touching, most breathtaking rendition that I have yet heard. Reference System 1’s components (see below)—

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the same as in the SR-009S’ review. The only variable in this hearing is the STAX SR-X9000. Einar Georg Einarsson’s recital, his in-drawn breath are honest, real, natural, as are the tones of the piano, violins, viola, and cello. And their various timbres are easily parsed, easily resolved, aided by a transparency which even most electrostatics do not possess. “This is something new,” I write in my notes, “and it is not at all subtle.” The birds? Only the best system configurations can do all of the above and then place the birds, who linger just outside of the recording space, in a duo with Einar, from the very first seconds (00:02) of the recording. They sing from beginning to end as accompaniment to Einar’s recital. Suffice to say, that the rendering of “Árbakkinn” by the SR-X9000 and the accompanying reference system is phenomenal, entirely without precedent, and the most immersive experience I have had in the electrostatic world (or any other). I was to write also about the SR-X9000 renderings of Voces8’s “Agnus Dei” (Lux, Decca) and Shirley

however, fought this. Though I am left with the words: Immersive. Transcendent. Palpable. TREBLE+ Pristine. Resolution. Boundless. Air. Lightning Fast. These are but a few of the words that remained fixed in my mind after the treble sessions with STAX SR-X9000. While I generally write up a recording or two and on rare occasions three in the review, though behind the scenes numerous treble heavy tracks are used for evaluation. Short of the movie the Natural, however, I have never seen a player/component hit, within a single game, homerun after homerun after homerun, all day long. First up. Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five” (Time Out, Columbia-

Legacy) and it’s out of the park! Joe Morello’s Hi-Hats and Ride cymbals, stage left, rise, drop, rise, drop, resonate with distinct timbral accuracy and a resolution and decay so natural, so real, that right now through the SR-X9000 it’s shaming six figure stereo systems, that should be embarrassed to call what they’re Horn’s “Beautiful Love” (You Won’t Forget Me, doing resolving! Painting a fence with a few spray cans—Schccchccssssssh (the mess!)— Verve), both of which rose above all prior perhaps, but not playing music. As per our renderings in the selfsame way as had “Árbakkinn.” Time and space and word limits, motto, I shall name no names. Yet this STAX

OCTOBER 2021

SR-X9000 headphone-based system with its compatriots, relative to the systems I’ve heard, is but a fraction of a fraction of their cost. “Say what?!” Yep, and that’s the truth. Miles Davis’s “Freddie Freeloader” (Kind of Blue, Blue Note)

It is hard to believe that a little more than six months ago I was heaping big praise on what I believed to be STAX’s flagship electrostatic headphone—the STAX SR-009S —of all time! And that it was, in every respect. outta the park! Trio Karénine “Verklärte Nacht, But as mentioned above, things change. Op. 4:11 Breiter” (La Nuit Transfigurée, Mirare) Without further ado, we very highly recommend the STAX SR-X9000 and bestow outta the park! Emmanuelle Bertrand’s “Tout to it our highest award—the DIAMOND un Monde: Énigme” (Dutilleux & Debussy: AWARD—for excellence, as a headphone, Works w/Cello, Harmonia Mundi) outta the park! Hilary Hahn’s “Sonata No. 1 in G minor: regardless of driver technology, that is of Adagio” (Hilary Hahn Plays Bach: Violin Sonatas unparalleled talent and abilities. And apparently, it does not need my Yellow-ChairNos 1 & 2; Partita No. 1, Decca) outta the park! Tardis or a fancied Eames-Chair-Tardis, that I CONCLUSION have my eye on, to go traveling about time and The new and undisputed flagship of the STAX space to this venue then that. Bravo! earspeaker/headphone line is the STAX SRX9000 electrostatic headphone! And after THE COMPANY listening these past weeks, this was perhaps STAX one of the easiest calls that I have made to date. Despite the fact that I have been listening SR-X9000 ($6200) to some truly incredible components from STAX DACs to streamers to planar and magnetic #2101 The L Plaza headphones to cables and wires! 367-375 Queen’s Road Central Did I mention how extraordinarily Hong Kong immersive the STAX SR-X9000 is? Well, you +852 2522 6989 will experience the sounds, the emotion, the cs@staxheadphones.com ambiance, the ease, and even the ‘sights’— staxheadphones.com silverware and dishes clinking, the muttered voices of the inconsiderate, a waitress taking orders, muffled coughs, miscues, etc. It will all seem tangible and will be incredibly new to a great many. It was new to me and I have ‘mad’ years and much experience in this hi-fi thing. One listen.

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MUSICAL MUSINGS By Irina Kuzminsky

enargeia, released in October 2021, is the debut album of a stunning new arrival on the classical music scene, ItalianCanadian mezzo soprano Emily D’Angelo, who has just been signed as an exclusive artist with the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon label. Only 26 years old, she is already the winner of multiple opera awards with an enviable career, and from the moment her evocative mezzo voice enters on the first track it is easy to see the reason behind the accolades. The title, chosen by the artist, comes from Ancient Greek rhetoric and refers to a way of recreating something by using words so vividly, that it “ seems to conjure its subject into existence”, as D’Angelo puts it. enargeia signifies both the arousal of emotion and

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aesthetic pleasure, and attests to the truth of what is being conveyed. Quite a tall order, but one that this album certainly approaches, as D’Angelo’s gorgeous rich mezzo weaves in and out of textures both modern and medieval, with exemplary control over legato and dynamics throughout her range. enargeia features music by four female composers, from the 12th century Hildegard of Bingen to 21st century Icelandic composer Oscar-winning Hildur Guðnadóttir, and Americans Missy Mazzoli and Sarah Kirkland Snider. As D’Angelo states, Hildegard’s influence runs through this album like a thread. Certainly, there is a spiritual quality to most of the tracks, as well as the melding of a haunting medieval feel with a contemporary classical idiom unafraid of fusing electronics

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with acoustic instruments. Also highlighted is the interesting relationship, even affinity of sorts, between ancient plainchant and modern melismatic vocal lines set against drones and ostinato, with both displaying a certain rhythmic and harmonic freedom which grows organically out of following the text. The acknowledgement of Hildegard’s overarching influence on the music in enargeia is most appropriate, given that Hildegard herself was at the fountainhead of the Western classical tradition. enargeia opens with a haunting track by Hildur Guðnadóttir, Fólk faer andlit. This is music with deep roots in a Nordic past which seems to grow into our present. Guðnadóttir uses a style related to plainchant over a drone, with instruments (strings and woodwind) weaving in and out of the texture and cushioning the voice. Two other stand out tracks immediately come to mind, both settings of Hildegard, one by Mazzoli, O frondens virga, in which violoncello and voice perform an ongoing duet, and the other by Snider, O virtu sapientiae, for voice and string quartet, encasing medieval chant in a contemporary ambience. I could listen to a

whole album of such settings of Hildegard and not tire of them. The combination of old and contemporary makes for a timelessness that is very appealing. Personally, I love hearing this kind of chant performed by a female voice rich in colour and expressivity, and unafraid to use vibrato. Hildur Guðnadóttir’s Lidur is another track that seems to grow out of Nordic landscapes as the singer duets with herself with haunting electronic delay effects. Like the opening track, Fólk faerandlit, this encompasses both folk roots and contemporary idioms, with the use of the lower strings adding a special feel to the vocal lines above. Continuing the spirituality theme, Missy Mazzoli’s own work is represented by Hello Lord, from her “Vespers for a New Dark Age,” and by selections from her chamber opera based on the life of the Sufi Isabelle Eberhardt, “Song from the Uproar.” Snider is represented by selections from her song cycle “Penelope,” and a song from Caritas. Each of the composers has her own distinctive style. While Guðnadóttir’s works share a particular evocative Nordic quality,

OCTOBER 2021

Mazzoli creates fusions of electronica and strings, spilling over into more experimental atmospheric tracks such as A Thousand Tongues, or returning to the haunting lower strings and voice interplay with underlying pizzicato building tension in You are the Dust. Mazzoli’s Hello Lord begins as though it might grow into a spiritual, only to flower into a contemporary dramatic operatic number, a style also employed in the extracts from her chamber opera, and one which displays D’Angelo’s dramatic gifts and high register. The selections from Snider’s “Penelope” are in a different style again and predominantly use a lower part of D’Angelo’s range showing off her range of colour and timbre. The settings here are more in the style of musicals, introducing elements such as drum kits and electric guitars mixed into a contemporary dissonant style. While Snider uses fuller orchestration, she also does not shy away from using the naked voice in the lower register in The Lotus Eaters or Dead Friend, the violent dissonances of which come as a shock when juxtaposed to the focused intense calm of Hildegard. It is

interesting to hear so many classical vocal settings in English, a language which is notoriously difficult to set in the classical idiom, with some saying nobody has yet equalled Purcell in this regard. The tracks here do come pretty close though, I would say, helped by D’Angelo’s excellent enunciation. While not all the tracks in enargeia would necessarily be my favourites, all are interesting to explore and each is expressively brought to life by D’Angelo’s gorgeous voice. Jarkko Riihimäki, who conducts Das freie Orchester Berlin, was responsible for many of the arrangements on this album and he has clearly done a superlative job. This is an album to savour both for the artistry of Emily D’Angelo, and for its exploration of 21st century classical vocal repertoire by three women composers, but also, particularly, for its meditative beauty and its ability to look forward and back at the same time. The Hildegard arrangements alone would make enargeia worth having. AKRM

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INTERVIEW

Antonio Meze Meze Audio

Conducted by K. E. Heartsong JANUARY 2022

INTERVIEW: ANTONIO MEZE

eze Audio was founded in 2011 by Antonio Meze and is based in Baia Mare, Romania.

From the first time that I saw the Meze Empyrean, I was mesmerized. It was art, sculpture, and industrial design all wrapped together in a strikingly beautiful design aesthetic. And I have made it quite clear to both Meze and my readers that I believe it absolutely belongs in a Modern Art Museum. Now, if the Empyreans were to sound as good as they looked, then they would, to all intents and purposes, be modern functional art. Subsequently, I contacted Meze Audio and began a conversation with Alexandra Rizou of Meze’s Marketing & Social Media team. Soon thereafter I would be shipped a pair of Empyreans and would henceforth pen my review. Well, it turns out the Meze Empyreans were every bit as beautiful and engaging musically as they had been visually, as the Empyreans would go on to win our highest award, the DIAMOND AWARD, and also become the Best Product of theYear for 2020. Yes, form happily follows function in Antonio Meze’s Empyrean. But the truth of the matter is that no ‘Creative’ is truly ever finished creating. And, true to form, Antonio’s current flagship— the Meze Empyrean Elite— provides a sublime, futuristic vision on the selfsame frame as the Empyrean. Yet, its truly distinguishing features come in its voice (review coming). In truth, across Meze’s entire line there is a synergy of exceptional industrial and graphic design and art in a form follows function

dance which gives an incredible voice to each of Meze Audio’s various creations. Antonio, I’d like to get a general idea of where and how you grew up, what influenced your life, how your parents may have influenced a love for music, possibly audio. Basically, those things that started you on the journey to where you are now. So, this is less a technical interview than it is an understanding of the personal and the inspirational and the ‘Why’ of things. How did music affect your early life? Was there a family member or another person who inspired your love for music (art, design)? My mother is definitely one of the people who influenced me the most. She is such a creative person and very much inclined towards the arts, so the option of pursuing the same path was always on the table for me. We had this room in our grandparents’ house that was completely painted by her, walls and floor and all, plus a lot of paintings and drawings that I grew up admiring. She didn’t have any formal training, but she had a great deal of passion and a beautiful way of giving life to her work and, to me, that was absolutely inspiring. Interesting. My mother was also my primary, indeed, only influence in music, and as jazz was her number one, it became my number one. At five, I was quite deep into the music of Dizzy, Coltrane, Parker, Monk, and, of course, Miles. Did you grow up around a record player? So many young folks that I know did not and it seems strange to me having grown up when I did.

