AudioKeyREVIEWS! ISSUE 10 - MAY 2023

AudioKeyREVIEWS !

HIGH FIDELITY PERSONAL AUDIO & STEREO MAGAZINE

VIVID AUDIO KAYA 45

THE BAR HAS BEEN RAISED!

HEADAMP GS-X MKII

SILENT ANGEL BONN NX & GENSIS GX

TORUS POWER AVR ELITE

MYTEK LIBERTY II DAC

DAN CLARK CARINA HP AND MORE…

Music is art, art is music.

MUSIC REVIEWS

134 144 150 158 164 166

COMING NEXT REVIEWS ON THE WEB

Front Inside Cover: Henri Matisse, Sárga és kék enteriőr

Back Inside Cover: Henri Matisse, Bay of Nice 1918

The Other Art. It is my belief that the artist and the musician are not only creatives, but they access heart and soul and experience, perhaps, in the selfsame ways. My own love for art and music are inseparable. And so art, music, and those things which facilitate the music shall share theses pages.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR - SEND HERE

EDITOR’s CHAIR

Technological progress moves forward at light speed, profiting audio houses and their componentry with skills and abilities not available less than a decade ago. And the resultant pricing puts ‘Summit HiFi’ in the hands of those who would not have been able to afford it half a decade ago.

And music, as I have often written about across these pages, is ubiquitous—available every moment of everyday are, and literally, millions of albums for the listening. This for the lovers of music is, indeed, paradise and a time like no other.

The culmination of just these two events alone, poise the audio world with great promise and potential. Yet in order to fully realize this, the collective ‘audio houses’—manufacturers, distributors, retailers, agents, etc.—must seek to broaden that audio universe by bringing in a host of new audiophiles and music lovers, as the current ‘choir’ grays and shrinks away.

We, AKRMedia, see this as our preeminent goal, which is why we do the things we do. Art, aesthetics, accessible articles bereft, to a large degree, of ‘tech speech,’ replaced with analogy, metaphor, humor, when possible, as well as direct outreach to much broader and curious populations. We want them to step in, sample the wares of our audio partners, purchase their wares, build audio systems which will allow them to not just listen but to travel to worlds of audio that they scarce knew existed (the electrostatic world for one!).

And yet, it is a collective effort. Shall we then, my audio brethren and audio houses large and small, engage to grow and bring new life to this industry—audio—that we know and love so very well.

Cheers, K.E. Heartsong Editor-in-Chief

THE CREW

Publisher/Editor-in-Chief

K. E. Heartsong

Managing Editor

Dr. Irina Kuzminsky

Senior Editor(s)

Andre Marc

Oliver Masciarotte Columnists

Dr. Irina Kuzminsky

Rain Jordan

Music Reviewers (Video/Written)

Dr. Irina Kuzminsky

Photographer

K. E. Heartsong

Graphic Design

Wabi Sabi Design Group

HermanMiller

Paul Cezanne - Still Life with Peppermint Bottle

Minor White

Minor White

Vincent Van Gogh - Poppies and Daisies

One of the Best Products of the Year and One of the Most Affordable!

HEADAMP GS-X MKII

By K.E. Heartsong

HEADAMP GS-X MKII

“Once more into the breach”, that is with regard to HeadAmp, a manufacturer who has consistently provided us with products for review which have continually distinguished themselves as top notch performers and thus award winners.

As I mentioned in an earlier review, regarding HeadAmp equipment. This in and of itself is quite rare, as calls to manufacturers more often than not find themselves in voicemail purgatory or worse. I could list the names here of the various culprits, but that would be in ‘bad form’. Perhaps.

I have had a number of conversations with Justin. Sometimes the conversation was

simply to get his view on the lay of the headphone space and other times to schedule a review of HeadAmp equipment. The information was always helpful and insightful and the equipment was alway shortly mailed out for its review.

To date, I have had the pleasure of reviewing the HeadAmp Blue Hawaii Special Edition (BHSE) electrostatic amplifier, an product, which remains one of my amplifiers. I have also reviewed the HeadAmp GS-X Mini, the ‘little brother’ if you will to the headphone amplifier currently under review. The Mini is quite small but packed with ability, ample power reserves, and a rather delicious

This brings us to the review of HeadAmp’s Top-of-the-Line dynamic headphone amplifier and big brother to the Mini, the HeadAmp GS-X MkII. The GS-X MkII is a two-chassis, 6Watt amplifier with multiple inputs, outputs, and headphone outputs for, literally (with adapter in some instances), all dynamic and

Paul Cezanne - Dahlias in the Delft Vase, 1873

HEADAMP GS-X MKII

planar headphone and In-Ear-Monitors (IEMs) as well. But how does it sound?

REFRAIN: Unlike most reviews, this review will be non-sequential, as it will start, below, with how the equipment actually sounds and not the process of physically “undressing” it and/or laying out its various parts, specifications, etc. Think of this review then, as a nonlinear 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

Whereas the HeadAmp GSX Mini touted a good measure of transparency, resolution, and detail retrieval, it was, above all, musical, richly musical, employing a degree of warmth that tube lovers would no doubt fall in love with. The HeadAmp GS-X MkII goes further in every respect, while bringing a greater sense of neutrality or getting out of the way of the music. And this trait alone allows the music—

CD, album, stream, etc—to more accurately tell its story.

I used several headphones for ferreting out the GS-X MkII’s voicing, its skills and abilities. The headphones were the Meze Empyrean, the

MkII and thus its own quite distinct synergy. I used the Abyss AB1266 as the main headphone for its outstanding transparency and resolution and its ability to let the music flow unencumbered by ‘editorial’.

The HeadAmp GS-X MkII is a good deal more transparent and resolving than the Mini and this brings forward a wealth of detail/ information and spatial cues—positioning, spacing, relative depth, etc—which will allow one to better hear or ‘see’ the performers on

moves well beyond its ‘younger’ sibling—GSX Mini—and its noise floor is much lower still. There is no area where the HeadAmp GS-X MkII does not eclipse its sibling and this, in turn, allows for greater refinement, detail, ambiance, air, three-dimensionality, and overall musicality.

The HeadAmp GS-X MkII’s volumetric cube—its soundstage or how it recreates the original venue—is chameleon like in that it will take on the great difficulty of unfolding a choral landscape in the most natural manner, though only certain dynamic and planar headphones—Abyss AB1266, ZMF Atrium, etc

The balance of the headphone reference system was taken up by the Baetis Audio Revolution X4 streamer (review coming), the Silent Angel Bonn N8 network switch, the Silent Angel Forester F2 power supply, and the Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC and the Mojo Audio Mystique X DAC BASS

Dominique Fils-Aimé’s “Birds” (Nameless, Ensoul Records) plays and the bass lines are taut, articulate, deep. This is a refinement beyond the GSX Mini’s abilities. Christian McBride and Regina Carter’s “Fat Bach and Greens” (Conversations with Christian, Mack

HEADAMP GS-X MKII

Avenue Records) follows and its rendering is aided by the GS-X MkII’s greater refinement, transparency and resolution which lifts ever more detail free, while blazing transients set things rocking. Collectively the traits allow for a deeper dive into the upper and mid bass. As I had mentioned in my review of the HeadAmp GSX-Mini:

“And when the ruckus starts with the playful, musical, quick-moving mix of Christian’s bass and Regina’s violin dueling or doing their ‘call and response,’ texture, palpability, and microdynamics are liberated.”

This rendering is now bettered by the GSX MkII with its improved dynamic contrasts, greater transparency and insight into the music, and its faster-still transients that facilitate much head-bobbing and toe-tapping and swaying with the music. And the music, relative to the Mini, is delivered free from editorial and is, as a result, more natural.

MIDRANGE

Transparent. Resolving. Musical. I play the same songs/tracks that I used to evaluate the GSX-Mini (still currently in-house). Muddy

Waters’ “My Home is in the Delta” (Folk Singer, Geffen) plays and there is more “there there” in relation to overall information (see

There is also, interestingly, a sweetness that diminishes nothing but that pulls one even further into the music. It was my intention to go on to Mercedes Sosa’s Misa Criolla (Universal Music Argentina S.A.) but Folk Singer has me rapt and listening intently as I attempt to take notes. Suffice to say that the HeadAmp GSX MkII has laid bare the various tracks across this album (and others), and its greater transparency has allowed for the performance’s innate live emotion, its ‘blues’, to come flowing through.

TREBLE+

Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five” and then “Three to Get Ready” (Time Out, Columbia-Legacy) play

and there is greater air and ambiance, speed and weight with regard to the resolution of Joe Morello’s Hi-hat cymbals that the GSX-Mini cannot match. Neither can it match the textural detail coming from Paul Desmond’s alto sax. It is a no-nonsense portrayal that does not bring the ‘tube-like’ warmth of its sibling but, again, “Just the facts, Ma’am.” And it is both unadulterated and lovely. It is this portrayal and those like it that stand the HeadAmp GSX MkII squarely near the porch of electrostatic headphone amps.

CONCLUSION

The HeadAmp GS-X MkII is an exceptional headphone amplifier that not only outperforms its GS-X Mini sibling, but a goodly number of headphone amplifiers that have come my way for review these past years, some being a good deal more expensive. Its attributes are many, starting with its exceptional transparency and resolution, which ferret out both detail and insight in a manner that compels one’s attention. And one mustn’t forget the lickety-split transient responses or the dynamic contrast or the air and ambiance set free.

As I look over my review of the HeadAmp GSX-Mini, I’m reminded that “things change” and “everything is relative”. When I wrote of the Mini that, “You can’t possibly be making all of this incredible music”, the same thought, though of a higher order, can now be said of the HeadAmp GS-X MkII. The HeadAmp GSX-MkII wins, easily, our GOLDEN

KEYNOTE PLUS AWARD that sits it on the doorstep of our highest award. Pros: Transparency, resolution, ability to unearth detail that some HPA ignore, a natural rendering of the music free from editorial (especially when coupled with like headphones —specifically the Abyss AB1266 Phi TC). Cons: None.).