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INTERVIEW: ANTONIO MEZE I did, we had this old Russian record player that was not working very well, it was so far from the alternatives we have today. The sound obviously wasn’t great, but watching the needle pick up the sound from the grooves in the vinyl was hypnotizing for me. That vision is actually what made me perceive music as more than just sound, it cast a sense in my mind that it can be a very physical thing, too. Kind of like an object that can stimulate your sight or touch as much as your sense of hearing.

Funk, Fusion mixed with raw stuff like Electro Punk and Noise. I was ever so curious about music, so I went through a lot of different genres, some completely opposite from one another, and I never saw any problem with that. There is a different purpose in every style of music and I don’t think they should be judged by the same rules.

Some all-time favorites are Tom Waits, John Frusciante, Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave, The I love your visual sense of things and how you Do, Billie Holiday, Bjork, Cesaria Evora, BVSC, describe this Russian record player and the Coco Rosie, Devendra Benhart, Gang Gang needle charting its course. Up. Down. It is, in a Dance, Johny Cash, The Knife, Noir Desir, way, its own short film, complete with sound, Regina Spekktor. movement, and your vision of it. What was I listen to a ton of different things when your first system back then? creating, and I’m constantly searching for new In my teenage years, my family had a used music. All of the Meze Audio headphones I’ve SONY CFS-230 cassette player, and later, a red developed in the past 10 years since launching Sharp QT-50. To put it briefly, I basically spent the brand are, in one way or another, inspired those years listening to bootleg cassettes on by all of the artists I admire. For example, our barely functioning devices. Not exactly the hi-fi future product line-up has been designed to upbringing you’d imagine, but the music was the sounds of Khruangbin, Grimes, Sevdaliza, fascinating nonetheless. Being able to feel all The war on drugs and countless others. It’s a of the emotions the artist put in a song never ending exploration. regardless of device or sound quality shows Wow, an incredibly wide array of genres. Is how amazing music is and how adaptable us there a ‘most memorable epiphany’ that has humans can be. come from listening to music or, perhaps, from I could not agree more. For me it has always turning other people on to music? been about the emotional connection to the Music is an epiphany in itself. Listening to music. What musicians did you admire, enjoy, music on headphones is different than with love as a young man? Why? any other device, it creates a feeling of As a teenager, I was listening a lot to Metallica, closeness between the artist and listener. Prodigy, Pantera, which later became Dead can When making the headphones yourself, this Dance, Debussy and other impressionists, feeling gets even stronger. I think artists Portishead, RHCP, and then all kinds of Jazz, definitely intend their vocals and instruments

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INTERVIEW: ANTONIO MEZE to sound a certain way; some songs truly feel like they were made to be experienced one on one, so, to me, headphones deliver the perfect, intimate setting that does justice to the artist’s intentions.

Audio begin? And was Meze ever garage based?

Good for you. I got sidetracked into Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. I was a creative trying to do the ‘practical, grown-up thing,’ but I was not very happy. How did Meze

knowing very well that the risk was so high and would have burned us to the ground if it didn’t work out well. Me and Mircea always knew this, but, somehow, we convinced each

It was definitely garage based, for the first 3 years. Before the 99 Classics, we were mostly exploring out of fun and curiosity. As a Great point. And over the past year as I have designer, it felt very natural to always come up embraced personal hifi—headphones—I could with brand and product ideas, so once I set my not agree more. It becomes very personal with mind on headphones, I started getting parts and pieces from different suppliers and just headphones, very intimate, as if you’re being sung to or played to up close, or as if you, in a tweaked and played with them without having any actual knowledge about headphone way, are sitting before a full orchestra. And there are no other distractions. Where did you design. Therefore, the start was very slow. In 2015, though, it all came together. We had 4 begin the “apprenticeship” of learning or years of continuous learning and gaining your knowledge for what it is you do experimenting before launching the 99 now? Classics, and we’ve learned so much more ever Like most things that end up defining your since. future, I guess it all began in my childhood. For the past 6 years, Meze Audio has been led First, it was my mom, watching her creative by me and Mircea Fanatan, our Managing process made me become very passionate about Director, and also the one in charge of designing stuff, so I started studying forms and everything sound related. We discuss shapes together with my childhood friend. I everything and make all decisions together, and I can honestly say that our brand wouldn’t owe him a lot. He came from a family of professional artists, so their way of seeing things be what it is today without his input. Like I was easily passed down to us. I then studied arts said, I’m trained as an artist, not a businessman, so my lack of focus and extreme in middle school, went to an arts high-school obsession with certain details would have and, ultimately, graduated from an arts probably messed it up. university. So, about 12 years of art education. I We met with Rinaro at a tradeshow, and their just happen to be specialized in design for technology, which was not yet demonstrated, manufacturing, but I guess I’m more of an artist seemed to be the thing we needed to make a than a designer, in terms of approach and way hyper headphone. It had potential, so my of thinking. experimental nature made me jump right at it,

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INTERVIEW: ANTONIO MEZE other that it was worth it and, lucky for us, it worked out splendidly. Rinaro have an admirable know-how and even a level of artistry when it comes to designing planar magnetic technology.

did many things backwards, sometimes from lack of business experience, other times just because we had a different vision. We probably have a more holistic perspective than other brands and designers, and that sets us apart.

But ultimately doing things ‘backwards’ is what has, apparently, distinguished Meze, allowed it to garner tremendous acclaim across its various products, and to establish a loyal, worldwide following, and industry respect. Not bad for doing things backwards. That said, what is Meze Audio’s driving For me personally, the biggest mistake was philosophy, its goals for the future? Is there an giving the brand my name. It started kind of like a game of make believe somehow meant to electrostatic headphone in the mix? Dan boost my ego, but then it suddenly turned into Clark, now Audeze, have taken that path, will Meze? Is the Elite a step in that direction? a proper brand, once we launched the 99 So you took an incredible risk, that as you say “would have burned the company to the ground” if things hadn’t work out. I know well that risk. Biggest mistake you’ve made or that was made in regard to Meze? What did you learn from it?

Classics. The 99 was an experiment for us, and we never imagined it would gain the appreciation it did in such a short time.

Our driving philosophy is that every product we make should bring real value to people, it should inspire and surprise you on a higher Almost suddenly, Meze Audio became a player level. Headphones can be more than just in the industry, a company that people trusted sound; when made properly, they can deliver and had high expectations of. So now I have to entire sensorial experiences. We’re not working play the image of the brand, and while that still on an electrostatic headphone just yet, mainly strikes my ego on occasion, I wish I’d named it because we have so many projects on the table already. But the future is yet to be written, so something else, so I could do my work in who knows? Maybe we’ll make an electrostatic, anonymity. or maybe our attention will be captured by Yes, the freedom of anonymity. What do you something entirely different than a headphone. believe sets Meze Audio apart from the other Well that’s exciting. However, given my time high-end audio manufacturers and planar spent reviewing the Meze Empyrean Elite manufacturers in particular? these past several weeks, and I won’t let the cat I believe it’s our particular approach to out of the bag just yet, but it clearly seems to headphone design and product design in me more than just a planar magnetic general. We have a very different perspective headphone. Looking back over your time than other manufacturers, we were always before Meze audio, was there a single more product oriented and business came catalyzing event that put you on the road to second. Looking back, I now realize that we OCTOBER 2021

INTERVIEW: ANTONIO MEZE high-end audio and starting your own company? I am very particular, sometimes even demanding and picky with a lot of things, and I’m always looking for unique and surprising things. While these might not be the best traits for social interaction and life among people in general, they are good traits for creatives. So, there wasn’t a specific event that led me on this path, it was a combined result of me being passionate about form and ergonomics, art history and music, all at the same time. Headphones turned out to be the connection that allowed me to explore all of these interests.

It’s hard to have favorites, especially when there’s plenty of amazing options to choose from, unlike 10 or 15 years ago. I like to try new things and I’m constantly looking to upgrade my listening experience, so there’s no such thing as best for me. At least not for now. Very diplomatic. Now, back to the beginning. What are your five favorite albums and movies of all time and why?

My favorites constantly change, so the answer to this question might always be different. It might even change by tomorrow. One of my all-time favorites is Empyrean, by John Frusciante. His music always inspires my creative process and I even named our Empyrean headphone after his album. It does So your ‘collective self,’ a musically-inspired an excellent job at showcasing John’s childhood, and training as a design creative versatility as an artist. The tones are so were the perfect storm of both traits and training that would always have precipitated a immersive, light, yet powerful. For me, it’s an album full of emotion that you can really get Meze Audio. Destiny then. Which begs the next question and brings a close to this part of lost in. the interview. What is Meze’s ethos, its Saint Dymphna by Gang Gang Dance is philosophy? another favorite of mine. Beats from different genres are layered beautifully throughout the To us, it is important that the products we album. It’s a combination of seemingly create stand the test of time and surpass all incompatible elements that collide with each short-living trends. We want them to fulfill not other, creating a unique sound that takes you only functional needs, but also have meaning on an inspiring journey. for the customer, so that they end up using them with the same enthusiasm, over and over Tom Waits’ Closing Time is also impressive. As a again. We have a ‘no compromise’ approach to debut album, it does an amazing job at audio product development, and business revealing to the world the power and decisions and deadlines will always come authenticity that Tom has as an artist. I feel like second to building a product that rises to our each tune perfectly carries you through a highest standards. variety of emotions, making this album one of Tom Waits’ finest works, for me. What is your current reference system or your Khruangbin create this unique blend of soul, best high-end system of all time? Why? rock and psychedelic vibes, they have sort of a

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timelessness that makes them very special. Their album, The Universe Smiles upon You, is a distinctive listen, having a sort of laid-back style that is truly relaxing and inspiring. It works wonders for clearing my mind when I’m feeling stressed. Finally, Des Visages des Figures from Noir Desir has a raw energy and a special flavor of rock that I absolutely love. I find it combines a variety of styles with great vocals and fascinating rhythm, it’s always a pleasure to listen.

Some other must watch, thought-provoking movies, in my opinion, are Andrei Rublev by Tarkovsky, Night on the Galactic Railroad from Gisaburō Sugii, and Fellini’s La Strada. And finally, is there anything that I’ve not covered, that you would like to share or address concerning MEZE Audio? I think what we want people to know about us is that we work really hard to make the world a better place by creating stuff that you want to keep in your life rather than throw away or replace. That’s how simple it is. So, even if sometimes it might seem like we do things backwards or different than other companies, our goal is to ensure that the final result is always worth it, no matter the costs, the risks or the deadlines.

As far as art goes, I can name some of my favorite movies. A simple, but powerful reflection on the human soul, Rashomon by Akira Kurosawa, is an admirable work of art, both for its impressive storyline and the striking visual style. Another favorite of mine is Antonio Meze, thank you for an insightful and Pieta, by Kim Ki-duk, an emotional powerhouse loaded with meaning. To me, it’s a enlightening interview and your time, which is greatly appreciated! AKRM tough but very rewarding movie to watch.

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MEZE ELITE Innovations Meets Musical Excellence By K. E. Heartsong

JANUARY 2022

MEZE ELITE

ortunate. Yess, I count myself fortunate that I have experienced a number of incredible headphones over the past couple of years that have turned my listening world upside down. They have done this by rendering a level of see-through transparency, resolution, and detail—information from the various media (streams, CDs, etc.)—combined with a soulengaging warmth and richness of timbre, tone and texture, that I did not think possible. An epiphany! And three-dimensionality?! Incredible. Though for nearly the entirety of my life, loudspeakers were my go to and all I truly knew. And, yes, there were some incredible loudspeakers in the mix—Avantgarde Acoustics, Magneplanar, Living Voice, Verity, Avalon, Infinity, Quads ESLs, B&W, etc, etc. The loudspeakers all had their own individual voice, their way of being in a room (coupling or not coupling), and the types of music—jazz, blues, rock, grunge, classical, etc. —that they considered their BFFs. They were,

which they stood, and how they were placed respective to each other. A great room, great placement—a rarity—led to good to great sound. The standard, inevitably, was more often than not a horrible to adequate to decent to good room, and sound which paralleled each iteration. When I first came in contact with the Meze Empyrean, I thought it a modern work of art that belonged, easily, in a modern art museum. And I encouraged Antonio Meze to make it so. How would that be for a marketing pitch? “Yes, it’s also in the New York MOMA, the TATE, the CENTRE POMPIDOU.” The design aesthetic of the Meze Empyrean Elite, though it retains the self-same ‘chassis’ as the Empyrean, is of a different aesthetic. Its aesthetic is futuristic, its patinas stark, clean, sci-fi oriented, and quite beautiful. Yes, they are easily discernible in this way from each other, and while some may prefer one aesthetic over the other, I intend to have them both, as I find them both truly gorgeous, but that’s only the beginning! Unwilling to send the Empyrean back to

however, always at the mercy of the room in

Meze after its stellar review, its Diamond Award

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(our highest award classification), and its designation as the Best of the Year Product for 2020, I bought it, as a much needed reference product. I also have the Meze upgrade copper wires in 6.3mm and XLR versions, so as to compare the siblings directly and with the best possible ancillary wires. The question of the moment, of course, is how do they differ in sound? REFRAIN: Unlike most reviews, this review will be non-sequential, as it will start with how the equipment actually sounds and not the process of physically “undressing” it and/or laying out its various accoutrement, specifications, etc. Think of this review then, as a non-linear movie—Memento, Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction, etc—that, likewise, starts at the end and winds its way to the beginning. THE SOUND The major functional design difference between the Meze Empyrean and the new Meze Empyrean Elite is the new Parus® Rinaro Isodynamic Hybrid Array Driver, which is, approximately, thirty percent (30%) lighter than the driver employed in the Empyrean. The driver is, by the way, the equivalent of a speaker or series of speakers, collectively, in a loudspeaker. It is what allows the Meze headphone to make music. Given that this was the main and truly only difference, as sensitivity, the surface area, magnetic field, Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) were all identical, save, again, the new

Parus® driver. In truth, I was a bit skeptical of the magnitude of change to expect. Though keeping to the analogy of a loudspeaker and switching that speaker’s driver for one that was both lighter and faster would, no doubt, make a difference in the resultant sound, would this amount to a significant qualitative difference? I needn’t have been worried at all! There were immediate differences between the Meze Empyrean and the Meze Empyrean Elite that were quite profound! The differences ranged from the rendering of the tip top of the frequency spectrum to the bass at the stygian depths of the Holy-Bass-Head-Grail to the soundstage to transparency and resolution! And the resultant clarity, clarity, clarity was stunning in that it would evoke, from time to time, shades of a quite different headphone technology—electrostatics—and this was completely unexpected and stunning! “This is not the Empyrean,” I would comment to self and sometimes aloud. The Meze Empyrean Elite appeared to pierce the electrostatic sphere time and time again, as its transparency would lay bare microdynamic and spatial cues, air and ambiance, while finely parsing instrumental timbres and textures, together with a natural tonality that I had not believed possible of planar headphones. And then there was its layering and transient speed, the entirety of which separated it clearly from its sibling, and its sibling from its former flagship status, and it itself, to a larger degree, from all other planar headphones.

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MEZE ELITE It all reminded me of the nearly past two The Meze Empyrean Elite was paired, given years and the quite glorious time that I had its pedigree, with a number of extremely spent in the distant and, for many, unexplored capable components. The Enleum AMP-23R world of electrostatic headphones. Often when (review coming), the DENAFRIPS Pontus II, one visits a new, beautiful, gracious and giving the Mola Mola Tambaqui, LTA Z10e, and the land, one does not readily wish to return from PS Audio Perfect Wave SACD Transport and it. However, I’m glad that I have, as there are the PS Audio Direct Stream DAC (review new and exciting things happening in both coming). Additionally, the same music was planar headphones and dynamics headphones as well (see ZMF Atticus review). What is strange, indeed, is how the Empyrean, our Best of the Year component for 2020, when placed in direct comparison to the Empyrean Elite now sounds used to further differentiate between the rather dark, a tad bit closed in, of limited Empyreans Elite and the Empyreans and the soundstage, and truncated at either frequency Rosson Audio RAD-0, which won our Golden boundary. Though those who have not been KeyNote Award for 2020 and was one of several exposed to the Empyrean Elite may well think Best Products of the Year for 2020. of the Empyrean as we did—the Best of the BASS Year for 2020. Things change. The Meze Empyrean’s volumetric cube—its “Sacrificial Dance—The Chosen soundstage—is of immense depth, width, and One” (Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps (The Rite height(!). Holographic, in sum, with exquisite of Spring), Sony Classical) cues and it is potent, layering and positioning and air and space. In powerful, and forbidding. The transients move at tachyon speed—greater than light speed— truth, it seems easily able to encompass the relative to the Empyrean. The stage is massive Empyrean’s soundstage well within its own. And this as the result of a 30% reduction in the with musicians spread across its breadth and into its depth as punctuated by the resounding weight of the driver?! Incredible!

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MEZE ELITE strikes of the assembled tympani. Whereas the Empyrean could, indeed, reach the Holy-BassHead-Grail, the Elite does so with a-matter-offact ease that even surpasses the Rosson Audio RAD-0 and with greater parsing of instrumental timbre across the entire frequency spectrum. If, as I stated, the “Meze Empyrean rumbled powerfully, with great clarity, extension, and detail,” the Meze Empyrean Elite overshadows its efforts,

layering and separation superb. All sit upon a black-quiet background that swallows noise whole. Cymbals and other percussion bear not the slightest hint of glare or glassiness or the “Scchhhccchsss” of poor to non-existent resolution. The resolution via the Elite is exceptional, natural, well articulated. I did not play VOCES8’s “Agnus Dei” (Enchanted Isle, Decca Music Group) in the Empyrean or the RAD-0 reviews, but I have become very familiar with it and have grown quite

enamored of it. “Agnus Dei” now cues. A lone soprano’s voice reaches high for but a moment. She is joined by the seven in a glorious, harmonious and ethereal reading of Samuel Barber’s 1967 choral composition “Agnus Dei” (Lamb of God). Via the Elite this composition is laid bare in all of its captivating beauty, as is the venue which encompasses it. In both instances the Rosson Audio RAD-0 has a beguiling warmth and weight and speed, but it does not have the transparency, nor does it convey the spaciousness of venue, nor the entirely. Does a 30% reduction in the mass of resolution, nor the speed of the Meze the diaphragm make this so? Yes, apparently so. Empyrean Elite. MIDRANGE

TREBLE+

Andy Bey’s “Lush Life” (American Song, Savoy) Jordi Savall’s “Troisième Leçon de Ténèbres à cues and there is an anticipation that I would 2 voix” (François Couperin) (Tous les Matins du not have expected knowing this track so well. Monde, Aliavox) cues, and whereas the voices of But not so well with the Elite. It begins and the Montserrat Figueras and Maria-Christina clarity and the tautness of the plucked bass Kiehr dueled and soared with the Empyrean, moves far beyond simulacrum. Andy’s voice is they lift off now and soar above the stars as rich, resonant, full, and yet there is never their duel continues with the Empyrean Elite. overhang or bloat or a lack of articulation. The The hall itself is now more present than it has stage is wide, deep, the positioning solid, the

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MEZE ELITE ever been, and the soundstage, the envelope of the performance, has taken on greater dimension, air, and space as I listen through the Elite. The Veress: String Trio’s I. Andante & II. Allegro molto (Veress: String Trio & Bartók: Piano Quintet, Alpha) is immediately energetic and a good deal more transparent than with the Empyrean, as the players rap (with knuckles), drum, pluck, and, of course, bow their instruments. Timbre too is a step above with the Meze Empyrean Elite as are

the best on offer. I have come to know this world quite well. That said, I am somewhat bewildered. I had become quite the cynic when it came to that which was not electrostatic, but this has now been corrected and on two occasions! Most recently with the Meze Empyrean Elite and prior to that with the dynamic headphone, the ZMF Atticus, which at moments, however brief and fleeting, showed glimpses of the selfsame electrostatic universe.

spatial cues, the solidity of positioning, layering, and overall clarity. There is much more air present now. The Rosson Audio RAD-0 can, indeed, scale the treble heights and it can beautifully resolve both timbre and tone, but again it cannot keep pace, nor does it have the transparency, nor the resolution, nor does it free the tiny, buried details that the Meze Empyrean Elite so easily and readily frees.

Well, this is easy. Like its sibling, the Meze Empyrean Elite is very highly recommended and we gladly award it our DIAMOND AWARD for excellence in the superb rendering of music via its incredible, electrostatic-like transparency, resolution, and its extraordinary natural musicality.

CONCLUSION

Meze Audio

The Meze Empyrean Elite represents something new. New in that it appears to sit at the crossroads of a hybridized sound and technological profile—planar magnetic as wed to electrostatic. Perhaps the loss of 30% of the driver’s mass was sufficient to couple it to, at the very least, the boundaries of the electrostatic universe. I say this, again, after having been deeply immersed the past two years within the electrostatic universe via a

THE COMPANY Meze Elite ($4000) Iuliu Maniu str., nr. 38, 1st floor, ap. 2, Baia Mare, 430131, Romania info@mezeaudio.com www.mezeaudio.com AKRM

number of electrostatic headphones and electrostatic headphone amplifiers, that were

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PS AUDIO SACD TRANSPORT/DAC Are CD’s Alive, Well, and Thriving? By K. E. Heartsong

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PREVIEW

PS AUDIO

n the US alone between the years 1983 to 2020 approximately 15.1 billion Compact Discs (CDs) were sold. One can only guess in this time how many CDs have been sold worldwide. One hundred billion CDs, perhaps 200 billion across the world? Suffice to say, that there are, literally, hundreds of billions of CDs across the planet, some, do doubt, in landfills, some in deep storage, and some in use. This begs the worldwide question and not just in the US— are CDs dead? The volume alone would say no. And should for some quite horrific reason, which I will not mention here, the internet of all things should be, well, rendered extinct, the media that one call hold in one’s hand will be king. Got albums? CDs? Eight-Tracks (tapes)? I sold my albums at the advent of CDs and it is a decision I have long regretted. And this was made apparent to me by a girlfriend who had held on to her, seemingly, decades old turntable, that put my high-flying digital setup to great shame. A moment I will not soon forget. That was a long time ago and since then it takes a rather expensive turntable to beat a Top-of-the-Line (TOTL) CD player. And the combination of a TOTL transport and DAC raises the stakes, greatly. It may well come to pass that the death of the CD was, perhaps, as exaggerated as the death of vinyl. I have several friends whose CD collections are vast on a scale that few would imagine—10,000, 20,000, 30,000 or more stored in offsite facilities with a matching number of albums or more.