THE

$3,299

Emile Bernard - Flowers in a Jug and Fruit

MUSICAL MUSINGS

By Irina Kuzminsky

Imust confess to a love for the soprano voice, especially one oozing with power and passion and possessing the added bonus of an expressive low register. So when I came across Walking in the Dark, the debut album of American soprano Julia Bullock, I was immediately excited and intrigued, not least by the eclectic mix of music on the album ranging from modern classical to folk rock to jazz-based to spirituals. Intriguing, particularly when the singer unambiguously identifies herself a “classical singer”.

The first track opens with the naked voice, a voice that has me captive from the start. The piano joins in and Oscar Brown Jr’s “Brown Baby” unfolds, a call to all for a more just world for all, and the first of three songs on the album covered by Nina Simone whose influence Bullock is happy to acknowledge. Bullock gives it her own interpretation,

combining a classically trained voice with all the passion and heart of the song. A popular song from the 1950s follows, “One by One” by little known singersongwriter Connie Converse. Bullock sings it in the manner of a modern artsong, her voice velvety, caressing.

The next track, ‘Memorial de Tlatelolco’, from John Adams’s magnificent opera-oratoria El Niño (2000), comes in as a veritable aural shock as voice and orchestra (London’s Philharmonia) explode into a fiendishly difficult and fiendishly dramatic aria, with the chorus punctuating the vocal line in the second half. This is modern opera at its best, full of passion and drama, and Julia Bullock’s voice unleashes at full tilt, her range on full

MUSICAL MUSINGS

display, the high notes contrasting with the velvety low register featured in the previous two tracks. Bullock has had major roles in three of Adams’s major works and you can see why in this track which displays her technical prowess and expressive powers.

Christian Reif both conducts the Philharmonia and accompanies Bullock in the other songs on the piano. (He is not only her musical partner, but her life partner as well.)

“City called Heaven” is another definite standout on the album, taking us straight into the world of spirituals. In Bullock’s interpretation it carries centuries of human sorrow and human hope and human faith. It reminded me of the great dramatic soprano Jessye Norman singing spirituals, imbuing them with all the rich emotion of her operatic voice.

More of Julia Bullock’s gorgeous low register is on show in Billy Taylor’s “I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to be Free”, another song covered by Nina Simone (along with the final track, Sandy Denny’s “Who Knows Where the Time Goes”), with Bullock ornamenting the vocal line with beautiful melismas.

Samuel Barber’s “Knoxville: Summer of 1915”, a descriptive musical tableau for soprano and orchestra, is a centrepiece of the album, conveying the fluidity of the constantly shifting impressions of a summer

evening.

“Who Knows Where the Time Goes” returns to a different feel, with Bullock caressing the music and our ears with her voice. A muted, gentle conclusion to an eclectic album with a deeply personal choice of repertoire.

For me it was the tracks for voice and piano which stood out most, even more so against the background of the classical works, as the contrast in itself displayed the extent of Bullock’s versatility. If it’s a soprano voice capable of expressing heartfelt pain and heartfelt hope that you’re after, Julia Bullock is a most welcome arrival on the classical scene. And the fact that she can cross genres and musical boundaries so well is an added bonus.

Irina’s latest critically acclaimed book, Heloise Speaks, a true and powerful love story, centuries before Romeo and Juliet, is now available: Heloise Speaks, A Verse Novel

AKRM

Imogene Cunningham

JOAN OF AUDIO & MUSIC

By Rain Jordan

A HIGHER LOVE

Our passions are the true phoenixes; when the old one is burnt out, a new one rises from its ashes. – Johann

Wolfgang von Goethe

PART II: THE PIANIST

Our next emergent artist to grace our magazine is pianist, singer, composer, producer, Dana Salzman. I am using the word emergent to describe those music artists that have not yet “made-it” to mainstream prominence or fame, but are very much “making-it”, locally and in every other way - making imaginative and original music, making an authentic and creative living, making audiences feel a connection to the beauty and soul of song and life.

Dana hails from the San Francisco Bay Area but has spent ten years studying and playing music in New York. She has four albums, Unfold (2020), Deep Down (2014), Rising (2010), Out of Your Hands (2004), a new album in the works, and numerous singles. I first saw her perform live a few months ago and I was immediately struck by her rousing but beautifully grounded stage presence, and her very distinctive progressive

keyboard sound. After her first set, I knew I wanted to find out more about her music and the energy and impetus that gives birth to it.

The Interview

RAIN JORDAN (RJ) How did you get your start as a songwriter, composer, and musician, and what does that timeline look like?

DANA SALZMAN (DS) My Mom who is a classical pianist taught me from ages 4 through 12. At twelve I switched to a jazz piano teacher named Don Haas. I played in all the school bands and started gigging around town at age 15. Then I went to college in New York at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music and earned a degree in Jazz Performance. I also formed my first band out there in New York around 1998, and that’s also when I started writing and recording my own original music as well as playing for others.

Painting by Rossetti

Henri Matisse, 1946

JOAN OF AUDIO & MUSIC

(RJ) What six musicians or artists had or have the most influence on your work?

(DS) It’s really hard to pick six but I will try:

(1) Monty Alexander- Jamaican jazz pianist. For some reason I was obsessed with his music as a kid. I especially loved how he is definitely a jazz pianist but there is so much gospel, and Caribbean music like calypso and reggae in his playing and it really moved me. (2) The Pharcyde-hip hop group from LA. I was also obsessed with them as a young teenager. I loved so much how hard their music slapped and it was definitely hip hop but how you could hear so much JAZZ in it and the way

they all flowed over the beats was so melodic and beautiful to me. (3) Sly and the Family Stone- definitely obsessed with them for a good portion of my teens. Just so soulful and funky and most of all specifically how Sly sings. It just hits me deep down. (4) Stevie Wonder- I don’t think I need to explain this one. I mean seriously. What!?!? In my opinion (and probably many others) Stevie is one of the most remarkable artists of all time for so many reasons that would take up way too much space for me to even try to describe here. But let’s just say, his music has impacted me in such a meaningful way (and I know that’s true for many others)! (5) Ella Fitzgerald- I was also obsessed with her music as a kid for many reasons like the way she interprets melodies, how she improvises and scats! Her understated soulfulness and extremely clear pure pitch and intonation. Oh my gosh that’s five already and I haven’t even gotten to my adult life. (6) Well, I feel like I can’t not include Prince- just sooo funky and bad, and so powerful and sexy, while at the same time defying our definitions of what is “sexy” and what is “masculine”. Also, the songs of his that I LOVE move me in such a deep way.

(RJ) Can you describe your creative process?

(DS) Sometimes it feels kind of like you have to take a number 2 all of a sudden. Like whoaI!

I have this in me RIGHT NOW and it needs to come out. Sometimes it comes from me just fiddling around on the piano. Unfortunately,

JOAN OF AUDIO & MUSIC

more often than not, it comes out of something VERY hard that I went through. Sometimes it comes from something beautiful I experienced. Sometimes it starts with me messing around with my MPC and messing with some samples or making a beat with a certain rhythm or vibe I am trying to create. And then I put it into my computer with pro tools where I can add other instruments and then maybe write to it. It’s always kinda different.

(RJ) What is your primary intention or purpose as an artist? And can you name what it is that you are expressing or giving to your audience through your music?

(DS) It is my primary intention to reach the HIGHEST level of self-expression through my music. I feel it so strongly. When everything is in place, like you have put in the hard, diligent

work of practicing, done the other self-work like staying grounded and centered, then it allows for this OTHER thing to enter into the music. It’s like riding an indescribable divine wave. And through that, I am able to express the deepest part of my spirit.

(RJ) What are your strengths and weaknesses as a musician? How do you leverage them?

(DS) Strengths: I am a good music teacher, I can read and play pretty much anything so I am versatile, funky, sensitive to other players- whatever situation I am in (meaning I know when not to bring my “ego”. Like when I’m supposed to be playing background dinner music or if I’m working for a band as a side person and I know how to just do my job). I have a lot of musical things I can do like lead a band, compose, arrange, music direction, lead a choir, produce instrumentals, produce demos for people etc.

Weaknesses: To be completely honest sometimes I’m lazy about practicing as much

audiokeyreviews.com

as I feel I should, I am always at the piano every day whether I am gigging or teaching or learning music for something or recording, but there is a difference between playing, and focused practicing. I (just like probably most other artists and maybe people) sometimes have a little voice in the back of my head sometimes telling me I’m not good enough. And there are other days when I feel like I am enough exactly as I am right now.

(RJ) Are there creative endeavors that you are involved with now that you’d like to tell us about?

(DS) I am very excited about my new album that I am working on. It will be released in 2024. It is my new original music and arrangements featuring some collaborations with some really great artists and musicians! Funky, uplifting, moving music.

(RJ) What are your aspirations for future creative endeavors and collaborations?

(DS) Joy, passion, and creativity are important and worthwhile and meaningful things to have in your life. I encourage everyone to make space for these things in their life and to pay attention when you feel them.

(RJ)I want to express gratitude to Dana Salzman for her thoughtful yet candid interview, both live and written, as well as her

time and beautiful energy. Her work artistically embodies the journey through the cycles of life: joy and pain, love and heartbreak, winning and losing, death and rebirth, always the phoenix rising.

AKRM

“Solid state dynamics, resolution, detail retrieval, and spaciousness married to tube liquidity, remarkable tone/timbre/texture, offer #%$*@! musical bliss. What more could one ask for (Aurorasound HEADA)?”

—K.E. Heartsong, AudioKeyREVIEWS! Magazine

Conducted by K.E. Heartsong

INTERVIEW: RALPH KARSTEN

This issue I have the pleasure of bringing you my interview with Ralph Karsten the very well known and world recognized owner/proprietor of AtmaSphere, which makes, as many believe, the best Output-TransformerLess (OTL) amplifiers and preamplifiers in the world.

There are more than just a few of my friends who, in truth, lust after your amplifiers and many more who are diligently gathering together funds to make the move.

As I mentioned this is more an interview to find out who Ralph is and what has motivated him and less of a technical interview. With that, let's get started.

Kermit [KH]: Where are you from? What events mark your early life? How do you think music affected your early life? Was their music in your home? Record Player? Tape player? CD player? Was there a family member or another person, who inspired your love for music/ audio?

lessons when I was 3 or 4, and again in 6th grade, but that was so I could play on the harpsichord my stepfather and I built from a kit. In 7th grade I joined the Jr. high orchestra playing string bass. That continued until well past college. During college I met Steve Tibbetts, who has a bit of national fame, and we partnered on a recording studio in my basement. Right out of high school I got a job at the Allied Radio Shack regional service department since I was already pretty good at servicing audio equipment. Both my mom and father, and later my stepfather were all into some kind of music. So I've always been around it, both recordings and live instruments. I never had a lot of money for a stereo so I was always refurbishing older gear to feed my stereo habit and allow me to buy LPs with my spare cash.