My coming review of the PS Audio PerfectWave SACD Transport ($6,499) and the PS Audio DirectWave DAC ($5,999) will put to the test the hypothesis that there may well be a resurgence, a renaissance of sorts with regard to digital playback via the continuing technological innovation and development of both CD/SACD transports, DACs, and CD payers. Of course, the review will also reveal the technological shift and relative sonic differences between CDs and streaming. Ah, burn-in. The PS Audio PerfectWave CD transport and the PS Audio DirectWave DAC will need to be run for a while before it hits optimum stride and then it will need to be powered and ready to go at any one of the 31,557,600 seconds in a given year. REFRAIN: Unlike most reviews, this review will be non-sequential, as it will start with how the headphones actually sound and not the process of physically “undressing” them and/or laying out their various parts, specifications, etc. Think of this review then, as a non-linear movie—Memento, Kill Bill, Arrival, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, etc—that, likewise, starts at the end and winds its way to the beginning. THE WRAPPINGS AND ACCESSORIES The PS Audio PerfectWave SACD transport comes in a large, nondescript, brown box, with the company’s logotype placed strategically across it.

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DACs, several transports, and in direct The internals of both products are quite comparison to a number ofstreaming solutions unique. There is a suspension assembly of shorts, formed of cardboard and thick plastic that keep both components out of contact with the top and the bottom of the outer box. Beautiful. DESIGN—LOOK AND FEEL Substantive. Elegant. Clean. The PerfectWave SACD transport and the PS Audio DirectWave DAC at 20.5”x 24” x 10” (52cm x 61cm x 25cm) are not diminutive affairs, but neither are they gargantuan. Their rounded-corner, aluminum casings, no doubt, are what ads to their heft and perceived value, which, to me, seems quite high. And their silver incarnation are clean, beautifully laid out in regard to their front and back panels, which set the stage for a great degree of intuitive interaction. They both come in black as well. Their top surfaces seem as if smoked glass as it is very reflective, though upon touch it is a highly polished laminate and it is what lends a nice touch, an elegance to the overall appearance of the transport and DAC. All in all the PerfectWave SACD transport and the PS Audio DirectWave DAC are welldesigned components that are substantive, visually very attractive, and truly user-friendly. COMING…

COMPANY PS AUDIO PS AUDIO PerfectWave SACD Transport ($6499) PS AUDIO DirectWave DAC ($5999) sales@psaudio.com psaudio.com 4865 Sterling Dr. Boulder, CO 80301

In the coming review I will put to the test both 1-800-PSAUDIO the PerfectWave SACD transport and the PS Audio DirectWave DAC, with a number of AKRM

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SIVGA P II A Honey of a Musical Bargain!

By K. E. Heartsong

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JANUARY 2022

SIVGA PII

had done a bit of research on SIVGA and was narrowing down on their various headphones, but wanted to know more than was written across their website. Also I wanted to know which might be the headphone best reflective of SIVGA. Enter Collin Yang, one of the most patient and kind manufacturers that I have exchanged emails with over the vastness of the space between us. Though in many respects it is a much smaller world now than it has ever been. However, when Collin suggested a $399 planar magnetic headphone?! Of course my first response was, “And what does it sound like? @#*&%, of course!” Or so I thought. When the SIVGA PII arrived, I was intrigued. It certainly did not look like a $399 planar headphone with its Black Walnut earcups and with a beautiful form-fitting, leather carrying case. “Wow,” in muted tones was my immediate response. With the reviewing schedule that loomed ahead, it would be several weeks before I could get to them, which in the end would work well for the both of us, as the SIVGA’s PII’s price point would fulfill one of our primary directives. And that directive is to bring products to light and, of course, to our audience, who consider economy—careful, thrifty management of resources—most important in the use of their discretionary income. REFRAIN: Again, unlike most reviews, this review will be non-sequential, as it will start with how the headphones actually sound and

not the process of physically “undressing” them and/or laying out their various parts, specifications, design aesthetic, etc (though that will come later). Think of this review then, as a non-linear movie—Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Irreversible (though

incredibly troubling), Amores Perros, etc—that, likewise, starts at the end and winds its way to the beginning. THE SOUND I do not know if the SIVGA PII had been broken in prior to receipt so I ran music through them for approximately 100 hours before any critical listening took place. When I began to critically listen to the PII it was clear that this was a planar that, indeed, rendered music far above its pricing and acquitted itself beautifully on a range of musical genres. And it was put to the test across a period of several weeks and numerous genres, so as to tease out every last bit of what the SIVGA PII had to offer.

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The PII’s volumetric cube—sound stage— is of good size, given its open-back nature. Its right to left width is better than average, certainly, for its price point, and its layering, separation, and positioning are all quite good. At times, a bit of the holographic nature of the soundstage buoys the music. The soundstage depth is middling, not shallow, but also not very deep. The SIVGA PII was allied to the AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt, the Shanling M8, and the Astell&Kern SE180. Its low impedance (32 Ohms) and its fairly good efficiency 98dB made them very easy to drive, BASS Eiji Oue’s V. Infernal Dance of King Kashchey (Stravinsky, Reference Recording) begins and the initial mallet strikes against the assembled tympani are impactful and potent, though there is an absence of sub-bass rumble via the Astell&Kern SE180 and all other accompanying players. Though in and of itself, the Astell&Kern SE180 packs quite the bass

wallop! The PII can, indeed, go relatively deep into the bass region, but it cannot grasp the Holy-Bass-Head-Grail. Though this is often a task too great for many planars several times its price! The SIVGA PII are, however, rather quick in terms of their transient response and while there is quite good clarity it is not of the searchlight variety of its more pricey brethren. There is a richness and warmth, however, which is wonderfully engaging. MIDRANGE The midrange, however, is where one finds gold in the SIVGA PII. This is where its warmth and richness really come together, in the rendering of vocals in a rather sublime and addictive manner, regardless of whether female or male. Whether Joan Shelley’s “Wild Indifference” (Joan Shelley, No Quarter) or Andy Bey’s “Angel Eyes” (American Song, Savoy) or London Grammar’s “If You Wait” (If You Wait, Columbia) the results were a well fleshed out vocal, replete with texture, wonderful articulation, and beautiful

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SIVGA PII musicality. And at times the earlier referred to holography (“If You Wait”) was readily available.

of the market with bling leading far in advance of musical substance or aesthetic. This is its opposite and deserved of a Bravo, in this respect. TREBLE+ Though the PII will not reach to the The Kronos Quartet’s “Aaj Ki Raat”—Tonight stygian depths of the Holy-Bass-Head-Grail, is the Night—(Kronos Caravan, Nonsuch) cues nor scale to the treble heights of Mt. Olympus and the triangle sounds both clear and distinct. and beyond, in that area, that space between There is good transient speed between the the two, it will engage, entertain, communicate, interplay of and beautifully work its magic to convincingly Hindustani state, “that my price point does not describe tabla, my level of musical skill, nor ability.” And in Lebanese this it will have spoken the truth. nay, Iranian I recommend, highly, the SIVGA PII to kemancheh, those who seek to enter the planar magnetic and the headphone world, who seek to rediscover the violins, warmth and beauty of their music! viola, and cello of the THE COMPANY Kronos SIVGA Quartet. The treble extension of the PII is quite good SIVGA PII ($399) and though it does not scale to the Olympian heights of the expensive planars, what it brings Dongguan SIVGA Electronic Technology CO.,LTD. is sweet, detailed, imbued with air and it is never sibilant or harsh or strident. One will be able to enjoy long listening sessions with the SIVGA PII.

Jinfu 2nd Road, Tangchun Village, Liaobu Town, Dongguan, Guangdong, China, 523000

CONCLUSION The SIVGA PII is beautifully designed. Its Black Walnut earcups speak to both the effort and energy to make this so, and on this its designers should be congratulated. This is no plasticky, quick fix to corner a particular sector

Building NO.1, Juhui E Valley

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JOAN OF AUDIO By Rain Jordan

n the Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu says it most concisely, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” Thus, any small step we take toward something that truly calls or inspires us, regardless of how daunting or unusual it appears, holds the potential to bring us closer to what we long for. Enter Joan of Audio. A column that journals the adventure, the steps (and missteps) that catapulted me, a youngish inexpert woman, into the daunting domain of high-end audio almost 20 years ago. And, in one way or another, continues to call and inspire me.

makes it possible to hear recorded music in the most authentic and natural way possible, part of its aim is to make this thing we call “high-end audio” more accessible to women.

Although this column is mostly written for music lovers, and for the audio technology that

Secondly, there are so few women who venture into the world of audio. High-end

Why women? Well, there are many reasons, one being that women sing, write, play and compose some of the most beautiful music in the world and have been doing so for ages (Hildegard von Bingen, Francesca Caccini, Maria Callas, Patsy Cline, Joni Mitchell, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, Sara McLachlan, Emmylou Harris, Whitney Houston, Adele to name just a few).

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It is, perhaps, the most incredible, if not the best IEM that I have ever had the opportunity to review, let alone listen to. —Kermit Heartsong, AudioKeyReviews.com

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JOAN OF AUDIO audio presents itself through the lens of the masculine, which is certainly understandable since it is mostly men who so brilliantly design and manufacture the components. However, so many more women would be attracted to highend audio if the presentation also spoke to feminine sensibilities. If we could remove the barriers that come from a tendency to hyperfocus on the technical aspects and the design of the component alone without the

notes and, while listening, try to identify each musician and the instruments they played in each of their songs. Every month I would decide that a particular musician or instrument was my absolute favorite. The gifts that music imparted weaved new energies into my young life, lending direction and offering belonging. Music became my mainstay, my steady companion, my wayshower.

context or the purpose, and if we could consider both men and women when designing audio components just a bit more, women may feel there is something for them here.

end audio was a new friend I met rather serendipitously at a live music event at our church. We quickly learned that we both loved music and art. I invited him over to my place to listen to music. I had a wide-ranging music collection, but unwittingly was listening to music on a system that was two steps above the kind of stereo system you’d buy in a box from an electronics store or a Costco. Once my friend arrived, he carefully surveyed my CD collection choosing music he was familiar with. After we listened to a couple of CDs, I suggested we play the new Pat Metheny and Charlie Haden collaboration, Beyond the

Lastly, as a woman who had no real experience or formal training in music or audio, I have been graced with the fortune to listen to music on countless high-end audio systems, whose price tags ranged from just a few hundred dollars well into six figure territory, for close to twenty years. I think I can hold up my Bic lighter and illuminate the way.

The person who introduced me to high-

My introduction to high-end audio was akin to meeting a soulmate, like something that Missouri Sky. It would be great to hear it together for the first time and share our had been waiting for me forever. impressions. I lowered the lights a little, we got Since I was a child, I loved music. It was a refuge from the turmoil and deep loneliness I comfortable, and listened to the entirety of the CD in complete silence. When it was over, he felt growing up in a fractured and hostile slowly got up, took the CD out of the player household. I had a cheap record player in my and put it back in its case. He sat down and room and a pair of headphones that were much too big for a girl’s small head. I’d stay up handed it back to me. many late nights listening to albums, getting lost in the world of music. I’d study the liner

“Well, what do you think?” I asked.

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JOAN OF AUDIO “It’s a beautiful piece,” he replied. “I can feel your kinship to the music. I think you should hear it on a high-end audio system. A system that would truly reveal the artistry and beauty of the recording.” “Okay,” I said, “how would I do that?” “Come to my place this weekend. And bring Missouri Sky,” he said.

He kept it simple, and I didn’t venture to ask about wires or power conditioners, etc, but I noticed them. I also noticed the spectacular turntable on the top shelf of the rack, a work of art on its own, but I figured he’d get to it later. “The system is all warmed up, so it’s ready when you are,” he said.

“Great,” I replied, making a mental note So that’s what I did. Beyond the Missouri Sky that a high-end audio system apparently in hand, along with a few other gems, I headed needed warming up. That makes sense, I thought. “I think I’m ready,” I said. to his home. I recall feeling curious, excited, He carefully placed the Missouri Sky CD but also apprehensive. I knew nothing about high-end audio. The day before, I had picked up a popular audio magazine to get a glimpse of what I might encounter. As I thumbed through the pages, I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of components needed to make up a system. There were pre-amplifiers, amplifiers, power conditioners, phono-stages, different kinds of CD players, turntables, cartridges, wires, interconnects, solid state amplification vs. tubed amplification, a barrage of technical specifications, etc. I honestly didn’t know if I wanted to go down this rabbit hole. When I arrived at his apartment, I noticed the simplicity of his furnishings, a kind of minimalist feel. In the living room he had a few leather chairs, one enormous modern painting on the wall, and his audio system. He described the systems that would be playing the music, from CD player to amplifier to speakers.

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into his CD player. We sat down and he pushed play on the remote. The music started. Less than three seconds into the song I was struck by the physical, tactile energy I felt throughout my body. The volume was not particularly loud, but the music was palpable. Along with that palpability came an unmistakable emotive quality. I felt it in my heart, like a child feels in the backseat of a car when it drives over a dip in the road, a subtle but clear excitement. As the music played, I could sense the musicians’ presence, their instruments in front of me, each in a particular place in the room. Pat Metheny and his guitar were in the front on the right, Charlie Haden’s upright bass on the left, a little further behind. Each detail was present, audible, the breath, the sound of the fingers on the strings, the weight of the instruments, the space in between them. The level of dimensionality was stunning. I was

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entranced. The stereo components, even the speakers, seemed to disappear. It truly felt live. The last three tracks brought me to tears. If you’ve heard Missouri Sky, you know it’s like a homage to beauty, to nature, to the sense of home, to the Missouri sky. I couldn’t say much after the CD ended. It was obvious I was affected by the music, and I needed a little time to come back from the experience. When I did come back and opened my eyes, I could see that my friend had a deep inner smile. He had the look of a contented buddha. All I knew in that moment, without question, was that the experience I just had was something I needed

in my life. All I could say to my friend was “where do I go to get a system like this… within my budget?” Even in the midst of nirvana I have a very practical side. And so, my journey into the world of highend audio began. Meeting my friend was indeed serendipitous and it continues to be so. Thus, it wouldn’t be a proper telling without mentioning that that deep inner smile of the contented buddha belonged to none other than the music whisperer Kermit Heartsong, Editor-in Chief of the magazine that you are reading. And yes, that is his real last name. AKRM

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VID EO CO MPO NEN T SHORT & SWEET REVIEWS

elcome to AudioKeyREVIEWS! Magazine’s video component review, our first. In this respect, we ask for your patience as we feel

things out and adjust to the tenor of the ‘video reviewing’ times. That said, we will approach the reviews from a perspective of brevity, efficiency, and, as always, getting to the dessert of the review—the sound—as quickly as possible. The various reviews will include products of all types—speakers, DACs, amplifiers, preamplifiers, headphones, IEMs, portable audio, etc.—and from manufacturers across the wide world. And in holding with our review philosophy, if a given component does not review well, rather than flame it or write a bad review we will return it to its manufacturer with the caveat, that, perhaps, our system synergy was not able to show it in its best light, or our quite subjective criteria was not met. And nary will a negative word be said against it. There is far too much negativity in the world and we do not wish to contribute to it. The reviews, in general, will be no longer than 5 minutes, as it is not about us but the product under review. Please do see our written component reviews for more detail.

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ZMF ATTICUS A Brilliantly Musical, Beautifully Crafted Jewel! By K. E. Heartsong

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es, it was the warmth, the beguiling nature of the music that flowed from the systems of our parents or grandparents, or even great grandparents, that wed many of us to this art called audio or HiFi. Music flowed freely from turntables, tubed components, efficient speakers, and later reelto-reel players, etc. and it was rapturous, and many of us remain married to audio to this day for that very reason. Perhaps for some it represents one of the longest relationships of their lives. Neutral? It was not a term I had ever heard in my youth. Neutral, as it has come to mean for some, bereft of warmth, suffused with detail and transparency, and supposedly true to the event. Well, I have never been to a “neutral” musical event, as there was always warmth and engagement. As for being exposed to and listening to music in my youth, I am and remain very grateful. My experiences with music, from jazz to folk to rock to, eventually, classical as a young man, were always filled with experiences that spoke to heart and soul, to body and feet. I was quite the dancer. Perhaps there’s still a bit of that dancer left. I know that neutral would not have brought me or my feet and body to life as warmth did and continues to do. So thanks mom for that Garrard turntable, that Yamaha receiver, those unmemorable, homemade speakers, made by a cousin, and the many jazz and blues and soul and rock

And into my life steps the ZMF Atticus, and with them smiles and fond remembrances and chair dancing, then dancing, and even singing returns. “Can a headphone do this,” you ask? Absolutely! What then about the ZMF Atticus headphones (their name made real to me by the character of the book and then the movie To Kill a Mocking Bird —Atticus Finch)? They are a true revelation. I asked Betty and Zach for the Who, What,

When, Where, and Why of ZMF and their response, graciously provided, is below:

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“We are a husband and wife team. Zach, my husband, began ZMF as a hobby business modding T50RP headphones. Since that time we have slowly grown over the years and now create completely proprietary headphones (not mods). We have a workshop in Berwyn, IL where we work with our team of highly trained technicians to produce our 6 models that are centered around 3 different driver materials (an open and closed headphone

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for each). Our passion for wood came from owning, building, and playing acoustic instruments and a desire to translate that experience of pride of ownership, heirloom construction, and the exciting properties of wood ( namely density) into our headphone builds.”

experience is, for some very brief moments, hauntingly reminiscent of an electrostatic headphone. And this for a dynamic headphone is a great and yet a rather perplexing feat. How can this be? Associated gear? Hmmmm…? It is often thought that a headphone which embraces a warmth, perhaps analogous to Frederic Leighton’s “Flaming June” painting, is From the time I received the ZMF Atticus, bereft of transparency, unable to resolve fine across the process of its review to completion, detail or to find and lift from their deep to finding out more about Betty, Zach and burrows the myriad microdynamic and spatial ZMF, well, I’ve become a huge fan. A fan of cues that coalesce to make music real. The their old school ways of “built-to-last, highAtticus proves this a fallacy, a canard, an old quality workmanship, their abiding concern for wives’ tale, as it does just that. the customer, their passion for the music, and I listened to, literally, every genre of music the ethos which wraps this all in a beautiful, that I could with the Atticus, all of which it old-school envelope of integrity. served well, and it never failed to evoke chairREFRAIN: Unlike most reviews, this review dancing, soulful reflection, remembered will be non-sequential, as it will start with how moments of treasured first listenings—Miles, the equipment actually sounds and not the Cat Stevens, Donny Hathaway, Coltrane, Monk, process of physically “undressing” it and/or the Beatles, Archie Shepp, Nina, Jefferson laying out its various accoutrement, Airplane, War, etc. The Atticus brought it all specifications, etc. Think of this review then, as and then grabbed me by the collar and made a non-linear movie—Memento, Kill Bill, Pulp me listen! I would sit and listen for hours Fiction, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless unable to take notes, which unfortunately Mind, The Queen’s Gambit, In the Shadow of stacked up the review queue weeks away from the Moon, etc—that, likewise, starts at the end the magazine’s deadline. Drats! But in a very and winds its way to the beginning. good way, as every single moment with the Atticus was enjoyable! Every. Single. Moment. SOUND This in and of itself is an astonishingly rare experience, as I believed myself cynical and There is a tactile realism that the Atticus jaded with regard to dynamic headphones. Not conjures and a wondrous transparency that so apparently. lifts detail across broad swaths of recorded If you like opera or choral or jazz or blues music. Add to this a seductive warmth and an or rock or any genre, really, don’t expect to energetic, chair-dancing character and the

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ZMF ATTICUS listen with the ZMF Atticus and do or AntiCables. Power conditioning was handled concentrate on anything else but the music. I by the AudioQuest. listen, as I attempt to write, to Archie Shepp’s BASS Left Alone Revisited and I’m trying to remember Thunderous. Impactful. Startling. Propulsive. when the texture of his horn was this real, The sub-bass of the Atticus resounds natural, this close, this three-dimensional. powerfully with a weight and gravitas and Electrostats! rumble that I could not have anticipated, given Blown away! Yep, this about sums up my my prior research. And never does its potent experience with the ZMF Atticus from bass cast a shadow over resolution or clarity or beginning to end, or in other words— detail. Dramatic are the massed tympani across unerringly musical, incredibly transparent, Eiji Oue’s V. Infernal Dance of King able to resolve detail with one pass, with a Kashchey (Stravinsky, Reference Recording), as richness and saturation of tone/timbre that brought to life music from sunup to sundown. Kudos to the engineer/designer! The ZMF’s volumetric cube—sound stage —is vast and encompassing and yet it can be very intimate when called to be so. The Atticus’ sound-staging, its front to back layering, its right to left imaging/positioning, its separation are spectacular! This is yet another aspect for which the Atticus seemed to touch down, if but for a moment, on the far boundaries of electrostatic headphones. Far more expensive dynamic and planar headphones have been unable to compete with the Atticus on this metric! Amazing! The ZMF Atticus was partnered with the Enleum AMP-23R (review coming) as aligned to the DENAFRIPS Pontus II and a MacBook Pro, the Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC as a balanced headphone amplifier, and the Astell&Kern SE180 DAP. Cabling was

they thunder in on cue to punctuate this movement time and time again. The Atticus was easily able to reach the Holy-Bass-HeadGrail, though there is little doubt that the DENAFRIPS Pontus II and the Enleum AMP-23R and the AntiCables wires were all complicit in this achievement. The importance of component matching. Enter Christian McBride’s “Fat Bach and Greens” (Conversation with Christian, Mack Avenue Records) and it’s on! Bass and violin conspire in a rip-roaring ruckus, that pit Jazz and Classical in a dichotomous dance of call-and-response. The Atticus is a deft operator at portraying this dance of bass and violin as a natural, beautifully resolved, and energetically motivating, toe-tapping frolic. MIDRANGE Natural. Corporeal. Center-Forward. Icelandic Poet Einar Georg Einarsson of Olafur Arnalds’ “Árbakkinn” (Island Songs, Mercury

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ZMF ATTICUS (Universal France)) is less than several feet away as he recites, and it has rarely been more real and less a simulacrum, as the weight and richness of his baritone voice are truly corporeal. Yes, there is warmth and gorgeously so. It is a warmth that would have resonated well with our parents and our grandparents as something very familiar, tactile. And the birds, who sing directly outside of the performance studio, that can sometimes be heard at the very beginning of the song though often not (equipment dependent), are present and well resolved and clear. Olafur’s piano is rich, textured, resonant, and though there is good weight to its notes the resolution is superb, and never does it diminish the clarity of the violins or the cello or the viola. Yes, the Atticus brings a richness of note and tone and a fleshing out of texture that is glorious, and yet, it is supported by a foundational transparency that allows for wondrous detail. Voices8 “Prayer to a Guardian Angel” (Lux, Decca) cues and the