Steve Tibbetts was a guitar genius. I dabbled with guitar and sitar (took lessons at the UofM) and learned to play a simple raga, but I was never really struck enough to stick with it. I played bass because it was easy but it really wasn't my calling either. I started the studio simply to be around people that really had a audiokeyreviews.com

Ralph Karsten [RK]: Asheville, North Carolina. We moved to Minnesota when I was 14. There was a piano in our home and I took piano

INTERVIEW: RALPH KARSTEN

talent for it (Steve's bass player at the time, Robert Hughes, was a virtuoso in his own right and we were roommates for several years after college); I never thought I could amount to anything since I spent too little time with whatever instrument I was goofing off with at the time. In the 1990s a friend lent me a native American flute and I really hit on somethingwithin 6 months of that I had recorded my first

for his band and so Salubrious Invertebrae began as a one person synth act. I think that peaked when I opened for Porcupine Tree in the early 2000s, just before Earl passed away. I gave Steve Wilson a copy of my CD and he was very complimentary, compared it to some of Edgar Froese's solo work. About this time I jammed with a local band Thunderbolt Pagoda, and I've been in that band ever since.

album and it was carried by several distributors of native music. About that time I met a record guy named Earl Root; we became fast friends. He was interested in the audio stuff (like Atma-Sphere) and I turned him on to Steve Tibbetts the first time I had him hear my system. Early pretty well founded the metal scene in the Twin Cities and ran a radio show that is still on the air locally, 15 years on since his early death due to cancer. At the same time I started collecting some of the vintage synthesizers I had lusted for in the 1970s, refurbished them and started playing around and making recordings that I would present to Earl. He convinced me to do a show opening

KH: Most memorable epiphany that has come from listening to music or turning a good friend or a significant other on to music?

RK: my first system was a matching Knight Kit KA-95 amplifier (EL34 based) and KT-90 tuner. I started with a Garrard SL95 turntable. I built the speakers using a pair of Rectilinear 12" woofers I had bought on Canal Street in NYC in 1970. They were pretty terrible but I used them for several years; finally replacing them with a set of Altec corner horns.

KH: What catalyzing event put you on the road to ATMA-SPHERE and high-end audio?

RK: About 1976 I was introduced to Robert Fulton of FMI. His FMI 80s replaced my Altecs

and eventually I had a set of his J modulars in my living room. Fulton was the first person to push high end cables in the US. So I had all that stuff too. Pretty well drank the kool aid. But I was hearing stuff on my LPs - imaging and depth, that I really hadn't given any attention before.

KH: Biggest mistake you ever made wth ATMA-SPHERE? And what did you learn from it? How did it motivate you?

RK: Shortly after going down that rabbit hole, but still 1976, I was trying to sort out how to get tubes on a level playing field with solid state, and decided that the output transformer was the main problem. But I couldn't sort out how to get rid of it- how to block the DC. I didn't know anything about OTLs at the time. Late one night I was wrestling with this problem and I dozed off. The idea of two currents flowing in opposite directions thru the same circuit, presented itself to me. Two floating power supplies for the currents and the speaker load poised between them, driven by two opposing power tubes. Quite literally I saw the schematic diagram in the dream and became so excited, I awoke and wrote it down. Later I obtained a patent on the idea, although that took at bit since there was a prior art, the

INTERVIEW: RALPH KARSTEN audiokeyreviews.com

Circlotron. What was different about my circuit is how the driver circuit drove the power tubes. I began tinkering with the circuit, and when I get the last connection made, it played! That is the foundation idea of AtmaSphere; for decades the Circlotron was featured in our amplifiers and also our preamps. I obtained later patents on how to control DC offsets at the output using a servo control, which is used in our preamps in particular.

KH: What do you believe sets ATMASPHERE apart from the other high-end audio manufacturers (laymen’s terms)? What is your/ATMASPHERE’s driving philosophy, its goals?

RK: I'm not sure if it was a mistake, but a dark time of my life was when I attempted to do a partnership with a customer who was also a millionaire. I remember thinking 'this could go really well or it could be a dance with the devil'. It seemed the latter... I nearly lost the company. What saved me was I kept my ducks in a row and didn't do anything stupid or illegal. IMO, he did, and I got the company back; we were going to win that one if it went to court. I learned a lot from that and it made me a better businessman, something at which I've never been very good.

KH: What has been a primary motivation/ inspiration for you in your personal life?

RK: For a long time, we were the only ones doing a direct-coupled balanced tube output section. It was transparent, wide bandwidth, low distortion and reliable. From my experience doing consumer electronics as I put myself through school, I learned a healthy hatred of planned obsolescence (so we have an 'update with warranty reactivation' program); some of the consumer equipment I repaired during the 1970s really didn't seem like it was meant to be fixed- like they put the circuit boards in place and then added just enough wires to make them work, but not enough so you could get in there and service it.

So when I began designing our sheet metal and circuits, I built it all with an eye towards serviceability and reliability. In time I developed an internal design philosophy called the 20-Year Rule. The idea was that filter capacitors will be failing about 20 years down the road, so other than tubes, the equipment should be able to go that long without service.

To that end, don't design for really rare tubes (I remember one well-known high end company that made a preamp using Nuvistors, which were rare and out of production when the first

example of that preamp was made) and design the circuit to use readily available parts (using mil-spec derating curves) as much as possible. That principle really helped us avoid a lot of pitfalls over the last 35 years!

KH: What do you do that helps to balance the audio side of your life? Most memorable experience concerning this? What musicians did you admire, enjoy, love as a young man? Why? With regard to music, what are your five favorite albums and movies of all time?

RK: My personal motivations have been mostly to have fun- while opening my awareness at the same time. Atma-

Sphere wasn't founded to make money, it was founded because I enjoy doing it. I try to make it be the best it can be. I fail at that but keep trying. I want to see how far we can push the state of the art. I've never wanted it to be particularly expensive. In my personal life, I've tried to avoid being a constant consumer. To that end I've tried some pretty crazy stuff like building an electric truck (A for effort, but in the end was a failure due to the company that made the motor controller going out of business quite suddenly). I like older bicycles (in particular British 3-speeds) and like to keep them alive rather than buying the latest thing. I love mountain bikes. I've ridden some pretty

INTERVIEW: RALPH KARSTEN

long distances with them- such as on the Colorado Trail or the Tour Divide, which is a mountain bike race starting in Banff, Alberta and ending at the Mexican border, following the continental Divide. I've yet to complete it but I have made it about 1600 miles in the past before running out of time. I'm trying it again this year.

So five LPs...

• Yes Close to the Edge (the US press is bad, breaks up in the organ passages. The original Brit doesn't nor does the MoFi, both of which are crazy rare)

• Tangerine Dream Pheadra (yeah, is their first US release but in many ways is one of their best too)

• Yello Pocket Universe/Stella/Touch hard to call on that...

• Global Communication Pentamerous Metamorphosis (excellent example of 1990s ambient electronia)

• My 'desert island' album is Steven Roche's Dreamtime Return (CD version) It seems I never get tired of listening to this CD. My favorite is 'Looking for Safety'. It uses some very long delay reverb and I love trying to sort out how he got some of the sounds he did. I can tell that the Prophet 5 synth figures strongly, but it remains mysterious to me and I love that.

Movies:

• Forbidden Planet A ground breaking scifi with so many elements in it. A number of Star Trek original series episodes are based on themes in this one movie! The soundtrack

was not considered to even be music at the time.

• Song of the Sea I enjoy animation a lot since it can incorporate so many artforms. Cartoon Saloon is a pretty neat studio!

• The Incredibles Yeah, more animation. I like the design- so much mid century modern stuff going on (especially in the second movie) and a nice swagger to the soundtrack.

• The Windwalker (1981)

• The Secret Life of Walter Mitty A delightful remake...

KH: Is there anything that I’ve not covered, that you like to share or address concerning Audience?

RK: I was a big fan of Yes and Tangerine Dream back in the 1970s. I was hooked on the sound of the Mellotron (and have used one extensively with my band). I never developed a taste for blues (part of what killed that was in my orchestra days, we played just one too many Gershwin tunes- something snapped and I quit the orchestra after the performance...) and have a vestigial appreciation of jazz. Prog rock and especially Kraut rock is more my thing.

KH: Ralph, thank you for your time and letting us know more about the man behind the Atma-Sphere company and the products that are sought after worldwide and acclaimed as the best OTL amps in the world. AKRM

Edward Steichen Maypole

Wassily Kandinsky, Murnau. Two Houses, 1908

VIVID AUDIO KAYA 45

The Bar Has Been Raised!

By K. E.Heartsong

So, surprises. I have had quite a few surprises in my life, but one that stands out, relative to my writing, takes me to my screenplay writing days and a particular Sci-Fi script. The script had won a number of awards, been placed in the top ten of the Red List’s SciFi Action scripts, and I had just sent it to one of the producers of the Sci-Fi film Arrival, a true favorite and an easy all-time-top-five lister.

I had sent the script via email on a Friday after a final, final rewrite, wherein I felt that the characters were fleshed out, their ‘arcs’ poignant, tragic, redemptive, and that the additional refinements had made the script even better. I did not expect to hear back from the producer for a week, two, months, if ever. That, unfortunately, is the way things ‘roll’ in Hollywood. Well, after a rather euphoric weekend and a great feeling of accomplishment, knowing that the script was indeed in good shape, it was time to refresh/polish that Magical Realism script. And then the unexpected happened. On Monday morning, three days after I had sent the Sci-Fi script, I got the call. They loved it!

Well, not to break the momentum so abruptly, but I have just had another wonderful surprise, though not quite on the level of “We want to option your script”, but an eyeopening surprise nonetheless. It is a surprise of the

THE SETUP

The usual. My listening room’s dimensions are 15 feet (457.2cm) by 30 feet (914.4cm). My system is placed along the short wall. The left side of the room is open, while on the right side there are two very large, double-paned

Joan Miro

John Sexton - CornLily

and fullness of musical reproduction, that I had only believed electrostatic speakers and headphones capable of rendering. And yet, here they were pulling a very compelling electrostatic/open-baffle speaker mimic, with exceptional dynamic speaker capabilities. Much head shaking followed this revelation and a few drops of the jaw as I discovered their other traits, but I’m getting a bit ahead.

speakers (and headphones)! And that the Kaya 45s rendered the performances so well and consistently gave immediate insight to their ability to easily reproduce other genres/types of music, which they did. If one can lift the 500 pound weight easily, then lifting any lesser weight should be a breeze.

Well, the proof came in the Kaya 45s’ consistent ability for transparency and resolution and detail, as well to meticulously

VIVID AUDIO KAYA 45

map each soundstage and the position of performers solidly therein, regardless of genre. Further, the Kaya 45s’ rendering was always imbued with the most natural tone/timbre, sensed texture, and profound musicality.

Speakers in general often excel at one or two or, perhaps, even several genres of music, but never or rarely at all. One accommodates this realization via consciously or subconsciously restricting one’s listening habits to only those genres that are well rendered by one’s systems. The Kaya 45s obviate this by rendering everything exceedingly well. This, of course, prompted me to sit for overlong hours listening to far too many albums and streams and playlists.

My reference electrostatic headphone system, which sports reference components, cables, and power conditioners from top to bottom, has stood unchallenged with regard to

Choral and Live music. Nothing, to date, had been as transparent, as resolving, as meticulous at unfolding a choral soundstage and/or ferreting out the interactions. Whenever a review was completed, I’d simply return to my electrostatic system, play as much Choral or Live music as I wanted, and all would be good and well with the world again. The Kaya 45s have eliminated this need and, sadly, I no longer miss my electrostatic headphone system (as much).

THE SYSTEM

• Grimm Audio MU1 Streamer

• Bricasti Design M1 Special Edition DAC

• Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC

• Silent Angel Bonn NX Network Switch (review coming)

• Silent Angel Genesis GX Clock (review coming)

• Audionet PRE G2 Preamplifier

Henri Matisse -

• Audionet AMP Monoblock Amplifiers

• LYRIC Ti 100 Single-Ended Integrated (review coming)

room manifestations—greater fluidity, an ease of the bass to rumble and scale, greater transparency and resolution across the bass region as well as greater detail—were consistently noted, across all bass imbued

All of the bass tracks typically used for component evaluation—Eiji Oue’s “Infernal Dance of King

BASS

What happens when a bass driver is physically detached, isolated from its containing outer shell, not directly mounted upon that shell, and thus free to ‘move’ independently?

One thing first noticed was that this freedom of movement facilitates a speed and ease of response that the various in-house speakers simply could not match. The other in-

Kashchey” (Stravinsky, Reference Recording), Ray Brown, John Clayton, Christian McBride “Centerpiece” (SuperBass, Telarc), Christian McBride and Regina Carter “Fat Bach and Greens” (Conversation with Christian, Mack Avenue Records), etc—were performed on another level entirely. These diminutive speakers performed as if they were much larger and packing much larger drivers. Taken together these are, generally, the aggregated abilities one associates with reference-level speakers (read much more expensive). Amazing.

MIDRANGE

The Kaya 45s have a rather extraordinary way with the midrange. Voices, massed voices, the spoken word and attendant lyrics are parsed and unravelled with a masterful ease that consistently exposes intelligibility. The most dense passages, previously troublesome passages, murmurs at the depths of a given soundstage, that word that you believed to be another (light, life, love), the Kaya 45s free of their ambiguity. And they do this with an ease that never diminishes the performance, the music, or its emotional pull. Remarkable.

Joan Shelly’s eponymous album (No Quarter Music) has never sounded clearer, vocals have never been better articulated— every word across the album easily parsed and understood—or more natural.

The Voces8 choral albums from LUX to Enchanted Isle to Eventide to Infinity (yes, they are a favorite of mine) were exquisitely reproduced, surpassing even that of my beloved electrostatic headphone system! And in addition to checking the boxes of all of the audiophile technical parameters— transparency, resolution, detail, air, the soundstage (depth, breadth, positioning, spacing), etc—I experienced something that I have not for a long time—goosebumps.

You may well find yourself listening to music for hours on end, and if you are not a reviewer, you will be continually rewarded. If, however, you are a reviewer, you will see deadlines drawing near and menacing from all possible angles as responsibilities are

temporarily left to the side. The experience, however, will be one of sublime musical immersion.

TREBLE+

The Kaya 45s’ treble is sweet, beautifully extended, in that it will soar when needed with never a harsh retort, nor dissonance, nor stridency, nor sibilance. The Kaya 45s scaled the treble heights easily, free from any anomalies, whether for Hilary Hahn’s or Vilda Frang’s or Laura St. John’s violin or Joe Morello’s drum kit on “Take Five”or any of Patricia Barber’s cymbal rich pieces or the Kronos Quartet’s many-instrumented “Aaj Ki Raat—Tonight is the Night”—(Kronos Caravan, Nonesuch).

In my review of the Viva reference electrostatic headphone amplifier—Egoista

STX—I stated that it was “the most natural, most musical, and it had given the most transparent rendering that I have heard to date” with regard to “Take Five” (Time Out, Columbia). Suffice to say, that new milestones have been established with the Vivid Audio Kaya 45s that seriously have me thinking whether or not my reference system can do without the incredibly synergy created with the Vivid Audio Kaya 45 speakers.

CONCLUSION

The Vivid Audio Kaya 45s came in with little expectation from me. They sat patiently while the other in-house speakers were put through their paces. And when their turn came, well, they astonished and continue to astonish.

VIVID AUDIO KAYA 45

Additionally, the Kaya raised the bar of performance and award citation for not only speakers but all other equipment as well. No small task. And this speaks to the profound abilities of the Vivid Audio Kaya 45.

The Kaya 45s will beautifully play all genres of music and have you neglecting none, as was the case with this reviewer. The high-fidelity touchstones are always scrupulously met and with a naturalness, ease, and musicality most will simply never expect. I certainly did not. That said, the Vivid Audio Kaya 45s win our highest award, the DIAMOND AWARD, while making it look easy, and yet they have made it a good deal more difficult for other speakers and components alike to win. The Kaya 45s have also cast a rethink on the most recent awards and products and especially the recent DIAMOND AWARD, but what is done is done.

Pros: Preternatural ability to play all genres of music, including choral and live music, with exceptional technical prowess and outstanding musicality. A giant stalker and eliminator of the first order. Reference speakers beware!

Cons: Addictive, potentially to one’s professional ruin (should you be a reviewer with looming deadlines).

THE COMPANY

Vivid Audio vividaudio.com

THE DISTRIBUTOR

Bill Parish

GTT Audio

+1 908 850 3092

av@gttaudio.com

www.gttaudio.com

ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT

• Grimm Audio MU1 Streamer

• Baetis Revolution X4

• Silent Angel Bonn NX Network Switch

• Silent Angel Genesis GX Word Clock

• Bricasti Audio Design M1SE DAC

• Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC

• Mojo Mystique DAC

• LYRIC Ti 100 Integrated

• Audionet G2 Preamplifier

• Audionet AMP Monoblocks

• Verity Otello Floor-Standing Speakers

• Vivid Audio Kaya 45 Floor-Standing Speakers

• Tri-Art OPEN 5 Floor-Standing, Open-Baffle Speakers

• Audience Front Row USB Cable, Interconnects (XLR, RCA), Ethernet Cable

• Silversmith Audio Fidelium speaker cables

• RSX MAX, BEYOND Power Cords

• WireWorld Platinum Ethernet Cables

• TORUS RM20 Power Conditioner

• TORUS AVR ELITE Power Conditioner AKRM

audiokeyreviews.com

HEARING IS BELIEVING

TORUS AUDIO ELITE AVR

By K. E. Heartsong

What can best be said about a power conditioner other than it gave every component what it needed to perform at is best and took away nothing from them, period.

This is a bit of a different approach to a review for me, in that its narrative is of a whole and not broken down across the frequency band, as what it does for one, it does for them all.

There was a bass hump in the reference system, as some of the diffusion, absorption components had not yet been received. Most, perhaps, may not have noticed it, but there it was. A friend and fellow reviewer was aware of it and mentioned that, “I might want to deal with that.” Well, bass traps had also been contemplated and I was well on my way to selecting the best for AKRMedia’s twochannel, reference room. But as many know, it is not a straightforward process, it takes time. And than a strange thing happened. A new power conditioner arrived from Canada— TORUS POWER AVR Elite—for review and given its review date, I needed to get things moving. I powered down all attached equipment, moved the prior power conditioner

out, placed the AVR Elite in its place, replugged all the attached components, and powered the system up.

I let things cook for a day—I played music on repeat at low volume—while the AVR Elite drank its fill of juice, got ‘limber’, and went about powering the various components.

The very next day, I sat down for a quick listen to see if there was anything that I’d be able to discern immediately from so short a warmup.

“Yikes”, I believe, was the next sound that came issuing forth. The bass hump that had been so prominent on this track prior to the AVR Elite’s placement was gone! In its place was a tight, well-defined upright bass that did not suffer any bass anomalies or the hump. Gone. The massed tympani in Eiji Oue’s “Infernal Dance of King Kashchey” (Stravinsky, Reference Recording) were as tight as the drums they were supposed to be and their internal vibration were now audible and clean and clear, when they had not been before. Of course, I paraded through all manner of bassrich tracks and the same was true in every case —bass hump gone and bass tighter and more

transparent than it had ever been. Wow, a power conditioner!

17

The dilemma of procuring a bass trap was, for the time being, postponed. There would need to be greater analysis and testing of the AVR Elite, which would required many, many bass-rich tracks being played. But then a thought arose, what if the prior power

not the process of physically “undressing” it and/or laying out its various parts, specifications, etc. Think of this review then, as 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. beginning.

THE SOUND

conditioner had been the culprit all along. This would take a third avenue of research—the wall.

However, prior to going to ‘the wall’ I wanted to take note of the other areas of improvement wherein the TORUS AUDIO AVR Elite might provide noticeable benefit. Toward the review of the TORUS AUDIO AVR Elite power conditioner I began going through a very long list of music to gain further insight to the AVR Elite and what appeared to be its system changing abilities that lifted or ‘righted’ the music in every respect.