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and time again.

an immensity of soundstage second to very,

Vilda Frang’s “Allegro Molto” (Veress: String Trio - Bartók: Piano Quintet, Alpha) is energetic, visceral, and wonderfully textured via the Atticus. It is also dynamic, with a cat-like transient quickness that darts from knuckle raps to plucks to drumming upon violin or cello to bowing, with tone/timbre and resolution intact and true. Speaking of tone and timbre they were consistently quite delicious, supremely satisfying with the Atticus in tow. On this track the width and depth and positioning across the soundstage was outstanding, as constructed by exceptional detail retrieval, an ocean of microdynamic cues, and a ‘refined nuance,’ an ease, if you will, that stood simulacrum on its head in favor of a decidedly corporeal presentation. On Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five” (Time Out, Columbia-

Legacy) the resolution and pristine clarity of the drums, cymbals and the air about them was Top-of-the-Line (TOTL) phenomenal! There soundstage is vast and transparent, offering was no “schhhhhchh” posing as the sound of both great clarity and emotion. The timbre of cymbals but the real thing, while drumsticks, the harp leaves no guesswork, as can drum-skins, and kick drum brought forth the sometimes be the case with a less than tonal resonances of surface tension as well as proficient system or set of headphones. The the sound waves traveling within the sealed voices of the choir are distinct, engaging, and it drums. And there was always an energy, a is apparent that the ZMF Atticus is itself in vibrancy to the music when such was called love with the human voice, so extraordinary is for. Outstanding! its portrayal. The Atticus might well be the CONCLUSION combination of several previously reviewed headphones, so apt is it at pressing all of the Absolutely gorgeous in aesthetic, prodigiously triggers of an outstanding performance, time musical, mesmerizingly transparent, offering

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very few. And then there is its beguiling camphor wood aroma, that rises from its hardened Seahorse case that entrances the senses. The collective experience is, perhaps, what sailors might have encountered in their ensnarement as they listened to the otherworldly voices of the Sirens en route to home or plunder. In this case, however, one is not lured to the sharp, jutting rocks, and to one’s doom. Instead, there is an undeniable bliss that music lovers will find compelling in a rather magical, profound, and otherworldly way. The Atticus represents an adventure that must be experienced. Must. I had heard and read good things about the ZMF Atticus, but I was not prepared for what actually transpired, the music that was rendered, the visual aesthetic and aromatic experience. Perhaps being so long in the electrostatic camp left me cynical of all things not electrostatic. The ZMF Atticus has served as the perfect cure to that cynicism. The Atticus, undeniably, plays to the skill and abilities of its partnering components. Partner it with a Top-of-the-Line DAC, headphone amplifier, integrated (as I did), and it will stand toe to toe with all comers and exhibit skills and abilities more closely related to another type of headphone altogether. Should you, however, partner the Atticus with lesser components, what you will hear are the limitations of those components and not the Atticus. Though even in this respect it will lift all boats.

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The ZMF Atticus represents not only the lowest priced headphone but the lowest priced component to receive our GoldenKey Note Award, not that price should ever be a determining factor. Nonetheless, this is direct testament to its incredible value, relative to far more expensive headphones, and its ability to thoroughly deliver all that is required for one to absolutely and thoroughly enjoy one’s musical fare. Bravo! THE COMPANY ZMF ZMF Atticus ($1099.99) www.zmfheadphones.com contactZMF@gmail.com AKRM

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ENLEUM AMP-23R Transparent, Detailed, Sublimely Musical

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By K. E. Heartsong

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nleum is a new company founded by Soo In Chae, whose prior company, Bakoon developed products that were lauded across the world. The Bakoon AMP-13R was one of our Diamond Award

Enleum AMP-23R—that I found very intriguing. The world Enleum, by the way, represents the synergistic coupling of “Enlightenment” and the Korean word “Eum,” which means “sound” or “note.”

winners and one of the Best Products of the Year for 2021. The Enleum AMP-23R ($5000) represents Enleum’s first official product. And given my time with it, my observations on this first product reveal some quite compelling things about this first Enleum product. As I wrote in an earlier posting on the Enleum AMP-23R in a preview: “Several months ago when Soo In Chae, via very cryptic emails, alerted me to the fact that something new would soon be debuting, something even better than the Bakoon AMP-13R, I was very interested. Shortly thereafter, Soo In Chae sent the

Soo In Chae also noted that all the performance benchmarks set by the Bakoon AMP-13R had been surpassed by the new integrated amplifier. My question, “So when do I receive my review sample?” I was told by Soo In that I would receive my sample of the Enleum AMP-23R prior to the debut of the AudioKeyREVIEWS! Magazine, with sufficient time to write a fullblown review. Well, the best laid plans, in this instance, had succumb to the time constraints of reality. While the new amp did arrive prior to the magazine’s debut, there was hardly enough time to do a full review.”

very first pictures of the new amplifier—

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This then is the full review of Soo In Chae’s brand-spanking new product. One other thing that I had mentioned in that preview: “If the Bakoon AMP-13R has, indeed, been bettered either marginally or significantly by the Enleum AMP-23R, then I will absolutely reveal those details in my upcoming review.” And now with more than enough time to review the AMP-23R for this issue of AudioKeyREVIEWS! Magazine, I have discovered a rather compelling outcome. Is the Enleum AMP-23R better? REFRAIN: Unlike most reviews, this review will be non-sequential, as it will start with how the equipment actually sounds and not the process of physically “undressing” it and/or laying out its various accoutrement, specifications, etc. Think of this review then, as a non-linear movie—Memento, Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Queen’s Gambit, In the Shadow of the Moon, etc—that, likewise, starts at the end and winds its way to the beginning. SOUND The Enleum AMP-23R for the purposes of this review was used as a headphone amplifier only and was never connected to speakers. Like its predecessor, the Enleum AMP-23R drove every headphone—dynamic, planar—attached to it beautifully, while lifting their performance across the board, as if lifting all boats!

Transparent. Highly resolving. Natural. Sweetly Musical. Well, yes, the Enleum AMP-23R is better, decidedly. It is even more transparent and more resolving than its predecessor and yet it offers up a naturalness and a sun-kissed musicality that will have you listening all day long. This was true for me on a great many occasions, as the AMP-23R is in many ways an exceptional reference component, as it easily ferrets out the ability of a host of other components—DACs, transports, streamers, headphones, etc. The Enleum AMP-23R also had more gravitas, more weight across the entirety of the frequency spectrum, than its predecessor, even as it looked more closely in on details, spatial cues and subsequently freed them, time and time again. Though a number of other components were unable to see these details, spatial cues and the air that suffused them at all. Perhaps it was the black-quiet background that made stark and easily observable all that belonged to the music and all that did not— noise. Until you’ve heard a component so adept at rendering critical details, while banishing noise, your music will always remain completely unknown to you, regardless of the decades held in your possession. I know this as truth, as it has consistently happened to me via all manner of exceptional components and now with the Enleum AMP-23R. Shirley Horn, Dave Brubeck, Stevie Wonder, Eiji Oue, Dexter Gordon, Miles Davis, Hilary Hahn, Pat Metheny, Vilde Frang, and many others became

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better known to me, as they and their performances were revealed, easily, effortlessly, via the AMP-23R as they had never been before. Did I mention the rich, holographic, analog-like rendering, the at-ease parsing of timbral shadings across the entirety of the frequency range? Yes, these things too were integral to the performance of the Enleum AMP-23R and it excelled at this. The Enleum AMP-23R’s volumetric cube— sound stage—is immense, ethereal, blackquiet, intimate, whatever and whenever it is called to be so. Positioning, separation, layering were exemplary and at its price point there are few peers! The Enleum AMP-23R was partnered with the ROON Nucleus Plus Streamer, the Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC and the DENAFRIPS Pontus II DAC. The headphones used were the Meze Empyrean Elite, the Meze Empyrean, the

Cabling was AntiCables. Power conditioning was handled by TORUS RM20.

Rosson Audio RAD-0, and the ZMF Atticus.

organic wholeness, that is tighter, more

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BASS Eiji Oue’s rendition of Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite (1919 version): V. Infernal Dance of King Kashchey (Stravinsky, Reference Recordings) begins and the opening tympani strikes are foundational! Foundational in that one might well be able to build a multi-story apartment building upon the potency of the massed tympani strikes (of which I’m told there were seven for this piece). And yet the transparency, the resolution, the resurrection of fine detail, as a lone triangle sounds and then diminishes and as an ominous rumble precedes formidable mallet strikes upon stretched tympani skins. While the AMP-13R also acquitted itself well in this respect, the Enleum AMP-23R moves past it, in all respects. There is in this symphony hall, via the AMP-23R, an

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ENLEUM AMP-23R palpable, more forbidding, more revealing than MIDRANGE was the case with its predecessor. And the air, As I wrote of the next piece of music in the the spatial cues, the depth and width and Bakoon AMP-13R review: height of the soundstage are a good deal more voluminous. My notes on the Bakoon “One of my favorite albums, for those AMP-13R were very detailed and quite who’ve not read any of my other reviews, specific, as was the resulting writeup, yet is Olafur Arnalds Island Songs. It is collectively I did not witness/hear what I am poignant, engaging, beautifully orchestrated, and very well recorded. On the track “Árbakkinn” (the Riverbank) Icelandic poet, Einar Georg Einarsson, recites a poem in his native language and despite the fact that I do not understand a word (though I’ve subsequently found its translation), the poem and the music are incredibly captivating.” The Enleum AMP-23R lays this track even more exposed than its predecessor and it does this in a way that does not shed a sand pebble of its richness and its natural and engaging musical beauty. On the contrary, the AMP-23R does that rarest of things—it frees copious amounts of detail, spatial cues, fine timbral shadings, made easy in some respects from the black-quiet background that it generates. A black-quiet background that serves as the encompassing universe of the music, which allows the AMP-23R to lift detail, like it is picking pearls, clearly now experiencing across the very same music. I exposed, from an ebony tabletop. Einar’s have just virtually attended the Minnesota Symphony, which, by the way, is less than 200 recitation on “Árbakkinn” (Island Songs, feet from my current apartment. Bravo! Bravo! Mercury KX) is tangible, palpable, real, as the birds serenade Einar from outside of the

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ENLEUM AMP-23R studio and from the very beginning of this song. Only the most transparent components can resolve the birds from the very beginning —00.04 seconds—of this track. The Enleum does this easily and in stride and without a care in the world. Bravo! TREBLE+

weight, palpability, and a wonderful, distinct timbre. The Quartet’s first violin enters and is then joined by the mix of violin and cellos as they float high above the mix, spacious and vibrant and more real. The decay of notes is natural/organic as they beautifully diminish. The Enleum captures the interplay, the swift transients and dynamic shifts, the decay of

Kronos Quartet’s “Aaj Ki Raat”—Tonight is the notes, and holds them all in a refined, organic Night—(Kronos Caravan, Nonsuch) cues for mix, free of stridency, harshness, or sibilance. play. The very first thing noticed is the greater Bravo! width and depth of the soundstage. “Aaj Ki Raat” is an ingathering of exotic instruments— Hindustani tabla, Lebanese nay, Iranian kemancheh—as well as the Kronos Quartet’s more traditional instruments—violins, viola, cello. A lone triangle sounds with great resolution and clarity. Ustad Zakir Hussain’s tabla then beautifully anchors the piece with

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CONCLUSION The Enleum AMP-23R like the AMP-13R before it utilizes the shortest of signal paths, optimized parts, EXICON MOSFETS, and a separate ADC and DAC. Yet the Enleum AMP-23R goes a step further with the

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implementation of the Ensence Circuit—a “new and advanced PCB” architecture which “employs all discrete transistors with zero negative feedback and an ultra-fast and ultrawide frequency response.” Can exacting, yet minute changes make a world of difference in the sound of a given component? Yes, and the results, in this instance, are stunning! Soo In Chae has been on to something and in his latest iteration he moves his creation ever closer to perfection in small, measured, short-signal-path steps. The Enleum AMP-23R, in its current iteration, thus allows the signal to flow free of both additive and subtractive elements and in this sense it, Enleum AMP-23R, achieves what a good many other components attempt to do but do not. And it does it with the sweetest kiss of richness in a true Ying/Yang duality. If headphones are your domain, the AMP-23R may well move beyond any solid state headphone amplifier in terms of its “sound” and with 4 watts on tap, even the Grandmother of inefficient headphones (they know who they are) will find themselves sailing along with great ease, and you with great enjoyment of them. If loudspeakers are your domain, then you will first need efficient speakers (90dB+) as the Enleum AMP-23R’s 25 watts, in this event, may not power the monstrously inefficient loudspeakers. But for those speakers that comply, and this is an assessment based upon many decades of listening experience (as I did

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not connect it to speakers) and the proper ancillary equipment, I believe a lifetime of happiness awaits from this diminutive gray/ black beauty.