REFRAIN: Unlike most reviews, this review will be non-sequential, as it will start, below, with how the equipment actually sounds and

As per above, it is immediately becoming clear what the AVR Elite did for the reference system components relative to the rendering of bass notes from upper to mid to lower bass. All such notes were now immediately tighter, better defined, and more, what one imagines, they were intended to be. The massed tympani in the “Infernal Dance of King Kashchey” (Stravinsky, Reference Recording) wherein the previous power conditioner had, apparently, done harm was now ‘cured’. The rounded the bass notes, bass humps and boom, had disappeared. And bas instruments and their notes, often to the farthest corners of a given stage were now realized and vital, taunt and well resolved. Was it the resulting black quiet background via the AVR Elite that orchestrated this none too subtle improvement across the bass region?

What was most notable across the midrange was again clarity and then a foundational weight that created a greater sense of the in-room presence and the textural palpability of performers—a reach out and touch event. There was a greater sense of space and separation, of depth and air, and threedimensionality that, no doubt, provided assistance and empowered components, to beautifully recreate the music entrusted to them. There was too an ease, a lack of harsh edges, a commanding quiet, and stillness, and a continuity that one might associate with analog.

At the treble end of things violins soared unencumbered and refined, nuanced, beautifully resolved and transparent, and freed of treble nasties, which also came as quite the shock. Was the previous power conditioner truly so poor in empowering the various reference components or was the TORUS POWER AVR Elite just a far better solution?

There was, however, even more to the AVR Elite. The soundstage, across the board, gained as one was now able to hear to the depth and breadth of a given stage, a result of the background quiet, no doubt. And as mentioned above, soundstage cues or spatial information—positioning, layering, relative space, air, ambiance, and even movement—

were all vastly improved. This led to a more clearly envisioned venue and a naturalness experienced, in toto, across the entire frequency domain, when the AVR Elite was part of the system. Bravo!

DESIGN-FUNCTION

The TORUS AUDIO AVR Elite, if you’re simply going for the AVR Elite as a power conditioner, it is very easy to install and get going. However, if you look to take advantage of its advanced Torus Power Connect

that shines blue when active and an LCD control screen on its far right. The TORUS AUDIO logo stands prominent front and center on the components face.

The back face of the AVR Elite bears 10 receptacles for power cords, an IEC receptacle for the AVR Elite’s power cord, an ethernet port, a USB connector, and a 10A input fuse.

The function, of course, is to provide clean, continuous power to components that are tethered to the TORUS AUDIO AVR Elite.

TORUS AUDIO ELITE AVR

COMPARISONS

The Wall: Well, no comparison really. The Wall did provide better bass definition than the Other Power Conditioner (it is our philosophy not to throw products under the bus, thus no name) but The Wall was edgy, harsh, strident when compared directly to the AVR Elite. There was also greater noise introduced into the signal with The Wall which diminished clarity, background quiet, and the identification of spatial characteristics, now buried, necessary to connect with a given performance and its venue.

The Other Power Conditioner (OPC): The well known, expensive, highly awarded OPC, provided for beautiful treble extension and clarity and wonderful tone, timbre, and texture. It was, interestingly, a very musical conditioner. However, it collapsed across the bass region— upper, mid, lower. And in direct comparison to the AVR Elite, there was more noise in the signal, an overall lack of comparative clarity, and there were the bass anomalies, which distracted from the music and listening to the music. Conclusion

CONCLUSIONS

Hands down, the TORUS POWER AVR Elite is an exceptional power conditioner that provides what every component—streamer, DAC, network switch, word clock, preamplifier, amplifier, etc.—needs—clean, continuously flowing power—while doing no harm. And, to date, there has certainly been no harm.

Your experience will, of course, depend on where you currently stand. If you stand with no power condition (just the wall), then the results, at the very least, will be mind boggling. If you have a poor to decent to relatively good power conditioner the results will be no less than eyeopening and, at best, revelatory. The power conditioner before the AVR Elite was, again, well-known, highly awarded, and decidedly more expensive than the TORUS POWER AVR Elite. Suffice to say, that this power conditioner will no longer be employed. When a component brilliantly does what it was designed to do and gets out of the way to let all the other performers—components— shine, well it deserves an award. We happily award the TORUS POWER AVR Elite power conditioner our DIAMOND AWARD, well deserved, for its exceptional work. Pros: Enables components to their full potential and takes away nothing.

Cons:

THE COMPANY

Torus Power

601 Magnetic Drive

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

M3J-3J2

Toll Free: 1 (877) 337-9480

sales@toruspower.com

kmain@toruspower.com

AKRM

Claude Monet - Madame Monet and Her Son

These are the most immersive, dynamic, detail-rich, nuanced, elegant, engaging, emotional, and yes, musical speakers I have ever heard. By far.

Timothy Roth, Positive Feedback

Henri Cartier-Bresson - Brie, France 1968

By Oliver Masciarotte

Long ago and far away, San Francisco in 2004 to be precise, I was exhibiting with Sonic Studio at the annual AES convention. This was long after it had moved from New York City’s Waldorf Astoria, site of my first AES when I worked for Lexicon. My colleagues and I had re–formed a company respected for producing soundBlade‡, a pre–mastering and mastering software and optional hardware package. That DAW, or Digital Audio Workstation, was the direct descendent of the Sonic System, the first commercially available product capable of recording, editing non–destructively in real time, and delivering 24 bit, 44.1 and 48kHz audio. The Sonic System was used by Sony, Warner Brothers, MCA and EMI to create the overwhelming majority of Compact Discs worldwide up to that time. During the show, I met with a tall, slim fellow whose NYC–based company manufactured the only third party hardware interface for Sonic Studio. Michal Jurewicz, Polish by birth, had

been a tech for a big name recording studio when he recognized a need for specialized hardware and proceeded to address that market niche. His first converter product, in 1993, was a ADC or Analog–to–Digital Converter aimed at the pro market. I’ve had the pleasure of owning three generations of his DACs.

The original Liberty broke with Mytek’s half–width enclosure, utilizing a one rack unit height and one third width. Clad in slimming black, the Liberty II also occupies that small, lightweight form factor. To keep self–generated noise to a minimum without a heroic effort, there is no alphanumeric display. The original Liberty DAC’s simple and fairly uninformative group of colored LEDs has been replaced with a much more numerous and precise group of white LEDs that reveal to the user what exactly is going on inside the box. A single knob, to control volume, complements the single, multifunction push button on the front fascia.

Vincent Van Gogh - The Cemetery, Plougasnou

A capable headphone amp, feeding a ¼" TRS receptacle, completes the unit’s anterior. While I was performing my final edit on this review, I was luxuriating in the consummate writing of Brandy Clark’s 2013 release 12 Stories [TIDAL 44.1k MQA], dispatched to my noggin from the headphone output feeding my big ass Audeze LCD-3 cans via Wireworld Nano-Platinum Eclipse cabling.

Since the Liberty II heralds from a professional lineage, it strives for honesty and linearity over romance and color. Unlike many of my fellow audiophiles, I too am of that ilk, always seeking the least change between mastering and playback. Toward that goal of aural veracity, Jurewicz realized that MQA, the direct descendant of MLP◇, could be a significant step in advancing fidelity as delivered to consumers. His was the first third party company to release an MQA–compatible ADC (Analog–to–Digital Converter) and DAC, the Brooklyn. Several generations later, Liberty DAC II is the result of experimentation, endless listening and continuous refinement.

Aspero AB’s TIDAL HRA streaming service is, at present, the only large scale business to embrace delivery of UK–based MQA Limited’s scalable codec to consumers. Though I find TIDAL’s catalog generally skews a bit too down market for my tastes, the whole point of our hobby is enjoyment. That given, I can certainly find plenty of music to relish on their service. As with any other production decision made during the creation of audio entertainment, we as individuals may or may not like the result of MQA encoding. In general, I appreciate what

MQA encoding usually offers the listener; less temporal distortion resulting in more precise transient response and often more top end air with accompanying spatial dimensionality.

In my charmed life as a AKR reviewer, I had a short duration overlap between the arrival of the Liberty II and departure of Mojo Audio’s fine and fat Mystique X SE. Since the Mystique is not an MQA DAC, I reverted to my daily driver delivery service for a level–matched comparison employing Delfeayo Marsalis’ brilliant The Last Southern Gentlemen [Qobuz 44.1k]. As noted in my prior review of the Mojo Audio unit, the R-2R DAC furnished a suave example; a bit more forward with a shallower soundstage than the Liberty II, a more ample but less impactful bottom, and a pleasant plushness. Low amplitude detail, like the echo of a high hat off of a room boundary, was diminished a skosh. The Liberty II exhibited an enviable clarity and low level finesse, as befitting its oversampling design. One of the admirable aspects of Mytek’s DAC offerings is their versatility due to their use of state of the DAC integrated circuits. The Liberty DAC II can decode not only MQA, but linear PCM up to 384kHz and DSD256 or 4 times the base DSD64 rate.

Since I had a Brooklyn in house, the model that was revised then eventually replaced by the Liberty II, I hooked the old girl up… Placing them side by side and level matching, it was quick work to swap XLRs and Wireworld’s Starlight 7 USB. I found the primary difference to be a much shallower

MYTEK LIBERTY DAC II

soundstage, with a slight loss in clarity. Queueing up none other than Michael

through my company’s MAATgo plug–in anyway, I instantiated it leaving the balance

no soundstage depth and a slimmer width. In addition, the bottom was severely diminished. It was a more academic, less involving presentation. Overall, the groove factor was less, the Liberty II was more…alive.

The Liberty DAC II lacks a very rare feature that Mytek used to include but no longer does…the ability to bypass MQA decoding on command. Fortunately for me, I was listening to last year’s energizing and cleanly recorded Dance Fever by Florence + The Machine [TIDAL 48/96k MQA]. Since, for this review, I stuck exclusively to playback via Amarra Luxe, I realized I could insert a certain plug–ins in the chain and use that plug–in to force an MQA bypass. Since I usually listen

collapse with an accompanying loss of low end heft. Also, the top end diminished and grew faintly mushier. All that as I moved back and forth from un–decoded 48k to fully unfolded 96k. Did I mention I always prefer an MQA–encoded version to Red Book 44.1 if available?