The Enleum AMP-23R, also like its predecessor, is a form-follows-function, minimalist, pragmatic, industrially-designed component, that is exceptionally transparent, natural, superbly musical, and fantastically involving. The Enleum AMP-23R is our latest DIAMOND AWARD WINNER and very, very highly recommended! THE COMPANY Enleum Enleum AMP-23R ($5,500) Enleum www.enleum.com info@enleum.com AKRM

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LL2.1 DELUXE LL2.1 DELUXE

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QUITE SIMPLY...THE WORLD'S BEST AUDIO ELECTRONICS JANUARY 2022

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SONNET AUDIO MORPHEUS DAC WITH HERMES DIGITAL BRIDGE By Andre Marc

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etrum Acoustics. I was previously highly impressed by Metrum products. Ruijtenberg is now responsible for the designs at Sonnet Digital Audio, and the Morpheus DAC, under review here, is what one would call the evolution of his previous designs. What is that approach? It is a R2R nonoversampling design. The Morpheus uses four

perfect volume adjustments, with output directly to a power amplifier, and no need for a preamplifier. Of course, this sonically purer path would preclude any other source components. The fully balanced DAC has both XLR and RCA analog outputs. The Morpheus retails for $3399. There are several digital inputs, including optical, coaxial, AES/EBU, and most

proprietary SDA-2 ladder DAC modules, a deuce per channel. Everything works together by custom written code running on an FPGA. Each SDA-2 module contains four resistor ladders, all told, a total of sixteen, which doubles the amount used by previous Metrum products. The design and build of the Morpheus are very appealing, and the back panel connectors look to be of high quality. The Morpheus also includes a very well made metal remote, and volume control via variable voltage directly from the DAC chips. No digital attenuation! This method insures bit

interestingly, a choice of either USB or I2S. The I2S is via an RJ45 jack, instead of the more common HDMI connection. Our sample unit indeed did come with the I2S input instead of USB. The I2S option makes much more sense if using the Sonnet Morpheus Digital Bridge, a ROON compatible streamer, which we also received with the Morpheus. Of note, the only limitation of an R2R DAC design is there is no DSD decoding. The Hermes, priced at $1200, is about two thirds the size of the Morpheus, and shares the latter’s high class build and appearance. It

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SONNET MORPHEUS & HERMES offers optical, coaxial, and the aforementioned 12S output. If purchasing the Hermes streamer with the Morpheus DAC, ordering the I2S option on the Morpheus makes the most sense. The Hermes is most interesting in that it allows adept users to swap out operating systems via a removable SD Card. An Ethernet jack connects to your network, and then all that is left to do is connect the DAC, and then enable the Hermes on ROON as an endpoint.

digital downloads on G-Tech hard drives. After plugging everything in, the only thing left to do was pick up my iPad Air and select music. We first ran through all of the Beatles remixes, beautifully done by Gilles Martin, the son of the late, great George Martin. First up was the 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of “Let It Be”,

SET UP & LISTENING: I set up the Sonnet pair in a system consisting of a Schiit Freya + preamp, an Audio Research VS55 power amp, and Spendor S3/5R monitors. Rob Fritz of Audio Art Cable, the US importer for Sonnet, was kind enough to send his rhodium plated power1 e Cryo power cords, and a 1 Meter length of his Audio Art Cable AAC IC-3 e2 Cryo Interconnects, power cords, and a 1 Meter length of his Audio Art Cable AAC IC-3 SE2 Interconnects. I have ROON running on an M1 Mac Mini, and a large amount of CD rips and Hi-Res

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with the original album remixed at 96 Khz from the original multi track tapes, and scores of alternate takes, unreleased songs, and the original Glyn Johns 1969 mixes. All told, a thrilling package. The Sonnet pair immediately let me know they were sonically top shelf. All of the nuances that Gilles Martin brought to these new mixes, and his superb balancing act of keeping true to the originals yet improving the

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fidelity, came through. It was a joy to hear the title track, along with “The Two Of Us”, “Dig A Pony”, and “I Me Mine” with such precision, and provided further proof of just how good the Beatles were as a band. I went on to have the same experiences with the Sgt. Pepper’s, White Album, and Abbey

48 Khz resolution, was a sonic spectacular via the Sonnet stack. These reinterpretations of Ashcroft’s songs that appeared on both his solo albums and his work with The Verve are less adorned, with more of a “live” feel. None of these versions top the originals in my estimation, but they were fun to listen to, and the Morpheus let me hear Ashcroft’s close Road remixes and outtakes. The acoustic miked voice and the overall energy of the guitars, drums, bass, and of course the vocals performances. An album I purchased from Bandcamp, and available in 24/48 resolution, Irish singer / songwriter David Keenan’s What Then?, literally gave me goosebumps courtesy of the Morpheus duo. Keenan’s voice is a thing of wonder, were rendered with so much clarity via the with fire, passion, and abstract lyrics wrapped Sonnet combo, I just kept hitting repeat. If I had to use one phrase to describe the sound of in an alternative folk rock package, with modern flourishes. Fans of Damien Rice, Glen these new mixes via the Sonnet gear, I would say “seductive”, which is where my preferences Hansard, or even Warren Zevon will be entranced. The arrangements are smart, and lie. No glare, no overly sharp outlines, and no the smoldering performances make it fatigue. impossible not to pay close attention. This I did also listen to quite a few new album really crystallized the strengths of the recordings as well. The new release by the Sonnet designs. Classic, yet thoroughly great Richard Ashcroft, former leader of The Verve, Acoustic Anthems Hymns, Vol. 1, in 24 bit, modern.

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SONNET MORPHEUS & HERMES For a recording featuring all acoustic Meddle, really benefited from the high instruments, also purchased from Bandcamp, I resolution mastering. But later albums like The cued up Meridian Metaphor, by Icelandic Wall and The Final Cut also were revelatory in bassist, band leader, and composer, Sigmar 24 bit. Matthiasson. This beautiful avant-garde Ergonomically, the Morpheus and Hermes instrumental album were plug and play all the features a sympathetic way. No deep dive into group of players and off the manual, no need to the beaten path be a networking wizz. instruments such as They just worked. clarinet, out, tamboura, Nitpicks? Well just one...I and a few instruments would like to see a native to Iceland. The sample rate / bit depth basic language is jazz, but display on the front panel there are hints of folk and of the Morpheus. Other exotica. The recording is than that, a really nicely spacious, and streamed presented component. through the Sonnet stack, AUDIO ART CABLES: the small ensemble was A note about the Audio positively cinematic in Art Cables supplied by scale, yet beautifully Rob Fritz, the US intimate during more importer for Sonnet. Using Audio Art power introspective passages. cables on the Hermes and Morpheus Circling back to classic rock, just towards the tail end of the review, I purchased a slew of produced an immediate jump in performance, newly released Pink Floyd remasters in 24/192 a lower perceived noise floor, and an overall sense of ease. These are clearly superb resolution. These albums have mostly been products, they are beautifully made, and are available digitally in CD quality only, with flexible enough to situate in any system. The some exceptions, so this was an unexpected Audio Art interconnect was also the perfect treat. The Morpheus presented these classic albums with such poise, and there was a wide match tonally for the Sonnet products. Neutral, tonally rich, and open sounding. The screen, analog like flow that was irresistible. Morpheus and Hermes pair were a great fit The earlier albums, such as The Piper At The with my system’s overall presentation, and Gates Of Dawn, A Saucerful of Secrets, and

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with the Audio Art cabling added in, everything just fell into place sonically. I can’t recommend the Audio Art products more highly.

goods, and would convert even the most stubborn digital skeptics. Sonnet also makes a pair of mono block amplifiers called the Kratos. All products are made in the Netherlands, Rob Fritz of Audio CONCLUSION: Art Cable is very accessible, and potential The Sonnet digital duo, the Morpheus DAC customers are encouraged to contact him with and the Hermes streamer are what I would call any questions, for an audition, or to discuss the perfect products for those seeking accurate, system matching. My time spent listening to natural, and musically pleasing sound. I would the Sonnet Morpheus DAC and Hermes go as far as to say this would apply even more streamer were well spent. so to “digital holdouts”, those who have not invested in high end digital components, or AKRM have preconceived notions about digital audio performance. The Sonnet designs deliver the

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STAX SRM-500T A Diminutive Highly Musical Electrostatic Headphone Amplifier!

STAX SRM-500T By K. E. Heartsong XXXXXXXXXX

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STAX SRM-500T

ith this review and the next— STAX SR-X9000—I travel back to the world of electrostatic headphones and headphone amplifiers. In many respects, it is a journey that I always look forward to, though my recent return from this world found me discovering two rather incredible headphones—the Meze Empyrean Elite and the ZMF Atticus (see reviews). I found them both incredible and incredibly addictive with their own inherent strengths, and the fact that each evidenced electrostatic qualities, to greater and lesser degrees, respectively, was mind boggling. The cynic in me was made to see reason and a new emerging truth. As I wrote in my review of the STAX SRM-700T: “I will first say that I did not expect much from the SRM-700T given its “power” tube compliment of 2-6SN7s, which are not traditional power tubes. And the 6SN7 powered amplifiers that I have actually heard did not sound very good at all, and that would be the kindest thing that I could say about them.” Suffice to say, that the SRM-700T was exceptional in every way a headphone amplifier is supposed to be and it rose far above my expectations to…, yes, win yet another award for the 80 plus year old company. Apparently, STAX’s continual refinement, its trickle-down technology from

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successive generations of components, and its unwillingness to compromise find it at the apex of electrostatic component design. This brings us to the current review of the STAX SRM-500T ($1340). The SRM-500T like its older sibling—STAX SRM-700T—is a hybrid design utilizing both tubes (old school)

and solid state FETs. The SRM-500T is a new offering from STAX in an attempt to lower the barrier to entry for those curious or those long fascinated by electrostatic headphones and headphone amplifiers. And, by the way, you can’t have one without the other. Upon receipt of the STAX SRM-500T and with a rather long queue of reviews for the January 2022 issue of the AudioKeyREVIEWS! Magazine, I sat it aside for a bit though I was curious and quite a bit anxious to discover its abilities and especially at its price point! When the time came I unpackaged it (again, sorry, no video), set it up on its own

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STAX SRM-500T elevated stand, plugged it into the system— DENAFRIPS Pontus II, MacBook Pro (running ROON), and let it warm up for a couple of days. As it was a demo with, no doubt, a good many hours on it, it wouldn’t need extended burn-in. And shortly thereafter, I got down to listening… This like the paragraph below is becomes somewhat of a refrain, so often have I traveled to the electrostatic world of reviewed components, primarily of the STAX company. STAX, which began operations in 1938, has held forth for over 80 years, creating, improving, and introducing its various electrostatic products, which continually find high praise across the world. Its fans loyal, its products having withstood the test of time, the various STAX components are often considered heirlooms to be passed on to the next generation.

a non-linear movie—Memento, Kill Bill, Arrival, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Terminator, In the Shadow of the Moon, The Queen’s Gambit, etc—that, likewise, starts at the end and winds its way to the beginning. THE SOUND

First, the balanced connection is always the way you’ll want to go with STAX headphone amplifiers/ energizers as this allows for the least amount of noise and the greatest level of detail retrieval. The STAX SRM-500T represents the trickling down of technology from its older and higher priced siblings— SRM-T8000, SRM-700S, SRM-700T. And while there are some distinct family resemblances, the SRM-500T will not reach the bass depths, not the treble heights of its siblings, but what it handles in its frequency range will be very well rendered and very musical. Its transparency will be very good as well: it is, after all, an electrostatic headphone amplifier. Though paired with the proper REFRAIN: Unlike most reviews, this review headphone—STAX SR-L700MkII—the will be non-sequential, as it will start, below, combo will easily tease out even more with how the equipment actually sounds and transparency and resolution and good not the process of physically “undressing” it amounts of detail. And transient speed via the and/or laying out its various parts, combo will be second only to its various specifications, etc. Think of this review then, as brethren and, perhaps, to a decidedly more

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expensive traditional headphone amplifier coupled to a very good dynamic or planar headphone. The STAX SRM-500T, as mentioned above, is a hybrid design, which means it employs both solid state and tube stages. In this respect, the SRM-500T delivers what tube amps are, in general, known for—musicality and the rendering of three-dimensional space. And it also delivers what solid state amplifiers are known for—tighter control of the bass, detail, notable transient response, and good dynamics. And this was certainly true of the STAX SRM-500T, across a range of musical genres. The STAX SRM-500T’s volumetric cube— its soundstage—is of a good size and it will fix entertainers and musicians firmly in space and at good depth across the soundstage. Certainly, given its entry-level price point, one would have to spend a great deal more to approach or better it. In general, the components of an electrostatics’ DNA are transparency, treble extension, transient speed, and musicality. A check here too for the SRM-500T’s abilities. The STAX SRM-500T was paired to the STAX SR-L700MkII ($1795), one of its natural matches, though the STAX SR-L500 MKII ($830), and the STAX SR-L300 ($455) are also considered the natural companions of the STAX SRM-500T if not its BFFs. BASS The SRM-500T could not reach at all to

regardless of the electrostatic headphone that it paired with. And powerful, dramatic passages were often left wanting. That said, most music and the level of bass that it contains will be easily and readily handled by the SRM-500T, as it does, in fact, have good bass response. MIDRANGE As with all STAX electrostatic headphone amplifiers the midrange is yet another place where the magic lives and it is always beautifully rendered. The STAX SRM-500T handles the midrange beautifully in how it renders timbre, tone, and texture in a rather sublime manner. The SRM-500T offers good transparency, though it is not quite as good as those STAX electrostatic headphone amplifiers above it. And therein lie the sacrifices that must be made for keeping to a certain price point. Yet despite this, its midrange performance is rather exceptional, as well it should be. Those entirely new to the electrostatic world may well be entranced and en route to becoming a citizen of another world. TREBLE+ The treble is very natural, completely free of any sibilance or harshness or grain. Resolution is also quite good and cymbals will resolve as cymbals and not the irritating “Schchccccccsssh” sounds that come from components that render this upper band

stygian bass-head-depths, and bass, in general, poorly to horribly. And there are systems and components from the very inexpensive to the was good though never did it rumble, JANUARY 2022

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STAX SRM-500T prodigiously expensive that err with regard to this one simple requirement—let cymbals be cymbals and not as a friend would say, “The sound of paint cans spraying paint.” The STAX SRM-500T, however, passes this test with flying colors

world where a more ‘kindred’ musically adept electrostatic friend may, indeed, be found. Happy world hopping and happy befriending

CONCLUSIONS The STAX SRM-500T serves as a middling-level entry point above its lower priced siblings—the SRM-400S ($1180), SRM-D50 ($1200), and the SRM-D10 ($945) —and is the only one of them that utilizes hybrid amplification. No doubt, the SRM-500T was STAX’s way of saying this was constructed for those new to electrostatics, for whom it may serve as a beacon to a world that is immensely charming, musical, and communicates as if a breath of fresh air. There will also be those, who see the STAX SRM-500T as but the point of entry to this world. Their sights will, no doubt, lead them farther into this incredibly beautiful, transparent, and detail rich electrostatic world. We, AudioKey Reviews highly recommend the STAX SRM-500T for those new to electrostatic headphones and amplifiers, as it will serve as either a longtime companion, perhaps for most, while for others, the first friend in a journey across an electrostatic

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THE COMPANY STAX STAX SRM-500T $1340 #2101 The L Plaza 367-375 Queen’s Road Central Hong Kong +852 2522 6989 cs@staxheadphones.com AKRM

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here are roughly thirty-two million seconds (31,557,600) in a year. At second 1 or 15 or 50,000

seconds one may chose to stream a particular track, play a CD, an album, an analog tape, etc. Suffice to say, that the options for music and music playback are many. And, as mentioned multiple times across my various reviews, we are living in a Golden Age of Musical Access (GAMA). Our intention with the various music reviews found within this magazine or at our website is to bring to the attention of our readers music across a rather vast timespan, music that we find compelling, beautifully done, truly engaging, and magical. Like our component reviews, we don’t write bad reviews. What’s the point? If we don’t find a component up to our subjective criteria or expectations, we send it back, unreviewed. Our thoughts on this, with regard to components, is what if something in our system was responsible for the lack of a good synergy? Then the negative review may well reflect our inability to find the proper mates and this would be our, quite subjective, mistake. Likewise, if a song is not up to our subjective expectations, why pen a bad review? Further, a negative review serves no one, as it does not move the process forward of finding good music (or a good component) for one to enjoy. Please find video music reviews below as recorded by our various reviewers, whose bio’s can be found on the

Joan Shelly

audiokeyreviews.com website. Thank you. AKRM

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MAGICAL SYNERGIES 33

Magical măjʹĭ-kəl▶ Of, relating to, or produced by magic.1 Syn•er•gy sĭnʹər-jē▶ The interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects.2

or us a Magical Synergy represents two foremost and not professionals who produce components or more, that together music or movies for a living and require make music far above what either make different synergies, nor do measurements separately. Generally, we’ve discovered Magical come into determination for us of what is a Synergies via reviews, where we mix and good Magical Synergy and what is not. No, for match a good number of components to this we determine by ear, heart, and soul, that determine how one of the components—the which moves us, provides for that “vibrational” component under review—sounds. comfort food, and a rich and engaging musical And while there may be strengths and experience. The experience should, of course, weaknesses between the various combinations, come with sufficient detail and resolution and the Magical Synergy represents that fidelity to recreate venue and/or the experience combination which has very few if any of listening to live music, when appropriate. weaknesses and a wealth of combined After a long and trying day in this topsy-turvy strengths. world, wouldn’t it be wonderful if some small In this respect, we’ve done the homework measure of nirvana could be achieved through for the reader by evaluating numerous one’s music and the components that play it combinations to uncover the Magical Synergy, back? as many of you may not have the time, options, or financial wherewithal to make these determinations. And Magical Synergies are not always uncovered in our reviews and or our research, as they tend to be, well, rare. A note on the various Magical Synergies that we uncover. We are music lovers first and

In other words, our Magical Synergies do not render music that is dry, unengaging, subtractively neutral (see dry, boring, etc.), flat, or lacking in dynamics, when called for. Please find for your review a number of Magical Synergies below.

1, 2 The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

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MAGICAL SYNERGY BELOW $550 The FIIO Q3 ($149.99) will lift any and all smartphones and computers and iPads to stellar heights. And at its current price point, it should be written upon anyone’s short list, who is looking to upgrade the sound quality of all of the above. Further, it’s small, not on the scale of the AudioQuest Dragon Fly series, but still small enough to pocket, palm, or to easily band to a smartphone for OTG listening. As I wrote in the review of the Final Audio Sonorous III ($399): “Fun, Fun, Fun, Til Her Daddy Takes the T-bird away,” this is, of course, to say that if you are a lover of music, across many genres, and/or movies you will have fun, fun, fun and enjoyment, that will truly hold your attention, until someone takes these headphones away. CONS: Someone takes your Final Sonorous III headphones away! The “Fun, fun, fun” that the Final Audio Sonorous III delivers will dovetail beautifully to the musical, though more neutral, very detailed, and all comers sampling—DSD512, 768kHz/32-bit—that the FiiO Q3 brings to the table, and the bass, incredible! Indeed a perfect Magical Synergy in so many respects! AKRM

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MAGICAL SYNERGY BELOW $650 27

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The AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt ($299) is the Alpha and Omega—the Beginning and the End—(to date) of the AudioQuest DragonFly headphone amplifier/preamplifier/ DAC line. “Unmusicality” will be forever banished from smartphone and computer alike, when the DragonFly Cobalt is allied to one’s system. And there is a richness and naturalness and transparency that only a very few audio components contain and, generally, not at this price point, but it is clearly bred into the DragonFly Cobalt. The Meze 99 Classics ($309) is primarily for music (and movie) lovers, in our quite subjective opinion, as it gets to the heart of the music, but with a transparency that nicely defines the venue whether intimate jazz club, symphony, arena rock concert, etc., while also providing great insight to the performer(s) and performance. The AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt and the Meze 99 Classics bring a truly exceptional synergy to bear for those who consider themselves music lovers and who enjoy a diverse array of musical genres from classical to jazz to hip-hop to country. And don’t forget, as mentioned above, the movies! AKRM

MAGICAL SYNERGY BELOW $2,500 28

The experience with the iBASSO DX220 ($979) was both unexpected and profound. It was difficult from our research to gauge its “sound profile”— reference, bright, neutral, warm— given the divergence of reviewer opinions. Then upon use with our stable of reference gear (analog-like, organic, rich with sublime transparency) its modus operandi became clear to us—it is that rarest of creatures—a “sound chameleon.” The VISION EARS EVE ($1,300) is an exceptional IEM that beautifully covers all the bases—sweet, extended treble, thunderous bass, striking musicality, and a marvelous transparency. And as mentioned above, I have turned away ultra expensive IEMs, for that matter, unreviewed, and unmentioned, thereafter, that did not match up. The iBASSO DX220 and the VISION EARS EVE are both exceptional products that individually and collectively challenge Top-of-theLine (TOTL) products across both DAP and IEM categories! And together, they are a music lover’s dream—volumes of detail and analoglike musicality, that at their collective price point, we believe, are without peer. AKRM

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