In the case of Dance Fever, I was fortunate to have two 96k versions at hand; the MQA–encoded TIDAL version and the FLAC–encoded Qobuz version without MQA’s increased focus. Between the two, I preferred the MQA render, with its temporally tight little somethin’ extra.

Shifting from pop to the jazzier side of the street, Gregory Porter’s Take Me To The Alley [TIDAL 48/96k MQA] from the album of the

same name is a close mic’d piece. Porter’s textured, mellifluous voice combines with Alicia Olatuja’s subdued doubling to good effect. Tivon Pennicott’s mellow horn driven by Emanuel Harrold’s pillowy trap drums is painted as a relaxing thing of beauty by the Liberty DAC II. Out of curiosity, I dug around for the deluxe edition of Esperanza Spaulding’s Radio Music Society [TIDAL 48/96k MQA]. Interestingly, the Liberty II

Mastering engineers in particular value timbral honesty, at least in principle. That means confining “color” to “effects” hardware or plug–ins, where distortion can be applied on an as–needed basis. Professionally, I came up in my customer’s mastering suites, honing my listening skills on many truly reference–class pro playback rigs. Approaching the latest Mytek converter, my expectations were that it should not only better my original Brooklyn,

noticed prior. Comparing it to Snarky Puppy’s Grammy Award–winning Sintra [TIDAL 44.1k MQA], the puppy chow was markedly larger, lusher, far more dynamic and enveloping; better in every way from an audiophile perspective. I love both artists but Esperanza’s Craft release sounds like it was recorded with some fairly low rent gear, and that’s even with the help of a higher sampling rate.

clearer, more open and honest portrayal of the incoming data stream than any DAC I have recently reviewed, and I was not disappointed. Despite its unassuming appearance, relative affordability and pleasantly diminutive size, the Liberty DAC II brings the listener closer to an artist’s intent than any converter I’ve heard at anywhere near its price. It may be too honest, too linear for some folks who want a velvet

MYTEK LIBERTY DAC II

painting rather than a photograph but, for me, it’s a definitely worthy consideration. Highly recommended.

Mytek Liberty DAC II $1,495

https://mytek.audio/

‡ – soundBlade in turn, sired Amarra, now Amarra Luxe, the first dedicated HRA music player application. soundBlade completely bypassed a computer’s operating system and audio playback mechanisms, resulting in audibly superior fidelity. The same with Amarra. It offered, and still does, several other key features that held it above all the other audio file players at the time, like Winamp. Amarra was capable of commanding a DAC to automatically switch sampling rate to match the current file’s rate. This is key to avoiding quality–degrading sample rate conversion, especially during real time playback. It also employed an ultrafidelity “repro engine” and very musical equalizer originally incorporated into soundBlade for CD and later DVD-Audio, SACD and BD mastering. Amarra Luxe will perform the first “unfolding” or stage one decoding of an MQA data stream; see the second footnote below.

⃟ – MLP or Meridian Lossless Packing was the lossless codec developed by Peter Craven et al at Meridian, which became the mandated codec for data compaction in the DVD–Audio standard. The scalable MQA codec is an extremely clever expansion on the basic principles of MLP.

“Scalability” refers to a system’s ability to adapt to conditions and limitations imposed on it during transport and/or delivery of the audio data. MQA can provide quite high fidelity lossy, data–

compressed audio to “narrow pipes” like cellular data connections through your phone and lossless audio to very “fat pipes,” such as via ethernet or WiFi streaming. Because MQA is a hierarchical or nested codec, it is also able to deliver the highest quality when an MQA DAC is coupled with their decoding software. Think of Russian–style Matryoshka, where dolls of decreasing size are contained within larger versions. In the case of MQA, higher resolution data is embedded or hidden inside a lower resolution virtual container. Any player can read the base low rez file, while MQA software will “unpack” or recover an intermediate, higher resolution version. When that intermediate is fed to MQA–equipped hardware, such as a DAC or streamer appliance, the final unfolding or data recovery process is accomplished in hardware. MQA software, in conjunction with MQA hardware, results in lossless recovery of the original data as delivered by the artist or label. So, what appears to be a 48k file, when properly decoded, can be played back at as up to 384k. MQA also partially compensates for temporal smearing that occurs in the record chain. At the time of writing, the company MQA Limited fell into receivership when their primary investor pulled out, casting a pall of uncertainty over all things MQA. Like ALAC before it, another formerly proprietary advanced audio file format, maybe MQA will become open source which would be a boon to audiophiles everywhere.

AKRM

Wassily Kandinsky - Landscape with Rolling Hills

AUDIONET PRE G2 & AMP

By K. E. Heartsong

Iimagine most of us are familiar with the parable about “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.” Well, I can’t think of a more appropriate parable, given the state of affairs here at AKRMedia before the Audionet PRE G2 and AMP arrived for their audition and review.

A component review was failing, as the process where the manufacturer is contacted with a choice: “I close the review and send the product back, or I write a pretty lukewarm review with no awards and no recommendations.” All manufacturers to date have selected Door Number One—“Please return.”

But just as the notes were being taken for the call, the pluses and minuses duly assembled, as there were indeed pluses, the balance was flashing red. It was as if the component’s low frequency response had been clean sheared off just below the lower midrange. It was truly an interesting thing to witness, but I soon discovered there were

reasons for this.

What I had quickly begun to understand was that there was one fairly dramatic anomaly in specification city. Long story short, the sensitivity measure was a bit off and had thus skewed amplifier matching.

Given the speaker’s stated sensitivity of 94dB, I proceeded with amplification below 50 watts, which should have been more than sufficient. It was not, and resulted, as aforementioned, in the shearing off of all low frequency—bass— information. The mid and high frequencies were nonetheless very good. An informed hypothesis put this speaker’s sensitivity closer to 90dB. But things would soon change for the better, as the Audionet PRE G2 preamplifier and AMP monoblocks entered Casa Heartsong.

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.

Imogene Cunningham

THE SOUND

When the Audionet PRE G2 and the AMP (200 watts) (the “Duo”) showed up, they were immediately seated in the trio, which then became a quintet. To say that the Audionet Duo woke the speakers up, brought them to life, enabled them to dance upon their own grave, and then magically reattached their lower bass frequencies would be just about right. The Audionet Duo confirmed the fact that there had been far too little juice to animate the speaker, but that problem had been solved.

Not only did the Audionet Duo give rise to everything south of the lower midrange that had been missing, but the entire frequency spectrum was now infused with weight and power and nuance. Additionally, transparency and resolution and their collective “mining” of detail, its microscopic cousin, and transients were now on full and proud display. Yes, the Audionet Duo had saved the day, and the review of what turned out to be an exceptional loudspeaker. This should be a clear lesson to those who seek to “goose” the numbers. Don’t. It could end very badly.

The Audionet Duo’s volumetric cube—its recreation of intended soundstage—is exceptionally wide and exceptionally deep,

cavernous, with outstanding height. And wonderfully intimate, personal, and sweet when called for. Spatial recreation—horizontal positioning, layering, relative space, air and ambiance—are truly superb. I listened to the Audionet Duo for an entire day straight

what well curated, well thought-out power/ wattage brings, “I’ll have more, please.”

The Audionet PRE G2 and the AMP were partnered with a rather exceptional trio— Grimm Audio MU1 streamer, Mola Mola

Tambaqui DAC, Bricasti Design M1SE DAC. The speakers were the Tri-Art OPEN 5 and the Verity Otello. Cabling was Audience FrontRow and RSX Technologies power cables. Power conditioning was handled by the Audience AdeptResponse aRS-T4 Power Conditioner (see System(s)).

BASS

Eiji Oue’s “V. Infernal Dance of King Kashchey” (Stravinsky, Reference Recordings) storms in and the Audionet Duo, via either the

OPEN 5 or the Verity Otello, is magnificent. I am jarred by the bass power, its weight, and the superlative calibre of the assembled timpani. I imagine my neighbours are too. As I mentioned in the review of the Tri-Art OPEN 5:

“Yesterdays” (Bass on Top, Blue Note), Marcus Miller’s “Power” (M2, Concord), etc.—were in fact spectacular. The transparency, everpresent, laid bass plucks and strums, knocks and twangs in-room, three-dimensional and wholly palpable and almost literally real. Spectacular. And this was new on so many levels via the Audionet Duo.

MIDRANGE

“The timpani were differentiated and fleshed out via both their surfaces and interiors and this level of transparency and resolution were new. This is a track I have heard across many years and many systems and the insight provided was entirely new.”

In other words, regarding the bass of a given speaker, the Audionet Duo will take your speakers by their necks, figuratively speaking, and shake every last bit of “the living bass’”out of them while providing special muscle—750 watts at 1 Ohm—for those speakers with wildly erratic or vanishingly low impedance curves (personalities).

As with the OPEN 5 and then the Verity Otello, the balance of the bass response tracks —Dave Holland’s “Emerald Tears” (Emerald Tears, ECM), Paul Chambers’

Day two: I sit late into the night, listening to track after track of vocals. Joan Shelly, Kandace Springs, Patricia Barber, Elina Duni, Andy Bey, et al.,

one by one pass along with the hours and I am in complete thrall. The singers, all, were centre stage, their voices natural, naturally resolved, and beautifully transparent in a way that consistently put them but several feet before me and in the midst of Casa Heartsong. The entire day had served as a singular event that provided insight and an attachment to the music, to a degree that one rarely experiences via electronic reproduction at home. The Audionet Duo had again made it so and with a loudspeaker—Tri-Art OPEN 5—at less than 20 percent of its cost!

The balance of my midrange test tracks— “Gloomy Sunday” (Eternal, Marsalis Music), “Árbakkinn” (Island Songs, Mercury (Universal France)), etc.—were taken by the Audionet PRE G2 and AMP and transformed like the

others from electronically reproduced streams of music into music that seemed present, personal, dimensional, and always very immersive. If I’ve had a similar experience, I do not, at this moment, remember it. Suffice to say that the Audionet Duo’s midrange is spectacular as well.

TREBLE

Let me reprise my experience with the Audionet PRE G2 and AMP with the TRIART OPEN 5, as the assembled “quintet” played through one of my go-to tracks in my Review Treble Mix—“Take Five” (Time Out, Columbia-Legacy). As I stated:

“I can’t remember the time this performance has been so transparent, so easily rendered, so real. I shake my head again at the TRI-ART OPEN 5s well aware that their price tag says, “Yeah, I know, we shouldn’t be able to do this. But, we are.” And I sit back and enjoy with complete awareness of that fact.”

You’ll find no treble acrophobia—fear of treble heights—with this quintet, as led by the Audionet duo.

I play once again Hilary Hahn’s “Sonata No. 1 in G minor: Adagio” (Hilary Hahn Plays Bach: Violin Sonatas Nos 1 & 2; Partita No. 1, Decca), just to make sure that I wasn’t imagining

things the last time out. True to form, Hilary’s violin is off in a flash to treble Alpha Centauri, free of grain and dissonance and breakup and sizzle and sibilance, and power

gliding beautifully. Did I mention that the Audionet Duo is solid state?

CONCLUSION

Spectacular! Not every day does a preamp and amplifier duo come into your life and raise the “living dead,” figuratively speaking, from their musical graves. Well, if you’ve made it this far, the reference to the “living dead” may well be clear. But I digress.

The Audionet PRE G2 preamp and AMP monoblocks are velvet hammers. Should the program material require them to access the stygian depths of the Holy-Bass-Head-Grail, they will take you there swiftly, as it is a path they know well. And in this respect, the Audionet PRE G2 preamp and AMP monoblocks are hammers. Yet should the material require a stratospheric rise to tip-top,

treble heights or a most proficient, beautifully resolved, and compellingly engaging vocal, you will be there. This skill is, of course, the velvet covering the hammer. I report this from much experience and having travelled often to the electrostatic world, where the Audionet Duo and the Tri-Art OPEN 5 appear to share a condo.

Without further ado, we happily award the Audionet PRE G2 preamp and AMP monoblocks our highest award—the DIAMOND AWARD—for excellence in regard to superb high-fidelity reproduction, musicality, and the required gravitas to make it work beautifully.

Pros: The marriage of power and finesse, highfidelity and musicality in a simple, clean, and beautifully designed package.

Cons: None.

THE SYSTEM(S)

• Grimm Audio MU1 Streamer

• Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC

• Bricasti Design M1SE

• Tri-Art Preamp & Monoblock Amps (100W)

• Tri-Art OPEN 5 Speakers

• Verity Otello Speakers

• Audience FrontRow Interconnects, USB, Ethernet Cables/Wires

• RSX MAX Power Cords

• AntiCable Power Cords

• Audience AdeptResponse aRS-T4 Power Conditioner

G2

AMP $18,350

2332 421

Joan Miro - Hermitage

SILENT ANGEL BONN NX & GENESIS GX

By K.E. Heartsong

Imagine for a moment that the people around you, all the people around you, are visibly and unnaturally shaking. And it is perceptible, if you concentrate and look very closely. However, as you look more closely, you notice that there is a strange noise that accompanies the unnatural shaking. A look of

audio houses developed CD players, DACs, and other digital wares. It would be some of these same audio houses that would first understand and then deal with jitter, toward its ‘ever-increasing’ diminishment—‘Jitter Diminishment.’

I have long witnessed, the reduction of jitter via the ever-improving quality of the signal, the resultant bits and bytes, and the

people for whom all of this is true. Jitter. The ‘skinny’ on jitter is that it’s always, well, shaking because its timing is off. And, ahhh, it’s always making noise too because of the shaking. It’s a wreck. And that shaking and noise—(electronic timing artifact) —is affecting the music (all of our music!) in some very weird and uncomely ways. Just saying. And a lot of people really don’t know or believe that it even exists! Can you imagine that?!

It was the CD player that brought ‘jitter’ to the attention of a great many, and certainly many of those in the audio industry, whose

DACs, streamers, etc. Recently, I have become aware of another level of ‘Jitter Diminishment’ that makes its way to consumers who value ‘high fidelity’—distortion free musical playback. My first experience with a ‘jitter diminishment’ component of this ‘raised’ level was the Silent Angel Bonn N8 pro. The Bonn N8 Pro with its 10MHz Word Clock was an eyeopening experience and has never left my system (I bought it). This, however, brings me to a higher level still with regard jitter diminishment, which brings me to this next review.

SILENT ANGEL BONN NX & GENESIS GX

SILENT ANGEL BONN NX & GENESIS GX

There are two new Silent Angel products— Silent Angel Bonn NX Network Switch and the Genesis GX Word Clock—tasked singularly and collectively with higher levels of jitter diminishment. Are they largely on a par with the Silent Angel Bonn N8 Pro with its inbuilt 10MHz Word Clock? Or do they raise the bar significantly?

REFRAIN: Unlike most reviews, this review will be non-sequential, as it will start, below, with how the equipment actually sounds and not the process of physically “undressing” it and/or laying out its various parts, specifications, etc. Think of this review then, as 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

Silent Angel In. Silent Angel Out. Now, let’s bring to mind that earlier scene in which everyone was shaking and their bodies were

making all those strange noises as a result. Yep, jitter’s ugly. While we may not be able to do anything for the good people in this scene, the analogy hopefully provides a rough understanding and a wee bit of practical insight into what jitter is and why we want to diminish it—we want those people to stop shaking (and making that weird noise)!—like our music.

The Silent Angel Bonn NX Network Switch and the Genesis GX Word Clock (NX/GX Combo) were employed in my reference two-channel system and my reference electrostatic headphone setup (see SYSTEMS).

The first part of the review entailed placing the NX/GX Combo in a given system and taking notes on the differences of the system when there had been no switch or word clock, or when the Bonn N8 Pro Networks Switch w/10MHz word clock was replaced—Switch In. The second part of the review entailed taking both components out of the system entirely and analyzing the difference—Switch Out. And to reduce

variables, I used, solely, the Genesis GX’s strength relative to the Bonn N8 Pro—its 25MHz Clock.

In my review of the Silent Angel Bonn N8 Pro Network Switch, I gave the following observations after initially placing it into the

rather notable leaps in improvement— transparency, resolution, ambiance, air, staging, etc—and overall musicality which conveyed greater emotional pull. Tone and timbre were more natural, there was a better realization of texture, while decay, ambiance, air, and even the indrawn breath of performers were now

“That which was quasi-intelligible … is now clear, has entered the mix earlier than previously heard, and is also more transparent and better resolved.”

Experience and hindsight are two potentially powerful tools for a reviewer and especially during a time when technological improvements blaze forward, leading to evercontinuing improvements. And this is what was experienced when switching the NX/GX Combo into the reference two-channel system and then into the reference headphone system.

If there was no network switch or word clock before the NX/GX Combo was switched in, then the improvements were vast and immediate, across the board. This was easily heard in both systems and it encompassed

The music, better refined and more organic, arose from a background that was black quiet.

When the NX/GX Combo replaced the Bonn N8 pro the improvements were also very immediate, though not as stark as having no network switch and/or word clock. The NX/GX Combo, for instance, brought an overall clarity and focus, as if quasi-translucent layers were summarily removed. This resulted in being able to hear (see) a good deal more of the stage, the performers, the crowd, their interaction, and the ‘micro-sounds’—violin bow positioned, subtle finger movements across the strings of a cello (heretofore unheard), the turn of a page, a stifled cough, etc. Further, this combination of greater ‘jitter diminishment’

SILENT ANGEL BONN NX & GENESIS GX

shoulders, settled one in to hear the music, and, unfortunately, often prevented one from taking review notes.

However, once the NX/GX Combo was taken out of the system, things got very interesting. My reference system has evolved to be a highly transparent, resolving, detail rich, musical renderer of signals and streams and waveforms. It has deftly allowed me to parse even ethernet cables switched in/out, at the very top of the chain. And it has recently gotten even better with the addition of the Vivid Audio Kaya 45s!

The above said, it was easier for me to discern the difference without the NX/GX Combo than I would ever have imagined. The resultant increase in jitter made the music

measure of previous detail, and more, well, strident. This I would never have even imagined, despite my long years as an audiophile and music lover.

I am trying to think of a single person I know who wouldn’t be able to tell the difference, especially given my very revealing though musical reference system. I cannot think of that person. My friend’s daughter (15) couldn’t miss the change, it was that stark. Needless to say, it was a firm letdown when the NX/GX Combo was removed from the system after having lived with it for weeks.

If your system is fairly discerning— transparent, resolving, detailed and musical— you will immediately get the difference, especially if you’ve not been using a network

switch or clock at all. If you’ve only been using a network switch you will still, very much, hear the difference. However, it is taking the NX/GX Combo out that will provide a most profound understanding of that which you no longer have. At least, that is what it has done for me and my system.

THE CONCLUSION

The Silent Angel Bonn NX Network Switch and the Genesis GX Word Clock will together dramatically reduce jitter, period. What the switch-in of the Silent Angel NX/GX combo will entail is an eyeopening experience and a real-world introduction to ‘Jitter 101’. What this will mean in practical terms for one’s music is greater focus and resolution and transparency, more detail, and a better overall appreciation of your music. The prior ‘noise’ or ‘shakes’ as the above analogy attempts to define has simply been dealt with to a much greater degree than most will have ever experienced. Other aspects of improvement will be that tones and timbres will be more germane/natural to their points of origin— vocalists, musicians. And there will be refinement via the Silent Angel NX/GX Combo noticeable in the more natural and nuanced presentation, the sense of ease, and greater access to a performance’s spatial cues.

If what you seek is the next level with regard to effectively diminishing jitter and its attendant troublesome gremlins to a state of dramatic unnoticeability (‘shake-free’), you may

wish to look no further than the Silent Angel Bonn NX Network Switch and the Silent Angel Genesis GX Word Clock combo. The Silent Angel Bonn NX Network Switch and the Silent Angel Genesis GX Word Clock are easy winners of our DIAMOND AWARD for excellence, which takes into account their build quality, their ‘service skill’—‘jitter diminishment’ in the interest of the music— and their ability to do it exceptionally well.

Pros: An exceptional option for mid-fi to highfi systems that will provide improvement across all aspects of the music and especially so if you do not have an optimized network switch and word clock already employed in your system.

Cons: None.

THE COMPANY

Thunder Data, Co., Ltd.

Silent Angel Bonn NX : $3999

Silent Angel Genesis GX : $3799

Thunder Data Co., Ltd

www.silent-angel-audio.com

For specifications see web.

AKRM

Tamara de Lempicka - Succulent and Flask

DAN CLARK CORINA

By K.E. Heartsong

Yes, the electrostatic world of headphones and headphone amplifiers is one that I visit regularly. And I have traveled to many lands across this diverse world and always enjoyed the profound and engaging music whether electrostatic headphones or speakers. Until François Lemay’s incredible Hommage speakers in Montreal at the Audio Fest, it had been a while since I'd listened to electrostatic speakers. And what an immense pleasure it was.

You see, the music did not live in François’ speakers, but it had been freed and had come alive in the room! Brilliant.

Electrostatic headphones have, in a like manner, freed music from the confines of the componentry and allowed it to, well, live and breathe.

Anyone who has read my many reviews of electrostatic headphones and amplifiers and complete systems are aware of my fondness for them and how they ‘free’ two of my favorite types of music—live and Choral. Electrostatic headphones are unlike any other headphone technology, in that they can lift the 500-pound weight of rendering live and Choral. And if the headphone can ‘lift’ that weight, lesser weights —genres—are relatively easy.

There is something about the massed, layered, and sometimes dueling voices of Choral music that most components cannot seem to accurately render, not like electrostatics.

If you haven’t tried electrostatic headphones, then please do. After all, there

must me something to them, if people hold on to their electrostatics an entire lifetime and then pass them down across generations to family or dear friends.

This is my second connections with Dan Clark Audio and its electrostatic headphones. The first was with the VOCE electrostatic headphone, which was quite good. Upon first listen, the VOCE immediately brought back memories of the Marin Logan CLS and the Quad ESL-57. Both were exceptional electrostatic speakers with stunning midranges though they had their achilles heel—limited bass response, truncated treble. Yet they were loved and are loved by many, to this day.

The VOCE remains near my electrostatic headphone amplifiers and is always in reach for that memory lane stroll.

The Corina is Dan Clark’s second electrostatic headphone and it employs the AMT technology that was incorporated into the STEALTH headphones, which were exceptional and also beautifully constructed.

Suffice to say, that I look forward to my review of the new Corina electrostatic headphones and to finding out where they fit on that electrostatic world that I adore so much.

RECOMMENDED COMPONENTS

Welcome to AudioKeyREVIEWS Magazine’s Recommended Components, which will become part and parcel of each of our various issues. The purpose of this section is to acquaint the reader with products—speakers, DACs, amplifiers, preamplifiers, turntables, headphones, IEMs, streamers, portable audio, etc. —that we feel are quite exceptional and rise above their like brethren. There will be three categories—Budget, Mid-Tier, and Top-Of-The-Line. In our Budget Recommendations there will be products that compete far above their respective price point and are, generally, also built to reflect this.Our Mid-Tier Recommendations will encompass those products within arms reach, in terms of relative affordability, that present value and a challenge to the vanguard of their respective product niches. Finally, our TOTL Recommendations will be composed of those products that are at the cutting edge of technological advancement now happening across the world. The three categories of recommendations will rotate across the various issues of our magazine and there will also be a fluidity to the products within the various lists. Things change and especially now given our current technological epoch. The various lists, however, will be fixed on the AudioKeyReviews.com website.

Ansel Adams

COMPONENTS RECOMMENDED

AURORASOUND HEADA $2999: If you’re looking for an endgame headphone amplifier and even if your headphone amplifier is more expensive, try this one, you may be quite surprised. That said, the Aurorasound HEADA headphone amplifier is a top echelon component and an easy DIAMOND AWARD winner.

SILENT ANGEL RHEIN Z1 $2299: The Rhein Z1 and Forester F2 combo played far above the league that their combined price would indicate. For many, this $3,900 combo may well represent an endgame streamer/ power supply capable of exceptional fidelity with DACs from entry level to those on the cutting edge.

ABYSS AB1266 PHI TC $5999: I think that I’ve said it all. The Abyss AB1266 Phi TC is a phenomenal headphone. It brings an undying passion for musicality and a ferocity for transparency and clarity and detail retrieval, formerly the domain of the best electrostatic headphones. But this planar headphone speaks that language—electrostatic—fluently and well.

COMPONENTS RECOMMENDED

TORUS RM20 $3999: Can you say pristine, natural, open, and unhindered frequency response? Wide dynamic range? And there were oceans of detail, air, microdynamics, and ambience rendered by the Torus RM 20. It was not subtle. On the contrary, it was stunning.

RSX POWER8 $399: The RSX Power8 clearly holds to the dictum, “Do no Harm,” to the system in which it is being utilized. What it, in fact, offers is pure, clean power, a testament to the meticulous parts selection, research, and conscious minimalism all employed in its design. suffice to say, that it has no competitors at 3 to 4 times is cost.

GESHELLI LABS ERISH2 [E2] $219.99, JNOG2 [J2] $249.99: Disinterested in ostentation, Geshelli Labs believes in real world pricing with high fidelity performance. Their JNOG2 plus ERISH2 are a petite and potent bargain. With just enough character to put flesh on bone, the classy little twosome sets your music free without excessive color or dispensable features.

Andre Kertesz - The Daisy Bar, Paris, 1930

MAGICAL SYNERGIES

MID TO HIGH-END

For us a Magical Synergy represents two components or more, that together make music far above what either make separately. Generally, we’ve discovered Magical Synergies via reviews, where we mix and match a good number of components to determine how one of the components—the component under review—sounds.

And while there may be strengths and weaknesses between the various combinations, the Magical Synergy represents that combination which has very few if any weaknesses and a wealth of combined strengths.

In this respect, we’ve done the homework for the reader by evaluating numerous combinations to uncover the Magical Synergy, 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

foremost and not professionals who produce music or movies for a living and require different synergies, nor do measurements come into determination for us of what is a good Magical Synergy and what is not. No, for this we determine by ear, heart, and soul, that which moves us, provides for that “vibrational” comfort food, and a rich and engaging musical experience. The experience should, of course, come with sufficient detail and resolution and fidelity to recreate venue and/or the experience of listening to live music, when appropriate. After a long and trying day in this topsy-turvy world, wouldn’t it be wonderful if some small measure of nirvana could be achieved through one’s music and the components that play it

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.

back?

Magical măjʹĭ-kəl▶ Of, relating to, or produced by magic.1

Syn•er•gy sĭn ʹ ər-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

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

MAGICAL SYNERGIES UNDER $9k

ABYSS AB1266 PHI TC/AURORASOUND HEADA

What happens when transparency is, seemingly, exceeded? Realism? Or, perhaps, seeming realism? This is the conundrum raised by the Abyss AB1266 Phi TC and its easy ability to make the best of the best headphones sound dull and uneventful, while it waxes on clear as a well-made bell … Yikes! The Abyss AB1266 Phi TC is a phenomenal headphone. It brings an undying passion for musicality and a ferocity for transparency and clarity and detail retrieval, formerly the domain of the best electrostatic headphones.

The Aurorasound HEADA

headphone amplifier is musical from ‘Square One’, ‘Jump Street’, ‘Scratch’, or, practically, as soon as you turn it on, though it gets worlds better thereafter. It is a beautifully, carefully designed endgame component to pass down. If you’re looking for an endgame headphone amplifier and even if your headphone amplifier is more expensive, try this one, you may be quite surprised. That said, the Aurorasound HEADA headphone amplifier is a top echelon component and an easy DIAMOND AWARD winner.

MAGICAL SYNERGIES

UNDER $70k

AUDIONET PRE G2 & AMP/VIVID AUDIO KAYA 45

Spectacular! Not everyday does a preamp and amplifier duo come into your life and raise the ‘living dead,’ figuratively speaking. Well, if you’ve gotten this far, the reference to the ‘living dead’ is clear They are wonderfully intimate, personal, and sweet when called for. Spatial recreation—horizontal positioning, layering, relative space, air and ambiance are, truly, outstanding! I listened to the Audionet amplification for nearly a full day and went to bed smiling, energized, and shaking my head. The Audionet PRE G2 preamp and AMP monoblocks are, if you will, velvet hammers. Should the program material require them to access the stygian depths of the Holy-BassHead-Grail, they will take you there easily and swiftly, as it is a path they know well. And in this Audionet PRE G2 preamp and AMP monoblocks are hammers. Yet should the material require a stratospheric rise to tip-top, treble heights, know you will be there in a flash and beautifully so and the material will be very well resolved.

The VIVID AUDIO KAYA 45s came in with little expectation from me. They sat patiently while the other in-house speakers were put through their paces. And when their turn came, well, they astonished and continue to astonish. Additionally, the Kaya raised the bar of performance and award citation for not only speakers but all other equipment as well. No small task. And this speaks to the profound abilities of the Vivid Audio Kaya 45. That said, the Vivid Audio Kaya 45s win our highest award, the DIAMOND AWARD, while making it look easy.

MAGICAL SYNERGIES UNDER $25k

STAX SR-X9000 & VIVA EGOISTA STX

Did I mention how extraordinarily immersive the STAX SR-X9000 is? Well, you will experience the sounds, the emotion, the ambiance, the ease, and even the ‘sights’—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. “You-are-there” describes succinctly my experience with the Viva Egoista STX electrostatic headphone amplifier. And it is an experience that will not soon be forgotten. As mentioned, the Top-Of-the-Line STAX SRM-T8000 is not a contender, though at approximately one third the price, it shouldn’t be. It isn’t. As I write this, there is no competition for the Viva Egoista STX electrostatic headphone amplifier. Where that contender may come from has yet to be discovered, but then competition is good, especially when the competition provides a different yet compelling perspective.

Sublime musical playback from these two components that will challenge easily systems at twice their price if not more. In my experience there isn’t a better headphone system, to date, than this combination with TOTL components.

AUDIO

1. LYRIC Ti 100 Integrated (Single-Ended)

2. BAETIS REFERENCE X4 DAC

3. AUDIENCE aRS-T4 POWER CONDITIONER

4. SILENT ANGEL RHEIN Z1 PLUS

5. LIIONIDAS EXTREME OPEN-BAFFLE

6. LYRITECH MOON RIVER 8 (not pictured)

7. AND other reviews, columns, interviews, videos, etc.

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